Deployed Read Free Page A

of a sergeant who made sure things only went so far.
    If Buck didn’t listen to reason, this was going to get ugly. But she was not going to stand by and let him manhandle Connie. She couldn’t respect herself if she did.
    “Let her go.” Bekah stopped just out of Buck’s reach.“You’ve already hurt her, and you don’t want to hurt her any more.”
    Buck laughed at her, then looked over his shoulder at Billy Roy to make sure he was laughing too. Billy Roy wasn’t laughing, but he had on that stupid, cocky grin that Bekah had come to hate. It had been cute when they’d first gotten together. Now the expression just made her sick.
    Laughing harder, Buck turned back to her. “The Army lets you give orders? Is that what’s going on here?”
    “The Marines.” Bekah kept her voice flat, neutral.
    Buck shrugged. “Whatever. Just because you get to tote around a rifle and sing songs while you’re marching don’t mean you got britches big enough to come up against me. Do yourself a favor. Tuck your tail between your legs and sashay right on out of here.”
    “Fine. Let Connie go with me.” All Bekah wanted was to get her friend safe. Nothing else mattered. She didn’t have to prove herself. She only needed to get her friend out of harm’s way. That was her job as a Marine.
    Connie sniffled at Buck’s feet and mopped at the blood streaming from her nose.
    “Me and her got a few more words to share, now that I got her attention for once. I’m gonna teach her a little respect and to hold a civil tongue.” Buck drew his hand back again.
    Without thinking about what she was doing, acting on instinct and fired by concern for her friend, Bekah stepped forward and turned sideways. With a quickness trained into her through hours of practice, she caught Buck’s hand andwrist as it came down. She added her strength to her opponent’s and torqued the captured arm around, down, and behind Buck’s back, missing Connie by inches.
    Propelled by the sudden motion and the leverage Bekah had, Buck squalled in pain and left his feet in a rush as momentum spun him into a flip. He released Connie and landed flat on his back on the floor.
    Bekah caught Connie under the arm and helped her friend to her feet. “Let’s go.”
    Connie nodded weakly. Her eyes were glazed and she looked half out of it. Bekah had guided her three steps toward the door before Buck shook his head, pushed up to his feet, and screamed in defiance. He came at Bekah at a dead run with his arms outspread.
    Moving quickly, Bekah shoved Connie out of the way and stepped in front of Buck. Again, she took a profile stance, and the movements came automatically from all the training she’d had. She knew she couldn’t meet Buck head-on. His size and strength would break through every aggressive defense she had to stand her ground. Speed and technique were the only skill sets that would help her. At the last minute she stepped to one side, to Buck’s right so that her left shoulder was toward him. Buck instinctively grabbed for her, as she’d expected, because most attackers coming at speed didn’t want their prey to get away.
    Bekah slapped down Buck’s arm with her right hand, then chopped him across the throat with the edge of her left hand. Buck lost his balance and started gagging, trying desperately to breathe. Under combat conditions, Bekah could havekilled someone with the move, but she’d never used it with lethal force and she’d held back the strength of the blow now.
    Buck caught himself over a table and stopped his forward momentum. Hacking and coughing, he turned around and screamed hoarse curses at Bekah.
    Unwilling to let go of the upper hand while she had it—and knowing from watching him in past fights that Buck wouldn’t quit—Bekah stepped toward him, spun, and kicked him in the chest. A shock ran up her leg as her boot made contact. Buck was solid, strong. The impact almost knocked her from her left foot, but she recovered and