Model Soldier (18 page)

Wally glanced down at the naked girl beneath him and there it was, the “oh shit” look.

“Wally, what the hell were you thinking?”

Naked and sitting up on the edge of the bunk now, Wally, still dazed, shook his head. “Hell if I know, Hawk. I guess I wasn’t thinking.”

Hawk averted his eyes with a scowl. “Obviously. And can you please put some clothes on?”

Wally grabbed a pair of underwear off the ground from amid the tangle of discarded clothes, pulled them on and then sat down heavily on the edge of the bed with his forearms braced on his knees.

Airman whatever-her-name-was still didn’t stir, which was probably for the better. One problem at a time.

“Oh, he was thinking alright, but with the little head instead of the big one,” Pettit joked.

Hawk shot him a look to silence him.

“If someone besides me and Pettit found you here, you could at the very least be stripped of your new rank. You’d be damn lucky if you didn’t end up out of the Army totally with a dishonorable discharge.”

“I know, Hawk. I was stupid.”

Hawk continued, undeterred by Wally’s contrition. “And then we have to hope she doesn’t press charges. You outrank her, Wally. If she decides to cry sexual harassment or worse, rape…”

Wally shook his head miserably. “I know. I’m sorry. I swear to you. I won’t let it happen again. Ever.”

Hawk went on, “And if she does end up talking and you lose that promotion and get busted back down to specialist or lower, you know it’s going to fuck with your head. I can’t, I
won’t
, have you become a liability downrange, Wally.”

Wally simply sat looking repentant, head shaking. Hands shaking, too, now that Hawk took a closer glance.

Hawk sighed. “Get dressed and get out of here.”

“Yes, sir.” Judging by his tone and the sudden switch to the formal “sir”, Wally had realized he was in very deep shit.

With a quick backward glance at the unconscious girl still on the bed, a clothed but disheveled Wally slunk out of the tent.

Pettit watched him go before saying, “You think he learned his lesson?”

Hawk laughed bitterly. “No.”

“Well, I bet he’ll at least be on his best behavior for the rest of the time we’re here,” Pettit offered.

Hawk sighed. “Yeah, maybe. But I can tell you one thing. I’m not going to let him forget this. When it comes time for maintenance duty back at camp, Sergeant Wallace, if he’s lucky enough to still hold that title, is going to be first on my list.”

Pettit laughed. “I have no doubt, Hawk. I have no doubt.”

Grabbing a twisted sheet hanging from the bottom of the bed, Hawk pulled it up, covering her the best he could without getting too close.

“What do we do with her?” Pettit asked with a glance at the Airman.

Good question.

“I guess we leave her here to sleep it off. Will you go make sure Wally keeps himself out of sight until he doesn’t look and smell like he rolled in a bottle of bourbon?”

“Sure thing, Hawk.” With a nod, Pettit left to do as he was told like a good soldier. If only Wally could be so obedient.

Turning, Hawk noticed Kerri hovering in the doorway. “That okay with you? If we leave her here to sleep it off?”

“Of course, it’s her bunk for while I’m here anyway. Until now she’s been no problem, real quiet,” Kerri explained. “She did hint that her boyfriend back home just sent her a Dear John, or I guess Dear Jane letter. That’s probably what got into her, besides Wally, that is.”

Kerri grinned at her own little joke and went out to the front of the tent.

Hawk followed. “Thanks for calling me. It could save his career.”

Kerri smiled. “No problem.”

He smothered any feelings of guilt about yelling at Wally when he remembered that he and Emily had broken some rules themselves last night. Yeah, Hawk’s had been a similarly unwise decision, but with one big difference—Emily was a civilian, making it a shade less illegal, but not by much. They also hadn’t been drunk. Nope. Alcohol wasn’t required for either of them to want to jump each other.

Hawk glanced back at the doorway to the room where the Airman still slept. “I just hope she’s smart about this.”

“She’s a decent kid, Hawk. She’s been assigned to me as kind of a liaison since I arrived. I think she’ll do the right thing and keep this quiet. She will if I have anything to say about it, anyway.”

Hawk smiled. “You’re one in a million, Kerri.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I know, Hawk. Too bad I’m not the one in a million for you.”

Surprised, Hawk had to laugh. “You don’t want a tired, mean old soldier like me, Kerri. Believe me.”

“You’d be surprised at what I might want.” Kerri ran one red polished nail down Hawk’s t-shirt and to his surprise, it did nothing for him.

Sure, she was hot. Yeah, a few months ago he may have fallen into bed right there with this woman and never looked back. But things had changed, and without his even realizing it.

Hawk grabbed her hand gently, gave her fingers a gentle squeeze and then removed them from his chest. “Sorry, Kerri.”

She smiled. “I hope she appreciates you.”

Laughing out loud, Hawk shook his head. “Nope. I can honestly say she doesn’t. Not yet anyway. But one day, she will.”

“She better. And if she doesn’t, give me a call. Now that this little situation has bonded you with my body guard Tony, your phone call might actually make it through to me.”

Hawk smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. And thanks again.”

“No problem, sugar.”

Pulling on the blouse he still held balled in one fist, and with socks shoved in one pocket and his pants still not tucked properly into his boots, Hawk took a quick peak outside the door, made sure no brass was around to see him and skirted around the side of Kerri’s tent for his own.

Chapter Sixteen

Wally’s poor judgment and the still looming possible consequences aside, Hawk still walked to the USO offices with a spring in his step. He may have more events with Kerri, the ever-present Tony and the mismatched team of photographers for another day’s fun, but he also had another entire day with Emily, and if he had anything to say about it, some more private time with her tonight.

He opened the door to the office and realized, by the look of the full room, he was the last to enter. Used to being the first to arrive most places, Hawk decided to cut himself some slack since the morning had already been fairly eventful and the day hadn’t even really started yet.

Kerri, sporting an interesting outfit comprised of a camo flak jacket and black high heel boots, was the first to greet him. “Good morning again, sugar.”

His eyes searched the room for Emily as he responded, “Morning.”

Spotting her, he turned to go over when Kerri stopped him with her hand on his arm.

“Oh, Hawk. That issue you were worried about? It won’t be a problem. She is so embarrassed she made me swear that I wouldn’t tell anyone about it, so I think your boy is in the clear.”

That got his full attention. Hawk let out a breath filled with relief. “Thanks, Kerri. That is really good to hear.”

“Yeah, I thought you’d like that.” Kerri grinned and then went back to sipping at her water bottle as Hawk made his way over to Emily.

Emily sat at the corner desk scribbling furiously with her head down. Happy to find her separated from the group so they’d have some privacy, Hawk went to her, smiling at the memories that flooded him as he passed what had become “their” desk the evening before.

Hawk lowered his voice so the rest of the room’s inhabitants wouldn’t hear. “Hey, sweet thing. Mmmm. I missed you last night.”

Venom shot from her glare as she said, “Don’t you talk to me. Jai will be running things today, as soon as I give him some instructions. And don’t worry, Hawk, you won’t be seeing me again before you leave.”

“What? Why? What’s the matter?” Hawk frowned, totally and completely confused. He tried to catch her eye, to read her face, but she looked away. “Emily. Look at me.”

Standing, she turned to go and he grasped her arm. “Emily. What’s the matter? Everything seemed fine last night. I thought…”

“I saw you,” she hissed.

Hawk frowned. “Saw me what?”

She didn’t answer but he saw her eyes grow glassy with unshed tears combined with anger.

“Emily, you saw what?” He began again just as a deafening blast rocked the ground they stood upon, so strong he had to reach out with one hand and grab the desk to steady himself.

“What in the bloody hell was that?” Hawk heard the Aussie exclaim. He turned in time to see the idiot man run out of the office door, video camera in hand, toward the undisclosed danger rather than away from it like any sane civilian would.

“Wait. Don’t…” Hawk yelled after him, but he was gone already.

Emily took that opportunity to wiggle from his loosened grip on her arm and make a run for the door herself.

“Emily, no!” Hawk screamed. He didn’t know what had happened, but he did know he wanted Emily near him until he found out.

He tackled her just as she cleared the entrance of the building, taking them both down into the dirt on the ground as the many sirens scattered throughout the base erupted. Amid the garbled loudspeaker announcements, he saw people running everywhere he looked.

“Get off of me!” Emily cried, nearly hysterical.

She struggled against him, unbelievably strong for a female her size. His attention split between the bedlam on base and the hellion beneath him, Hawk somehow managed to grab both of Emily’s flailing fists in one of his hands and pin them above her head.

“Listen to me! I don’t know what the hell is wrong with you suddenly but I’m sorry, I don’t have time to deal with it now. I’m a little busy trying to keep you alive. Now get the fuck back in that building or I’ll put you in there myself.”

He hated treating her like this, resorting to frightening her but it was necessary. Tearfully, Emily looked at him with a mix of hate and fear in her eyes and finally, thankfully, she nodded.

Back in the USO office, Hawk had no time to comfort Emily because chaos had broken out among the group. Hawk released his grip on her arm once she was safely inside and stood stunned, deciding how to deal with this situation just as the Aussie returned.

“The east wall of the prison facility is blown to bloody bits,” the breathless cameraman reported.

Hawk instinctively reached for his M16 and realized it wasn’t there. All he had was a damn pistol, which was better than nothing but damn, he’d give anything for Pettit and Wally right about now, and his automatic weapon.

Mel addressed the group. “Look here, mates. We’re sitting ducks if they find us here in this office with nothing but Hawkins’s pistol to protect six people. I think we should make a run for it. There’s a bunker not far…”

Tony shook his giant head emphatically. “No way, we stay here where I can protect Kerri.”

“How far is that bunker?” Jai asked over Tony.

Hawk looked at the group—Emily an emotional mess, Kerri in spike heels, the three-hundred pound Tony who probably hadn’t run anywhere since grade-school gym class, the yahoo Aussie ready to take on the insurgents single-handedly and one Rastafarian with a camera. The answer to the bunker question was obvious to Hawk—
not close enough to risk it
.

Knowing he had to do something to manage the situation and fast before things spiraled any more out of control, he raised his voice and shouted, “Listen up!”

When the room fell silent, he continued, “When we’re taking pictures or up on stage, you all can be in charge. But here and now, for this situation, if you people want to stay alive and get out of here in one piece, I’m in charge. And that means you do what I say quickly, calmly and without question. Do you understand?”

He looked around the room and saw a collective nod from among the assembly. The combined adrenaline felt almost palpable to Hawk’s over-tuned senses.

“Now, here’s what we know. Someone, most likely a guerilla faction of the Taliban, blew the wall of the base prison. I assume they did that to break out someone important to them who’s being held there and until they accomplish that goal, they aren’t going to leave.”

“And for some even more good news,” Mel piped in, “that facility with the giant hole in the wall can hold up to five hundred prisoners, most of them Taliban or al Qaeda suspects who are not bloody happy to be there.”

Great.
Hawk sighed.

“But won’t they just want to get the hell out of prison and run for the hills?” Kerri asked.

Mel shook his head. “We have to remember, love. These people don’t care if they live or die, and they will gladly take us with them. In their opinion, the more evil occupiers, meaning us, they kill the better.

Hawk took back control of the floor before this guy frightened them into further frenzy. “So, we have an undisclosed number of insurgents within the perimeter of the base who are obviously in possession of explosives and most likely weapons, we also have the prisoners, as well as, I would assume, probable snipers outside the fences. But we also are within the largest US base in Afghanistan. The troops here are well armed and trained. They can handle this.”