Page 91 of Casualties of War
Duardo shook his head. “No. I refuse. And I will counter any orders you givethat split the men we have.” His trembling turned to shaking.
Flores’ eyes narrowed. “As your President—”
Duardo shook his head. “Not even the cabinet has agreed to you holding the title.”
“Damn it, I demand you obey!”
“I do not take orders from you, Flores,” Duardo said. “We agree upon strategies and we employ our own tactics and troops to provide our individual goals. That is all. And Ido not agree upon this strategy. It will end us all.”
“You young upstart!”
“I’m old enough to know this is wrong.” He gripped his hands together behind his back and kept his shoulders straight. “If you were thinking clearly, Flores, you would see it, too. You are a good strategist. One of the best. You can use your wisdom to help us win the war.”
“Get out of my sight,” Flores snapped.
Duardodidn’t move. “How long is it since you ate?”
“You’re saying I’m faint headed with hunger, now?” Flores asked, his tone one of amazement.
“It’s not like you to misjudge a situation so…wildly,” Duardo replied. “I can only attribute it to physiological needs, or fear.” He added softly, “I know how much you like Calli.”
Flores flinched. “That hasnothingto do with it!”
Ahh…The tension in Duardo’schest eased. He nodded. “Beseque had a pot of black bean soup bubbling on the fire, a while ago. I’ll see if he has any left.”
Flores said nothing until he was halfway through the tent opening.
“Perhaps…some bread, if there is any?” Flores asked, as he rolled up the map of the city in a tight cylinder.
Duardo nodded and went to find bread, too.
* * * * *
By dawn the next night, Parris’ groupwere close enough to the coast to hear waves and smell the salt on the breeze that wafted over them.
The men spread out along the edge of the tree line and monitored the beach, the gulls and the waves. Adán stood with his back against the trunk of a palm tree, not looking at the beach or anyone else.
Parris conferred with Locke. She tapped her ear.
Locke removed his communications bud and lifteda brow.
“Everyone is tired,” she said. “And the next phase will be hard on the nerves.”
“As I don’t know what the next phase is, I’ll take your word for that, Captain.”
“We were given a general location. We’ll have to use specialized scanners to narrow it down. That’s about all I can say for right now.” She looked at the line of men staked out along the beach. None of them had let their guarddown. No one was slumping. They were alert, on guard.
“We all need sleep, especially me. Even though we’re right here, I want to hole up and take the day, anyway.” She lifted her brow at him.
Locke’s gaze assessed her. As her second-in-charge, it was part of his job to monitor her and point out if she was operating with blind spots or unconscious prejudice.
He nodded. “The civilian is draggingus down,” he said. “Not physically. The guy is a machine and hasn’t breathed a single complaint. Only we’re all tense, waiting for him to give us up because he’s not trained. We can’t operate on an open beach in daylight, anyway.”
“Tonight, I want you on point, too,” she said. “Tomorrow, you can sit behind the lines and relax.”
Locke’s mouth opened. Then he shut it. “This something to do withhim?” He said it casually.
Parris’ jaw sagged.
