12. Lucas
LUCAS
The canyon thundered with gunfire as I raced toward Boone’s position.
Enemy rounds slammed into the rocks around me, sending stone fragments spraying through the air.
“They’re pushing!” Russ shouted over the radio.
“I see them.”
I dropped behind a boulder, steadied my rifle, and squeezed the trigger.
One shot.
One target.
The soldier pitched forward before he reached cover.
High above, Hawk opened fire with the captured machine gun.
The heavy weapon roared across the canyon.
Enemy fighters scattered in every direction.
“They’re breaking left!” Hawk called.
Adam’s voice followed over the radio.
“They’re trying to cut Boone off.”
“They’re not getting anywhere near those civilians.”
I changed magazines in one smooth motion and continued downhill.
A bullet struck the rock inches from my shoulder.
Another chewed through a scrub bush beside me.
None of it mattered.
Boone and the civilians were pinned behind a fallen boulder.
Janice was treating a wounded teenager.
Wynn was helping an elderly man whose leg had given out during the climb.
Even now, she refused to leave anyone behind.
I should’ve expected that.
I reached Boone’s position and slid in beside him.
“Status?”
He pointed toward the ridgeline.
“Several fighters. Maybe more behind them.”
I peeked around the rock.
He was right.
“They’re trying to split us.”
Boone smiled.
“They’re about to have a really bad day.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
Adam’s voice came over the radio.
“Lucas, you see the ravine?”
I followed his direction.
A narrow wash cut between two ridges before disappearing behind the enemy’s left flank.
“I see it.”
“They’ve committed too many men forward.”
“They’ve left that approach open.”
A grin spread across my face.
“I was hoping you’d notice.”
Boone looked at me.
“I know that look. I don’t like that look.”
“You never do.”
“Because it usually means one of us is about to do something stupid.”
“No.”
I checked my rifle.
“It means we’re about to do something they won’t expect.”
Boone laughed.
“That’s somehow less comforting.”
Another burst of enemy fire rattled across the rocks.
A terrified little boy cried out behind us.
Without thinking, Wynn pulled him against her and shielded him with her body.
My heart nearly stopped.
Again.
She looked up.
Those emerald-green eyes found mine.
She smiled.
Actually smiled.
As though she were trying to reassure me.
I shook my head.
Unbelievable.
She was trying to make me feel better.
Adam’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
“Lucas, take Boone and hit their flank. Hawk and I will keep their attention.”
“Russ?”
“I’ve got the civilians,” Russ answered.
Janice looked up from bandaging the wounded teenager.
“We’re almost ready to move.”
I met Boone’s eyes.
“You ready?”
He adjusted his rifle.
“I was born ready.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
He smirked.
“My mama says otherwise.”
Even in the middle of a firefight, I laughed.
That was Boone.
He could find humor anywhere.
We slipped into the narrow ravine.
Hidden by shadows.
Hidden by dust.
The enemy never looked our way.
Why would they?
They thought they had us trapped.
Several minutes later, Boone raised a clenched fist.
We stopped.
Enemy voices drifted over the rocks.
One laughed.
Another lit a cigarette.
A third spoke in an irritated undertone.
None of them had any idea we were standing twenty feet behind them.
Boone leaned close.
“You want the left?”
“I’ll take the right.”
He grinned.
“Just like old times.”
I nodded once.
Three fingers.
Two.
One.
We exploded from cover.
The first fighter never saw me.
The second barely had time to turn.
Boone drove another to the ground while I dropped the fourth before he could fire.
Within seconds, the enemy flank collapsed into confusion.
Gunfire erupted in every direction.
“They’re behind us!”
“Fall back!”
“Fall back!”
I keyed my radio.
“Adam, their left flank is gone.”
A smile crept into his voice.
“I thought it might be.”
Then Hawk’s machine gun thundered again.
The enemy line finally broke.
Soldiers who had been advancing moments before were suddenly running for cover.
Retreating.
Confused.
Exactly where Adam wanted them.
I stood behind the captured position and watched them scatter.
Boone chuckled.
“I don’t think they were expecting that.”
“No.”
I watched the civilians begin moving again.
Wynn glanced over her shoulder and found me among the rocks.
She gave me the smallest nod.
I answered with one of my own.
No words.
There wasn’t time.
But there would be.
After we got everyone home alive.
After the mission was over.
After the shooting stopped.
Then we were finally going to have the conversation we’d avoided for six years.
And somehow, I had a feeling facing an entire enemy force would be easier.