Snake Eater - THE BRAVO BOYS [book three]

Chapter THREE

Logan Nash

I flick on the lights in my quiet midtown apartment, kicking off my shoes to pace across the woven carpet to my set-up.. I shrug out of my jacket and shirk my tie before dropping into the chair behind the series of high tech flatscreens.. The startup chime of the computers echoes loudly, cracking the silence and I wince with a jolt, jumping to turn the volume down.. "Shhhh-shit, shit, shit!"

With a few strokes of the keys I manage to find her.. Shelby Quinn.. There isn't much of an online presence for the intriguing little Marine.. But what I discovered surprises me senseless..

Not only was she the crowned queen of the state, she has a flawless military record and a set of commendations that put half of Iris' agents to shame..
Two purple hearts, multiple bronze ans silver stars, a legion of merit and a POW medal that causes me to think of her in a whole new light.. A light that I don't like because it forces me to feel something I had been trying hard not to feel.. Empathetic..

To think of her chained up in some foreign hellhole being treated like an animal is sickening.. She's so small.. So pretty..

Fuck!
Get it together man!

The sounds of quiet footsteps break my train of thought as they scuffle in the hall alerting me that Dallas is awake..
Soon, my niece appears in the doorway, rubbing her tired sapphire eyes and glaring fire at me in the way only a teenage girl can..

Her messy strawberry blonde hair piled into a bun atop her head and she pulls her fluffy pink dressing gown over her striped pyjamas as she squints at me in annoyance.. "What the hell, Logan! It's like- one in the morning!"

"Sorry Dallas, my meeting ran late and I had to take care of some stuff after.. Go back to bed.." I whisper loudly, shooing her with the wave of my hand..

She shakes her head, "Since I'm already awake can't we play a few rounds?"
Dallas nods towards the screen connected to the gaming console, blinking at me with hopeful big blue eyes that I find it difficult to say no to..

"Hmm- I still got work to do, Tex.. " I hum hesitantly and she huffs with an adorable pout, wearing me down easily.. She's got a face that's sort of impossible to say no to..

Goddamnit..

Dallas looks just like her mother and she uses that weapon against me on a daily basis.. She is a carbon copy of my soft-hearted older sister, Dixie, who had perished along with her husband, Houston, in a house fire when Dallas was just seven years old.. "Pretty please, Uncle Logan?.."

To this day I have no idea why Dixie and Houston decided to write my name down as guardian to their daughter in the event of their death..
They really dropped me in the fucking deep end that's for damn sure, but I did everything I could to make it work.. I learned how to braid Dallas' hair the way she liked, I learned how to tie her pretty pink ribbons into bows, paint her nails and sip make believe tea with her dolls..

All I ever wanted was to give her a normal childhood, but as Dallas got older, it didn't get any easier, puberty and a newfound interest in boys brought with them a whole new set of seas to navigate..

Nothing could have prepared me to become a single parent to a teenage girl and I feel like I'm always several steps behind, no matter what I do.. No matter how hard I try I can never give her what she really wants.. What she has always needed..

A mother and father...

Instead, she has me..

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that Dixie chose me.. In the tragedy of losing my sister, she gave me a gift.. A best friend..