“I’m done,” he said.
Derek laughed.
“You quit!”
Cole removed his gloves.
“The round is over for me.”
“You couldn’t last five minutes!”
Raymond checked the timer.
4:32.
The crowd began murmuring.
Derek threw his arms wide.
“Everybody saw it! He couldn’t make it!”
Cole sat on a bench and carefully straightened his leg.
He had lost the contest he had agreed to.
There was no clever way around that fact.
But as Derek celebrated, Raymond noticed something else: the way Cole had stopped when his body gave him a clear warning, and the way he had refused to punish Derek when he had the opportunity.
Raymond had seen men with years of training who couldn’t do either.
He approached Cole.
“Where did you serve?”
Cole looked up.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because I think I know what happened to your patrol.”
Cole went completely still.
Raymond’s voice dropped.
“Was Sergeant Daniel Reeves with you?”
