My Cruel Salvation (Fallen Saint # 3) - J. Kenner Page 0,77

that this is a mission I am more than eager to take on.”

For a moment, the general stayed at his desk. Then he pushed back and stood. He came around the desk and put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You’re a good soldier. We won’t be losing you forever. But some people will. You can live with that?”

“Yes sir.” Alex answered with hesitation, but even as he spoke, he knew it was a lie. The general had come to him with a scheme for accomplishing something he had always wanted to take care of, and Alex would be eternally grateful. He would willingly accept the help, and in payment, he would carry out the missions, committing three years of his life in exchange for the help he needed. But some of the parameters weren’t acceptable. That, however, was something he intended to keep to himself. He’d learned a lot of things over the course of his life, and one of them was how to keep a secret, and how to choose confidantes who would keep that secret too.

So all he said now was, “I’m ready, sir.”

“Tomorrow then. 0800. Report to Mr. Johnson.” He stuck out his hand for Alex to shake, the action startling him, since it was such an un-military like gesture. Alex resisted the urge to salute, and instead took the other man’s hand firmly in his.

“We understand that this is something you want, but we also acknowledge that you’re making a big sacrifice. We thank you. Your country thanks you.”

Alex nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

“Have you decided on what your name will be?”

“Saint,” Alex said. “My new name will be Devlin Saint.”

“So you’re really going through with it?”

“Do you think I shouldn’t?” Alex asked, looking at his friend Ronan, the only one with whom he’d shared the secret. So far, anyway.

“No. I’m completely on board,” Ronan said. “It just feels like something out of the Bourne books.”

Alex laughed. Ronan wasn’t wrong.

“You’re clear on the parameters?”

Ronan cocked his head and looked down his nose at Alex. “What do you think?”

Alex laughed. Ronan was the most capable man he knew. And he was glad he would have him on his team when this was all over. He hadn’t decided who else would ultimately join him. He was going to talk to Tamra for sure. That would be a little dicey. She wasn’t in the military, so she couldn’t be an active part of the team he was putting together. But he thought she was a good choice as a coordinator. Someone who could help him with both sides of the world he wanted to build. The secret side and the public side. A public side that would try to solve the world’s problems with philanthropy and education. A secret side with a similar goal, but much different methods.

“And you’re okay with doing this?” Ronan asked. “The price they want you to pay.”

“I am. Hell, it’s been a fantasy of mine my entire life.” Ronan knew the story of Alex’s life. Who his father was, how he escaped to the military by telling The Wolf that he was joining up to gain respectability as well as skills. So that he could hide better in plain sight and further his father’s business. That, of course, was a lot of bullshit.

“I can go with you.”

“No. I know you could, but I don’t want you there. I have to do this alone.”

Ronan nodded slowly. “Then I’ll see you when you get back.”

“Not me.”

Ronan laughs. “Well, I suppose that is true. Good luck, man.”

Ronan’s wish of good luck stuck with him as he left the base on the East Coast and traveled west to Nevada. He went in secret, using routes that he’d planned years ago, winding his way into the compound undetected, as only someone who had grown up there could possibly know how to do. He got himself situated, hiding near the practice range where his father went every morning. His post was a quarter of a mile away, and he laid in the dirt, his rifle at the ready for more than half an hour until the man finally appeared.

Daniel Lopez, AKA The Wolf. He had his pistol in his hand, his shoulders thrown back, his chest out. He walked with a pride he didn’t deserve, his step heavy.

If he carried the weight of any of the thousands of people whose deaths he has caused, Alex didn’t see it. Finally, his father was in position standing on the range, his gun lifted