Operation: Endgame
Read Operation: Endgame Online
Authors: Christi Snow
Tags: #friends to lovers, #college setting, #university setting, #romantic suspense, #romance, #military, #christmas, #texas
by
Published by Christi Snow
Edited by Sarah Negovetich
Cover Design by AM Design Studios
Copyright
©
2012 Christina Snow
Smashwords Edition
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Any names, characters, events, or incidences come from the author’s imagination and are not meant to portray real persons or events,
Texas Tech University and Lubbock, TX are real places, but again, they are used only as setting in this very fictional world. Any similarities are purely coincidental.
To the boy who inspired this story: my son, Jacob, who spent many afternoons playing in the woods with his wooden Thompson gun and full-on camo gear with all his buds at Pope AFB, NC.
Book #1: Operation: Endgame
Book #2: Operation: Endeavor
Book #3: Operation: Endurance
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Writing a book is not a solo enterprise and I had lots of amazing advice and feedback along the way.
First, thank you to my girls who read the very first draft of this and told me that it was worth publishing. Girls, your enthusiasm and support means so incredibly much to me. Thank you to: Amber, Amy, Anso, Kim, Jennifer, Michelle, and Mom.
To my fellow writers of SAW: You guys know I love you. You’ve already taught me so much and always make me feel good about what I’m writing. Your feedback is invaluable. Thank you especially to the original crew who I met from that first NaNo, 2011, when this book was born…
Ben, Chrysten, Dave, Lydia, and Nikki
I had to twist his arm to read it, but once he did I think he was pleasantly surprised…first, that he could enjoy a romance novel and second, that I could write one. Thank you Ben. I love you and appreciate all the nights you ate frozen pizza without complaint.
Finally, HUGE THANKS go out to editor extraordinaire: Sarah Negovetich! Even when I was cutting out entire chapters from this book, your notes kept me giggling and definitely kept the entire process much more enjoyable than it would have been without you. Your insight was incredible and you absolutely make this a better novel. Thank you for that!
Twenty Years Ago
Jake could feel the bark of the limb cutting into his palm, but he refused to give away his position by changing the way he clung there. The old oak tree provided the perfect place for him to watch his new neighbors. Day three of spying on their war games and he finally understood the strategy behind capturing each other’s flags. Two of them played every day, complete with camouflage, face paint, and wooden machine guns. Every once in a while, their older brother joined them, but he usually stomped off in a huff after the two smaller boys captured him instead of his flag.
At the age of ten, Jake yearned to join them in their game. Loneliness consumed him after being uprooted from the only friends he’d ever known and dragged across the country to this strange place they called West Texas. He never felt anything as hot as it got here, never seen a place so barren, and never felt so out of his element, before he moved here from the mountains of North Carolina. He felt like he was exploring the wilds of Africa compared to the world he’d known until just a few short weeks ago. Now he spent his time observing the local wildlife in two boys who appeared to be about his age from his perch up in this tree. He wanted to approach them, but didn’t know how. So instead he just sat in his tree and watched all day long.
He brought along plenty of provisions…water and pb&j. His mother was so caught up in her own issues; she didn’t even notice he was gone all day every day.
It had been quiet for a while and Jake wondered if the boys had gone in, when he caught sight of one of them sneaking around the tree just to his left. This boy was the smaller of the two although there was no doubt they were brothers. They looked too much alike to be anything else. The boy held his gun at eye level as sweat dripped down the sides of his face leaving trails through his face paint. He wondered how they could stand those heavy camouflage uniforms in the West Texas summer heat. As if sensing his thought, the boy drew a canteen out of his belt and drank. While his attention was diverted, the other boy ran up behind him and leapt on him with a tackle sending both boys rolling through the grass. Their roll took them around behind the tree and Jake lost sight of them. He craned his head under the limb trying to see what happened and lost his balance.
Jake scrambled to catch a good hold on the limb again, but it was no use. A scream rose out of him as the ground rushed up to meet him and he tumbled onto the drought-hardened ground. The two brothers stopped wrestling to stare at Jake in shock as he rolled over in pain and tried to get his breath back. The larger of the two approached him, but the smaller boy decided this was a good time for retaliation. He pulled his arm back and belted the other one right in the eye. Jake couldn’t help but wince in commiseration. That must have hurt. He eyed the two boys warily wondering if they were going to turn on him next as an enemy within their territory.
Instead, he was surprised to see the smaller one smile at him and offer him a hand to help him stand. “Hey you’re the kid who moved in next door aren’t you? We’ve been wondering what happened to you.” He looked up at the limb where Jake had been sitting. “What were you doing up there?”
Jake mumbled, feeling stupid for falling out of the tree. “Just watching. Why’d you hit him?” Jake looked over at the larger of the two who still clutched his eye.
The smaller boy looked angrily at the larger one and stuck his tongue out at him. “He snuck up and jumped me. That goes against the Geneva Code. You aren’t supposed to jump on someone when you have a gun, so I hit him.”
The larger boy rolled his one uncovered eye. “You’re so stupid. That’s not the Geneva Code. The Geneva Code says I can’t jump on you if you surrender. I sure didn’t see you surrendering as you slunk around that tree. I was just trying to minimize casualties by jumping you. You saw it, didn’t you?” The larger boy looked at Jake. “I was in the right, wasn’t I? I beat her fair and square, didn’t I?”
Jake glanced between the two boys nervously, not really wanting to choose sides, but the larger one was right. “Yeah, you beat him fair and square.”
“You liar! He did not.” The smaller boy swung back around and gaped at Jake, looking angry. “Wait, did you just call me a boy?” the boy screeched as he launched himself at Jake who was still sitting on the ground.