Read Big White Lie (Storm's Soldiers MC) for Free Online

mistake.”
    “That is the undoubtedly the first mistake I have ever witnessed you make. Where’s your head, Corporal? Are you up in some shit?”
    “No.”
    Another lie. Each seemed a magnet for the next.
    He sighed heavily. “Don’t fuck with me, Corporal.”
    “No fucking, Sergeant.”
    “Well, the hospital says you’re mostly ok. How do you feel?”
    “The leg was barely grazed. I’ll be checking out in short time.”
    “Listen to the doctors and take your time. ”
    “Yes, Sergeant.”
    “Alright. Montego will be coming down to start his investigation. You can talk, right?”
    Shit.
    Of course this was coming. I just thought my independent arrival here would delay it until I could get to base.
    Montego headed up the Military Police at McPherson. He’d just come back from South Korea, where they took that job very seriously. I didn’t want that Latino hound dog anywhere near the bullet.
    “Sergeant, I can be back at the base tomorrow. I prefer to rest today.”
    “There’s no rush to come back. He just wants to talk, that’s all.”
    “I’d prefer to work.”
    A perilous moment came and went.
    Lilton chuckled. “Boy, I sure hope you didn’t fuck up. You’ve got a long way to rise here with work ethic like that. Alright, we’ll see you here tomorrow.”
    “Yes, Sergeant.”
    I set the phone down and stared at it. Montego must be digging already. Lilton’s words were no guarantee that he wouldn’t come collect the bullet. The hospital might have already sent it to him.
    I reminded myself it would tell him nothing, but I didn’t want loose ends. Not with my people’s freedom on the line. I needed to head back and keep his attention away from here.
    I tested my leg. A light twist and the throb turned into a barely-contained howl.
    After dinner, I took the pain meds.
    They swept me out over a warm lake. My body felt weightless, like I was floating on nothing. My mind stilled and I could sleep.
    I drifted into a dreamscape dark in mood, dark in color. Rosa seemed nowhere in sight. I walked through the brush lands of Afghanistan at night.
    The wind shifted in an unnatural whirl. I turned around. A ghostly silhouette tracked me, a swirling mass of scarves and sheer cloth. When it came close, I could see Rosa’s face emerge from shadow, see her small nose, her lush mouth.
    But she was never bare to me. Darkness always shrouded her.
    I felt no fear, but I kept moving towards the empty horizon ahead. In my mind I walked for days, with her always at my back.
    I woke at a proper hour, feeling more rested. Again though, my phone was buzzing. I checked the screen. It was my father.
    “Is it safe to talk?” he asked in his low, sonorous voice.
    “This is my military number,” I reminded him. I had left my own phone in the saddle of my bike, parked in a garage nearby. I didn’t trust it wouldn’t be taken as evidence.
    “I see,” he said. “How have things been going?”
    “I’m doing well. The wound was minor as far as bullets go.”
    “That’s good, Calix.” His voice didn’t warm a degree. “How about other matters?”
    “The police came by. There was nothing for them to find, of course.”
    “Very good. I’m gladdened to hear this.”
    His silence lingered. Eventually, he said. “Well, I’ll pray for your recovery. We’ll talk when you are out.”
    I wondered what he would have asked if the line was private. He was no detective or doctor. He could offer no advice on the bullet or suggestions for my health.
    Maybe he wanted to apologize for persuading me to accept the operation that landed me here.
    The Storm’s Soldiers’ president, Homer, had mentioned what he wanted from me so casually. It was just ‘another drug run’ for him. It was entirely new to me.
    This was not the club I knew before I had left to enlist. I might have turned him down, but when I met with my father later for dinner, he had persuaded me it was for the cause.
    Everything was justified for the cause. We both