Alex (In the Company of Snipers) Read Online Free PDF

That’s when he saw the bloody patch on her hip. There was one more scrape to wash and treat.
    “Looks like we missed one. Lie back down and let me treat your hip. Then you’ll be done.”
    “No.” She pushed him away. At least she tired to push him away. In the process, she plopped gracelessly onto the cot, off balance and exhausted. “I don’t want you to.”
    “Come on. It’ll heal faster if it’s clean.” This time, his concern was genuine. “I promise. I won’t hurt you.”
    “No-o.” Another tear squeezed from her puffy eye. “Please. I just don’t want to.”
    He knew that look. “It’s okay. I won’t do anything you don’t want. Maybe tomorrow.”
    She still didn’t look at him, her gaze fixed on the floor planks.
    Well, I deserved that. Why should she look me in the eye? What was I thinking? She just needed help. That’s all. It’s not like she had broken in and stolen anything.
    Dinner was quick and hot, just a cup of noodle soup and crackers, but putting something in her stomach did the trick, along with a few Advil. She had no more than emptied her cup of soup when her eyes drooped, and she slumped to the pillow.
    Alex was straightening the kitchen area when he noticed Whisper had made himself comfortable on the cot. Kelsey held the big dog like a teddy bear, her arm wrapped around his neck, her face buried in his fluffy black mane. That’s when Alex heard it—the saddest sound he had heard in a long time as this stranger wept into his dog’s neck. Her stifled sobs filled Alex’s ears as quickly as it filled the cabin. Sympathy lanced the hard-as-nails crust over his heart. He wanted to hug her himself and tell her everything would be okay, but Kelsey was already in good hands, or paws rather.
    Whisper laid his muzzle across her neck, his sharp black eyes focused on Alex as if telling him, “It’s okay. I found her first, and I’ve got her now. She’s mine.”
    Alex let the dog stay. Kelsey needed a security blanket tonight. By the looks of it, Whisper sensed it, too.

     
    Three
    Alex
    Alex sat on the floor, watching his patient sleep. Kelsey was restless. She moaned out a name, but he couldn’t decipher the mumble. There was no doubt in his mind she suffered from dehydration and exposure. The poor woman had to be hurting more then she had shown, but it was also clear someone had used her face as a punching bag within the last week and abused her long before that. He hadn’t seen any defensive wounds on her arms or hands. Why hadn’t she fought back?
    She would be a pretty little thing if she didn’t look like she had just been through a war. Although she had avoided looking at him most of the evening, he knew there were dark brown eyes beneath those long lashes and swollen eyelids. He could also tell she didn’t care what happened to her. True, she had let him scrub her wounds until she was semi-clean and sore, and she had said thanks, but he didn’t get the feeling she meant it. Her whole attitude was more like ‘do what you want’ instead of ‘please, help me.’ Alex recognized the look. He could write a book on hopelessness.
    His mind worked through different scenarios of the trouble she might be in: prostitution, gangs, or drugs, but Kelsey didn’t seem the type. No. There was a genteel quality to her that spoke more of sadness than anything else.
    A sudden burst of wind kicked up against the cabin, slamming the screen door back and forth on its hinges. She jumped in her sleep; her hand to her mouth as if she might cry. She didn’t. Instead she let out a small groan that was instantly lost in the sound of rain drumming loud and hard against the windows. Alex stood over her. How did a woman like her get into so much trouble?
    He couldn’t solve that puzzle, so he secured the door and planned his next day’s chores instead. First thing in the morning, he planned to hike back to the gas station, call the sheriff, and let the authorities take over. While he waited for