A Soldier's Heart Read Online Free Page A

I’m going over his head. At the rate he’s going, he’s going to get himself killed and us right along with him.”
    “You’re preaching to the choir, my man.”
    When they got back to their quarters, there was no sign of Nick. Spence couldn’t muster up enough energy to worry about what was taking him so long. If there was a problem, someone would’ve said something. Eventually the jerk would turn up.
    Until then, Spence helped Leif get settled and then sought out his own bunk. With one last thought about Callie’s smile, he drifted off to sleep.
    •   •   •
    “He’s still gone.”
    Spence sat up and looked around. He was about to agree with Leif’s assessment, but then he noticed a pile of dirty clothes on the floor by Nick’s bunk that hadn’t been there when they’d turned in.
    “No, it looks like he’s been here and gone again.”
    Leif sat upon the side of his bed. “I’m surprised you slept through it.”
    “Me, too.”
    But on second thought, maybe he wasn’t. After an adrenaline rush burned off, he usually crashed big time and slept like the dead. He crawled out of bed and stretched.
    “How’s the arm?”
    Leif shrugged. “I’ll live.”
    “Good thing because I’m not putting up with Nick by myself. Now haul your ass out of your rack and get dressed. I want breakfast.”
    Spence waited long enough to make sure Leif was up and moving before he got dressed himself. While he straightened his bed, he kept an eye on Leif in case he needed help and was too proud to ask for it. Other than a few choice words when he bent down to lace up his boots, Leif managed by himself.
    They stepped outside into the bright sunshine and headed for the mess. As they filled their plates and took a seat, Spence mulled over the best way to handle their current situation.
    Leif sipped his coffee and gave Spence a pointed look. “Wheels, it’s way too early to be thinking that hard. You need to be careful before you short out the last few functioning brain cells you have.”
    “Screw you,” Spence said with no real heat. After a few bites of his meal, he explained, “I’m trying to think back to when our boy went off the tracks. Seems to me he was fine one moment and then nuts the next.”
    Leif nodded. “If I remember, it was a couple of weeks ago right after our mail was delivered. I remember it because he was giving you such a bad time for not sharing enough of the cookies even though he’d gotten a package from his mom at the same time. Everything seemed fine, but then a minute later, he got up and walked out without a word. He’s been a pain in the ass ever since.”
    That sounded right. “So he got a letter with bad news in it.”
    It didn’t take a genius to figure out what that meant. Spence was sure that if it was a problem with Nick’s parents, he would have said something. His mom was good about sending food for Nick to share with his friends. Just a few days ago, he’d gotten a box crammed full of packs of hard candies and trail mix. Check family problems off the list.
    That left girl trouble. It was damn hard to maintain a long distance relationship for the duration of a deployment. Text messages, phone calls, and e-mails helped but weren’t the same as a warm body held close at night. Add in multiple deployments, and the problems only escalated.
    He met Leif’s gaze across the table. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
    “As scary as that idea is, yeah, I am. But there’s no use in jumping to conclusions. When we get back, we’ll toss his bunk and see if we can find any answers. Failing that, we’ll corner him about what happened yesterday and see what he says.”
    Spence finished the last of his coffee. “You know he won’t much like us shoving our noses in the middle of his business.”
    Leif snorted. “So what? He’s never been shy about butting into ours.”
    True, but this was different somehow. Yet what choice did they have? Their buddy was in a downward