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A Soldier’s Promise
Cheryl Wyatt
MILLS & BOON
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Dedications
To Mom, who always said I could.
To my favorite soldier, Dad, who always said
I could do it better.
To Lisa, who always said she could do it better. Grin.
To Billy. Not one soldier marching around my imagination
could occupy the place you’ve secured in my heart.
To Granny Nellie and Aimee. I could not have done this
had you not stepped in while I went MIA from my
Hide-N-Seek posts to write.
To Mag, Eno and Randa. I love you to infinity.
Ready or not…here I come!
To my editor, Melissa Endlich, for handing me
this dream in the form of a contract.
To my agent, Tamela Hancock Murray of Hartline,
for seeing promise in my work.
Thank you, Lord, for remembering our dreams
even when we feel they’re long lost.
I love you all beyond what words can express.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Acknowledgments
To fellow author Anne Greene and her personal hero, Colonel Larry Greene, U.S. Army Special Forces, Ranger, and the other military contacts (you know who you are) who’ve helped me validate research for this series. May the Lord watch over you and your loved ones as you watch over our country. Thank you for serving.
To Lynette at Lifeway in Carterville, Illinois. Little did we know when you led me down the Christian fiction aisle that God used you as a traffic director to walk me into my destiny as an author.
Chapter One
“Sure you wanna do this, Montgomery?” Fellow U.S. Air Force Pararescue Jumper Nolan Briggs asked above the engine hum.
“I’m sure.” Joel shifted away from the window as the luxury jet broke through wispy Southern Illinois clouds on descent to the one place on earth he never wanted to see again.
Refuge. The irony made him snort.
Nolan leaned close enough for Joel to inhale toxic doses of mafia-strength garlic. “’Cause if you don’t, we’ll handle it.”
Teammate Manny Peña joined Nolan in the passenger aisle. “Yeah. Nobody’ll know if you don’t make the jump, dude.”
Joel fastened a gaze on his well-meaning friends and fellow PJs, and aimed a thumb at his sternum. “I’ll know.”
And so would that kid.
“It’s gonna be tougher than you think,” Nolan said.
Hardest mission of his life. Especially on a cold Friday in September. Joel laced his boot. “Nah. Piece of cake.”
“Right. Like running a catering service with an Easy-Bake.” Manny clicked the overhead bin open.
“No sweat.” Joel tugged his chute pack from under the seat.
“Not a drop,” Nolan agreed. “But the offer still stands.”
“He asked for me. I can’t let him down, guys.” Joel retrained a determined gaze on the small town peeking up at him. Recognition of his old neighborhood clogged his throat. He clenched his jaw against a surge of unwanted emotion. He looked away from familiar landmarks. “I’ll be fine.”
As long as he steered clear of that house, and the uncle who’d destroyed his family, he’d be fine.
A chorus of unconvinced faces stared back at Joel when he looked up. A torrent of vulnerability rushed through him at their perception. He torqued his gaze out the window. True. They could do this without him and spare him the pain.
Except for one thing.
He tugged the letter out of his chest pocket. Unfolding it, he eyed the elementary attempt at cursive.
My name’s Bradley. I’m eight and I have cancer. My teacher called Dream Corps who said I should write a letter about
