SECTOR 64: Ambush Read Online Free Page B
Author: Dean M. Cole
talented Captain Fitzpatrick hello for me. And, tell her she's still the second best fighter pilot I know."
"You bet," Jake said. He grinned in spite of the confusion. "It's quite chivalrous of you to place yourself third."
"In your dreams, buddy," Richard said through a laugh.
CHAPTER THREE
Sandy woke to the sound of Jake's voice in the living room. Heard from across the apartment and spoken in subdued tones, the words were indecipherable. Near the end, his voice rose, and she even heard laughter. The conversation had ended before she deduced Richard, their flight school classmate, had been on the other end of the line.
Jake was so distracted when he returned to the room, he didn't notice she was awake.
Sandy studied his face. Gone were last night's uncharacteristic stress-lines and baggy eyes. Either a night's rest or news from Richard had washed it away. However, she saw something new in his face, an underlying look of confusion.
He climbed back under the covers.
"Who was that?" she asked.
Jake twitched as her voice broke through his apparent trance. "Richard," he answered after a brief pause. His tone was distracted. Lying on his back, he stared at the ceiling.
His change in demeanor concerned her. "Is everything all right? How's his leg?"
"He's … fine. His leg is better." Jake raised his eyebrows. "Actually, he's back on flight status."
"That's great!" Sandy said. Her head on his left shoulder, she rested her left arm across his chest. "What's wrong?"
Jake fell into an uncomfortable silence. After a while, he planted a kiss on her forehead. "I need another hour of sleep."
Still lying on her right side, she lifted her head and touched his cheek with her left hand. "Okay, baby."
The questions running through Sandy's mind must've paraded across her face. Jake smiled, a resolved expression chasing away his distracted look. "I'm sorry I've been so mysterious. Let's get some more sleep, then I'll tell you all about it."
Sandy stared into his eyes. After a moment, she pinched his nose. "You better, mister." She kissed his cheek and rolled onto her back. "Now, get some sleep."
He smiled. "Yes, ma'am." After setting an alarm on his phone, he placed it on the nightstand. Laying his head back on the pillow, Jake closed his eyes.
After a few moments, rhythmic breathing told Sandy he'd fallen back to sleep. He'd always been able to do that. Jake fell asleep with ease, a fact that often annoyed her. Sandy regularly took an hour or more to find it.
Being careful not to wake him, she rolled back on her right side to study his face. Even asleep, the underlying confusion she'd glimpsed earlier still furrowed his brow. Looking at him, she remembered the first time they'd met.
She'd thought Jake was an asshole. He and his best friend Richard were cocky to the point of annoyance. While Richard had, in fact, proven to be an arrogant, impatient asshole, she'd grown to love them both.
While Jake and Richard had attended the Air Force Academy together, Sandy, a Stanford grad, had recently completed officer candidate school. All three were freshly commissioned second-lieutenants, the Air Force's entry-level officer rank.
The first time she saw them was at Air Force flight school indoctrination. The two were loud and obnoxious, so involved in their antics, they scarcely noticed nor acknowledged their fellow classmates.
While Jake's short dark hair and angular features attracted her attention, she quickly tired of their antics.
Later that evening, she saw them again, this time in the officers' club. Seeing Sandy in civilian clothes and not having recognized her, they had assumed she was an officers' club waitress.
While Richard was slightly taller than Jake, his abrasive impatient demeanor left Sandy unimpressed. He immediately began flirting, bragging about being in flight school and how he was "certain to go straight into fighters."
Sandy had played along, to a point.
After a moment of boasting, Richard asked her to
"You bet," Jake said. He grinned in spite of the confusion. "It's quite chivalrous of you to place yourself third."
"In your dreams, buddy," Richard said through a laugh.
CHAPTER THREE
Sandy woke to the sound of Jake's voice in the living room. Heard from across the apartment and spoken in subdued tones, the words were indecipherable. Near the end, his voice rose, and she even heard laughter. The conversation had ended before she deduced Richard, their flight school classmate, had been on the other end of the line.
Jake was so distracted when he returned to the room, he didn't notice she was awake.
Sandy studied his face. Gone were last night's uncharacteristic stress-lines and baggy eyes. Either a night's rest or news from Richard had washed it away. However, she saw something new in his face, an underlying look of confusion.
He climbed back under the covers.
"Who was that?" she asked.
Jake twitched as her voice broke through his apparent trance. "Richard," he answered after a brief pause. His tone was distracted. Lying on his back, he stared at the ceiling.
His change in demeanor concerned her. "Is everything all right? How's his leg?"
"He's … fine. His leg is better." Jake raised his eyebrows. "Actually, he's back on flight status."
"That's great!" Sandy said. Her head on his left shoulder, she rested her left arm across his chest. "What's wrong?"
Jake fell into an uncomfortable silence. After a while, he planted a kiss on her forehead. "I need another hour of sleep."
Still lying on her right side, she lifted her head and touched his cheek with her left hand. "Okay, baby."
The questions running through Sandy's mind must've paraded across her face. Jake smiled, a resolved expression chasing away his distracted look. "I'm sorry I've been so mysterious. Let's get some more sleep, then I'll tell you all about it."
Sandy stared into his eyes. After a moment, she pinched his nose. "You better, mister." She kissed his cheek and rolled onto her back. "Now, get some sleep."
He smiled. "Yes, ma'am." After setting an alarm on his phone, he placed it on the nightstand. Laying his head back on the pillow, Jake closed his eyes.
After a few moments, rhythmic breathing told Sandy he'd fallen back to sleep. He'd always been able to do that. Jake fell asleep with ease, a fact that often annoyed her. Sandy regularly took an hour or more to find it.
Being careful not to wake him, she rolled back on her right side to study his face. Even asleep, the underlying confusion she'd glimpsed earlier still furrowed his brow. Looking at him, she remembered the first time they'd met.
She'd thought Jake was an asshole. He and his best friend Richard were cocky to the point of annoyance. While Richard had, in fact, proven to be an arrogant, impatient asshole, she'd grown to love them both.
While Jake and Richard had attended the Air Force Academy together, Sandy, a Stanford grad, had recently completed officer candidate school. All three were freshly commissioned second-lieutenants, the Air Force's entry-level officer rank.
The first time she saw them was at Air Force flight school indoctrination. The two were loud and obnoxious, so involved in their antics, they scarcely noticed nor acknowledged their fellow classmates.
While Jake's short dark hair and angular features attracted her attention, she quickly tired of their antics.
Later that evening, she saw them again, this time in the officers' club. Seeing Sandy in civilian clothes and not having recognized her, they had assumed she was an officers' club waitress.
While Richard was slightly taller than Jake, his abrasive impatient demeanor left Sandy unimpressed. He immediately began flirting, bragging about being in flight school and how he was "certain to go straight into fighters."
Sandy had played along, to a point.
After a moment of boasting, Richard asked her to
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