Storm Damage - C.P. Smith Page 0,37
back. You make me stronger, Logan.”
His eyes flashed hotly, then he wrapped his fingers around my ponytail and tugged gently until I was fully open to him. “Those days are over, count on that. No harm will ever come to you or your brothers as long as I have air left in my lungs.”
“Cool,” Josh chuckled from the doorway, “but I draw the line at watching you suck face with my sister. Get a room already.”
Startled by the intrusion, Logan and I broke apart instantly, but it wasn’t quick enough to avoid Jake’s fist connecting solidly with Logan’s poor nose.
Eight
Mexico
“WHY DID YOU hit him?” I turned my attention from the road to Jake, who was brooding against the passenger door. The whole scene left me grinding my teeth. Jake was as bad as Ty when it came to men hitting on me. Between the two of them always crowding me, I’d never get married.
Josh snorted, pleased, of course, by the whole encounter. It didn’t surprise me my youngest brother found it funny, because even though Jake had blindsided Logan, the end result was the same: Jake on the floor with Logan’s knee in his back as blood streamed from Logan’s nose. I was certain it was broken this time. The bruising under his eyes had already set in before I left with my brothers.
“Jake can’t handle his sister having a sex life.”
Oh, boy, that was the wrong thing to say.
Jake whipped around and pinned Josh to the seat just as I expected. “Don’t talk about Skylar like that.”
“Guys!” I started to pull off the road for the third time that day, but Jake let go of Josh and looked out the window.
“Logan’s cool,” Josh mumbled, straightening his shirt. “He can take out anyone with a single move, so what’s the problem?”
Jake scowled at Josh. “You don’t see a problem with some drifter sniffing around our sister? Are you mental?”
“He’s an ex-Delta Force operative, not a drifter. I googled all about him after he told me what branch of the military he was in. These guys are like SEAL Team 6, only stealthier. They’re dubbed the president’s private army because they’re like ghosts. For years no one would even admit they existed.”
Jake looked at Josh like he was nuts. “Jesus, Josh, he’s probably making that up.”
“I don’t think so. He’s got this cool tattoo on his arm. A combat knife with a delta insignia around it, and a date. 28 NOV. I know the military refers to dates that way, so I googled it along with any military action that took place on that date, and it pulled up an attack that happened this time last year. I’m pretty sure he’s a fu—freakin’ war hero, dickweed. An honest to goodness war hero. You’re too dumb to see it, but we’ve hit the jackpot if he’s interested in Skylar. The motherfu—” he looked at me and grinned “—effing jackpot. No one will mess with us now. He’s our own private army.”
Hearing that, my thoughts drifted back to what Logan had said about the ghosts in his head. “Did it say what happened? About the attack?”
Josh nodded. “It was an ambush. More than half of a Delta Force unit was blown up by a suicide bomber. Only three members weren’t killed, and only one walked away without injuries. A long-range sniper.”
“They trained me to kill through the scope of a gun.”
“Logan,” I whispered. “That has to be him. Don’t long-range snipers set up away from the battle and pick off people as needed?”
Josh nodded. “Sometimes for days. The longest kill shot ever made was three miles. Snipers have to have ice water running through their veins to be able to make a shot like that.”
“What else did it say about these guys?” Jake asked, finally sounding interested.
“It’s all pretty vague for security reasons, but it said they accept candidates from any branch of the military, so they get the best of the best our country has to offer. The discipline they put them through during their evaluation is intense. It said ninety percent of those invited to try out by the JSOC—that’s Joint Special Operations Command for short—can’t make it through the selection. And of those who do, fifty percent fail. Logan’s more than just a soldier, Jake, he’s a professional killing machine with the best training in the world!”
That explained a lot. Particularly his ability to put Jake and Ty on the ground without breaking a sweat. “No wonder I feel safe