by Tessa Elaine
A Soldier’s Roots
Montana Roots Book 2
By
Tessa Elaine
Copyright © 2018
Photo by Shauna Kruse: http://www.kruseimagesandphotography.com/
Cover Design by Dee Ellis: https://www.deeellisauthor.com/
Format Design by Dee Ellis: https://www.deeellisauthor.com/
Editor Jenny Dillion: http://www.proseeditor.com/
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
About The Author
Other Books by Tessa Elaine
Back to my Roots (Montana Roots Book 1)
Can I Ask A Favor?
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Prologue
Today started just like any other day. I woke up in a hot ass tent in the middle of the Syrian Desert. I have been here for a year, and before that, I was stationed in Baghdad. During the day it is so hot you could cook a steak with nothing but a skillet, and at night I’m freezing my ass off.
There isn't a place on my body that is free of sand. That shit gets in everything, and don’t get me started on the spiders and the scorpions. If you don’t check your shit before you gear up, you could be in for a world of hurt.
If the fucking heat stroke and the fucking insects don’t get you, then the insurgents and the RPG’s will.
This place is a fucking death trap.
After putting on my ACU, army combat uniform, I head to my Commander's tent to get my orders. My briefing is quick, and I am told we will be heading into enemy territory. Checking out a small city right outside Al-Safirah, Syria. They are right in the middle of this shit, so that puts us right in the middle of it.
The Commander wants us to go in and see how bad it is. Just a recon mission he says. We will take three Humvees and fourteen men with us. The insurgents are moving in close and taking over city after city, we have to head them off.
Not just for us, but for the innocent, men, women, and children caught in the middle of this war.
With my orders, I walk back to my tent to brief my unit and get ready to head out. As I’m gearing up, I have this heavy feeling settle over me. My instincts have saved my ass on more than one occasion.
I’m staring down at my boots when someone slaps me on the shoulder.
“What’s with the face, Cruz?” Levi says behind me.
I turn around clearing the thoughts from my head and look up at Levi. “Just trying to keep my head in the mission,” I tell him, trying not to worry him. These men depend on me to keep my shit together.
I school my features and load up the Humvee with the rest of the guys. In the first unit, it’s me, Levi, Owen, and Sam. When we are all set, and the other two Humvee are ready we all load up.
I slid into the driver seat and reach in my back pocket, pulling out the only photo I have from home. It’s a picture of me, Lucas, Elena, and Sarah at the lake. It’s the last photo we took together before everything changed.
In the photo, Lucas and Elena are wrapped around each other, and I have my arm around Sarah. I fold the picture in half, so I can only see Sarah and me. She has a smile that could light even the darkest places. Her hair is gold, framing that beautiful face; those green eyes are so bright and innocent.
I run my finger over her face, wishing I could tell her how much I love her. She wrote me a few times, but after the way I left she is a little upset with me. I can’t blame her.
I kiss the photo and slide it back into my pocket. It has become a part of my routine before every mission. The guys know a little about Sarah, but I like to keep her all to myself. So, when one of the guys pops off.
“Do we get to kiss the princess for good luck?” Owen says from behind me.
“Sam,” I say and hear the slap. That’s what he gets.
“Damn, man, even with the helmet on that shit still hurts.”
“Good,” I tell him.
We set out down the desert road with our mission at the forefront of our mind. We are just going in to see where we can help, and what they know about the insurgents trying to take over their city.
The closer we get to town things seem quiet, too quiet.
We are about a mile from town, so I call it in.
“Phoenix six, this is Red four. We are one mile from the location. Over.”
My Commanding officer comes back. “Red four, you have Phoenix six. What's the sitrep? Over.”
He wants to know what I’m seeing. We are the lead.
“Phoenix six things are quiet. No signs of civilians. It looks like a ghost town. Over.”
I look at each of my men, giving them the silent command to be on the lookout.
“Red four, proceed with caution. Out.” Always.
I radio the other two Humvees and let them know what’s going on. We are to stay on mission and to stay alert. But things don’t seem right.
The hair on the back of my neck stands on end, and I hear Owen start to growl in the back like some rabid dog that wants off his leash. They all feel that foreboding feeling I am having too.
We get to the town line, and I start to slow the Humvee. Things don’t look right. Even in a small town, there are usually kids everywhere, people walking around, but not here.
Every door and window are shut tight, there isn’t a soul on the street. I hear Sam whisper, “What the fuck,” that’s when shit goes to hell.
I hear it before I see it, and then everything goes black.
When I come to, I can't feel anything, my ears are ringing, and my head is spinning. I’m trying to look around and assess the situation, but my eyes are blurry, and there is smoke everywhere. I hear shouting and gunfire over the ringing, but just barely.
My vision clears slightly, and I look down to see why I can’t move. There is so much blood, and my left leg looks like hamburger. I start to panic, not understanding why I can't feel my leg. I turn my head to search for my guys and see the Humvee blown to shit, about two yards away. Fuck!
My mind is racing, and I start yelling for my guys. The other two Humvees are locked in a shoot-out with a building to my left. We are taking heavy fire, and there's not shit I can do to help. My weapon is gone, and I can’t move.
Things start to go black again.
When I come back someone has me by the vest and is dragging me behind the Humvee. I hear the call go out as another man is trying to stop the bleeding, not only on my leg but the left side of my stomach and my ribs.
“Phoenix six, this is Red seven. We are under heavy fire and taking on casualties. Send QRF. Over.”
I hear the faint sound of someone responding to the call before everything goes black again. I’m in and out of consciousness, fuck. I wish I could just stay awake long enough t
o find out about my unit.
I come to one more time, and I’m in the back of a Blackhawk helicopter, being airlifted out of there. I’m asking the medics around me about my men.
“Where are my guys?”
“Sergeant, stay calm. Let us get you stable and out of enemy fire.”
I lay my head back and clench my teeth at the pain going up my left side. The pain has everything going black once more.
The next time I wake the room I’m in smells like disinfectant and the walls are white. I try to sit up and look around, but my body feels like it’s stuck in quicksand. I start to panic. I’m paralyzed.
A woman leans over me and tells me everything is okay, that I’m at the base in Germany. I was medevac out of Syria. I try to talk, but my throat is so dry, I feel like I swallowed the desert.
“Shhh,” she says and injects my IV with something that has everything going black again.
“Fuck!” I manage to say before I pass out.
I wake again, and I feel like I died. My body hurts, my head feels like it has been split open, and my leg is killing me. I try to call for someone, but I can’t talk, my throat feels like sandpaper.
I sit up the best I can, so I can get a good look around. Damn, my leg is fucking killing me. It feels like it’s been through the grinder. That has me drawing up short.
I feel like there is something I should remember; my head is just not with me. I can’t remember shit.
I pull my blankets back to get up and find someone so I can find out what the fuck is going on. I look down, and my stomach hits the floor, my heart stops, and I retch over the side of the bed.
Everything comes back to me in a flash, the Humvee exploding, me lying in my own blood. There is nothing in my stomach, and I dry heave yellow stomach bile and curse the pain in my head. My left leg is fucking gone, what the fuck? From the knee down, nothing.
I am ripping cords off me while my guts are on the floor. The machine behind me starts making a god-awful beeping sound, making my head hurt even more. The door to my room flies open and in walks three nurses in scrubs and a man in a white coat.
The doctor immediately relaxes when he sees that I’m not dead.
“Mr. Cruz, please calm down and let my nurses hook you back up. I will explain everything. I know you must be confused. I assure you that you are safe.”
I lay back on my bed, not saying a word, waiting for the end of my life as I know it.
Chapter 1
Wyatt
The weather is getting colder, and these jobs need to be done. We took on a couple more, hoping to finish them up before it gets real bad. But this one has been a pain in my ass. This guy seems to think as soon as we get one project done he can change everything about the work we just finished.
A job that was supposed to take two weeks has taken four. I know Lucas is sick of fucking with this guy.
Lucas Wayne, my best friend, took over his father’s construction company a few years ago after he suffered a heart attack. It’s not what he really wanted, but Lucas is loyal to a fault. The guy is always there for his friends and family no matter what. He’s the one that gave me a reason to leave the house and start putting my life back together.
When Lucas took over Wayne Construction, he was overwhelmed and gave me a job that would help us both out. I oversee the job sites and make sure everything is done to code and finished on time.
After I was discharged from my military career, I had no idea what I was going to do. When I got home to Eureka, Montana I was lost, first in my own head, then in booze and pain pills. The pain was unbearable and physical therapy left me feeling like a failure.
It was a year after the explosion that I finally made it stateside, but a piece of me will always remain in Syria. Not just the people I lost but also the parts of myself that I lost.
Coming back here hasn’t been easy. I’m paranoid, always looking over my shoulder. I’m angry about how life has turned out. I feel like I’m always on the edge of snapping.
I lock myself in a small cabin I bought off an old hunter. It’s in the woods right on the town line. Surrounded by tall trees, high mountains, a long driveway, and not a soul for miles. Keeping me away from civilian life. My mind gets lost, and sometimes I’m pulled back to a place I don’t want to be, and reality starts to fade.
My mind has a hard time telling what’s real and what’s not.
It happens so fast when it hits. Like right now, I hear gunfire, and I try to convince myself that its nail guns and that I’m on the job. I’m not in the desert, and I’m not in the war. The only war I fight now is with my own demons. I try to pull myself out of this flashback, but it feels impossible.
The only thing I can do is walk to my truck and climb inside. I am barely holding onto my sanity.
I fumble in my center console and pull out a stack of letters. On top is the picture I carried with me every day while I was deployed. It had blood stains and worn edges, but the one thing I need is still visible. My light in the dark.
I might not be able to have the real thing, but Sarah Wayne’s smile has pulled me through more shit than I care to admit.
I jump when someone knocks on the driver’s window of my truck. Looking up, I see it’s my foreman, so I slide the photo and letters back in the console and roll down my window.
“What’s up, Steve?” He looks down at his shoes like he doesn’t want to say it. “Spit it out,” I tell him.
Clearing his throat, he gives me the news. “The owner is here and wants to talk to Mr. Wayne.”
Motherfucker. This asshole wants to change shit again. I nod my head and start my truck. If I talk to this guy without Lucas, I might kill someone.
I drive back to town trying to brush off what happened ten minutes ago. I’ve been back for three years, and I still can’t shake that place. Syria was like climbing into the pits of hell, and I don’t just mean the heat. The blood and violence were more than one mind can take. It’s like a piece of my brain is permanently there, and every once in a while, I jump back to that place.
The place where every day you fight for your life and the lives of those around you. Where one wrong move can cost you your life and theirs too. Things start to get fuzzy, and my hands start to shake.
“Shit!” This can’t be happening again. Twice in thirty minutes?
I pull over to the side of the road, trying to calm myself once again. This time the photo isn't enough. I scramble for my phone with shaking hands. Thinking about everything I‘ve lost is pulling me back under this dark fog.
My body is on autopilot, it knows what I need before I do. I hear a faint ringing, and I can’t tell if it’s in my head or on the phone. Then I hear it, that soft voice that has my body going slack and my head slowly clearing. It’s the voice of my angel.
“Wyatt, are you there?” I hear her say through my thoughts. I can’t speak; I just needed to hear her voice. “Wyatt, are you okay? All I can hear is breathing. You better not have called me while you were…” She lets the last of that sentence hang in the air, and I realize she thinks I called her while I was fucking someone. Never.
“Shit, sorry Sarah. I was…” shit, think of something. “Running.” Yeah, that sounds legit.
“Are you okay, did you need something?” she asks in the sweetest voice.
Now to finish the lie, “No, I must have accidentally pocket dialed you.”
She huffs a breath that sounds disappointed. “Well, I have to get back to work,” she says, and instantly my mouth wants to beg her to stay on the line a little longer.
“Yeah, me too,” I say and hang up the phone as I hear her say, “Bye Wyatt.”
I finally get my shit together enough to drive back to the office. When I walk in Lucas’s secretary waves me on and I open the door. I see my best friend sitting behind his desk with a mushy look on his face, telling his woman how much he loves her.
The bastard has turned sappy ever since Elena walked back into his life.
El
ena and Lucas have a complicated past, but they seem to have found each other again. After Elena lost both her parents on her eighteenth birthday, she took off for seven years. She just recently returned to Eureka to sell the ranch, but Lucas was determined to stay in her life.
I’m happy for them both, but I have to admit I’m a little jealous. I would love nothing more than to be that happy, but there is only one woman that could ever make me that happy and I can’t have her.
Lucas hangs up the phone and looks up at me. “What’s up man?” he asks and starts to straighten papers.
“Same shit as last week. That asshole is at the job site wanting to talk to you. If he changes one more thing…” I have to stop myself before I snap.
My shoulders are tense, and my fists are clenched. I know Lucas can see how pissed I am. This fucker comes to the job site twice a week to change the shit we have already done. We will never finish this job if shit keeps going this way.
Lucas stands and makes his way around the desk, he slaps me on the shoulder. “I’ve got this man. He can’t keep showing up at the site and changing shit, or he can find someone else to fix this place.” My thoughts exactly.
We both head back to the job site, and after Lucas has a talk with the owner of the property, my guys and I get back to work.
Before Lucas leaves, he stops me. “You’re still coming this weekend, right?” What’s this weekend? He must see the confusion on my face because he shakes his head. “Really man, you already forgot the wedding shower?”
Shit, that’s this weekend? I thought I had more time. “Damn, man I’m sorry. You know I wouldn’t miss it.” He just smiles and starts walking back to his truck.
“See you later man.” I throw a hand over my shoulder in a half wave and try to get back to work.
I’m going to need help with this gift; I wonder what my sister is doing after school today?
The rest of the day seems to go by without issue, and after work, I climb into my truck and head to my Mama’s house.
My mother and my little sister are the only family I have. Everything I do is for them. Mama worked two jobs when we were kids just to give us what we needed. She sacrificed everything for Lexington and me.