Read Online Blaze of Glory by Jeff Struecker, Alton Gansky - Free Book Online

dinner.”
    As he ate, Moyer gazed out the window at the passing world below. From this height he could see roadways and cities, but people were invisible. Six billion people on the planet, most of them good, honest, respectable. But there were the others. Moyer wasn’t good enough at math to work out the percentages, but he knew that a few people could make life horrible for millions of others.
    He had to find one such man.

    MOYER WAS A YOUNG man at thirty-eight, but he was beginning to feel his age. Not so much physically, he could still bring it when he needed to, but his mind and worldview had aged faster than his body. In his twenties he never worried. The world was a toy. The Army trained him, equipped him, and empowered him to move beyond emotion. Even after he married Stacy, he never worried about dying on the field. She was young and could remarry easily. But when his children came along, Rob and Gina, that began to change. The idea of another man rearing his children ate at him. Still, he learned to live with it. Rob was now seventeen and until a few months ago had been a royal pain in the butt. Like many teenagers, he withdrew, battled his parents about everything, and took an interest in anything that would irritate his father. Moyer had only made things worse. Being an Army brat was no easy thing; being an Army brat to the leader of a Spec Ops team was worse.
    Gina, however, remained the jewel in his crown. Smart, supportive, she often saw things more clearly than adults. He hoped that she wouldn’t change as she entered her teenage years. Moyer would be happy if his daughter remained perpetually thirteen.
    Early on Moyer showed little concern for the families of his team. Then his own children arrived. Suddenly he saw things differently. He began to invite his team to his house for barbecue. He and his men would watch sports, preferably NASCAR racing, and the women would visit. Those times grew special.
    Months ago, before beginning the mission to Venezuela, Moyer had thought he was seriously ill. Not wanting his superiors to know, he first went to a civilian doctor but received a call-up before the doc could run the needed test. The entire time he was in South America, Moyer believed he had colon cancer.
    Moyer gazed down the aircraft and looked at his men. Rich Harbison was big, loud, funny, and seemingly impervious to pain or fear, but Moyer knew the man loved his wife more than most men are capable. He might joke about the hardships of marriage, but he would eat glass if Robyn asked him to do so. The highest compliment men like him could receive is, “He’s a good soldier.” Rich was a great soldier and an excellent second in command. They didn’t always agree, and Moyer had knocked heads with the big man more than once, but when bullets began to fly, he wanted to be next to Shaq.
    Pete Rasor sat at a window over the wing, something he did every time he flew. He said it was a smoother ride. Pete was the youngest of the bunch, a fact that earned him the nickname, “Junior.” He was smart, and like many young men his age, he loved anything tech. He was an early adopter. If anything tech came out that had a high “cool factor,” Pete bought it. Even as Moyer watched him, Junior was playing a video game on his iPhone. When J. J. announced his engagement, Pete did the least of the teasing.
    J. J. sat on the other side of the aisle from Pete, earbuds crammed into his ears. His eyes were closed as if asleep, but every few moments the Sergeant First Class bobbed his head. Moyer assumed the man was listening to music, but with J. J. it could be a sermon. He was an enigma Moyer had yet to fathom. Several of his team believed in God. It didn’t mean they were churchgoers, Bible-thumpers, or goody-goody.
    J. J. should fit those descriptions, but in many ways he didn’t. He never preached to the others; never used guilt to make a point; never meddled. Still, he never kept his faith secret, would answer