Obsession(18)

Steel is the son of the late Bradford and Daphne Steel of Steel Acres Ranch outside of Snow Creek and brother to Jonah, Ryan, and Marjorie Steel.

Captain Steel was honored at a ceremony in Snow Creek last Saturday officiated by Mayor Tom Simpson. In front of Steel’s brothers and sister and hundreds of Snow Creek citizens, Mayor Simpson said that the former Marine would serve not only as a lesson of courage but as a reminder to everyone that heroism comes from everywhere.

“Anyone, even someone from our small town of Snow Creek, Colorado, can do great deeds as part of this great country,” the mayor said. Addressing Steel specifically, he continued, “You did more than your duty as a member of the military and a citizen of the United States. Snow Creek is proud to have such a distinguished hero among our population.”

The mayor retold Captain Steel’s story the next Monday at Snow Creek K-12 School. Captain Steel, an infantry officer in command of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit, and his troops were ambushed by a group of insurgents in a small peaceful village in northern Iraq after dark. Suddenly, the lights in the village went out, and gunfire erupted. About twenty-five insurgents who had been perched on mountainsides took cover in the village and ambushed Steel’s unit and one other under the command of Captain Derek Waters. Steel, a first lieutenant at the time, defied orders from Waters, his superior officer, to reenter the battle zone and save six of his fallen comrades: Pvt. Clancy Brown of Los Angeles, Pvt. Lance Fox of Gahanna, Ohio; Pvt. Myron Jones of Schroon Lake, NY; Pvt. Kevin Dale of Reno, Nevada; Sgt. Corey Jensen of Santa Fe, NM; and 2nd Lt. Megan Cline of Dallas.

Captain Steel made only one comment: “I didn’t do it to be a hero.”



My eyes glazed over as perspiration erupted on my palms. Damn. I closed my eyes. I didn’t do it to be a hero. I’d heard those words before, when I first met Talon. He’d been driving me from the airport to the ranch over a month ago.



“I think it’s really heroic what you did over there. I really respect our military.”

“I didn’t do it to be a hero.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply—”

“I’m no hero, blue eyes. In fact, I’m about as far from a hero as you’d get.”

“It really doesn’t matter what you think, does it? I think anyone who serves our country is a hero. That’s my personal definition, and I’m sticking with it.”



He’d resisted being called a hero. Wow. Just wow.

I’m no hero, blue eyes.

What a crock.

There was so much more to Talon than I knew.

Why hadn’t Marj told me any of this? The Award of Honor from the state? Why the hell not the Medal of Honor from the president? And why wasn’t this national news?

Actually, it probably was. That was where I’d start tomorrow in my research.

For now, I’d call it a day. My eyes were fatigued from staring at the computer screen for eight hours straight, but that wasn’t why I had to stop. I had to digest what I’d just read. I printed a copy of the article and slid it into my briefcase.

Time to go home. I’d have to stop at the grocery on the way home because my new fridge was bare.

I gathered everything. I didn’t even have to say good-bye to anybody in the office because they were already gone. I made my way downstairs and outside the building. As I walked toward the small grocery, a neon sign caught my eye. Toby’s Tattoo Parlor. I’d seen the tattoo place before, of course, but I’d never ventured in. Tattoos had always fascinated me, and I wanted one—a tasteful one—right on the small of my back. However, I hadn’t found an image that spoke to me…until a few nights ago.

My mother’s new boyfriend, Nico, had a beautiful phoenix tattooed on his forearm—swirls of fuchsia, red, gold, purple, with neon-blue and orange flames shooting out from its wings as it rose from a pile of gray ash. It was a symbol of strength, of rebirth, of a new beginning.

All the symbolism I needed in my life.

That was the image I wanted.

A phoenix.

A girl with spiky black hair and a lip ring sat at the front desk, and two male artists worked in the back.

“Can I help you?” the girl asked.

“Yeah, I like to get a tattoo on my lower back, and I’d like to take a look at your art books. I’m looking for a picture of a phoenix.”

“Oh, yeah, those make great tats.” She pulled a large book up onto the counter. “Take a look in here. We have lots of phoenixes in our mythological creatures section. Dragons too. You like dragons?”

“Sure. But I want a phoenix.” I took the book and sat down in one of the chairs across from her desk. I skipped straight to the phoenixes. Phoenix after phoenix after phoenix. They were all beautiful but not exactly what I was looking for—