This week’s snippet is from my short story Christmas with Hope. It’s a companion piece to my Wounded Heroes Series – beginning with Kill Shot – and can be downloaded for free from my publisher or at Books on Board. For a chance to win a $5 GC from Amazon, just leave your contact info. Drawing will take place on the 15th. Good luck!
Blurb: Penned down under heavy fire, the sound of the Blackhawk chopper is one of the sweetest sounds a ranger will ever hear. Then to discover an attractive female at the stick has the sparks flying. Hope Erickson, a Blackhawk pilot, and Nick Cunningham, an army ranger, renew their acquaintance on the battlefields of Iraq. Will they risk their hearts to one another or does fate have other plans in store for them?
A bullet ricocheted off the concrete wall, narrowly missing Nick Cunningham's head. Kneeling next to the door, he returned several rounds from his M4. Mortars and small-arms fire exploded throughout the neighborhood. It sounded like the Fourth of July. He searched the rooftop of the building across the road, where the insurgents lay well hidden, but saw nothing.
The mission was simple. Locate and eliminate a cell of insurgents embedded in the small village in western Iraq. But nothing was ever that simple in this unconventional war. As it turned out, the reliable tip that put this mission in motion appeared to be just a ruse to ambush Nick's unit.
Thankfully, only one of his men was injured in the initial firefight.
He glanced over at Doc. The young medic was changing the bandage on their fallen comrade. Lucas' gunshot wound wasn't serious, but if they didn't get him to a hospital soon they could lose him.
Another mortar exploded just outside the door, showering Nick with plaster and dirt. The abandoned school had offered the perfect refuge, but after four hours of continuous hits the roof and part of the front wall were close to collapsing on top of them.
"Hey, Gunner," Nick yelled into his head mike. "You got that radio fixed yet?" He'd been at it over an hour and Nick was losing patience.
Several seconds passed before the soldier answered, "I'm working on it."
Nick glanced down the dirt road to their bombed Humvee, where Gunner and Mac were attempting to fix the radio. They were still receiving fire. Nick had to give them some reinforcement, if they had any chance of radioing for help. "Crocket, come in here and keep the doc company. I'm gonna go see if I can't speed things up a bit."
"Hey, Lieutenant. You may want to hang back," his radio crackled. "Sounds like we have company."
Nick listened. He could barely hear the sound of chopper blades over the gunfire. "Miller, shoot a flare on top of that roof so they'll know our location."
Within seconds of the flare's landing, four blasts demolished the building across the road. The percussion knocked Nick off his feet. Smoke billowed into the school. An eerie silence surrounded them.
