Page 1 of Tactical Lies

Chapter

One

August 16th

11:13 A.M.

What was she thinking?

Could she have picked a more dangerous country to move to?

Okay, so Connor Charleston knew he was slightly exaggerating. Cambodia was, in fact, a relatively safe country to visit and even live in. But there were still rumored to be a few remote pockets where remnants of the Khmer Rouge remained, renamed and revamped, but as dangerous as they had been years ago.

While he didn't have firsthand knowledge of how bad things had been in the country during that time his grandfather, who had been a Navy SEAL, had served during that era and had performed a rescue with his team of a group of aid workers who were captured.

After his dad’s Delta Force team had been ambushed and slaughtered, and his mom remarried the only survivor just months later, then both of them were arrested and “committed suicide” he and his siblings had been raised by his grandparents.

Which meant he’d heard a lot of stories about what it was like to serve in special forces over the years. First from his dad when he was younger, and then from his grandfather when he was a little older.

The most chilling of those stories was the one that took place on the very land he was currently hiking across.

A place where a lot of innocent blood had been shed.

A place where his grandfather met the woman he would wind up marrying and having three children with when he saved her from what would have been a brutal death.

Now, fifty years later, Connor felt like he was following in his footsteps.

Was he going to wind up marrying the woman he’d come to Cambodia looking for?

Almost definitely not.

He’d blown that shot over a decade ago and regretted it ever since.

It wasn't even likely that Becca Marsden’s life was in danger. There was going to be no saving her from bloodshed and being her hero like he should have been back when they were in college.

Back then, he’d flipped out and made a stupid mistake. When he should have been standing by her, supporting her in every way she needed him to, he’d run in a panic, and by the time he realized how stupid and selfish he was being, it was already too late.

There was no point in denying he’d love a second chance with the only woman he’d ever loved, but he knew holding out hope it would happen was ridiculous. Becca had every reason to hate him, and he couldn’t even fault her for it.

Becca had needed him, and he wasn't there for her.

How could he ever make that right?

Knowing that he couldn’t was the only reason it had taken him twelve years to get his head on straight and come to do what he should have found a way to do all those years ago. Instead, he’d been a coward, dropped out of college, joined the navy, made it onto a SEAL team, served, and then left to work for the world-renowned Prey Security. He’d hidden behind the shield of it would be impossible to fix things, so why even bother, for years longer than he should have, and now, as he hiked through Cambodian forests he was ashamed of himself.

Especially as he thought about how brave and strong Becca was. Everything she’d had to fight through. The struggles she would live with for the rest of her life. And all that she had accomplished.

After graduating, Becca founded an aid agency with a couple of her friends, and they had now grown to have bases in several Asian countries. They provided both medical and educational support for small, impoverished villages. She had dedicated her life to doing such an amazing thing and he was so proud of her.

Would she believe him when he told her that?

Just because Connor would love to believe that after twelve years and a lot of growing and maturing on both their parts the past could be laid to rest, he knew Becca wouldn't see things the same way. They would likely never be together in the way he wanted them to be but maybe they could at least become friends.

Hell, he’d take acquaintances who talked occasionally.

Whatever he could get.

Because it didn't matter how many years had passed, she still owned his heart.

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