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The oppressive July heat hit Broderick “Brody” Harlo like a physical force as he stepped off the military transport at Fort Benning, Georgia. After three grueling tours with the Army Rangers in some of the most hostile territories in the Middle East, he was finally home.
His duffel bag felt light compared to the weight of everything he’d seen and done over the past four years.
Brody checked his phone for the first time since landing on U.S. soil.
He expected a message from Melanie, his wife of twelve years, confirming she was on her way to pick him up.
Instead, his stomach dropped as he read:
He stood motionless in the sweltering Georgia heat, the runway shimmering, the American flag snapping above the base gate in the distance. Fellow soldiers streamed past him toward their own homecoming celebrations—wives running into arms, kids waving homemade signs, parents crying into uniforms.
The message burned into his retinas as his mind raced through possibilities. Their last video call three weeks ago had seemed normal enough.
Distant, maybe. Their conversations had grown increasingly strained over his final tour, but nothing to suggest this—nothing to suggest she would end their marriage by text as his boots touched American concrete.
Brody’s thumbs hovered over his phone screen. A dozen angry responses flashed through his mind.
Instead, he typed just two words.
Anyone who knew Brody well would recognize the quiet danger in those words.
During his time as a Ranger, he’d become known for his calculated precision. When chaos erupted and other men shouted or panicked, Brody grew unnervingly calm.
“As you wish” was what he said before executing the most devastating operations with surgical precision.
He made a single call.
“Leona Fisk speaking.” The voice was crisp, professional, East Coast vowels over a Bluetooth line.
“It’s Brody Harlo. I need your services immediately.”
“I thought you weren’t back until next week.”
“Plans changed.
Can you meet today?”
“For you? Absolutely. My office, two hours.”
Brody hailed a cab just beyond the security gate, the driver’s Stars and Stripes air freshener swinging from the rearview mirror.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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