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"You keep talking, Murphy Soo"

They rounded the last corner, bringing the café into sight across the public square Despite the open space, the weekly , the croere thicker here He and Mac slowed even further No one hurried in this town, and, like Mac said, they didn’t want to call attention to themselves They weren’t supposed to be here Hell, they weren’t here Not officially Only a couple one for real Back to the States For awhile anyway

Which hy it was so iht He didn’t want to lose her just because he was going hoe an American visa for her, a tourist visa or whatever else he could get She’d love it in California, where he was based with the SEALs He knew she would

They finally broke through enough to see the café, still halfway across the square He searched the patio and balconies, looking for Sophie Soh the crohen he caht--

He stopped, frowning "Mac?" he said softly

Next to hi them each plenty of room to draw the weapons tucked into their waistbands in back "Yeah Looks kinda eet in there, Mac If Sophie’s wait--"

The rest of his sentence was lost as the world exploded around theh the air like shrapnel, landing on the tables of thethe wares displayed there Fla him of a Roman candle on 4th of July

And the screa around the square al only that they had to escape, but not knowing how to get there Others running fro, from the torched merchandise tables, so desperately to help

"We’re outta here, buddy" Mac grabbed Colin’s ar him back the way they’d co in disbelief, before reality crashed in on him "Sophie!" he roared He yanked his ar over injured people on the ground, their faces and li little ain, feeling the heat of the flaotten within thirty yards of the cafe, sweat dripping down his face

"Murphy!" Mac’s voice was right behind hie, but not stopping it Not when the woman he loved--ah, Jesus, he loved her Colin bent over his knees, the pain in his chest so great he thought he’d die froration and knew no one was alive in there Had she been inside? Had she arrived ahead of hione" Mac’s voice was hard, no roorabbed Colin by the back of the neck, bending over to talk into his ear "I’ed Colin upright, turning him with brute force until they joined the rest of the people strea an ar, just onecartel payback, a hit on soe to someone else, and who cared how many innocent civilians died in the process?

Sophie! Colin dug in his heels "I’ve gotta check, Mac I gotta know--"

"You don’t gotta do nothin’ except keep walking You’ll call her later, check to see if she’s okay, say all those sweet, Southern things But right noe’re leaving"

Colin kept walking, putting one foot in the front of the other, Mac’s presence the only thing that kept hi They reached another street finally, a narrow alley that led who knehere But it was dark and cool, a welco heat behind them Mac would have hustled him into its safety, but Colin turned at the last er out of the building, a black corpse of a figure, screa when rescuers rushed to help He stopped and stared Was that Sophie? Was she so for hi Colin out of the nightmare he hadn’t had in years He wiped a hand over his face and found it soaked with sweat, just like the rest of hirimaced, shoved aside the damp sheets and climbed out of bed, naked as the day he was born And the da him so early? He went into the bathroo to the phone ring, and in between the rings--

"Fuck" He spat the word out with feeling That daain It drove the neighbors nuts, which was probably why his phone was ringing Art went down into the city every once in a while and the dog didn’t like being left alone And every ti off the hook with coht on that Let’s slit the dog’s throat and barbeque it for dinner, how’s that? Nothen, huh?

Colin shbors’ faces if he actually said that to any of thes of their own Everybody up here did But so blue tick hound of Art’s Although, Colin had to admit that old John Henry’s deep bellow did sound like the voice of doo roo his cell phone out of the pocket, catching it just before it went to voicehis watch where it lay on the table Okay, so it wasn’t actually that early in the day, after all

"Good afternoon to you, too, Murphy"

He pulled the phone away frohton Perfect

"What do you want, Leighton?"