Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45785 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 229(@200wpm)___ 183(@250wpm)___ 153(@300wpm)
“You know, it’s been an eye-opening day,” he said. “I guess I never realized how often you risked your life on the job. I mean, it always bothered me that you went to places without backup, but you kept coming home, and you downplayed the risks in every story you shared with Piper and your folks.”
I furrowed my brow, and now I had to look over at him. His eyes were a little red. “What’s your point?” Did he expect me to go into detail about contracts that were classified? And why would I worry my family?
“My point is that your job obviously turned you into someone else,” he replied. “It makes sense. Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, all your work with cartels in South America… It’s just sad. There’s nothing left of the man I used to know.”
I went cold—but this was good. He suddenly made it a lot easier to maintain my distance emotionally.
“Do you even feel anything at all?” he asked. “Piper told me how you almost pushed her away at the house, as if you couldn’t understand why she was so upset.”
I shot right up, anger flooding me, and I couldn’t fucking believe what I was hearing. Was he honestly this goddamn stupid, or was he trying to provoke me?
“Did she tell you that?” I demanded. I advanced on him, and he stood straighter and clenched his jaw. “Did she say I pushed her away?”
“You snapped at her,” he told me. “I asked her why she wouldn’t call you today, and she said she didn’t think you’d want that. Because she couldn’t control herself at the house—and you don’t like it when she cries.”
“So you filled in the blanks,” I stated. “You think I snapped at her because I don’t understand why she’s upset? After my niece was kidnapped? How fucking stupid are you?” The more I thought about it, the more livid I became. My chest filled with hot rage, and I cut him off before his response could leave his mouth. “The difference between Piper and me is that I can still work with a broken heart. I have to. If it’s just a contest to see who sobs the hardest, we’ll never see that little girl again. Is that what you want, huh? You’d rather see me break down and be completely fucking useless like you and Piper?”
Fury struck like lightning in his eyes, and I saw him pull back to punch me. I tried to dodge it, but my leg almost gave out when I sidestepped, and before I knew it, his fist slammed into my jaw.
“Call me useless one more time,” he growled. Pain exploded across the left side of my face, but it had nothing on the anger. I flinched forward and shoved him into the bathroom door. “You think I enjoy sitting on the sidelines?” He started yelling at me. “You’re surrounded by people you’ve known and worked with for decades in another universe! The fuck can I say? What can I bring to the table, when I’m just the guy shooting up boat engines from a helicopter? Should I go off on my own and try to find her? Would that earn me your respect?” He came at me once more and shoved me backward, and I almost tripped again, but I managed to steady myself on a dresser. “Fuck your respect, Elliott. I’m letting you and your friends run this show because I think it’s my best chance to see my daughter again. If that makes me useless…” He swallowed hard, his eyes filled with tears and anger—before he pushed past me, grabbed some shit from his bed, then headed for the door.
I cupped my jaw as the door clicked and blanketed the room in silence.
Fuck.
And fuck. He got me good. I rubbed my jaw carefully and limped over to my bed. After chasing down my painkillers with a swig of water, I just sat there and kinda wondered what the hell had happened. First of all, he’d robbed me of my fucking anger. I was annoyed at best, and that wasn’t a strong enough defense.
“What can I bring to the table, when I’m just the guy shooting up boat engines from a helicopter?”
That one bothered him. The Coast Guard served as the undeserving joke of the military branches. Everyone had heard a Coastie joke. It was plain ignorance, obviously. They were the one branch constantly at war, and they didn’t get the same headlines the rest of the services got. Then there was Joel. He had one of the toughest jobs around, and it actually did get recognized as such. And yeah, people saw the sniper; they saw the stereotypical coolness factor in what he did. Hell, I was one of them. It was fucking cool. Because…fuck, to be up there in a helicopter with your rifle, so far away from your target, and you were moving—there was turbulence—and you were aiming at a tiny speedboat way down below, rocking against the waves, up and down, at high speed, trying to take down their engines.