The Lonely Hearts 06 The Grunt 2 (5 page)

“Get my fucking ass in this damn car!” Brett yelled, throwing his weapon over his shoulder.  He hated himself for being injured.  Now was not the time to be the weak link in the chain.  His men needed him. 

A single bullet flew from over the hill and tore straight through Brett’s leg.  He dropped to the ground, but was quickly caught by Joe, who returned fire while shoving Brett on top of Nabi inside the SUV. 

“Move faster! We’re taking fire!” someone yelled. 

“No shit!” Joe said, slamming the door behind him.

Now packed liked sardines inside of the rundown SUV, the six men pulled off, headed as fast as they could toward the riverbank. 

The night sky lit up with gunfire. The sound of bullets whizzing past the vehicle sounded like snaps and firecrackers in the wind. 

“Bulldog Four is hit!” Geek sounded off to the Command Center as Joe checked Brett’s wound.  “I repeat. Bulldog Four is hit.”

“The shot is bad. We have to get to the extraction point before you bleed out.”  Pulling out his medic pack, Joe prepared to dress the gaping wound.  “Can you shoot?”  Joe asked Brett while he propped up his leg and pulled out the quick clot.

“Argh!!  I hate that shit!” Brett said, screaming out in pain. 

“Focus on something else then,” Joe said calmly.

“Break out that back window.  Let’s return some of this fucking gun fire!” Brett ordered, angling his body where he could shoot his weapon, despite his blurred vision and aching leg.   “Joe, I need you to work on me, while I work on them.”

“Gotcha,” Joe said, glad that Brett could focus. They couldn’t afford to be down three men, counting him as he worked on his best friend.  

Dirt billowed up in the air as Bear burned rubber and tore pass the house, away from the oncoming convoy of trucks, toward the river. The low-lying ditches, trees and rock made the midnight drive even more chaotic with sudden jolts and bumps as he mowed down sparse undergrowth and rocky terrain.  “Hold on to your asses, gentlemen!”

The pain of the bumps in the road shot through Brett’s body, but he continued to send back rounds at the incoming convoy. 

A barrage of loud blaring shots rang through the vehicle while each man dedicated himself to doing his part in securing their safety, but only muzzle fire could be seen from afar lighting up the atmosphere. 

Letting back the sunroof, Geek popped out, adjusted his feet into the leather seats and started to return fire with his rifle.  “They are gaining on us!” he screamed down to Bear. 

Frustrated but maintaining his cool, Bear drove faster.  Dirt and grime flew up against the windshield and the shitty wipers weren’t doing a thing to clean them.  “I’m going as fast as I can in this broke down piece of shit!  Just pray, it doesn’t stop all together.  You gotta get us some distance!” he yelled.  “Get in the game.  Slow their asses down!” 

“On it,” Geek said, pulling a M67 grenade from his chest pocket.  The wind beat against his face as he glared down at the incoming fire.   “Come just a little closer,” he begged, measuring their distance from the insurgents.  When he was certain that they were within 40 feet, he pulled the pin and deployed the grenade, launching it toward the Jeep full of men behind them.  

A new transmission came in.  “Bulldog Team, ETA is three mikes on that air support.  Repeat, three mikes,” Captain Lawless said over the radio.  “Paint your targets now!”

“Copy that,” Hound said, lighting up the trucks behind him with his red tracer laser.  “Be advised, these motherfuckers are painted.” 

“Grenade out!” Geek shouted, getting back on target at the lead vehicle.

The leading Jeep, gaining with every second, exploded behind them, illuminating the night sky as it tilted over and erupted in fire. 

“One down, three to go,” Geek confirmed to both the Command Center and Bear.

“No fucking shit!  Tell me when they’re all dead!” Bear screamed sarcastically, accelerating down the bend, splashing through the dirty, sand and water.  He prayed quietly for the car not to give out, even though he could feel the engine lagging. 

“Everybody, pass all of your grenades to Geek!” Brett screamed, shooting out of the back window and taking cover as bullets whizzed past them.  “Geek, you keep lighting their asses up!  Men, give him cover!”  He wiped blood from his cut brow and slipped his sticky finger back over the trigger after he passed his team all of his grenades.  

“Be advised.  We have got a visual on you, Bulldog.  Eagle Six is inbound.” Captain Lawless said as air support arrived on the scene.

Geek threw another grenade toward the three jeeps still following.  In the distance, he saw air support release a strike on the house.

“They’re finally fucking here,” Geek screamed as the fighter jet advanced from the house toward them. 

“Adios, motherfuckers,” Brett said, watching from the back seat as the fighter jet descended just below the back of the convoy of jeeps.

The fighter jet deployed heavy guns, plowing through the jeeps like paper.  The vehicles exploded behind them as bodies blew out of the top of the jeeps and into the shallow river bend. 

Bulldog Team moved as fast as they could out of the way.  Bear pushed down on the gas until he reached max speed with Geek still wedged in the sunroof with his weapon, screaming to the top of his lungs. 

“I can’t understand shit you’re saying!” Bear screamed to Geek.

“Bulldog, this is Eagle Six.  We have finished our gun run.  Threat neutralized.  Helo inbound to extraction point.  Confirm with command on ETA.  Eagle Six out,” the pilot said, flying over them.

“God bless America!”  Geek screamed out as he saluted the fighter jet. 

The elation in the SUV was unmatched until Nabi came to.  As he groggily gazed over at Brett, clueless as to what had just happened, Brett reached back with his last bit of his strength and punched him right in the mouth, breaking Nabi’s nose and knocking out his tooth. He grinned confidently.  “Like I said, you’re coming with me, motherfucker.”  With that last word, Brett fainted and fell into his friend. 

Joe caught him and looked down at the pool of blood between them.  Quickly, he got on the radio.  “Bulldog to Nest!  Bulldog Four is bleeding out!  Expedite that extraction over!  I’ve got a man seriously injured.”

David swallowed down his own personal concern as best he could, but suddenly, he felt a little nauseous.  “Copy that,” he said over the radio.  “We’re headed to you.  ETA two minutes.”  He got off the radio and wiped his face.  “Get that fucking chopper there, right now,” he said, snatching off his earpiece.

Chapter 4

“
For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long.  Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever.  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.  For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.
”

-2 Corinthians 4: 17-18 (NLT)

Nestled under an oversized beach umbrella, Courtney Black relaxed and basked in the mid-day sun with her brand new little baby, Bella.  The cool wind coming in off the Atlantic Ocean felt sublime, and the tranquility of watching breathtaking emerald green waves roll into the sandy white beach below clear blue skies was both therapeutic and hypnotizing. 
Such colors, such life.
  She could have sat and took in God’s beauty for hours…just drifting off to a place where she didn’t have to think.

Think…think….All she did was think.  The pursuit had become utterly exhausting. 

Since Courtney had not heard from Brett in two days, she had to do something to take her mind off what could have been happening to him half way across the world. Sure, he had gone under the wire before and not been able to call her for a few days after an operation, and nothing about this time was any less routine than the times before. Still, for the last two days, she had not been able to sleep, and when she did, she had visions of him crying and alone. 

In her dream, she would always reach out and try to help him, but she could never reach him, never touch him, and never make him hear her voice.  Every night, the same dream.  Every time, she’d wake up frantic, heart beating fast and sweating through her nightclothes.  It was not a positive image to fixate on; and this beach was the only place in the world that seemed to drive away all of her bad thoughts. 

So, she stayed here as much as possible, instead of lingering in her house, where she seemed to stalk her own phone, waiting for it to ring or staring at her computer praying for a Skype call. 

With her small portable radio playing “Imagine Dragons”, she slowly read the latest edition of The Medlov Crime Family:
Gabriel’s Revenge
, while the baby sipped on her juice bottle and fell off into a peaceful sleep. 

A sigh escaped her involuntarily.  Mmm.  This was pleasant enough. 

True, she really wished she could catch some waves on her surfboard, but she’d get some surfing time in when her mother watched the baby tomorrow.  For now, she was in a place of Zen. 

Courtney had made coming down to Emerald Isle Beach as part of their daily adventures. She’d always packed them lunch, books, sun block and music to past the time away until her stepson, Cameron, got out of pre-school.  To get a workout in, she’d strap Bella in a harness when the sun was hidden behind the clouds and get a brisk walk in to cut back on the baby fat she’d acquired with Bella’s birth. 

She really wanted to be in top shape when Brett got home, considering he had never seen her so “chunky.”  When he left, she was cut like a diamond with sinewy muscle and marble curves.  Now, after nine months and a nine-pound baby, she was more water weight than anything.  Plus, she had stretch marks.  But that was another thought for another time.

There were other good points of Emerald Isle.  The beach was also good for her
mini-me.
  Bella didn’t seem to mind the sun or the waves. Courtney occasionally took her out in the water to introduce her to aquatic life.  She would always giggle and wade in the water trying to pounce on the foam.  Considering Courtney had been raised on beaches, she wanted her daughter to have the same empowering and exhilarating experiences.  There was nothing like hunting for shells and building sand castles for little people. It was a place where children could let their imaginations soar – for that matter; it was a place that big people could enjoy as well. 

The golden soft sand snuggled between her toes while she rocked Bella in her bouncy swing with one hand and held on to her book with the other.

They were nearly alone today. Off in the distance a few couples hung out under umbrellas or caught some sun, but for a mid-afternoon in the middle of the week, most people were at work, which was perfect for Courtney. She hated crowds almost as much as Brett and she didn’t have PTSD.

Just as she was about to set down her book and dig into the cooler for a Gatorade, she noticed a familiar figure coming her way. It was in his cool, confident stride and the way that his body angled dominantly in the sun’s glow that caught her attention.  Linen shorts and a white cotton shirt clung to his meaty body.  The formidable figure in the distance, with the shiny ball head, the six-foot four stature of muscle and brawn was her father. 

Straining, she sat straight up and pulled off her shades.  The sun made her eyes squint and water, but she was 99 percent sure that it was him. 

“Daddy,” she said, loud enough for him to hear her.  His head popped up at the sound of her voice. As soon as she spoke, Bella’s eyes shot open and she was fully awake.  Giving a little cry, she threw down her bottle in the sand below. 

Courtney’s heart sank down in her chest.  Her heart began to beat rapidly.  For as long as she had been coming to this beach, which far exceeded the time that she had been with Brett, her father had never shown his face here, and he lived right down the street in one of the posh luxury homes behind the infamous private gate.

She picked up the baby and cupped her in her arms as she walked toward him, unable to take another moment of the anticipation of why he was there.

“Do my eyes deceive me,” she said, bouncing Bella. “Are you finally deciding that fresh air and sun will do you some good or did Mom kick you out?”  She tried to smile despite her worries.

Her father, retired Colonel Jeffery Lynn Lawless, was not one for theatrics.  He raised his cell phone in his large right hand.  “Found you on the Find My Phone App,” he explained, reaching for Bella.  The baby instinctively cuddled herself in her grandfather’s warm embrace, melting his heart as she did so.  “There’s my girl.” He kissed his granddaughter on her fat little rosy cheeks. “There’s my princess.”

Courtney frowned.  “Daddy, how long have you been tracking me on that thing?”

“Since your husband left for Afghanistan,” Colonel Lawless answered without hesitation.  “A man should always know where two of the three most important women in his life are.”  He had that look as if he didn’t owe her much of an explanation, considering she was his daughter.  Moreover, his inability to show an ounce of humility let her know that he still felt comfortable taking certain liberties when it came to her, regardless of how grown she was. 

After years of living with him, Courtney knew that her father tracking her was the least of her worries.  He didn’t go out of the way to leave his house unless there was a problem. 
Thus, there had to be a problem. 

“Ok, stalker.  Why are you tracking me
is more to the point
?” she asked, walking behind him as he led them back to their umbrella and began to gather her things with one hand and hold the baby in his giant grip in the other. 

“I can take her,” she said, reaching for Bella.

“Oh, I’ve got her,” he said, kissing the baby’s forehead. 

“What’s going on, Daddy?” Courtney swallowed down a tight lump of air.  

He released a sigh and looked up the beach away from his daughter’s worried glare. “Baby, I just got a call.  Brett’s been injured.”  He picked up her small pink tote bag and turned to hand it to her gently.  His eyes lowered from her pained face.  “We need to get you to Bethesda immediately.” 

Suddenly, Courtney’s senses turned against her.  The sun was too hot and the scent of salt water turned sour in her nose.  She felt faint. 
Oh God!  Was she going to faint? 
Her legs began to give way, but her father quickly caught her. 

“Cort,” he said, wrapping his free arm around her waist.  “Baby girl, it’s going to be okay.”   He gave her a minute to get herself together, although now he wasn’t quite sure how he was going to get her, the baby and all of her things to the car at one time. He might have to come back.

“Wait.”  She put her hands over her mouth, fingers twitching.  Her diamond wedding ring sparkled in the sunlight. “It might be a mix up. No one…no one has called me.  Why didn’t they call me, if he’s hurt?” Courtney asked, hot tears pouring down her cheeks immediately. 

Her father gave her a look that let her know there was no mix up.

“God.”  She gazed up at the sky and ran both hands through her hair.  “Is he okay?”  Suddenly, her husband’s handsome face flashed in her mind, and all she wanted to do was go to him. 

Colonel Lawless rubbed the tears from his daughter’s face.  With a reassuring smile, he nodded.  “He’ll be okay.  Brett’s tough.  I’ll give him that.  He’s one of the toughest I know outside of your brother.”  He had done this a 100 times, but never for his own family. It was more difficult than he imagined, even though the call had come from his son, instead of a Family Readiness Officer.  He knew his daughter wanted more of an explanation, even in her state. “They didn’t call you because Brett listed me as his next of kin.  He didn’t want you to get that call in the middle of the night while you were alone taking care of the kids.  Thinking that such a thing would be cruel for you to endure, he asked me to handle the responsibility of getting that information to you.”

Courtney stood in a trance for a moment.  The words that her father had just spoken were not translating well. 
Injured
could mean a lot of things, but from her time volunteering at the Wounded Warrior barracks, she’d not seen much of the mild kind.  Most of the men she’d seen where faceless, fingerless, legless… She stopped herself before she went down the rabbit hole of possibilities.   

Wrapping her arms around her, she began to cry.  “Brett…” she sobbed.

Colonel Lawless patted her on the back and gave a soft, soothing voice as only a father could provide.  “Now, now.  Everything is going to be okay. Your mother has gone to get Cameron from school, and I’m going to help you to the house to get packed, then we’re on the first flight out.” 

It was killing him to see his baby girl like this, and he only prayed his words provided the comfort that his son-in-law intended.  “Walk with me now.  We need to go.”

“Where are they taking him?” Courtney asked, trembling.  “Is he okay?  What happened?  Where are they taking him?” She became more frantic by the moment, not realizing that she was asking the same questions repeatedly.

Colonel Lawless knew that she was headed toward some version of shock and decided that the beach was not the place for it.  “We can talk about it in the car,” he said, passing her the cooler.  It wasn’t that he couldn’t hold the cooler; he just wanted to give her something to do with her hands, something to focus on besides fainting.   “I know it’s hard, but I need you to hold it together and trust me. He’s safe.  The military will do everything that they can to make sure he’s recovering well.”   He lifted her chin.  “You’ll be fine.  You’ll get through this and so will he.”

Courtney looked dead into her father’s eyes and suddenly felt the world stop turning so fast.  The way that he assured her gave her some comfort.  After all, if he said it was okay, maybe it was. 

She walked closely beside Lawless, hidden from the sun by his massive shadow.  In a daze, she stumbled through the sand. Quietly, she shook her head as her thoughts assailed her.  “Daddy, I’m not going to make it,” she said, stopping for a minute.

“We can stop, if you need to.  There is no rush,” Lawless said, halting in his tracks.

She rolled her head and then whispered as she reached out for his arm, “I feel…”

Suddenly, she fell down to her knees, hands planted in front of her, and vomited in the sand. Her body violently convulsed as she threw up her lunch and breakfast. Tears mixed with thick spit.  Wiping sand on her face, she began to cry.

Kneeling down with her, but still holding Bella carefully, he rubbed her small back.  “Let it out,” he said, moving her hair out of her way.  “Just let it all out.” 

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, feeling embarrassed. Confusion overcame her.  “I don’t know why that happened.”  She looked out across the beach, but only saw stars.

“That’s just nerves.  It happens to the best of us,” her father assured.  “Want to try to walk again or do you feel like more can come up?”

Courtney propped one knee up, and then pushed herself to her feet.  “No, I’ll make it,” she said, wiping her mouth again. “I don’t want to waste time. I need to get to him.” 

All her father could think was at the moment Courtney didn’t look like a strong mother of two, but like a scared little girl lost on the beach in her swimming suit, and he was glad that he was here to comfort her as only a father could.  No family deserved this, but it didn’t stop it from happening every day, all across the world.  This was a part of war that people didn’t see and didn’t care to know about. 

He still remembered each man injured under his command, and each man killed.  Their faces never left him.  He had gone to each funeral and stood with each family visited each hospital bed and never did the job get any damn easier.  Human loss and suffering was dirty business.