Renegade (2013) by Odom Mel

Author:Odom, Mel [Odom, Mel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Military/Fiction
Published: 2013-06-30T23:00:00+00:00

22

“TAKE A MINUTE, PRIVATE.”

Pike handed off a dead man to two Marines loading the back of a pickup. Turning, he spotted Towers standing only a couple feet away. The sun had crept down in the west, stretching cooler shadows across the urban battleground. Clouds of flies had descended upon the scene as well and flitted from place to place. Pike wore his scarf over his mouth and nose to keep from sucking flies up when he breathed.

“Sure.” Pike pinched his scarf to hike it higher on his nose. His back and shoulders burned from all the lifting. “You heard anything about the kid?”

“Last I heard, it was still touch and go. Let’s grab some space.” Towers strode through the street. He kept his M4A1 in his fist and his gaze moving as he watched over his people. He’d worked alongside the Marines, pitching in and offering moral support to some of the guys who were still green and needed a break from the horror around them. “Kids have a way of pulling through stuff that would kill an adult.”

Pike didn’t say anything to that. He didn’t know why Towers had singled him out. Pike had worked steadily, even skipping some of the breaks the other Marines had taken. There was no reason for Towers to pull him aside.

Towers halted at the opening to an alley. He took out a pack of spearmint gum, offered it to Pike, who took a stick, then took one himself. “Gotta admit, I’m kinda worried about you. Surprises me ’cause that’s something I’d never thought I would be.”

Unflinching, still cold and hard, Pike met the gunney’s gaze full-on. Pike unwrapped the gum and put it into his mouth. Out of habit, he folded the paper and shoved it into a pocket. He spent a lot of time on recon, and training to not leave a trail stayed with him. Of course, he’d first learned that when he and Petey had gone into business for themselves.

“Aren’t you even going to ask why I’m worried about you?” Towers chewed thoughtfully.

“No. You decide to worry, you’ll worry. You want, I’ll tell you you’re wasting your time.”

Towers grinned and shook his head. “This is what? My second tour with you?”

“Yeah.”

“When I saw you in Somalia, you had all kinds of bark on you. Never let nothing or nobody in. Never hung with other Marines by design. Drifted in some, but you didn’t let anybody close. Except maybe Bekah Shaw.”

Pike chewed his gum and kept his gaze roving as well.

“How are you sleeping?”

“Horizontal, when I can.”

Towers frowned. “I’m trying to help here, son.”

“I ain’t your son.” Pike spoke before he knew he was going to. The quick, hard response came out of the past, out of those days he’d spent in foster homes listening to men who acted like they wanted to be his dad but were really only taking him and the other kids in for the money. The women had been just as bad, but Pike hadn’t been able to stomach the guys who thought he somehow owed them thanks and respect for taking him in.

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