hear the words.
She set the crosshairs on the terrorist behind the machine gun mounted on the hood of a military jeep. She’d never missed yet and didn’t want to spoil her record.
“Convoy is less than a mile from the ambush,” her commander’s voice said on the radio. “Fire when ready.”
“Yes, sir,” she said. “Adjustments, Jonah?”
Her spotter ran his finger down a column of numbers and called out the wind velocity. She made adjustments in the blistering heat. She took a deep breath and blinked twice for good luck. If she took out the ambush, the convoy took her friends back to base. If she didn’t, there’d be widows and orphans crying that night in the States.
Sweat trickled down between her breasts to puddle at the bottom of her bra where a sand trap waited. Evidently God knew what he was doing when he gave breasts to women and not men. Boy soldiers wouldn’t last ten minutes out in the heat with bras biting their ribs and shoulders. They’d scratch and fidget until the enemy blew their weak little asses all over the sand. She wiped moisture from her brow, inhaled, and blinked twice again for good luck. Then she pulled the trigger and the target dropped graveyard dead.
“Mission complete. Convoy can proceed. Send in rescue,” she said.
Gunfire started and the sand kicked up all around her. She looked over at Jonah to tell him to keep his head down and get ready to run when their rescue team lit. His chin rested on his chest, and blood was everywhere.
“Jonah’s down!” she screamed into the radio. “Send me some help now. Jonah is shot.”
* * *
“Hello, anybody home?” a deep Texas drawl yelled, and light from the open door filled the Honky Tonk.
She jerked her head up and scanned the area. It was dark and cool. Where had the desert gone? Where was her rifle and why was she wearing cowboy boots? She looked to her right and Jonah Black was gone. She drew her eyebrows down. He’d been there the last time she blinked. Then the past faded into the dark corners of the beer joint and the present brought a cowboy across the hardwood dance floor.
“Back here.” Her voice was hoarse and her mouth dry. She’d fallen asleep on the table when she sat down for a rest. Her arms tingled as the feeling returned, and her heart pounded. It was the same thing every time she went to sleep. Recurring dreams of Iraq, of the job that women did not do and were not trained to do in the army. But Sharlene had done the job, and when she was discharged, she’d brought it home with her in the form of nightmares.
The sound of cowboy bootheels on the hardwood floor coming toward her sounded like gunfire. She covered her ears and shook her head. She needed another second or two to bury the visions and pull herself away from the sight of Jonah and his dark-brown dead eyes.
“I’m looking for Sharlene Waverly. I was supposed to meet her here at one o’clock.” The Texas voice grew closer.
She stood up and extended her hand. “I’m Sharlene. You must be Holt Jackson. Have a seat. Can I get you a beer?”
Holt’s big hand swallowed hers. He noticed that her hand trembled when he shook it.
“No, I’m fine. You are Sharlene Waverly?” He frowned as he let go of her hand.
She had kinky red hair and green eyes. She didn’t look old enough to work behind the bar, much less own one. She barely came to his shoulder and would have to produce an ID to get out of a convenience store with a six-pack.
“Yes, I am. Sit and we’ll talk.” She motioned toward the table with four chairs around it and an empty beer bottle on the top. “I was just about to start cleaning up the place from last night’s business. I fell asleep with my arms under my head and they’re still tingling.” She shook her arms to restore feeling.
He pulled out a chair and sat across the table from her. He was tall with thick, dark hair that tickled his shirt collar. His mossy-green eyes scanned the beer joint, finally coming to rest on her.
“So where do you want to build an addition to this place?”
She pointed toward the north end of the Honky Tonk. “I want to knock out half of that wall and make a room as big as the original Honky Tonk. I’ll put