Page 43 of No Dirty Secrets

Casper’s last name is Townsend and he has a redheaded little sister. One that I thought was Casper for a moment. Linc doesn’t even have to open his mouth. I know what he’s about to say, and there is no chance in hell that I’ll get away from it. Even though I hope, more than anything else in my life, that I misheard him. That I am not going to spend the next three months with Casper’s brother. That I won’t be trusting my life in the hands of a man that could and should want me dead.

Shit.

“Yep.” Linc turns with a question on his face, but a gust of wind blows sand in our faces, so I’m not sure if he sees the way I pale at his confirmation.

Instead of taking a chance on saying anything, I stalk away toward the small building that our fire team will use for our deployment. There are a few men I know along the way, but I am on a mission. One to get the hell away from Linc. To get a small amount of space to try and figure out what the hell I am going to do.

I should have known I wouldn’t be lucky enough to get some time.

Linc follows directly behind me, giving me the impression that I need to tear the Band-Aid off completely. To let someone know what is up or at the very least, part of it. I’ll leave out the accident until I can get Emmett or Miles to find out if Joel’s PI is on the money with what he has found.

I check to make sure there is no one else in the bunk before turning to face Linc with as much courage as I can muster. “Does he have a sister named Casper?”

Linc doesn’t say anything. Seconds go by and then a whole minute. The entire time, he watches me with the eyes of a man gauging an opponent. There isn’t any change to his facial expression. No movement as his arms are crossed over his chest. No shifting from foot to foot. He is judging me; there is no doubt about it.

“You didn’t break her heart, did you?”

My shoulders, which I haven’t even realized were tensed up while I waited for his answer, slump at his question.

Fuck.

Of course… My luck, the same luck I’ve relied on my entire life to keep me out of trouble, has finally run out.

I should have known Casper would be the end of everything for me.

Before I can open my mouth to tell him everything about my relationship with Casper, or as much as I am capable of telling him, the door behind him slams open and we turn to see what the commotion is. In walks Dom Ortiz, and he has a familiar face at his back.

“Ian Keller, I’ll be damned.” I shake the man’s hand who had made sure my dumb ass got through boot and didn’t fail all because I was an idiot. “You on this ragtag fire team?”

He laughs, his dark-brown hair disheveled, a little bit of a beard showing through. “Nah, man. I wish I was lucky enough to team up with you, Dom, and whoever else they have you with. I’m teamed with Young, Malone, and Pierce.”

“Shit, man,” I mutter. “What the hell is going on that they have all our fire teams out here on short notice like this?” The mention of Pierce is what does it. Logan Pierce isn’t even in the military anymore. He’d done his service and then went home to win over the girl he left behind when they were only eighteen. The fact that he is back doesn’t bode well for whatever our mission is.

“Get changed, Cole.” Linc slaps me on the shoulder. “We can catch up later. Now we have to get on patrol. And I don’t, for a minute, think the rest of our fire team is gonna wait for our dumb asses.”

“Not a chance in hell.” Dom crosses his arms and shoots me a deadly glare. “Could have used a heads-up you were on your way.”

“I honestly didn’t know I was, not until I had to pack and get to the airport. But I did send you an email, man.” I rub my neck. “Just didn’t have time to call from the terminal.”

Out of all my friends, Dom is the only one I will answer to or take the time to email while I am waiting on a connecting flight out of the states—him and Mimi, that is. If I hadn’t told her I was leaving, she’d have flown out and beat me with her slipper. She gleefully informed me of that when I called her on video while waiting on my plane.

He nods, giving me a small smile, before turning around and giving me the little bit of privacy that he can. I drop my duffel from my shoulder on the bed I’ll be sleeping in for the foreseeable future.

Less than ten minutes later, my shit is stowed in my footlocker, my uniform is on, and I am as ready as I’ll ever be to go on patrol.

Linc and Dom flank either side of me, and we stop at the weapons cache to load up before heading out.

“Who’s the last member of our team?” I wait for an answer, but Linc is distracted by checking his rifle and counting the number of bullets in his clip. Honestly, I should have known as soon as we hit the Humvees.

“Townie!” Linc hollers with a wicked grin once he tears his eyes away from his weapon. “I thought you were tired of me already when you didn’t show up at the bunk.”

Remy is standing in front of the Humvee, a bag of chips in his hands and a scowl on his face.

“Not my idea of a good time, trust me.” He shoves a chip in his mouth and then climbs into the driver’s seat. “Let’s go, bitches.”

Linc climbs in on the other side of the front, and Dom and I both take the back seats.

We’ve barely pulled out of the gate when Remy turns to glare at me over his shoulder.

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