Chapter 24
24
Lars
The medics rushed Delgado to the infirmary. There was a brief commotion when the commanding officers learned what had happened – but Delgado was still unconscious, so there was only Rachel’s account and mine to go off of.
Seeing as the incident included the threat of sexual assault… the intended victim was a VIP from British Intelligence… and there were two dozen witnesses from the briefing who could attest that Delgado had disrespected Rachel, then grown angry when she cut him off at the knees… everything got swept under the rug fairly quickly.
It didn’t hurt that it was general knowledge that Delgado was a piece of shit. Even the guys from his own unit didn’t stick up for him.
Besides, there was a mission coming up in three hours. And Command wasn’t about to derail everything just because Delgado had fucked around and found out.
At 1530, everyone from the briefing suited up (minus Delgado, of course p>
At 1600, we piled into armored transports.
Rachel got into the same transport as me, Gunnar, and the other Swedish guys in my unit. It was odd seeing her in a helmet and camo that hid everything but her face. It was even more surprising seeing what she planned to do on the mission, given that she was carrying a Psg 90 – a rifle used by both the UK and Sweden.
“You’re a sniper?” I asked in surprise.
“I don’t like to fight up close if I can afford not to,” she said as she sat down opposite me and Gunnar.
“Could’ve fooled me,” I replied.
She just smiled wryly as the transport started and we moved down the road.
“So you’re going to be on overwatch with us?” I asked, jerking my head towards Gunnar.
“I am,” she confirmed.
“Who’s going to be your spotter?” I asked.
She looked at the other guys in the transport. “Anybody want to volunteer p>
“I do!” Gunnar said happily as he raised his hand.
“You’re already my spotter,” I said.
“Aww,” he pouted playfully, which was about as close as he ever came to an actual bad mood.
“I’ll do it,” offered Ingmar, one of the other guys in my unit. I didn’t know him that well, just that he was a competent soldier.
Rachel nodded at him. “Thanks p>
“Why didn’t you mention in the briefing about you being on overwatch?” I asked.
“I don’t know if you noticed, but I kind of had my hands full with Delgado p>
“You fucked him up good, my dude,” Gunnar told her enthusiastically.
Rachel gave him a half-frown, half-smile. She couldn’t tell if he was trolling her or actually complimenting her.
Gunnar was always sincere, but most people couldn’t tell because of his over-the-top cheerfulness and eccentric choice of words.
“No one says ‘my dude,’” I told Gunnar for the thousandth time. “At least, not unironically p>
He beamed. “I do p>
“And a ‘dude’ is a man,” I said. “She’s not a dude p>
“Obviously,” he said happily.
Rachel looked at him sideways – but there wasn’t a trace of leering in Gunnar’s voice, so she let it pass.
“You look like the Dude,” she said to Gunnar.
“Thank you,” he said with a big grin, then announced to the rest of the guys in the transport, “I am THE DUDE p>
“No,” Rachel said, “I meant the Big Lebowski. The Coen brothers movie? Jeff Bridges – ”
“Oh yes – even better!” Gunnar said brightly, then quoted in Swedish, “Försiktigt, man, det finns en dryck här p>
She looked at me in bewilderment.
“‘Careful, man, there’s a beverage here,’” I translated.
Rachel burst out laughing.
It was one of the most beautiful sounds I’d ever heard.
“I’ve never heard the Dude in Swedish before,” she said to Gunnar.
He beamed. “Now you have p>
“Now I have,” she agreed.
“So,” I asked, “how did you wind up as a sniper with deadly hand-to-hand combat skills p>
She smiled and answered in her charming British accent, “I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you p>
I smiled back. “Is that the standard MI6 reply p>
“Yes… but just because it’s the standard reply doesn’t mean it’s not true p>
“I’ll keep that in mind p>