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“Mac I want some cover fire. That girl is going to be dead if we don't do something,” I said.
“Sir if we start laying down cover fire we're likely to end up dead too. Don't forget sir you're the one person that scares these jokers more than anyone else,” Mac said.
“So you're saying we should just let them kill an old woman and two children. That's unacceptable Mac, I want cover fire to give them time to get here. Once they're here we'll do what we do best and disappear,” I said.
Mac and the others started laying down the cover fire I requested and I felt the panic of the little girl all the way into my bones.
The old woman wasn't able to move fast, at least not as fast as the children, and the boy refused to leave her. I started out of our cover and knew the only thing I could do was wait. They got about half way from the house to our location to the west and the house exploded, as three rounds of mortar fire hit all at the same time. If there was anyone else in that house they had no chance of escape, and I didn't dare let my men stick around to look for possible survivors other than the two kids and the old woman we knew about.
I had seen the old woman knocked off her feet from the explosion, and feared she might have been to close to the house when it went up. I looked over at Mac and felt someone tap me on the shoulder.
“Daughter of the Lotus I did not dare hope to see you in this life,” the old woman said.
I had no idea what she said, yet I understood every word.
The Hidden Rose Page 43
