Outside the Wire by Gary Edgington

Author:Gary Edgington
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Koehler Books
Published: 2022-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

MEANWHILE BACK AT THE RANCH

We loaded up after the SSE was completed. The IPs took the rapidly decaying dead guy with them, which was fine. Normally, Coalition Forces take the insurgent KIAs with them for further investigation, but a new edict had recently come down giving the commander—that being the fair Lieutenant Shore—discretion to release the body to the Iraqi Army or the IPs if the situation warranted it. Apparently, in this case, the situation did. I was later told during my ride back with Lieutenant Shore that the senior IP guy was a bit of a prick and was insisting on conducting his own investigation. As if he gave a crap about a dead guy. The IP officer even threatened to have his men detain the GIs who had assaulted the house. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

The IP officer was either trying to solicit a bribe or assert his authority. Shore had dealt with him before and knew how to play him off. She shut him down on detaining our soldiers and gave him the stiff Saudi as a compromise gesture. Smart thinking. I really liked Lieutenant Shore. Smart, tough, did her homework and was cool under pressure. She’d make a great cop.

We arrived way too late for an evening snack, and I was famished. I walked over to the TOC and asked after my favorite major and young Khalid. The duty NCO said she was still in surgery and Khalid Senior was standing by. Lieutenant Shore walked into the TOC and joined us.

“The sergeant says Major Weaver is still doing her medical thing and Daddy’s with them,” I reported. I then asked, “Hey LT, what’s the chances of us getting some chow?”

“I could use something myself. I’ll find somebody,” she replied.

“Meet me at the chow hall in about thirty minutes.”

“With grenades on,” I responded.

I walked out of the TOC and dragged myself over to my room, threw the door open and turned on the lights.

“Scarlett, I’m back,” I announced to a nearly empty room. I propped my carbine up next to the door and started stripping off my battle rattle.

Taking all that crap off reminded me of my days in uniformed patrol. At the end of a shift, especially day-watch in the summer, you could feel the trapped heat escape as you lifted the flaps of your bulletproof vest.

I pulled my body armor off and eased it down slowly to the floor. My CamelBak was dry. I unzipped my blouse. The T-shirt underneath was soaked through and smelled awful. I placed my pistol on the floor next to the bed, reached over and shut off the lights. I needed a little nap. My exhausted brain replayed the day’s events as I tried to relax.

The bed felt great. I started to drift off into the comforting embrace of my beloved Jessica. I could even feel her fingers tickle my neck and shoulder as I surrendered to her feminine wiles. That was strange, her fingers were now tickling my nose, and they were hairy.

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