his head in through the open doorway.
Hawk looked up at Wally guiltily. “Um, nothing. Just a, um, letter from home.” He folded the paper again hoping Wally would think it was a letter even though it looked far more like orders than mail.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just um, my sister. She’s uh, dating some idiot. No big deal.”
“She cute, your sister? Give her my address. We can be pen pals.”
Lie or not, Wally the Womanizer dating Hawk’s sister, or even being pen pals, was not going to happen, at least not during Hawk’s lifetime. “Yeah, right, ‘cause you would be a real improvement over her dating an idiot.”
“Damn right, I would. Besides, chicks love me. You got a picture of her?”
“Get out of here, Wally, and let me finish reading my mail.”
With a grin Wally said, “Just keep me in mind.” Then thankfully, he was gone.
With the sole determination that he was getting out of this assignment if it killed him, Hawk headed out to find someone of some authority the moment the coast was clear of Wally and his curiosity.
There was no way he was going to do this. No way his superiors would make him do this. Why should he have to follow orders that Dalton and Coleman had somehow finagled? After all, this wasn’t a real assignment. He wouldn’t be saving lives or even taking them, but instead… Hawk shuddered at the thought of what he would be doing.
Fucking Dalton . No wonder he’d looked so smug about this mystery assignment, and it made total sense that he’d already done it himself. Damn white-toothed fancy boy probably enjoyed it, too.
Thinking back to his last discussion with Pretty Boy and the Zetas, as he’d come to think of them, things started to make more sense. Coleman’s mention of female fans attacking Dalton. Blake saying he couldn’t do it because he was no longer regular Army.
Fuck. He’d walked right into this. He would never, ever agree to something without knowing all the details again.
Hawk’s body was nearly shaking, vibrating with tension by the time he got to what was affectionately called the Head Shed because the company commanders hung out there. And as hoped, he found his captain in the Company Orderly Room.
“Sergeant Hawkins! Pleasure to see you back.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. Captain, can I, uh, speak with you for a moment?”
Ignoring him, Hawk’s company commander began explaining things to another captain seated next to him. “Sergeant Hawkins and his guys had a little fun in the Alps with some of Hank’s boys the past few days. In fact, Hank called to compliment me on how exceptionally well the squad did during the training.”
Uh, oh. “Hank’s boys, sir?”
“Yeah. Hank Miller. He was the training commander up there with you.”
“Yes, captain. I met him. I, uh, wasn’t aware… You know him, sir?” And are on a first name basis, no less. Great, just great.
“Oh, yeah. We were deployed together once upon a time, back when he was regular Army. Then he moved on to Delta Force, and from there, onto ‘the teams’ as he calls the boys in black.”
“I wasn’t aware of that, sir. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, sir, the training and the, uh, other thing.” Hawk held up the folded orders in his hand, wishing his company commander would ask the other captain in the room to leave so they could have some privacy.
No such luck. His commanding officer laughed.
“Oh, yeah.” To Hawks great dismay, his commander turned to his neighbor again, lips flapping. “You won’t believe this! Sergeant Hawkins here has been chosen to be the face of the modern Army for some feel-good marketing campaign. They figure by plastering his mug all over the press, everyone will get the warm and fuzzies about us and what we’re doing.”
“To what end?” The captain’s cohort finally spoke.
“Increase awareness. Encourage recruitment. Enlighten folks to our efforts for stabilization and rebuilding. Supposedly they had a
Hawk looked up at Wally guiltily. “Um, nothing. Just a, um, letter from home.” He folded the paper again hoping Wally would think it was a letter even though it looked far more like orders than mail.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s just um, my sister. She’s uh, dating some idiot. No big deal.”
“She cute, your sister? Give her my address. We can be pen pals.”
Lie or not, Wally the Womanizer dating Hawk’s sister, or even being pen pals, was not going to happen, at least not during Hawk’s lifetime. “Yeah, right, ‘cause you would be a real improvement over her dating an idiot.”
“Damn right, I would. Besides, chicks love me. You got a picture of her?”
“Get out of here, Wally, and let me finish reading my mail.”
With a grin Wally said, “Just keep me in mind.” Then thankfully, he was gone.
With the sole determination that he was getting out of this assignment if it killed him, Hawk headed out to find someone of some authority the moment the coast was clear of Wally and his curiosity.
There was no way he was going to do this. No way his superiors would make him do this. Why should he have to follow orders that Dalton and Coleman had somehow finagled? After all, this wasn’t a real assignment. He wouldn’t be saving lives or even taking them, but instead… Hawk shuddered at the thought of what he would be doing.
Fucking Dalton . No wonder he’d looked so smug about this mystery assignment, and it made total sense that he’d already done it himself. Damn white-toothed fancy boy probably enjoyed it, too.
Thinking back to his last discussion with Pretty Boy and the Zetas, as he’d come to think of them, things started to make more sense. Coleman’s mention of female fans attacking Dalton. Blake saying he couldn’t do it because he was no longer regular Army.
Fuck. He’d walked right into this. He would never, ever agree to something without knowing all the details again.
Hawk’s body was nearly shaking, vibrating with tension by the time he got to what was affectionately called the Head Shed because the company commanders hung out there. And as hoped, he found his captain in the Company Orderly Room.
“Sergeant Hawkins! Pleasure to see you back.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you. Captain, can I, uh, speak with you for a moment?”
Ignoring him, Hawk’s company commander began explaining things to another captain seated next to him. “Sergeant Hawkins and his guys had a little fun in the Alps with some of Hank’s boys the past few days. In fact, Hank called to compliment me on how exceptionally well the squad did during the training.”
Uh, oh. “Hank’s boys, sir?”
“Yeah. Hank Miller. He was the training commander up there with you.”
“Yes, captain. I met him. I, uh, wasn’t aware… You know him, sir?” And are on a first name basis, no less. Great, just great.
“Oh, yeah. We were deployed together once upon a time, back when he was regular Army. Then he moved on to Delta Force, and from there, onto ‘the teams’ as he calls the boys in black.”
“I wasn’t aware of that, sir. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, sir, the training and the, uh, other thing.” Hawk held up the folded orders in his hand, wishing his company commander would ask the other captain in the room to leave so they could have some privacy.
No such luck. His commanding officer laughed.
“Oh, yeah.” To Hawks great dismay, his commander turned to his neighbor again, lips flapping. “You won’t believe this! Sergeant Hawkins here has been chosen to be the face of the modern Army for some feel-good marketing campaign. They figure by plastering his mug all over the press, everyone will get the warm and fuzzies about us and what we’re doing.”
“To what end?” The captain’s cohort finally spoke.
“Increase awareness. Encourage recruitment. Enlighten folks to our efforts for stabilization and rebuilding. Supposedly they had a
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