Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,104

worries.

She wasn’t sure of any answers right now. But the fact that Steve had been so kind, so understanding, and so honest gave her more to think about. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but for the first time in too many years to count, she wanted to figure out where she was going and what was going to be best for her and her child. She had a future to think about, and that’s exactly what she was going to do.

Chapter Twenty-One

Subj: Anderson family picnic, BBQ, paintball war. Participation mandatory —required. Bring full field kits, excluding field weapons. All paintball gear to be provided. Guests are encouraged.

Time: 1500

Date: Today

Place: Anderson Ranch, Coordinates to follow

Operation: Paint Cover

The following invitation was placed on each special ops team member’s seat. They’d seen Chad drive in while they were finishing up their workout, but he’d left unseen before they’d gotten back inside.

“What in the hell is this?” Green asked.

“Looks like we’re going to war, boys,” Sleep said.

“All of us have to go?” Brackish asked. He wasn’t in the mood for games.

“Looks like all of us,” Eyes said.

Brackish jumped on his computer and began looking up each property the Andersons owned, and selected the three that were big enough to host a party like this without any buildings being in the line of fire. There were a few on the cusp, so with the original three he printed each property layout.

Chad should’ve known better than to give the men an operation and think they wouldn’t come fully prepared — even to a paintball war. There was no way they were accepting the equipment provided. They’d take their own supplies — and they were already researching for the best. Even the chance of having inferior weapons in paintball was unacceptable. Brackish pulled up a couple sites where they could purchase what they needed. Then they’d head to town.

“Bring full field kits . . .” Smoke read out loud. “Does he remember what those look like? We’re going to scare the entire neighborhood — hell, maybe the entire county. Eyes, we’ll drive in civilian clothes, then change there, right?”

“Yeah, we aren’t rolling down the road geared up,” Eyes replied

“Ohh, look at these!” Brackish said with glee, making everyone look at his oversized monitor. It was a specialized paintball company. “They have paintball grenades, claymores, ohh . . . and mortar rounds!”

“Listen you guys, this is a game. We’re not going to be setting up claymores on the Anderson family — filled with paint or not. This is our boss,” Eyes reminded them. They might take their games a bit too seriously Eyes decided.

Brackish put his hands in the air to show he was done searching for painful paintball weapons. Eyes might have a point there. They got an invitation to a friendly event and were already planning for war.

“Well, then again . . .” Eyes paused, his face changing into a smirk that told the team he might be a little on board with getting all of the bells and whistles for a fake war. “Chad did say to dress in full gear . . .”

The room erupted with devil dog vigor while shouted words followed.

“Yes!”

“Do it!”

“Give us the green light, Eyes.”

“Let’s show them a good time.”

Eyes shrugged as if he’d been outnumbered. Then he got into leader mode. “Sleep. Brackish. Smoke. Green,” he began, looking at each of them, stopping between each name. He gave a dramatic pause then continued.

“We’re invited guests and we’re going into battle with friends, family, and most likely women and children. We don’t have to go full metal jacket.” There was another pause in Eye’s speech, making the men lean forward, waiting to hear what he was going to say next.

“Then again, we’ve been asked to bring full field kits. No one would ever ask us to bring all of our gear without wanting our best effort,” Eyes said while standing as if he was speaking to five-hundred-thousand people, instead of four.

Putting his hands flat on the table, his head high and his chest out, he stared at the ceiling as if it were the heavens. He then spoke with the most authoritative voice he could muster, all for show, and most definitely a joke they understood.

“If it’s a battle they seek at their front door, we’ll come to them with all of the firepower possible. No man shall forget the strength of our might, no woman shall forget our face, no nation shall forget the challenge