Viper Team Seven (The Viper Team Seven Series Book 1)

by Lewis, Rykar

  “Is now a good time, sir?” Parks asked cautiously.

  “Now is as good a time as any,” Smith fired back. “Now get to it.”

  “Yes sir, I must give you a negative report on the operation. We took out the sleeper agent and the wounded terrorist, sir, but the rest have escaped. They’re confirmed lost, sir.” Parks knew he wasn’t telling the National Security Advisor anything he didn’t know already.

  The NSA raised his fist high in the air and slammed it down on the desk. “Do you know what you’ve done, Parks? Do you know that we’ve got eight terrorists running loose inside the Continental United States? Huh?”

  Parks didn’t breathe as he managed to respond. “Yes sir. I understand completely, sir.”

  Smith’s mouth was agape as he searched for words that he just couldn’t find. “I can’t believe you,” he spat out at last. “Tell me exactly how you lost them.”

  “Sir, they escaped through a tunnel when we attacked the sleeper’s house,” Parks admitted, again knowing the NSA knew this information. “Later, the Border Patrol found them while they were driving on a dirt road, heading east, probably to San Antonio. We set up a position on the highway, just west of Del Rio, sir, and waited for them to come by. Nothing ever showed up, sir.”

  “You mean to tell me you didn’t check for escape tunnels before you stormed the house?” the National Security Advisor asked, trying to keep his tone of voice under control.

  Parks was silent. Even though he knew it was Norse who hadn’t looked thoroughly enough for escape tunnels, he’d never tell the NSA that.

  “Well?” Smith prodded, gesturing with his hand for Parks to speak.

  “I did check, sir.”

  “Then why did you let them escape through a tunnel?”

  “We didn’t find that tunnel, sir,” Parks explained bluntly.

  “Why not?”

  “The man I sent to do the job just didn’t find it, sir.”

  “Oh…” the National Security Advisor declared, marking his discovery. “So someone on your team goofed up the whole operation by not doing his job? Who was it?”

  Parks remained quiet.

  “I asked you a question, Parks, whose fault was it?”

  “It was my fault, sir,” Parks conceded.

  “How was it your fault?”

  “Sir, I was in charge of the operation. I should have come up with a better way to search for the escape tunnels. I’m the commander, sir, and with whatever happens at work, I’m responsible for it. It was my fault that the operation failed, sir.”

  “All right, it’s your fault then. But who was the rat that made it fail?”

  “I’m to blame, sir.”

  “I understand that,” Smith shot back. “But what man on your team was tasked with finding escape tunnels and slacked off?”

  “I’m not sure he slacked off, sir.”

  “Okay,” the NSA retorted in a mocking tone. “But who was it?”

  Parks was determined to stay silent. He had already told the National Security Advisor it was his fault, that was the truth, and that was all he needed to know.

  Smith pulled on his tie so he could have more breathing room and just stared at the ramrod-straight Parks who obviously was not going to respond to the question. Then he tried a different approach. “I warn you, Parks,” he began in a hushed voice that was more meaningful than the loud tone, “pull that stunt again, and you’re fired. One more of those negative reports, and you and everyone on your team are fired. Am I completely, one hundred percent clear on this, Major?”

  Parks felt like he’d been gut shot but he didn’t broadcast his feelings to his boss. “Yes sir,” he concluded.

  “Very well. I will allow you to leave this office before I say or do anything that would get me in trouble. Now get out of this office, Parks.”

  Grateful to leave, Parks did a precise about-face and opened the door. As he hurriedly walked down the hall so he could get back to his office, he felt like his head was going to explode with all the things that were running through his mind. He had just had his job threatened, been yelled at by his boss, and with the influence the National Security Advisor had, he would probably have Parks’ Marine career ruined if he failed at another operation. Parks wasn’t sure who to be mad at, himself, Norse, or the terrorists. In a way, he wasn’t mad at Norse. Not yet anyway. He knew mistakes happened, and also he wasn’t sure if the man had purposely not found the tunnel.

  Completely frustrated and filled with uncertainty, Parks exited the mansion’s doors and walked toward the EEOB. When he flipped open his cell phone to check the time, he found it was already 0700. Time was flying by, and he couldn’t wait to get home. Unfortunately, there was still a lot to do today.

  Parks walked up to the enormous building and entered quickly. He speed-walked to his office and when he finally reached the door, he unlocked it and went inside. He then sat down behind his desk in his swivel chair and turned on the computer. He began to log on to his email account and then decided to have the meeting with his team before doing anything else. So Parks changed into a pair of simple blue jeans and pulled on his yellow Marine Corps sweatshirt that he’d received from OCS. He draped his uniform over his arms and transferred his phone, keys, and wallet to his blue jean’s pockets.

  Shooting a quick look at the computer’s clock, he realized that he had less than twelve minutes to get to the gym if he wanted to be there by his estimated 0730.

  Mere seconds passed before Parks exited his office, locked the door, and walked to the EEOB’s door. When he finally stepped out into the somewhat-cold air, he began jogging for his vehicle, attracting stares from some of the Secret Service agents.

  After reaching his vehicle, he hopped in and drove out of the White House parking lot. He pulled onto the main thoroughfare and made tracks for the gym all the while he kept asking himself, Why did this have to happen? Why?

  He didn’t have a plausible answer, but he knew it was going to be a rough meeting. He didn’t want to tell his team that their jobs had been threatened, but he had to. If nothing else, it would serve as an extra motivator for Norse, which was desperately needed.

  “Keep calm,” he whispered aloud as a new wave of anger passed over him. “Keep calm and everything will go just fine.”

  * * *

  Parks hated being late and he hated being the bearer of bad news. But in this case, he was both.

  When he walked into the completely empty gym – save for his team members – he locked the door behind him, and rubbed in some Germ-X. He then came into the main exercise room and spotted his team who were deeply engaged in exercises. Not wanting to interrupt, he stayed on the sidelines until they were finished.

  “I see by your face expression that you aren’t too pleased,” Lee told Parks as he walked up to the team.

  “I’m not. Believe me, gentlemen, I’m not,” Parks replied, trying to choose the best way to start out.

  “Why?”

  “I’m sure that went over like a fart in church,” Solomon pointed out about the briefing. “What do you expect?”

  “Like a what?” Parks asked in wonder.

  “A fart in church,” Solomon repeated carelessly. “Yup, yup, like a fart in church.”

  Parks looked toward the ceiling in hopelessness and responded, “Well I think it went a little better than that.”

  “Take it or leave it.”

  “I’ll leave it, thanks. Anyway, let’s get serious about things.”

  “I was,” Solomon said in his defense.

  “Solomon, please,” Parks corrected sharply. “I need your attention, just for a minute. Now everyone listen to me. The National Security Advisor just chewed me out. He’s really upset. I don’t need to tell you that he reports to the President and that it’s likely the President will get just as upset when he’s briefed. That’s not good for us, not good for anyone. And that isn’t all. The NSA was so upset that he said if we gave him a negative report again, I’m fired.” P
arks felt his blood boil as he saw Norse’s face light up. “And you all are fired as well,” he added.

  “What?” Norse yelled.

  “Zip your trap,” Parks commanded. “Listen, I understand mistakes happen, so does the President and National Security Advisor, but the difference is that we can only make a mistake once. If we make one twice, we’re done. Period. End of the story. It’s finished. We’re all fired. If we fail on this job, our careers will always be negatively affected. None of us wants that to happen. But listen; if we fail again, that’s what’s going to happen. I need all of you to understand this with me. We fail, we’re fired.”

  “Maybe some of us don’t like being roped in with a leader that leads us to failure,” Norse threw out angrily. “Ever think of that, Marine?”

  Parks rarely lost his temper except for when he was dealing with an idiot. That was one of the things he was good at, keeping his emotions in check. But there was a limit, especially with an idiot like this that was openly challenging him in front of the rest of the team. Parks wanted to punch Norse right in the face. He knew it probably wouldn’t help, so he restrained himself.

  “Listen to me, Mr. Greg Norse,” Parks ordered in a mellow voice that even shocked himself. “I am this team’s leader. If this team fails, I take the responsibility. I don’t blame anyone else for what happens.”

  “Oh and is that your fancy way of saying it was my fault the terrorists escaped since I didn’t find the escape tunnel? You know something Parks, you’re right, it was my fault. And I did it on purpose. I hardly looked for any escape routes because I wanted you to fall flat on your face.” Norse was now in Parks’ face, and Parks could smell the sweat on the man’s FBI sweatshirt as he finally concluded, “And it worked.”

  Parks was stunned. Had Norse really overlooked the tunnel on purpose? It couldn’t be.

  “Tell me something, Norse,” Parks demanded in a forced calm voice that defied his emotions. “If I’m too incompetent to make an operation a success, why did you need to do that?”

  Norse’s eyes burned with hatred; he looked as if he wanted to kill Parks, who simply stared back, meeting the challenge.

  “How long are you going to keep us waiting on an answer?” Parks questioned. “That was an idiotic move, Norse. I can’t believe you did that just to get back at me for something I had no control of.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Oh don’t even try and pretend you don’t know what I’m saying. I’m talking about how jealous you are over my position. I’m talking about how you’d do anything – something that even affected you and your friends directly – just to get at me. Well, you’ve accomplished your goal. I’m in trouble, but you’re also in hot water.”

  “I’m just shaking in my boots,” Norse countered sarcastically. “I’m so afraid of what ‘the Marine’ is going to do to me.”

  “I’m not the one to be afraid of. The National Security Advisor is. He can kick you off this job and I’m sure he could throw you out of the FBI.”

  “And he would do the same with my incompetent team leader,” Norse fired back. “If you’re thinking anything other than that, you’d better guess again.”

  “No, that’s what I’m thinking all right. The incompetent leader will be in trouble, but so will the incompetent follower. And another thing, I don’t believe you really think I am incompetent. I think you’re just so jealous, you don’t want me to do anything right, and you’d do anything to see that I don’t. Well for whatever reason, the President picked me to be the team leader, so get over it.”

  “Think?” Norse asked. “You’re saying I think you’re incompetent? I know you are. A Marine ain’t cut out for this kind of job.”

  “Really? And who is? A CIA agent? A skilled FBI agent like yourself who can’t even follow a simple order? Who?”

  “Face it Parks, for FBI agents, this is their line of work. It’s not that way for Marines.”

  “Oh so now it’s not just me, it’s every Marine that’s incompetent? Yeah right. I wish you’d just get over your two-year-old tantrum and act your age.”

  Norse looked like he was going to explode. Parks was almost sure the agent was going to punch him. It seemed to be the inevitable.

  “So you think you’re better trained than I am, Parks?” Norse wondered. “You think just because you’re a Marine you’re better than me?”

  “Yeah I’d say so,” Parks replied with pride. He knew it wasn’t the right thing to say but he was desperate to find words that would cut to the bone. Apparently, those did the job as Norse began to shake with anger.

  “Stop!” Corley yelled in the background. “Let me get some popcorn, this is gettin’ good.”

  Parks ignored the statement and looked at Norse’s fiery glare. He desperately tried to lower his rising heart rate as he thought of what to say next.

  “Norse, I–”

  Parks never finished. Norse swung a fast punch with his left fist for Parks’ face, and the fight was on. Before the blow could make contact however, Parks stepped back just far enough to where the fist could not reach him. Then when Norse’s arm was at its full extent, he reached up and caught Norse’s wrist just below the joint while simultaneously grasping his elbow area. Skillfully he pulled Norse’s arm toward him while turning around and eventually he flipped his assailant over his back, sending him crashing to the floor.

  Solomon and the rest of the team stepped a safe distance away from the two opponents and watched intently.

  Parks looked down at the seemingly paralyzed Norse and debated his next move. He never had time to react because Norse grabbed his legs and pulled them in such a way causing Parks to slam down to the gym floor.

  Knowing that the position he was in was not good, Parks rolled several feet away from his opponent and tried to stand. Before he could, Norse came running up and dove straight at him. The man barreled into his chest and sent him to the floor once again, knocking his very breath away.

  Norse instantly wrapped his right arm around Parks’ throat and began to choke him. However, Parks tucked his chin, struggled to his feet, and jammed his left elbow into Norse’s stomach. He then used momentum to flip Norse over his back once again, breaking free from the choke.

  More slowly and painfully this time, Norse rose and swung a punch. Parks ducked it and delivered a powerful blow with his right fist into the agent’s stomach. When Norse keeled over, Parks swung his left arm high in the air and brought it down hard on the back of the man’s head. Before the agent could fall, Parks grabbed his shirt collar, straightened him up, and punched him right in the face, sending him skidding across the floor.

  Norse was out cold.

  “Throw me one of those water bottles,” Parks asked Solomon as he tried to catch his breath.

  Solomon tossed one to Parks who then went over to Norse. He opened the lid and emptied the water right on the unconscious man’s face. At first, Norse didn’t respond, but after a second or two, he shook his head and began coughing.

  Extending his hand and helping Norse up, Parks shook his head but remained silent. He didn’t know what to say. Everything that needed to be said had already been said, so he turned from Norse and headed for the door.

  “Get the guys back to their offices,” he ordered Solomon as he passed by. “Make sure Norse is all right.”

  “Uh yeah,” Solomon agreed. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine now.”

  Then Parks left the area and went back to the EEOB.

  * * *

  “Can I come in?” Solomon asked cautiously as he stuck his head into Parks’ office.

  Parks looked up from his computer. “Of course, Solomon. What can I do for you?”

  Solomon entered the room and closed the door. “I just want to start out by saying that you were great, KP. Your words, your flips, your punches, everything.”

  “Solomon,” Parks said in dismissal.

  “No, really. I don’t think anyone could have handled
it better. Greg needed to be spanked. He needed to be shown who was boss.”

  “I’m not so sure blowing my top and fighting him did that.”

  “You didn’t start the fight. It was self defense on your part.” Solomon looked around the room. “I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’ll just kinda spit it out and hope it lands right. Greg was the youngest of the three boys in his family, and both his older brothers work in the counterterrorism division of the FBI. You can imagine how un-special his career is to his folks. Well, Norse has always wanted to make his family proud of him. His goal is to do something that will mark his name in his family tree. When he was chosen for this job, he thought he’d get that chance. In his mind, he thought that I was going to be the leader and he was destined to be the deputy commander. You know what happened though.”

  “Yeah, but why is he so attached to you? I mean, the guy looks up to you like some superhero.”

  Solomon shrugged his shoulders. “That’s just the way he is. When he finds a friend, he sticks to that friend no matter what. He’s really a good guy if you’re his friend. He’d die for his friends as a matter of fact.”

  “I’m not asking him to die for me, I’m asking him to kill terrorists for me. Does he have to be my friend to listen to me?”

  “Beats me. But that would seem to be a fair statement. He’s just so jealous of you; I don’t think he would be your friend. But he’ll come around eventually, and I think that little incident may help. When he does, you’ll be glad. He’ll save your life someday.”

  “If he ever does come around, it won’t be because of anything I did. I’m stumped on what to do with him.”

  “Just don’t do anything,” Solomon advised. “It’ll work out.”

  “I hope so.”

  Solomon stepped toward the door and when he reached it, he stopped. Turning around he said with his Jamaican smile, displaying his large white teeth, “I’d die for you, KP. You’re my hero.”

  Without saying another word, he left the office.

  Parks wasn’t sure how to react to that statement. It was touching, that was for sure. It was also inspiring and encouraging. He knew that a man like Solomon didn’t deserve to have his job threatened because of some jerk like Norse. But then as Parks thought, he remembered that everything ultimately relied on him. If they all lost their jobs, it would be all his fault. No one else would be to blame but him.