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It surprised Delgado even more.
“You?” he scoffed.
There’s a fair amount of misogyny in Special Forces. Not against women in general, but against women serving in the military.
Not me. I figure if you want to fight, you go through the training, and you qualify, then you’ve earned your place. I’d served with plenty of good female soldiers in the regular Swedish military, and I knew an outstanding female helicopter pilot.
But Special Forces is typically full of a bunch of tough guys who think that women shouldn’t set foot anywhere near a battlefield.
Even then, Delgado was in a class by himself. It wasn’t just the stereotypical Latin machismo or locker-room attitudes toward sexual conquests. He honestly seemed to think women were good for nothing more than sex and cooking him meals.
Which is probably why a woman briefing him on a mission raised his hackles…
And why he felt entitled to be openly disrespectful to her.
To the credit of the other Spaniards in his unit, they all glanced at each other like What a fuckin’ tool.
But every guy in the room was highly interested in seeing how Rachel Bauer would handle herself.
“Yes, me,” she said in an even colder voice. “Do you have a problem with that?”
Delgado smirked like he was hitting on her at a bar. “I think such a pretty lady should not be endangering herself.”
“That’s not your call.” She glanced back at the monitor. “Now, as I was saying – ”
“If I’m going into battle with a woman,” Delgado interrupted, “I’d say it is my call.”
The look Rachel gave him was pure contempt. “Your name is Delgado, correct?”
She’d obviously read our files in preparation for the briefing.
He raised his chin cockily. “Sargento Primero Jorge Delgado, GOE.”
“Well, Delgado – if you have an issue with my inclusion in the mission, you’re welcome to sit this one out.” She swept her gaze across the rest of the room. “That goes for anyone else who agrees with Sergeant Delgado. I won’t complain to your superiors, I won’t make an issue of it, and you won’t be penalized. I’ll see to that personally.” She looked back at Delgado with a vicious glare. “But I don’t want anyone on my team who doesn’t want to be there.”
It was a command performance on her part: self-assured, powerful, and take no shit. You could feel the room’s level of respect for her go up several notches.
Not from Delgado, though.
I could see the wheels in his head spinning, gearing up for the next assault.
His Spanish buddies glared at him like QUIET, you idiot! –
But the asshole couldn’t help himself.
He said with a smirk, “If there is anyone who should withdraw from the – ”
“If you’re going to leave,” Rachel interrupted, “then do it now. Otherwise, shut up. Either way, stop wasting my fucking time.”
Every man in the room stifled a laugh –
Every man except Delgado, that is.
He kept a smile plastered on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. I could tell from how the corner of his mouth twitched that he was pissed.
“Is there anything else, Sergeant?”
She said ‘Sergeant’ like she was saying shithead.
