Gone Wild (2019 Reissue) Read online

  Gone Wild

  A Military Romance

  E. Cleveland

  Contents

  Authors Note:

  1. Sawyer

  2. Sawyer

  3. Sawyer

  4. Elsie

  5. Elsie

  6. Elsie

  7. Sawyer

  8. Sawyer

  9. Elsie

  10. Elsie

  11. Sawyer

  12. Elsie

  13. Elsie

  14. Elsie

  15. Sawyer

  16. Sawyer

  17. Elsie

  18. Sawyer

  19. Elsie

  20. Sawyer

  21. Elsie

  22. Sawyer

  23. Elsie

  24. Elsie

  25. Sawyer

  26. Elsie

  27. Sawyer

  28. Sawyer

  29. Elsie

  30. Elsie

  31. Elsie

  32. Sawyer

  33. Elsie

  34. Elsie

  35. Sawyer

  36. Sawyer

  37. Elsie

  Epilogue

  One Year Later

  Authors Note:

  This book was previously released as "Saved by the Woodsman." This updated version includes 10, 000 words of brand new content.

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  Copyright © 2019 by Eddie Cleveland

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  1

  Sawyer

  “This is it, man. In seventy-two hours we’ll be back on US soil.” Cole glances at me from behind the wheel. “We just gotta go talk to our guy and then we’re done.” He smiles.

  The headlights on our unmarked Jeep cut through the black desert night, casting streaks of light over the miles of bleached-out sand. I’m gonna miss a lot of things about the infantry, the adrenaline, the guys, hell, I’ll even miss my gun, but I’ll never miss the unforgiving dusty landscape of Afghanistan.

  “Why are you jinxing us? Haven’t you seen this movie?” I groan.

  “What are you talking about.” Cole grins at me, knowing full well that he’s fucking with my head.

  “This is the last mission on my last deployment.” I scan the endless sea of beige stretching out on the road ahead. “This is when shit goes down and you know it. If this was a movie, this is when we’d get blown to pieces.”

  “Or maybe taken as hostages,” Cole adds helpfully.

  “Man, what the hell is wrong with you? Don’t even say that shit out loud. Just keep those thoughts locked up in your brain-box, that’s the last thing I need to be worrying about.”

  “Oh, like it never crossed your mind. You’re the one who’s going on about last mission superstitions. Your life’s not a movie, man. I hate to break it to ya, but you’re just not good-looking enough to be on the big screen. Besides, I think you’re actually hoping shit will go sideways out here.” He gives me a knowing look.

  “You’re crazier than you look then. Why on earth would I want that?”

  “Oh, I dunno.” Cole shrugs.

  He keeps his eyes on the road, but I can see his face clear enough in the moonlight. He’s never had a good word to say about me getting out of the Army. Since the day I told him I was letting my contract expire, he’s been going on about how I won’t be able to function without them.

  “Maybe ’cause your life is about to get brutally boring. I mean, seriously, what are you gonna do on civvy street? I know you, man. Probably better than anyone. Even your girl.”

  “Maybe.” I know he’s right. I met Cole when we went through recruit training together. I love Farrah with everything I’ve got. I don’t know if I’d say it’s with my entire heart and soul or with every fiber of my being or what. I’ve never been one for flowery words. Men in movies always make their love sound like some kind of poem written by Shakespeare. I’m not that guy. All I know is she’s it. She’s my everything.

  “Definitely.” He scoffs. “You might have everyone else fooled, but not me. I know you. There’s no way you can give this up for a boring job and a picket fence and then what? In a few years you might have some ankle-biters running around? You’ll be bored to tears and you know it. You’ll feel like you’re slowly dying out there.”

  “Wow, you should write Valentine’s Day cards for Hallmark. You get it, man.” I shake my head at him and press my lips together flat.

  “You’re right, I don’t get it. I don’t get why you have to give up a career you worked your ass off for just to be with a woman. Like, I understand you love her, okay? Why can’t you have both?”

  I sigh, this is a conversation we’ve had before. Many times. “It’s too hard on Farrah. She gets all anxious about me being gone, it eats at her. And, she’s right, if we want to take the next step, if we’re gonna settle down together and maybe have a family and all that stuff then I want to be there for them.”

  “Sounds like you’re giving up your dreams for hers, if I’m honest. I hope she understands how much of a sacrifice you’re making, that’s all.”

  “She will in a few days.” I smile.

  “Is that when you’re doing the television surprise thing?”

  “Yeah, she doesn’t think we’re coming home for another couple weeks, so she’s gonna lose her shit. It’s all set up, the news station is gonna come with me to my place, like super early, for the morning breakfast program, and I’m gonna pop the question on the air and that will be that. End of this chapter and on to the next.”

  “More like end of a whole fucking book,” Cole answers. He squints through the windshield and slows down a bit as we approach our contact’s house. The wheels crunch against the sand as he eases off the main road and down a side street.

  “And onto a new book, then.”

  “I wouldn’t want to read that boring-ass book. I’m telling ya, it’s a mistake.” He doesn’t mince his words.

  He cuts the lights and we roll down the street quietly. The guy we’re dropping in to see has been a loyal contact for every tour that’s come through here. Even though his loyalty could cost him his life, he still helps us keep an ear to the ground on new Taliban recruits in the area and plans for attacks on our guys.

  “What can I say? I love her, man.” My words are simple but true. “I want us to be a family. To have a family. After the car accident killed my parents, well, I never thought I’d feel that way. Ever.”

  “What about us? We’re your family,” Cole pushes back.

  His teeth are set on edge and a deep wrinkle appears between his brows. I don’t know why it took me so long to realize what this is all about. He’s not giving me a hard time just for fun, although I’m sure that’s part of it. He’s not worried about me being too bored, or being a civilian, or any of that shit. He doesn’t know how to tell me he’s gonna miss me.

  “The Army is my family.” I nod and try to stuff the emotions climbing up my throat back down.

  I don’t have time to get misty-eyed about how my world fell apart when I was seventeen. I fight to keep the image of our family restaurant, a place that was more of a home than our actual house, free from my mind. Losing that place when my parents died, it felt like another death. I was lost. Orphaned. Alone. I had no idea how to get by in this world after everything was taken from me.

  Until I joined the Army.

  “You guys are my brothers. I’ve grown up with you. We’ve had our fi
ghts and our fun times and now I’m ready to leave the nest and get the girl. Just because I’m focusing on starting a new family doesn’t mean I’m forgetting my old one.”

  “So you’re saying you’ll still love me even though you only get to see me on weekends and half the holidays?” Cole smirks at me. “I’ll miss ya, old man.”

  “Two months. I’m two months older than you.” I laugh.

  “Olllld.” Cole throws the Jeep in park and gives my shoulder a shove.

  “You don’t get to call people old unless you can beat them at something. Like anything. Even one single fucking thing in the entire world.” I push him back.

  Cole’s face finally relaxes. He pulls off his seatbelt and throws open the driver seat door, grinning at me over his shoulder as he heads out into the night. “Yeah, wait until you’ve been out of it for a bit. Let’s give it a year, then we’ll see who can beat who.” His eyes twinkle.

  “Anytime, anyplace.” I smirk. Even as we bust each other’s balls, we’re automatically grabbing our weapons. I slide out of the vehicle and keep my muzzle pointed to the ground, concealed at my side.

  Cole does the same. We’re not in uniform, but we’re still on duty. These guns are practically extensions of our arms at this point. The cool metal is a second skin against my palm.

  All joking is pushed aside now. We have a mission to complete and it’s kind of important we don’t get ourselves or our contact killed doing it. They say there’s a kernel of truth behind every joke, and it’s true that I can’t shake this feeling inside that something bad might happen. Like something unexpected is going to flip the script. Like shit could go down.

  I scan the perimeter with my night vision but nothing stands out. The night is silent, and a chill radiates through the air as the clear desert sky cools off the warm sand under our feet. My breathing is slow and deliberate. My pulse is steady and my mind is sharp. I’m ready for whatever happens. My muscles are ready to pounce. My body is ready to kill.

  Cole gently knocks on Abdul-Azim’s modest door and I hear shuffled footsteps as the old man opens it. His white hair twists softly down into his bushy beard. It’s hard to tell where the hair on his head ends and his head begins. It’s easy to imagine his soft, brown eyes looking down with wonder at a grandchild. He has always been a gentle man, in his manner and tone.

  I’ve never asked him myself, but we were told he turned to our side when the Taliban blew up one of the elementary schools. Apparently, they had a problem with kids like Abdul-Azim’s granddaughter going there to learn.

  Cole explains to him in Dari about how our team is heading out. He tells him who his new contact will be and when to expect to hear from them. The old man nods, his skin permanently weathered by sand and sadness.

  My senses are all on high alert, I scan the barren land for signs of danger, for signs of life, but it’s eerily calm. The little hairs on the back of my neck prickle as my body prepares for a battle that only seems to be lurking in my imagination.

  Abdul-Azim and Cole shake hands. I move my gun to my left and give him a firm handshake with my right. This man is many things to many people. A father. A son. A mourning grandfather. An unforgivable traitor. An unforgettable hero. Sweeping my superstitions about this being my last mission aside, I look him in the eye with complete sincerity, “Tašakor,” I thank him in his language. He nods and claps his other hand over mine, and for a moment where we grew up doesn’t matter. The fact that him and I have never really been able to communicate doesn’t matter. It took me way too long to learn how to say one word right, and I’m not even confident that I nailed it. Still, if I messed it up, even that clearly doesn’t matter. The bond between us is solidified in this handshake. In the promise we’ve both made and both honored to protect people.

  To do what’s right.

  We head out as quietly as we came, Cole slowly makes his way back up the empty street and waits until he turns out onto the main road to the base before he puts his lights back on. It’s as much for Abdul-Azim’s safety as ours. He doesn’t need rural neighbors spotting late-night visits from us. Even though we take precautions with our dress and our vehicle, we still stick out like sore thumbs.

  We drive for a mile in complete silence. All of our joking and laughing has faded to a serious contemplation. Meeting untrained, local heroes who risk everything for the greater good has a way of making you sober up.

  “What the fuck is that?” Cole squints and slams on the brakes as we round a curve in the road and almost slam into a herd of camels.

  “Looks like a rolled truck.” I peer through the windshield; my gun secure in my hand. “Could be an ambush.” I search the darkness for signs of the enemy waiting on the sides of the road.

  That’s the thing with this road. It’s the only one that leads to the base which makes it easy for anyone with bad intentions to set up traps, IEDs, or plan attacks. These camels would almost look funny with their googly eyes and big lips spitting all over the sand, but there’s nothing funny about walking into a booby trap.

  There’s nothing funny about dying.

  Cole has no choice but to slow the Jeep and pull over. We can’t plow through the animals and the rocky cliffs on each side of us prevent us from swerving too far around. As he puts the vehicle in park, my heart races. I swallow hard, forcing myself to take a long, slow breath as we wait for the seconds to pass and this possible nightmare to unfold.

  “What do we do?” Cole doesn’t look at me, instead he’s doing exactly what I’m doing, scanning. Searching. Waiting.

  “We’ve gotta get these animals out of the way and get back to the barracks,” I mumble.

  “Unless you’ve got some kind of shepherd skills you’ve been keeping quiet, I’m not sure how we’re gonna do that.” Cole grimaces, twisting his hands on the wheel.

  A man suddenly pops out from behind the camels and we instinctively raise our weapons. My head drops to the sight, my finger curls around the trigger, I’m ready to pull it back and drop this guy when Cole yells at me.

  “Don’t shoot! He’s not armed!”

  I open my squeezed eyelid and lift my head high enough to see that this man is empty-handed. He’s desperately trying to move his camels from the path, clearing a way for us to drive through the chaos.

  It’s slow going, but we manage to slide past and make our way back out onto the open road. It takes longer than that for the adrenaline rush to pass. For the buzz to stop coursing through my veins with every beat of my heart. It’s not until we’re going through the barricade at the front gate, safely heading back into the base that it totally passes.

  “See?” Cole’s eyes twinkle as he looks over at me.

  “What?” I tilt my head.

  “You made it back in one piece.” He grins. “I’ll admit, I was cursing you pretty good back there though. Like, oh fuck, here it comes! Maybe there is something to this last mission, last day shit.” He laughs.

  “Yeah, that was sketchy for a bit,” I agree.

  Cole eases the Jeep through the security checks as the guards inspect our vehicle. Finally, we’re driving back to our barracks. To the place we’ve called home for the past six months. “Think, man, in a few days you’ll never have to worry about any of this shit again. The only thing you’ve gotta worry about killing you now is boredom.” He scoffs.

  I shake my head. I can tell he’s just busting my chops now. And it’s possible that, deep down, he’s a little bit jealous that I found something, found someone like Farrah. Her face flashes in front of my eyes and I can’t help but smile. I’m ready for the new chapter, or the new book, or whatever it is. As long as I’m with her, I’ll never be bored.

  2

  Sawyer

  “Try not to block my shots, please? And keep a slow, steady pace so Frank can keep up with us, okay?” The local morning news lady, Mandy Macy, rushes through the protocol.

  This is the woman that they send out to all the crazy places around the city to talk to locals and show
people at home how fun it can be to toss axes around while jumping on a trampoline or whatever the latest fitness craze is. Sometimes her part of the show makes you wonder if her bosses sit around trying to come up with ways to make her look as foolish as possible on television. It looks like it can be a rough gig, but I’m guessing it’s never boring, so she’s got that going for her. I guess it’s not as bad as how they treat the young, over-smiling weather guy who gets to do his reports from outside every single time a hurricane or arctic blizzard rolls through.

  “Got it.” I nod jerkily. I don’t want to mess up her segment or anything, but I can’t remember the last time I was this nervous. I’ve stormed buildings and exchanged fire with the enemy overseas and had less acid churning in my gut than I do right now.

  I shove my hand in my uniform pocket and rub the fuzzy velvet box for the hundredth time. When I finally get to pop the question, there’s gonna be a worn down spot where I keep touching it.

  “I know you’ve got a lot on your mind, so don’t try to focus on us too much. Frank’s a pro, so he’ll be able to get the best angle and all that for the proposal. You do your thing and forget we’re even here.” She grins.

  “Sure, sounds good.” I keep nodding.

  “Great.” She beams and her strawberry-colored lips spread into a wide smile. She turns and focuses on her aging cameraman as he shoves an entire doughnut in his mouth and wipes his hand down his jeans. “Ready, Frank?”