The Lost Relic by Joshua James EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Joshua James
- Language: English
- Genre:Metaphysical Fiction
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
Palmdale, California
RHETT ZAPPOTIS CROUCHED behind the shrub and wished to God
that his leg would give him five minutes of peace. He was in the middle of
something, dammit. If he’d known this was how the day was going to go,
he’d have taken a stronger painkiller at breakfast.
A few yards away, a twig snapped, and Rhett held his breath. His finger
twitched on the trigger of his gun, but he stopped himself from firing just in
time. That particular itchy trigger finger had gotten him in trouble more
than once, but he’d gotten better at listening. Waiting.
Another twig. Something rustled in the undergrowth.
Rhett took a deep breath, braced his bad leg under him, and rocketed out
of his hiding spot, squeezing the trigger for all he was worth. He was out in
the open before he registered that he was aiming not at a person, but at the
chubby bulk and gangly legs of an overweight yellow Lab. His finger was
still on the trigger of the Supersoaker when a barrage of NERF bullets
pelted him from two directions.
“No! McNugget!” Rhett stumbled to a halt. “You blew my cover!”
McNugget’s pink tongue lolled from his mouth as he tried to lick the
stream of water Rhett was still squirting in his direction. When he stopped,
McNugget dropped to the grass on his belly and licked the water from his
fur instead.
“Got you, Uncle Rhett!” Kosta held up a hand for a high five. His sister,
six-year-old Anna, tapped her palm against his.
“You did.” Rhett pressed a hand to his chest and forced a smile. “Using
McNugget as a decoy was a dirty trick, though.”
“He’s a good boy,” Anna said proudly. She jogged across the lawn to
where the damp Lab was still rolling in the grass, and gave his plump belly
a loving pat. He thumped his tail and licked her face.
“That he is. I admit defeat.” Rhett ruffled his fingers through Kosta’s
hair and set out for the porch. If he’d planned ahead, he would have worn
his brace, but his sister would have noticed if he wore loose pants to a
picnic on a hot day, and the idea of having his brace on where Zoe and the
kids could see was…
Not humiliating, but unthinkable. The reminder of everything that he’d
been through would have hung over him like a pall all day. Civilians didn’t
want to think about veteran injuries on Memorial Day. Zoe wanted to
celebrate the fact that her brother had made it home alive, rather than dwell
on all the people who hadn’t.
Rhett couldn’t forget, but at least without the brace to remind him, he
could forget how many of those deaths were his fault.
His brother-in-law, Cliff, met him at the porch steps with a beer in each
hand. “Need a reload?” he asked.
Rhett dropped the Supersoaker in the grass before mounting the steps.
He needed one hand for the railing if he was going to make it up without
grimacing. “No, thanks. I don’t handle firearms when I’m drinking.”
Cliff laughed, but Zoe shot him a suspicious look. Rhett replied with a
thin smile and lifted his fresh beer in a toast.
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