Page 72 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

“Think of it as a gift. A very precious little gift that will brighten the life you and Daniel have together. If you’re only just pregnant, Daniel will be home long before your little angel will.”

I blinked at her with confusion. “You’re not disappointed?”

“Of course not.” She laughed. “I’m a teeny bit surprised, but I really shouldn’t have been.”

I didn’t understand. “Do you think Daniel will be upset?”

She laughed again. “I seriously doubt it. I’ve known since that boy was barely a teenager that he was going to fall in love young and be all-in. He was always such a romantic. Like me, he might be surprised, but he definitely won’t be unhappy about it. Probably disappointed that he won’t be here to tend to you the entire way through your pregnancy, but he’ll just have to deal with it.”

And just like that, a tiny glimmer of hope appeared. Maybe we could actually do this. Susan seemed to think we could.

I felt a flutter deep inside my stomach, and for the first time since I feared I was pregnant, I thought it might actually be excitement.

Chapter 36

Daniel

Deployed time: 1 week

From: Daniel Stephenson [email protected]

To: Amy Benson [email protected]

Date: Mon, April 11, 2016 at 6:32 AM

Subject: miss you already

Hey Princess,

I just wanted to let you know I arrived on base this morning. I’m not sure how often I’ll get to email, so please don’t be worried if you don’t hear from me for a while. The base here is pretty comfortable – better than what I expected, so that’s a plus ;) The guys in my team seem pretty cool too. There’s a guy called Nelson. I think we’ll get along the most. He reminds me of Matt. My team leader is Sgt. Cooper. He’s seriously bad ass. Think Bruce Willis in Die Hard ><

Anyway, I hope you’re doing okay. Even though I try not to think about it too much, because I honestly think it would kill me if I did, I really miss you. I’m counting down every minute until I see you again…

Love, Daniel xx

The Humvees moved quickly on the road to Tal Tamr. Faster than I was prepared for, but with reports of Assad’s army in the area with rocket launchers, it was necessary.

Outside, the stifling dry heat made impossible waves in my vision as I watched the vast expanse of the Syrian desert fly past from the rear.

Every now and again, machine-gun fire could be heard in the distance, causing the tension inside the vehicle to rise just that little bit more.

Keeping my awareness set to high alert, I scanned the surrounding areas through the back window, listening out for Sergeant Cooper’s voice over the radio. McAdams, our assistant team leader, sat beside Mann, our driver, and Nelson sat in the back with me.

Turning off the main road, we moved down a narrow dirt passage, eyes and ears open for any signs of trouble. As we passed a few empty compounds, I thought back over my first week in the Middle East.

Sergeant Cooper, our team leader, had let me know in no uncertain terms that I was unworthy of his acceptance or trust the second I’d arrived. They all had, really. Not only was it clear my age and lack of experience in the field made them wary, it was obvious they all had mixed feelings about the position I was filling, and the reason it needed filling.

I hadn’t thought about that aspect of my deployment until I was almost on base. It had been a hard question to ask, but it had been an even harder answer to hear. I was replacing a corporal by the name of Benjamin Lange. And he’d been killed in the line of duty.

I knew the score. I was an intruder. When all any of us had to keep us safe was one another, we needed to be able to trust the man standing beside us implicitly. As a team, they’d had that. Each and every one of them had completed at least two full tours of duty. Together. As a team. It was a huge thing to walk into, but rather than let that knowledge intimidate me, I tried to think of it in the terms of what I’d be able to learn from their experience instead. I knew I needed to prove I was worthy, but that could only come with time.

The first trial they’d given me had been a few days after landing in Hasaka, a small mission to a Kurdish base near the Turkish border. That one had been a fairly straightforward task, mostly through Kurdish territory, so I knew the benefit was more for us as a team, learning how I was to fit in and work within the dynamics they’d already created.

After that, and then a full week and a half of training with the team, I felt like each of them had accepted my ability to fit in a little more. They were still hesitant to trust me completely. That much I could see. But they weren’t as hostile toward me as they had been when I’d first arrived.

As we drove toward Tal Tamr, the town the Kurds had now taken as their own, I listened to Sergeant Cooper’s commands over the radio, making sure I kept a sharp eye on the terrain outside the Humvee windows.

According to our briefing, our current mission was to meet up with a Kurdish leader by the name of Adar Nahai. It was thought he had information on the whereabouts of an Islamic State cell that were broadcasting their intention to bomb the Kurdish base in Kobane. It was our job to confirm this information with fact, and find the whereabouts of their weapons base in Raqqa.

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