Page 33 of Heat Force
The boy’s face lit up as he turned the cap over in his hands, his fingers brushing the embroidered logo. “What does it say?”
“It’s the Yankees,” Hawk said with a grin. “My favorite baseball team. Now you look like a real fan.”
Moyo grinned wide and popped the cap onto his head, adjusting the brim until it sat just right.
Lexi’s smile was thanks enough.
“I’d better get back,” she said, gesturing to the clinic.
“Thanks for lunch,” he called after her.
Hawk and Moyo ate their sandwiches, sitting in some shade at the edge of the clearing. Moyo adjusted his new cap, glancing up at Hawk.
“Miss is a very nice lady,” he said in French.
Hawk replied in kind. “Yeah. She is.”
“She helps me a lot,” the boy continued, his tone serious. “She told me not to go to the rebels.”
Hawk froze, his glass halfway to his lips. “The rebels?”
Moyo stared down into his drink. “They take boys like me. Teach us to fight, to be soldiers. I don’t want to, but sometimes we have no choice.”
Hawk’s jaw tightened. The boy’s words struck him harder than he expected. He’d read about child soldiers, seen the headlines and the reports, but hearing it from Moyo, a kid he’d come to know, made it real in a way he wasn’t prepared for.
“She’s right. You don’t have to go with them,” he said firmly. “You’ve got a choice, Moyo. You’re good with your hands. You can stay here, learn a trade. Be like your dad.”
Moyo’s expression darkened. “My father is dead.”
Hawk exhaled, unable to prevent the surge of anger. The injustices of this place—the things these kids were forced to endure—were staggering. He’d thought he’d seen it all, but this was something else.
As they sat in silence, Hawk’s gaze drifted back to the clinic porch where Lexi was setting down a bowl of water for the stray dogs that had taken up residence at the sanctuary. Always thinking of others, always putting herself second.
It wasn’t just her kindness, although that was part of it. It was her strength. Her ability to thrive in this brutal, unforgiving place. He admired her. The thought shocked him. He didn’t admire many people, but she was an exception.
“So,” Moyo said, breaking his thoughts, “back to work?”
Hawk glanced down at the boy and nodded. “Back to work.”
Together, they walked back to the site, the sun climbing higher overhead.
CHAPTER 14
Asudden crack of thunder split the air, loud and jarring. Lexi flinched and turned to look out of the glassless window. Fat droplets of rain began to fall, pockmarking the dry dirt of the clearing outside.
She’d known it was coming, of course. The heavy, oppressive heat of the last few days had been a warning, the jungle holding its breath for this exact moment.
Within seconds, the rain came down in sheets, thick and relentless. It drenched the clearing, transforming the dirt into slippery mud and sending workers scrambling for cover under the broad, sheltering mango and eucalyptus trees at the jungle’s edge.
“Come inside!” she shouted toward Hawk and Dan, who were struggling to throw a tarp over the mini-cement mixer and a pile of freshly mixed concrete. Moyo was nowhere to be seen. She hoped Hawk had sent him home before the storm hit.
Hawk lifted his head at her shout, his soaked shirt clinging to his chest and shoulders, every muscle defined under the wet fabric. Lexi couldn’t help but stare as he and Dan sprinted toward the clinic, rain streaming off them like they’d just emerged from a river.
“This storm’s going to shut us down for the day,” Hawk said, stepping under the doorway’s shelter and shaking the water out of his hair.
Dan wrung out his shirt, his teeth flashing in a quick grin. “Might as well send the guys home. No sense in waiting this out.”
Hawk nodded, and Dan disappeared into the rain to dismiss the crew.