Page 1 of Target Me
PROLOGUE
Logan
Crack
Crack
Crack
The three-volley salute echoed through the trees, bouncing off gravestones set in neat lines like pearly white teeth, sprouting from verdant green, well-maintained grass. American flags waved in greeting to the newest resident of the cemetery. One who shouldn’t be here. None of us should have been. My skin crawled beneath my uniform as the sun ducked behind a cloud, as though even that flaming orb wanted nothing to do with the distraught sobbing I was doing my damndest to tune out.
Losing someone in wartime was one thing. In the heat of battle, every one of us was willing to put our lives on the line for God and country. But sometimes the real battle happened after the guns fell silent.
When there was nothing tangible to fight, there were nights when the brain cannibalized itself. When the screaming in your head got so loud that alcohol, drugs, sex, whatever poison you chose, was the only thing that would drown it out.
For some people, those things didn’t work well enough, and when death was your business… Well… there was a lot that didn’t seem so scary when you’d become desensitized to it.
Across the way, dressed in a black pantsuit and gripping the triangular shape of the star-spangled banner she’d been ceremonially presented, Charlie was pale as a ghost. Tears streaked her cheeks, and she flinched when someone behind her grasped her shoulder. Too young to be a widow, she looked lost amongst the group of mourners surrounding her.
Shifting subtly, I dropped my gaze away from the casket as it was lowered into the earth, away from the final resting place of my brother-in-arms, and focused on a dirty teddy bear that lay facedown beside a bunch of rotting flowers on a headstone inches from my highly polished shoe.Grace Everly, the headstone read.2014 - 2023. Fuck. Fate was a bitch.
I threw up a salute as “Taps” was played. The bugle just barely loud enough to drown out Damon’s moans behind me.
I couldn’t imagine losing a brother, let alone a twin, and the guys and I had been taking turns checking in on Damon and Charlie since the news of Adrien’s suicide had broken.
Damon was dealing with it about as well as could be expected; lots of drinking, swearing, and crying.
As the other attendees moved away from the grave, I reached down and righted the teddy bear, resting his back against the stone so he could be Grace’s eyes and guard her against threats.
A heavy hand landed on my shoulder, startling me more than I cared to admit.
“Lost in your thoughts, Tanner?” The deep bass cut through me as it always did, loosening my muscles and clearing my head in the way only my mentor could.
“Good to see you, General.” I grinned, offering a hand in greeting. He knocked it aside in favor of pulling me in for a brief hug.
General Walker had always carried himself with a charisma that demanded the best from his men. His quick wit and wicked tactical mind inspired loyalty that was hard to find in other parts of the military. I was the lucky son of a bitch he had chosen to take on straight out of training, and under his leadership, I rose through the ranks until I was the one looking for a protégé.
Life, however, had other plans.
“Not a general anymore, son. Then again, a bird told me you’re hanging up the uniform, too.”
I grimaced. Explaining my reasons for leaving the forces hadn’t been on my dance card today. I was here to grieve a peer and hopefully keep the guy’s brother from following him into an early grave.
“How are you finding politics, Sir? Treating you well?” I asked, redirecting the conversation.
Walker snorted. “It’s more of a cesspool than what we saw on deployment. Never trust a politician, boy. They’re dirtier than worms and just as slippery.”
“You ruffling feathers already?” I joked, nodding absently to the chaplain as he made his way past, Bible tucked under one arm.
“Somethin’ like that. It’s still easier than dealing with Avery sometimes. Never have daughters, my boy. You can divorce a wife, but daughters will bleed you dry until the day you foist them off on another poor soul.”
I offered a commiserating smile. “No chance of that happening. I’m not planning on settling down. Not ever, if I can help it.”
“Smart lad.” General Walker slapped my shoulder again as we wandered toward the road where cars lined the gutter as neatly as the graves behind us.
“If you ever want to get into personal security, or something of the sort, I have a lot of friends willing to pay an obscene amount of money to protect their interests. Think about it. Easy money, and if you’re lucky, you’ll still get to shoot someone occasionally.”
I hadn’t thought much about what I would do after my last day in the military, but the idea of acting as hired muscle for some pompous socialite who probably knew nothing of the real world turned me cold. I didn’t have the patience for other people like Walker did. God knew, I’d probably knock out the person I was supposed to be protecting to make them shut up if I was in a bad enough mood. Nope, I was better off finding somewhere to work with my hands.
