Page 25 of Bullets and Dandelions

“You can count on it, Chiquita,” Rodriquez said grimly.

Reaper’s right foot twitched wildly, he exhaled a long breath and stopped moving.

“You can’t question a dead man, but if I were you, I’d check his dog tags for a microdot.”

Sergeant Stone quickly removed Reaper’s dog tags and examined them. “I’ll be damned.”

“No one ever thinks of checking our dog tags for data.”

“Do you know what’s on it,” Johnson asked.

I tapped a finger against my cheek. “Hmmm. According to a credible source, Reaper’s drug dealings, his contacts and a list of all the people he’s murdered for Roberts.”

“Let me check your arm.” Tex squatted next to me and cut off the bandage. “You broke two of your stitches during your aerobatics.”

I shrugged. “I was trying to keep us alive.”

“And we appreciate it, but you need full-time bodyguards,” Johnson said.

“Do not. Yeow!” I glared at Tex. “That hurt.”

Tex got out his suture kit. “It’ll hurt more if I don’t deaden the area.”

“What’s the ETA on the rescue chopper?” My stomach growled loudly. “I’m starving.”

Sergeant Stone handed me a candy bar and his canteen. “We need to work on fattening you up. You look like you’ve been held prisoner by the Taliban for a year.”

Did he think I didn’t realize how awful I looked? All that mattered was I had survived.

“You should have reported Captain Harris’s actions,” Johnson commented.

My temper flared to life. “I did and my basic allowance and pay were stopped.” I hurriedly stuffed the entire candy bar, wrapper included, into my mouth and chewed.

“Stopped? For how long?” Stone demanded.

I took a long drink from his canteen. “Three months so far.”

“Did you contact your paymaster?” Rodriquez gave me another candy bar minus the wrapper.

I took a bite. “Yes, and I got the runaround.”

Whump. Whump. Whump.A Huey appeared in the distance.

Tex bandaged my arm. “Our ride is here.”

“Yippee.” I crammed the rest of the candy bar in my mouth.

Stone shook his head. “We’re not going to take food away from you.”

“You already have. I was eating my first decent meal in three days when you showed up at the mess hall and started bellowing at me.”

Sergeant Stone rubbed a hand over his face. “I apologize.”

“What?” I gaped at him in astonishment. “You’re sorry?”

“Yes, I was unaware of your situation at the time.”

The F-16s buzzed us again and wagged their wings.

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