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“No, lots of guys in the et from a mile and a half away” Jace took a sip from his bottle of water

“You hated it,” I ht him doith the unpleasant conversation, but on the other, I wanted to understand what made him tick

“Sometimes,” he said “I didn’t know shit about the h my scope I was told who to take out and that was it I didn’t ask if the person on the other end deserved it I was a good little soldier and followed orders”

When he fell silent, I instinctively knew there was more “What happened?” I asked quietly

“Over two hundred kills in ten years Didn’t hesitate even once Final et… it’s a wonores orders to stay back Soldiers on the ground can’t get a good shot – too h that they orried she had an IED and was using the kid to blend in I knew so too much attention to herself,” Jace said with a shake of his head

“Did you take the shot?” I asked My heart was in my throat because I already knew the answer

“Had to follow orders,” Jace said quietly “I didn’t have a clean shot, not with the way she was holding her kid Baby couldn’t have been more than a year old But I did what I was told”

“I’m sorry, Jace,” I offered

He shook his head “Turned out she was just trying to get some help for her kid, but she was deaf Couldn’t understand the orders the soldiers were calling out to her The baby had been sick for a few days, but she’d been afraid to take hients When we showed up, she thought ere her kid’s salvation”

“You couldn’t have known,” I said

“But I did In ut, I knew But all that discipline that had been drilled into er anyway There’s a husband out there who no longer has his wife or youngest son There are four other kids who don’t have a ? Amedal”

Jace took another sip of his water, then motioned to the bay “That fucker’s out here Hopefully buried under twenty feet of fish shit where it belongs”