The Battle: Alone: Book 4 by Darrell Maloney Page A

he could almost feel the tension leaving his body. The adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins, the almost giddy excitement he’d started to feel because the time for battle was getting ready to begin… they started to subside as well.
         He started to relax.
         Purposely and systematically, he began to go over the actions he needed to take to prepare for the morrow’s activity. Just to make sure he left no I undotted, no T uncrossed.
         He was back on his game, and the sense of confident calm he felt was familiar to him.
         It felt like the days when he was in combat, going out on morning patrols in the desert sands north of Fallujah. Each day he’d brief his fire team. Tell them what to watch out for. What terrorists were rumored to be in the area. How to spot them and what to do when they did. The latest tactics the insurgents were using, and how best to counter them.
         In those days, the lives of his Marines were in his hands. They might live or die based on whether he did his job well.
         Tomorrow his wife and daughters would take the place of those Marines. If he did something half-assed or stupid, or if he got sloppy and careless, his loved ones could pay a terrible price.
         But Dave Speer knew he was up to the task.
         He knew it in two tours in Iraq.
         And he knew it in God-forsaken Kansas.
         He never let his Marines down.
         He wouldn’t let his family down either.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 21
     
          After dinner that evening Swain had taken Sarah aside while the others were clearing the table and starting the nightly ritual of washing the dishes and scrubbing the kitchen.
         “Sarah, honey… why don’t you see if you can sweet talk Lindsey into covering for you? I’ve got something I’d like for you to see.”
         Lindsey, passing by, heard the remark and shot her mother a sympathetic glance.
         Lindsey was sixteen now, but wise beyond her years. She’d known that Swain fancied her mother, almost from the beginning. She didn’t know why, at first, until Swain himself had told her how lucky she was.
         “Your mother is beautiful in a way most women strive for and never obtain, Lindsey. Few women have such natural beauty. Most women use makeup to cover up their flaws and hide their imperfections. As such, they are little more than painted clowns, putting on an air of passability simply for the purpose of attracting men and keeping them interested.
         “But your mom is different. And so are you. Your mother’s beauty is such that putting makeup on her face would be a crime. It would cover up what God gave her and deprive the world of seeing her natural beauty. She doesn’t need makeup, for it would merely hide what she already has to show off.
         “Lindsey, you are the same way. You’re young still, so you probably don’t even know it yet. But someday soon the mere sight of you will cause men to turn their heads, stop dead in their tracks, and ask your name. They’ll want to get to know you, even if knowing them is the last thing you’ll want.
         “Trust me, sweet child. It is so obvious to me that you possess the same rare beauty that your mother has. And the day is not far off when you’ll come into your own.
         “I know you wonder why I shower so much attention on your mother. Sure, I’ve seen other beautiful women in my time, and had quite a few of them. But your mother is in a class above them all. Except for my own sweet Sarah, who I lost a long time ago. Your mother is my Sarah’s spitting image. That’s why I fawn over her so. She brings back such powerful memories of what I once was, before my world went to hell and then the rest of the world followed suit.
         “My Sarah, you see, died tragically when she was way too