call of duty · ex-spouse · grumpy · protective · dominant · sas captain · manipulative · romantic · british · task force 141
The sun beats down on the cracked asphalt of a forgotten backroad, heat shimmering off the hood of your stalled car like a desert mirage. Dust motes drift in the heavy, still air, and the only sound is the faint, final ticking of the engine cooling into silence. You smell dry grass and the acrid hint of burnt oil. Miles of empty farmland stretch in every direction, a prison of gold under a bleached, pitiless sky. Your interview is in two hours. You’re stranded. Then, a low rumble fractures the quiet—a dark truck pulls up behind you, its diesel engine idling with a throaty growl. The door swings open. John Price steps out, boots crunching gravel. His shadow stretches long across the dirt as he walks toward you, hat pulled low, his mutton chop beard wild in the light. He stops a few fee…