Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“I don’t think so. He’s got this cool tattoo on his arm. A combat knife with a delta insignia around it, and a date. 28 NOV. I know the military refers to dates that way, so I googled it along with any military action that took place on that date, and it pulled up an attack that happened this time last year. I’m pretty sure he’s a fu—freakin’ war hero, dickweed. An honest to goodness war hero. You’re too dumb to see it, but we’ve hit the jackpot if he’s interested in Skylar. The motherfu—” he looked at me and grinned “—effing jackpot. No one will mess with us now. He’s our own private army.”
Hearing that, my thoughts drifted back to what Logan had said about the ghosts in his head. “Did it say what happened? About the attack?”
Josh nodded. “It was an ambush. More than half of a Delta Force unit was blown up by a suicide bomber. Only three members weren’t killed, and only one walked away without injuries. A long-range sniper.”
“They trained me to kill through the scope of a gun.”
“Logan,” I whispered. “That has to be him. Don’t long-range snipers set up away from the battle and pick off people as needed?”
Josh nodded. “Sometimes for days. The longest kill shot ever made was three miles. Snipers have to have ice water running through their veins to be able to make a shot like that.”
“What else did it say about these guys?” Jake asked, finally sounding interested.
“It’s all pretty vague for security reasons, but it said they accept candidates from any branch of the military, so they get the best of the best our country has to offer. The discipline they put them through during their evaluation is intense. It said ninety percent of those invited to try out by the JSOC—that’s Joint Special Operations Command for short—can’t make it through the selection. And of those who do, fifty percent fail. Logan’s more than just a soldier, Jake, he’s a professional killing machine with the best training in the world!”
That explained a lot. Particularly his ability to put Jake and Ty on the ground without breaking a sweat. “No wonder I feel safe when he’s around.”
Josh turned to Jake with an arrogant grin on his face. “Still think he’s some deadbeat drifter?”
Jake had gone quiet while Josh spoke. At Josh’s question, he stayed silent for a moment longer then nodded. “All right, I’ll give him a chance. But the fact he latched on to Skylar so quickly still bothers me. What if he’s unbalanced from the war?”
“He’s damaged,” I agreed. “He has ghosts that haunt him, he told me so. But honestly, Jake, don’t we all?”
Neither argued that point because we all carried our own baggage.
“Find a place inside where there’s joy, and the joy will burn out the pain,” Josh mumbled.
I blinked and looked at my fifteen-year-old brother. “Did you just quote Joseph Campbell?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal he read a literary genius. “It makes sense. I heard Logan say you chased his ghosts away. You’re the joy he’s been looking for.”
Who was this kid?
“Jesus, next he’ll quote Aristotle,” Jake grumbled.
“There is no great genius without some touch of madness.”
“What?” Jake growled.
“Aristotle, dickweed. You’re all brawn and no brain, you know that?” Josh looked at me and smiled at his insult. “So you gonna be Logan’s joy or just suck face with him?”
Annnnd there’s the brother I knew and loved.
Grinning, I shrugged. “Can’t I do both?”
_______________
Duke Remington approached Logan and jerked his head toward the door. It was close to midnight, but the bar was still in full swing. It hadn’t taken long to figure out the appeal of Big Sky Saloon to the locals. It was just a bar. No food to draw the tourists. Just drinks and company. Big Sky was the local watering hole for the townspeople to escape the tourists, who frequented the other restaurant and bar up the street. The place they came to have a beer and play a hand of cards or a game of checkers with their friends, while the band played covers. It was Ennis’ escape from the mundane. A cherished institution that was being threatened, so they’d kept coming in numbers most of the night. Some pitching in to help the already overworked staff.
Logan glanced around the room before following Duke outside. At this hour he’d have expected the bar to be close to empty, but it was clear the town would continue to show their support for the James orphans until the crisis passed.
Convinced there wouldn’t be any trouble, Logan stepped outside into the dark night and searched for Duke. He found him half a block down, lighting up a smoke. The illumination from the bar’s neon sign did little to hide the millions of stars that crowded the night sky. In the city you were lucky to see a handful of constellations, but the big skies of Montana let the universe in, making you feel insignificant in the face of all its vastness.