Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
“If we hadn’t moved the way we did, it would have been your daughter! It was an impossible situation. I’ve lost one of my own, too. Breaker was a son to me, Skull—”
“Except he wasn’t He wasn’t your blood. My son is gone. He’s in a damn body bag awaiting transport back to Kentucky. It’s not the same. Your sons are still there standing behind you—even the one you do not want!”
I don’t think. I know he’s hurting, and I should take that into consideration, but my emotions are too close to the surface, too. I stand up to face him so quickly that there’s no way he can be prepared. My fist plows into his face with a sickening crunch. Skull holds his face and then he launches at me.
I take several hits before I land another to his gut. The anger I see in Skull’s face is unlike anything I’ve seen from him before. I know he’s unleashing his anger at Diego’s senseless death. I decide to let him have it, and pull my punches. I just hit him enough to make it look convincing. Even though I may be getting older, I know I can take Skull any day of the week. I always could. He’s strong, but he hasn’t lived his whole life to survive the way I have. I deflect as many of the hits as I can, allowing him to pummel me as he screams out in anger and grief. The fight continues, time no longer matters. I take each hit, giving some of my own. They may not be with my full strength, but I know they land well enough to inflict pain, and I want to give him that. I know the pain will help him, too. He wants the hurt. He wants to concentrate on something besides the anguish of losing his son. So, I give that to him, partially because I do feel guilt. I couldn’t have changed what happened, but if there was a way to go back in time, I would have gone on patrol and not sent Breaker. I know Skull is blaming himself, too. He volunteered Diego. That bitter fact is tearing him in two right now.
We exchange blows until we’re both swaying on our feet. I know I need to end this. It falls on me. Skull will keep going until his body gives out. I wrap my arms around him, locking them on his back as he keeps trying to hit me in the gut. The punches are connecting, but there’s not much juice behind them because I don’t give him room to drawback to hit me. Finally, with frustration and sorrow, he screams, crumbling to the floor in agony. The room empties. My three sons are the last to leave. Three. That’s going to take some time to get used to. Once they leave, Skull pulls away from me, letting the tears fall. I feel them stinging my eyes, too. I lean against the wall, bringing my knees up, bowing my head as the man loses himself to grief.
“I can’t rest until I kill them, Dragon. I have to do this.”
“I know. Nicole left this morning with Sabre, Shaft, and Dancer. She wanted to be with Beth until you got there.”
“Mi Cielo. I don’t know how she will survive this. I was supposed to protect her from pain. I vowed that I’d never let it touch her again after everything we went through. I failed her. I failed my son …”
“If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, Skull, is that we can’t stop the bad shit. It comes along with the good.”
“What are you truly waiting for?” Skull asks, surprising me.
“I told you. Bull is out with others trying to find any trace of Breaker.”
“Si, but I know you. There is more. I’ve been watching as you’ve been taking meeting after meeting with Hangman. What don’t I know?”
“You’ve gotten sharper over the years, Skull.” I scrub my face, erasing the evidence of my own tears.
“No,” he denies. “You were just too engreído to see that others could be as cunning as you.”
“Whatever,” I scoff, and he gives a disgusted laugh, making me smile.
I don’t understand the friendship that Skull and I share, but there’s no denying it. For whatever reason, it’s there. Somewhere along the line, I began to think of him as a brother, and despite our issues, I know he feels the same. Maybe it is because when it counted the most, he had my back. Steel is forged by the hottest of fires and the same can be said about friendships. When you go through hell together, the bond formed is unbreakable.
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I am. I just need a little more time to make sure what we’ve discovered is true.”