Free Holding Their Own XI: Hearts and Minds by Joe Nobody

both like our jobs.”
    Terri was stunned. What on earth could cause such a reaction? She was sure both of the guys in the front seat would walk into a hailstorm of bullets or charge an active shooter without a second thought. Why had her empty threat to talk to Nick caused such fear?
    Less than a mile had passed before she put the pieces of the puzzle together. Diana.
    Both of the men in the front seat were probably on Diana’s security detail. The last time she’d talked to her dear friend, the troubled Alliance leader had praised Bishop for being there while Nick was in the hospital.
    “You’ve got the best man in the whole wide world, girlfriend,” Diana had claimed. “He’s been propping me up while you’ve been gone, day and night, and I owe both of you a huge debt.”
    Terri started laughing, the ridiculousness of the entire affair striking her as humorous. Bishop and Diana? Seriously? She’d speak to Nick all right. He needed to give his security men some awareness training.
    “Guys, do you really think my husband is having an affair with Diana? Really? Come clean with Aunt Terri. I promise I won’t tell Nick if you give up the truth.”
    Again, neither man in the front answered, but the small beads of perspiration on their foreheads were telling. The driver reached to turn up the air conditioner.
    Terri finally stopped giggling, “Look, guys, you can speculate all you want. I’m well aware my hubby’s been keeping close company with our fearless leader. Diana told me so personally. I even know he’s been there a few times into the wee hours. They’re extremely close and have fought side by side. She’s going through a rough period right now, and Bishop is helping her like any good friend would. You need to tell your security buddies that they’re completely off base and misreading the entire thing. If Nick finds out about this, he’ll have all your asses running across the desert until your feet fall off.”
    She could tell her words were making them both think, instilling doubt into their perspective. When neither man offered any proof, or countered her statement, she knew they were only speculating.
    Is the Alliance really so stable and boring that security men have to resort to high school rumors and gossip? Is that good or bad, she pondered.
     
     
    Bishop wanted to swat the sand dragon, or mega-deer fly, or flying tarantula, or whatever the damn pesky insect was that kept buzzing his face. It was a big bastard and notably aggressive. Despite the harassment, the tracker didn’t dare move quickly. Motion drew the human eye, and right at that moment, he was slightly exposed on a ridge. Attracting the attention of a competent shooter with a large-caliber rifle could ruin one’s day.
    Again, the winged pest buzzed his nose, but the Texan didn’t move. At least not quickly.
    “You’re letting that little bug distract you,” Grim whispered from nearby.
    “Little?” Bishop hissed back. “That son of a bitch is wearing biker boots and sporting prison tattoos.”
    Grim grunted, “Maybe he thinks you’re cute?”
    Gradually working the cross hairs along the canyon wall, Bishop studied a dark indentation, keen to detect any sort of movement or shape that didn’t belong there. Nothing.
    Another slow sweep through the 24x magnification brought a large pile of boulders into view. There were 100 hides in that formation alone. He began studying each. He was scanning the elevated ground ahead and growing bored with the entire affair. Scouting in an environment with multiple elevations and a billion perfect concealments was proving to be monotonous work.
    Bishop was surrounded by walls of the brightest crimson rock he’d ever seen. Over the last few days, the Texan had noted that the sunlight changed the stones’ hues like a prism. The scenery was breathtaking, ranging from formations that looked like they belonged in a classic Western movie, to oddly rounded hoodoos sprouting from the canyon’s