Page 48 of The Soldier

“Agreed.”

I appreciated having an operator like him on the team I was working with. Especially one leading. Roger Miller wouldn’t be a problem. Hopefully we’d leave him behind with the peacekeeping mission.

Again, luck wasn’t on my side.

He and Johnson shadowed us across the border so I had just spent the last three days with him. Three long days.

I was ready to fucking shoot him.

Between Johnson, Rodriques, and the other Delta guys, they kept me sane, and things were going fine until the day we arrived at our destination.

Yesterday.

Up until then, our mission had been covert. We were a handful of bullets away from going home.

Trina’s pretty lips were front of my mind.

We’d stopped at the low populated mountain range surrounded by dusty rounds and a handful of houses. Then waited for instructions from command.

Rogers was on comms, being the communications expert on the team, and we’d been relying on him for the intel.

And waited.

Nobody knew I was here to eliminate a target, although it was pretty obvious. I wasn’t heading to this location for a sandwich.

Turns out, their guys were at the same place. So, after sharing that with command, we’d been told to wait. And we had.

While we did, Rodriques had pulled me aside. “Listen I know this is off books, but if there’s anything I need to know that will endanger my team, now is the time to tell me.”

“Got it.”

He waited as we stood staring at one another. One powerful warrior to another.

“Fuck me.” He shook his head.

“I’m sorry man. Like you said, it’s off the books. I can’t. If there was anything that threatened a life, I’d tell you.”

He gave me a dark look. “No surprises, Adams.”

That’s when I made a calculated decision.

Out here in the desert you have to make decisions to survive that the guys sitting behind desks don’t really understand. I understood Rodriques’s position and if I’d been in his shoes, I’d feel the same.

He saw the moment my eyes darted to the side and back to his. His shoulders dropped, and while it was just an inch, he moved closer.

“I won’t be breaking away. My target is in the main building.” I’d just told him I was here for a kill shot. “Then I’m returning with you.”

He rubbed his jaw.

“I’ll only need one shot. It will be clean.”

His eyes remained locked on mine as he processed my words, processing them fast.

“Are we competing for a kill here?” he asked.

“No.”

“So, this is what? A coincidence they’re in the same place?”

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