“Glad to see they were able to save your arm, man.” Wynn laughed at the size of the bandage.
“Yeah, got there just in time or I would have lost it for sure.” Rad lowered himself onto the picnic table and pulled a soda out of a tub of ice. “Thanks, Mommy.”
“Did you need mouth-to-mouth from Nurse Nancy?” Wink sat down beside him.
“She the blonde? With the big—”
“Umm hmm.” Wink nodded. “Hands off.”
“Sorry to break it to you, son, but you’re probably a little young for her taste.” Rad looked at him with a serious expression. “She was all over me.”
That sent the entire group into peals of laughter.
“Seriously, dude, you kicked some ass back there.” Bipp sat down on a lawn chair and lit his cigar. “But what the hell were you thinking going into that tunnel?”
“I was thinking we were running out of time to get that guy.” Rad took Bipp’s burning stogie and held it to his. After a few tokes it finally glowed red. “But frankly, if any of you guys would have done that on my watch, I would have kicked your ass.”
“It was fucking crazy is what it was.” Crockett opened a bag of chips and held them up. “Eat up, boys. Breakfast of champions.”
“Any pushback from Pakistan yet?” Rad walked over to a chair and sat down, stretching his legs out in front of him as he enjoyed his cigar.
“I’m sure the shit is hitting the fan in Washington,” Pops said. “The Pakis got wind of something going on and scrambled two F-16 Fighters—”
“With 30mm cannons and air-to-air missiles,” Wink interrupted.
Rad’s head jerked up. “No shit?” He gazed around the group and read the look in each man’s eyes. Not one of them would hesitate to give his life for his country, but all were glad to have their feet on the ground. Getting blown out of the sky was not the way they wanted or expected to go.
“It’s apparently all over the news back home.” Pops took the bag of chips and grabbed a handful. “Annie asked me what was going on. Said the media’s going wild.”
Rad’s brow tightened and he tilted his head. “The White House isn’t releasing details I hope.”
“Not yet,” Wynn said. “We’re taking bets on how long it will take the president—or vice president—to leak it.”
It was common knowledge military troops were just tools in the president’s publicity box. When things went well, he’d promote the success and greatly inflate his own role. Whether or not he would do it at the expense of the safety of others was yet to be seen.
Rad’s thoughts turned to Lauren as the others continued their conversation about the mission. She would be starting her day, pretending she knew nothing about what happened across the street. But would they believe her?
“Yo, Rad. You still with us?”
Rad looked up at Wynn who was staring at him. “Crock wants to know if you carry a good luck charm.”
“If I did, do you think I would tell you losers and risk getting all the luck rubbed off?” Rad smiled, but he was thinking about the gift from Lauren he always carried. He only wished it really was time in a bottle—that he could open it up right now and be transported to that day on the beach. He knew one thing for sure. He was never going on another mission without it.
Chapter 23
Angela Powers heard the doorbell ring, and then the sound of the door opening and closing. “I’m out by the pool,” she yelled. She assumed it was Jackie, who knew it was the housekeeper’s day off.
A few moments later Jackie opened the sliding screen door and stepped out on the patio. “Nice office, Cuz.”
Angela laughed but barely looked up from her computer. “Yeah, nice view, huh. Gerry re-did everything for my birthday.”
Jackie stood with her hands on her hips taking in the scene of the small pool surrounded by a professionally designed garden. The patio was lined with lush potted plants and extravagant furniture, designed to feel like a room in the outdoors. “Not bad.” She turned back to Angela. “What are you working on?”
When Angela didn’t answer, Jackie glanced at the computer screen and leaned down for a closer look. “That’s the girl from the beach.”
Angela’s head popped up and turned around in one movement. “Wait a minute. What?”
Jackie grabbed a grape from the center of the table, and then pulled out a chair as she put it in her mouth. “The girl from the beach I was telling you about. What’s she doing in your picture?”
“Are you sure?” Angela turned the computer screen toward her so she could see.
“That’s her. Don’t tell me she traveled all the way to Afgannyland to see Rad.”
“I think she was there in connection to whatever is going on.” Angela leaned in closer. “If I can figure out what she’s doing, maybe I can break this story after all.”
“Oh, so you’re an investigative journalist now?” Jackie snorted as if she found that amusing.
Angela shot her an angry glance. “I’ll do what I have to do to break a story no one else has. Wait and see.” She sat back and took a long sip of wine. “What’d you say her name was?”
Jackie closed her eyes. “Laura, maybe? No, Lauren.”
“Lauren, what?”
“Heck if I know. I never heard anyone say her last name.” Jackie looked around. “What does a person have to do to get a drink around here anyway?”
Angela waved her hand toward the bar. “Help yourself. I don’t have wait staff.”
“Really? You have to make your own drink?” Jackie laughed as she stood and poured some of Angela’s husband’s expensive scotch into a glass. “How are you and the senator getting along these days, anyway?”
“Who?”
“Your husband, the senator.”
“Oh, fine.” Angela leaned back over her computer, her mind obviously still on the images.
With a drink in her hand, Jackie walked back over to the table and glanced again at the photos Angela was skipping through. “This for a legitimate story, or are you practicing your bitchcraft again?”
“Bitchcraft?” Angela turned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You should know what it means, since you’re the queen of it.” Jackie chuckled good-naturedly. “I figured you would take it as a compliment.”
Angela stood and poured another glass of wine at the bar. “People have the right to know what their military is doing.”
“While they’re doing it?” Jackie took a sip of scotch and grimaced. “Seems like it might be better to wait and do a story after the fact.”
“You don’t know much about the journalism profession.” Angela sat back down. “It’s all about being first.”
“I stand corrected.” Jackie gazed at her sideways. “And here I thought it was about being fair and objective.”
“Like I said, you don’t know much about the business.” Angela leaned back over her computer, focused once again on the photos. “These shots make it appear fairly businesslike to me.” She clicked through a couple of pictures, and then turned the computer toward Jackie. “Except maybe for this one.”
The photo captured the moment when the helicopter was descending and the two subjects were shaking hands. The body language was professional and detached, but the expressions on their faces were not.
“Hmmm.” Jackie continued to stare at the photo. “Rad’s looking damn good. Can’t believe you gave that up.”
Angela’s eyes narrowed angrily. “If I hadn’t given that up, you’d be drinking Bud Light from a can instead of expensive scotch from a lead crystal glass.”
Jackie rolled her eyes in such a way, she made it obvious she’d rather have Rad in her bed every night than an expensive house and a glass of scotch.
“Now that I have a name,” Angela said, rubbing her hands together, “I should be able to get somewhere. This is going to be fun.”
“Seriously, Angela.” Jackie leaned forward with a hint of concern in her eyes. “Is this a real stor
y or are you doing it because of Rad?”
Angela’s smile disappeared. “What do you mean?”
“You’re acting like you’re jealous.”
The glass of wine Angela held hit the table with a loud clank. “Jealous? Me?”
Jackie leaned back and crossed her arms. “Okay, maybe you’re not jealous. Maybe it’s more like, you can’t have Rad anymore so you don’t want anyone else to have him.”
That elicited a loud round of laughter from Angela. “Believe me honey, if I wanted Rad, I could have him.”
“Really? You didn’t stay very long on your trip to Afghanistan, and as far as I know, you don’t have anything more for a story than you did before you left.”
Angela shot her a look of disapproval. “I didn’t stay because military people are fanatical patriots who won’t tell me anything. All my contacts are here.” She put her hand on her glass but never picked it up. “And besides, you wouldn’t believe the god-awful accommodations. No civilized person could last long there.”
“Well, it doesn’t sound like Rad was much help either.”
“Then I gave you the wrong impression.” Angela’s eyes narrowed to mere slits. “Sure he was busy doing whatever it is he does, but he found the time to introduce me to his commanding officer.”
“I don’t suppose you threatened him with anything—like doing a story on what’s going on over there.”
“Maybe.” She finally picked up her drink. “So?”
“So-o-o the subjects of your story are in a war zone.” Jackie leaned forward and put her arms on the table. “Someone could get hurt.”
“I can’t be a babysitter and a journalist at the same time.” Angela snorted. “Something big is getting ready to happen over there, and I need to report on it. It’s not my job to worry about things like that.”
“It’s not your job to destroy lives either,” Jackie said under her breath.
“What did you say?”
“Look, Angela.” Jackie took a deep breath as if trying to choose her words carefully. “Why don’t you pick another topic to make a name for yourself and leave Rad alone?”
“First of all, this isn’t about Rad—it’s about getting the biggest story of my career,” Angela replied, her eyes flashing with anger. “And second of all, I’m beginning to think you have something for Rad.”
Jackie laughed out loud. “I guess I’d have to be blind or dead not to. Why should you care? You’re a married woman.”
Angela merely shrugged as if she had no interest in the conversation.
“He’s unattached, isn’t he?” Jackie did not let her off the hook.
“I’m not sure.” Angela leaned forward and stared at the photo she had cropped and enlarged to just the two faces gazing into each other’s eyes. “I’m beginning to think maybe he’s not.”
Chapter 24
Rad sat in the operations center finishing up details from the after action review, grumbling over the amount of paperwork his job involved.
“Hey, Radcliff. Just the man I wanted to see.” McDunna walked into the room and sat down at the table opposite him. “You guys are heading home tomorrow, I hear.”
“Yeah, gotta get this shit done.” Rad kept working, but when McDunna didn’t say anything else, he looked up. “Anything wrong?”
“No, not really.”
Rad slid the papers into a folder and pushed it to the side. Despite his CO’s words, he could tell something most definitely was wrong.
“I don’t know how much you keep up with what’s going on back home.” McDunna pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. “You know, with politics, I mean.”
“Not much.” Rad looked at him quizzically. “Politics are the least of my concerns.”
“Well it’s an election year.”
“I do happen to know that much.” Rad leaned his chair back on two legs, glad now for the break. “This got something to do with me?”
“Well, the White House is bragging about the mission.” McDunna lit a cigarette and took a long drag. “You know, how the president ordered it and everything.”
Rad could feel his blood pressure rise. “Ordered it? The idiot delayed it every step of the way. He couldn’t have done more harm if he’d tried!”
“Yeah, well, you know how politicians are.” McDunna stared at the ceiling and repeated the words he’d apparently read in a paper. “With the commander-in-chief’s authority and under his direct command, a classic mission was conducted and brilliantly executed. This surgical operation, which showed precision, courage, and skill, could not have taken place without decisive decision-making from the White House.”
“Wow. What a bunch of PR bullshit.” Rad laughed. “Is that what you came to tell me?”
McDunna’s face turned slightly red, and he moved restlessly in his seat as if he didn’t know exactly what to say. “No, actually there’s more.”
Rad let his chair fall forward with a loud thump, his heart seeming to do the same. From the look on McDunna’s face, this wasn’t going to be good news..
“They ah, I mean, they didn’t just leak a story that the president authorized and commanded the raid.” He paused and stared at the smoke rising in the air for a moment as if trying to decide how to proceed. “I guess they wanted to give out some really juicy stuff for the news because they leaked that they authorized a spy in Pakistan who was responsible for identifying the target and the ultimate success of the raid.”
Rad leaned forward and spoke in a low, grave voice. “But they got her out first.”
McDunna stared at the folder on the table and shook his head.
“She’s still in there?” The whooshing in Rad’s ears made it almost impossible to concentrate or think. “Where?”
“That’s the problem.” McDunna tapped his fingers nervously on the desk. “No one knows.”
Rad slammed his fist on the table and stood in one movement. “What do you mean no one knows?”
“They’ve lost communication.” McDunna took a deep breath. “Look, calm down. You know it happens. It might not mean anything. I just wanted to tell you before you heard it somewhere else.”
“Like on the news?”
McDunna stared silently out the window. “Yeah, like on the news.”
“How many check-ins has she missed?”
“Three.”
Rad started pacing. Missing one check wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Things sometimes happened that made it better to lie low than communicate. Sometimes missing two was necessary. But three? With pulse-pounding certainty he knew. She was in trouble.
“I get the feeling you’re in a little deeper with her than you let on to me.”
Rad sat back down and leaned his forehead into his hands. “You asked me how long I knew her, and I told you I’d just met her once. That’s the truth.”
“Okay. Good,” McDunna said.
“You didn’t ask me if I planned to spend the rest of my life with her—but I do.”
McDunna gazed at him intently with his head tilted. “You fell in love after one meeting?”
“I know, it’s crazy. I can’t explain it.” Rad stood again. “Twist of fate. Grand design. Whatever. It happened. She’s my heartbeat.”
When he paused and noticed McDunna’s face had turned a shade paler, he felt his heart flutter with something akin to panic. He took a deep steadying breath. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
McDunna sucked air into his lungs as if he wished he were anywhere but in this room. “Yeah, there’s one more thing. Something that didn’t make it into the debriefing on the mission.”
Rad forced himself to breathe and pushed away the uncomfortable sensation of an icy hand closing around his throat. The elated sense he’d felt at being part of a successful mission seeped from his heart, replaced by a feeling of shock and fear. He tried to concentrate on the disastrous news he knew was coming, but his thoughts were moving so fast, everything started to blur.
“You okay?”
“Apparently a Paki military patrol saw or heard your choppers. Follow-up reports say a dozen fully loaded trucks were heading your way—enough to have kept you guys busy for a while and throw everything out of whack.” He took a few long moments to crush out his cigarette in an ashtray. “Cantrell flagged them down. Told ‘em she’d seen choppers landing and directed them down the wrong road.”
Rad put his head in his hands again. “Geez-uz.”
“You’re familiar with the layout of that town. The road she sent them down was narrow and had a dead end, so by the time they got their trucks untangled, turned around, and straightened out, you guys were long gone.”
Rad sat silently, assessing the international catastrophe that would have resulted if his men had gotten into a gun battle with Pakistani military. He had led an invasion into a sovereign country in order to eliminate one person. If any civilians or military personnel had been killed in carrying out the mission, if shots had even been fired, it would have become a crisis of monumental proportions.
He pictured Lauren standing perfectly calm in the midst of the enemy, while being aware of the choppers, the gunfire, and the chaos of battle simultaneously occurring down the street. Instinctively his hand went to his chest where he kept her hand scrawled note close to his heart. Hey, Dude—Don’t worry about me. Just kick some ass. I got it on this side. – L.C.
He bit his lip and closed his eyes. Lauren, why didn’t you just stay where it was safe?”
But he knew the answer to that. Her instinct to shield his men, to protect her country, was stronger than her own self-preservation. That kind of devotion to duty required more than simple resolve, more than just courage and rash audacity. She had literally placed her life on the line.
His mind drifted back to the piece of Berlin Wall at Ripley’s museum. Don’t Go With The Flow. He’d felt the power of those words as he gazed at them that day, and remembered feeling an inexplicable connection to Lauren when he’d seen the look of wonder and admiration the sentiment had evoked in her as well.
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