Contemporary Romance: Passage of Arms - A Military Romance Novel (Romance, Contemporary Romance, Military Romance, Romance Novel Book 1) Read Online Free Page B
prepared the bagels quickly. She skipped the butter for Ruth’s bagel and only slathered on cream cheese. When she finished preparing Bruce’s halves, she wrapped them in a paper towel and handed them to him. He took them with a warm smile, their fingers touching just slightly. He was warm.
“I’ll call or come back in a couple of days,” he gave her a firm nod and then made his exit. He called out to Ruth one final time, but the young girl didn’t acknowledge him.
Chapter Four
The Split Second
The air around them was so charged Adam felt like it could electrocute him. If he didn’t have a family waiting for him back at home, he was almost positive it was something he would have wished for.
ISIS strikes were increasing by the day.
If they missed their extraction point, they could be stuck in the Middle East for at least another six months. Missing the departure would only mean one thing: an attack, but not just any kind, one that would set their operations back enough to where they have to fall back, regroup, and replan. They’d have to receive fresh Marines first. That could take at least six weeks. Then’d they have to wait until that first deployment had acclimated before they could be relieved.
There was no way he could risk missing the exit point, but things were heating up along any decent path they took their convoys. Orders were changing constantly. First, they were going to wait until the last minute to make the trek towards Baiji, but the commanding officer was too concerned about missing the exit to Egypt to follow suit.
Now they were looking at leaving three days ahead of schedule in order to give them enough time. If they could just make it to Egypt, then they were pretty much guaranteed to make it home safe.
Adam was outside the CO’s tent, waiting for another brief for what he assumed would be another change to the departure.
“Cole, are you out there?” The Colonel barked from inside the tent.
“Yes,” Adam answered quickly. He stood up and entered the sectioned off room. The table was strewn with maps and loose leafs of paper. The Colonel had salt and peppered hair, sun spots on his cheeks and red eyes.
“You’re not going to like it,” he began with a huff.
Adam’s gut tightened. “Do we need to be ready to mobilize tonight?” He asked with a deep breath.
“That’s not all,” he motioned for Adam to sit down. “The second command of Iraqi forces is being starved out by ISIS along those north central cities past Baghdad,” he paused and ran a hand across his lips as he thought. “They won’t be able to last without another shipment past this Friday.” Adam frowned, but kept his mouth closed.
“We’re positive we can get this last set of Marines home once we get to Baiji. There will be an 45 minute lag where we’ll need to unload the incoming supplies.”
“Incoming supplies when we’re supposed to be flying out?” Adam questioned with a voice that was much too hard. His jaw clicked with the news.
The Colonel’s face hardened. With a stern nod, he added, “I’ll need you to coordinate the drop.”
Adam bit his lip and looked down. “Is there no other way to get the supplies?”
“We’ve got one drop coming in the next two weeks for this area, and that is it.” The colonel’s face was hard. He looked over Adam. “Is there a problem?”
Taking a deep breath, Adam sucked air in slowly. After a moment, he shook his head.
“No.”
The Colonel nodded firmly. “Good. I’m going to be counting on you to have everything run smoothly. I know it’s more last minute work than you intended, but if you get those SNCOs working together, you should have the C-130 unloaded within 30 minutes. That’s your window.”
“Got it.” He left the tent seconds later and bit his lip to keep from cursing. He didn’t want to have to worry about anything other than getting his men on that plane and getting out the Middle East. Every kink added another layer of
“I’ll call or come back in a couple of days,” he gave her a firm nod and then made his exit. He called out to Ruth one final time, but the young girl didn’t acknowledge him.
Chapter Four
The Split Second
The air around them was so charged Adam felt like it could electrocute him. If he didn’t have a family waiting for him back at home, he was almost positive it was something he would have wished for.
ISIS strikes were increasing by the day.
If they missed their extraction point, they could be stuck in the Middle East for at least another six months. Missing the departure would only mean one thing: an attack, but not just any kind, one that would set their operations back enough to where they have to fall back, regroup, and replan. They’d have to receive fresh Marines first. That could take at least six weeks. Then’d they have to wait until that first deployment had acclimated before they could be relieved.
There was no way he could risk missing the exit point, but things were heating up along any decent path they took their convoys. Orders were changing constantly. First, they were going to wait until the last minute to make the trek towards Baiji, but the commanding officer was too concerned about missing the exit to Egypt to follow suit.
Now they were looking at leaving three days ahead of schedule in order to give them enough time. If they could just make it to Egypt, then they were pretty much guaranteed to make it home safe.
Adam was outside the CO’s tent, waiting for another brief for what he assumed would be another change to the departure.
“Cole, are you out there?” The Colonel barked from inside the tent.
“Yes,” Adam answered quickly. He stood up and entered the sectioned off room. The table was strewn with maps and loose leafs of paper. The Colonel had salt and peppered hair, sun spots on his cheeks and red eyes.
“You’re not going to like it,” he began with a huff.
Adam’s gut tightened. “Do we need to be ready to mobilize tonight?” He asked with a deep breath.
“That’s not all,” he motioned for Adam to sit down. “The second command of Iraqi forces is being starved out by ISIS along those north central cities past Baghdad,” he paused and ran a hand across his lips as he thought. “They won’t be able to last without another shipment past this Friday.” Adam frowned, but kept his mouth closed.
“We’re positive we can get this last set of Marines home once we get to Baiji. There will be an 45 minute lag where we’ll need to unload the incoming supplies.”
“Incoming supplies when we’re supposed to be flying out?” Adam questioned with a voice that was much too hard. His jaw clicked with the news.
The Colonel’s face hardened. With a stern nod, he added, “I’ll need you to coordinate the drop.”
Adam bit his lip and looked down. “Is there no other way to get the supplies?”
“We’ve got one drop coming in the next two weeks for this area, and that is it.” The colonel’s face was hard. He looked over Adam. “Is there a problem?”
Taking a deep breath, Adam sucked air in slowly. After a moment, he shook his head.
“No.”
The Colonel nodded firmly. “Good. I’m going to be counting on you to have everything run smoothly. I know it’s more last minute work than you intended, but if you get those SNCOs working together, you should have the C-130 unloaded within 30 minutes. That’s your window.”
“Got it.” He left the tent seconds later and bit his lip to keep from cursing. He didn’t want to have to worry about anything other than getting his men on that plane and getting out the Middle East. Every kink added another layer of
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