Betrayal

Betrayal by Tim Tigner Read Free Book Online Page B

Book: Betrayal by Tim Tigner Read Free Book Online
Authors: Tim Tigner
shrapnel? A bullet? Divine intervention? He twisted his neck and shoulder, provoking more pain as he tried to get a look at the mysterious wound. All he could see was blood pumping through the sleeve of his shirt.
    He strained to compress the wound with his chin while struggling to remove his belt with his one working hand. If only he hadn’t taken his radio off, he cursed himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid. With effort he got his belt noosed around his left arm and a heartbeat later he cinched it down half an inch above the pulsing stream. He saw the flow ebb to a trickle, but it did not stop. Gritting his teeth, he cinched it further, ratcheting down until the pain was almost too much to bear. Finally the bleeding stopped. His makeshift tourniquet would be safe for a minute or two. He only needed something to keep him conscious until his team returned. Then Adam could apply a pressure bandage and achieve hemostasis without cutting off the blood-flow to his hand. He hoped he would still have enough juice in his system to run. The guys would give him grief for the rest of his career if they had to carry him to the extraction site.
    Odi began laughing at the irony despite the intermittent jolts of searing pain. He could not help it. Realizing that his boisterous laughter was both dangerous and an indication of the onset of shock, he forced himself to stop. That was when he noticed the eerie silence. It would only be a few seconds now.
    He pictured his teammates emerging like demons from the dark and smoke and strained to see them. He anticipated the wry smiles and jibes he would get when they saw his wound. “Can’t we leave you alone for a minute, Carr?” “We should have hired a babysitter.” “I think he’s really a Marine.”  
    No one came.
    That was strange, Odi thought. He wondered if the loss of blood had warped his sense of time. He checked his stopwatch. Four minutes and ten seconds had passed since the first salvo. They were seventy seconds overdue.
    Odi waited another fifteen seconds, but no one appeared. “The radio,” Odi said, cursing himself again. He looked over to the left where he had thrown down his headset and saw a broken mess. Whatever had hit his arm had obviously demolished his headset too. The sight made him think of the magic Kennedy bullet.
    Glad to have a backup he patted his breast pocket. It was empty. Empty? Then he remembered Waslager commandeering his sat-phone. “Great. Just great.”
    Odi was seriously worried now. If grenades were still exploding or bullets were still whizzing he would understand the delay. They would signal that his team had encountered unexpected resistance. But all was quiet. Wounded or not, Odi knew that he had to investigate. Someone might need his help.  
    Getting to his feet, he wondered how long it would take for local law enforcement to arrive. The complex enjoyed a peripheral location and the village itself was remote, but capture was not the only concern. He replayed the Commander’s incessant order that they not allow themselves to be identified.
    The protest emanating from his left fingers became unbearable. He eased the pressure off his improvised tourniquet and craned his neck to observe the sight of the wound. Crimson began to gurgle forth. He was still losing arterial blood.
    He ripped his compression bandage from his pack and slapped it down directly atop his pulsing wound. The position was awkward and neck-cramping, but he still managed to hold the wad of gauze in place with his chin. Wishing he had a spent bullet to bite he cinched his belt down directly over the wound. Judging by the pain, the shrapnel was still inside. He screamed “Waslager, you bastard!” and then made for the rubble.
    Odi needed only a minute to find the first man. O’Brian. He lay in a crumpled mass and was already covered with course gray soot. Although Odi could not see the entry wound, the expansive pool of blood beneath his body indicated that he had been hit in

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