by Gemma Hart
I threw my hand out in a frustrated gesture. “Two dozen. Three, maybe! Why? What does it matter? Every one of them needed help!”
“There were thirty eight girls in that camp, including Sora,” he said, surprising me. He had actually counted each girl?
He pressed his lips as if trying his best to fight for any measure of patience he had left in him. “And how many men today had guns, not including me?”
I stared at him, confused by the direction he was taking this conversation. “Six,” I said impatiently. “Six men.”
“Seven,” Cooper corrected. He stopped me before I could interrupt. “You didn’t see it but Randall was carrying a weapon on him.”
He looked down again and took a deep breath before looking back up and pinning me with a frank gaze. “So there were seven armed men amongst a camp of thirty eight children and one unarmed woman.” He gave a quick shake of his head as if mentally admonishing himself for something. “Not only that,” he continued, “they had the drop on us. I didn’t even see them coming. So we didn’t even have the element of surprise on our side.”
Cooper looked at me, clearly asking me to understand what had just happened today. “Even in my best form, there was no way to protect you and the children by myself against seven gunmen. If I had acted, the absolute best case scenario would be walking out of there with at least half of those children dead.”
I opened my mouth to argue that we could’ve fought for Sora at least but he stopped me.
“I don’t like what I saw today,” he said tightly. “Obviously. What sane person would be okay with child trafficking? But to people like Randall, to people like the men who work for him, those girls are expendable. He wasn’t joking when he called them his ‘property.’ You can always throw away property if it gets too difficult to manage and just find new property. Randall and those men could easily shoot every single one of those girls in the head with a smile before leaving to find their replacements.”
My stomach turned at this graphic visual.
Cooper stepped towards me. He put his hands on my shoulders. I tried to step back away from him but he kept me still.
“Do you understand what I did?” he asked. “I chose to save thirty seven girls and a doctor today over the one girl I couldn’t.”
There was strained pain in his voice as he spoke. I looked up and saw the harsh lines of resignation in his face. He was familiar with this kind of reality, this kind of cruelty, but that didn’t mean it didn’t still claw at his heart.
“Going after Sora would’ve meant the death of everybody at that camp,” he said. “And at the end of it all, Randall would’ve still just taken Sora with him anyway. So the deaths would’ve been for nothing.”
Tears stung my eyes at the hopelessness of the situation. What kind of cruelty was this? How was it fair to have children live in such horrible conditions?
“But the others,” I whispered raggedly. “We could’ve brought the others with us. We could’ve kept them here, safe.”
Cooper sighed as if I didn’t fully understand the picture.
“And you think that when those men come back, probably tonight, to the camp and see all those missing girls, they won’t come looking?” he asked. “They saw us. They’d know who would’ve taken the girls. They’d know where to look. They know where our base camp is. And who’s on this camp right now? Two dozen sick children and a medical staff with no combat training.”
The explanation hit me like a rock. He was right. He had thought through every possibility in that short moment between Randall’s ultimatum and had seen the grim truth.
“Easy Team did not come here for a tactical mission,” Cooper continued. “We were sent here for peacekeeping duties. We haven’t entered this country, set up our camp, and made our patrols under the protocol of a tactical mission. So in a combat scenario, we are already at a disadvantage.”
Tears finally fell as reality came crashing down around me and my heart broke again at realizing just how completely helpless I was. I could treat their measles, I could treat their flus, but what was I making these children healthy for? So they could go back to a ragged tent and be sold off as a sex slave?
Cooper’s hands relaxed as he felt my realization sinking into me. He gave me a squeeze. I looked up, my vision watery and wet.
“Don’t feel guilty,” he said, although I could see the pain of today in his eyes. “Realize that you saved two dozen children here from dying of measles. You’ve saved the refugee camp and the city from a medical epidemic. You've probably prevented countless deaths.”
“But those girls,” I whispered. “Is there nothing we could do for them?”
Cooper’s lips pressed tightly together as he said nothing.
“But…but the UN! Couldn’t they do something? Couldn’t they send aid workers here? Maybe they could evacuate the children to some place far away?” I asked, trying to grasp at the desperate hope that fluttered within me.
Cooper sighed. He gave my shoulders another squeeze. I saw the look of sympathetic pity cross his eyes. But he nodded. “I can give them a call,” he said. “I’ll let them know what we found.”
My heart settled fractionally at the thought that we might be able to help the rest of the girls. We couldn’t save Sora from her fate but maybe we could prevent the others from following her.
But my body still hummed with the adrenaline from today. It seemed as if every muscle in my body was twitching from energy.
I looked up at Cooper, wanting to expend some of my energy in the gathering of more information.
“Who was that man? Randall?” I asked, wiping away a stray tear. “How did he know you?”
Immediately, it was as if a live wire ran through Cooper’s body. His entire body jerked as if in complete revulsion at even the mention of Randall. Clearly, there was some kind of history there.
“Graham Randall,” Cooper said tightly. “A former Green Beret and an ex-member of Easy Team.”
“What…!” I breathed in surprise, hesitant to continue this line of questioning yet too desperate to know the backstory, “How come he’s not a member anymore?”
Cooper sighed before suddenly jerking away from me. He turned and took a few steps, running a hand behind his neck, trying to squeeze out the strain in his muscles.
“About six years ago, we had a mission in El Salvador,” he finally started, his back still to me. “A small but very efficient cartel had basically taken a whole town captive as they used the town for a base of operations. They used the townspeople for forced labor. All around, a bad situation.” He sighed again, heaviness pouring out of him with each breath.
“Easy Team was called in to take out the leader and the two commanders of the cartel. With those three men taken out, the cartel would be easy to disband and the townspeople could be freed without risk of casualties.”
Cooper turned around. “Randall had been one of the best men on Easy Team. Smart, tactical, and a killer shot. He had had my back countless of times.” Cooper grimaced darkly. “I trusted him.” He made the admission as if admitting a dark crime. “But he was never satisfied with the life of a mercenary. At least, I see that now. He was always making remarks about how the players on the other side made more money than the good guys. I always thought he was joking but I can see now that his greed was no joke.
“Anyway, we landed in El Salvador and we were closing in on our target,” he continued, his eyes looking out into the dark desert as if he could see the humid tropics of Central America once more. “Randall was the lead for the mission. He had us positioned and ready just outside the town walls. We were supposed to wait for when the cartel leader stepped out of his house to get into his SUV.
“Except something felt wrong,” Cooper swallowed hard. “I could just feel in my gut that something felt off. There were too few guards. The cartel leader’s house was too quiet. Randall was supposed to be the one who went on ahead to set up his shot for the cartel leader. I was just about to r
adio Randall to confirm his position when shots began to come out from behind us.”
My heart raced as I listened to Cooper recount his bloody battle.
“There was no way we could’ve missed men positioned behind us. We had walked through all that brush to get to the village and we were careful. The only way they could’ve come from behind is if they had come after we had gotten into position. In other words—”
“They knew you were coming,” I finished breathlessly, my eyes wide.
Cooper nodded. “They knew exactly where we’d be and when we’d be there. And if they hadn’t been such poorly trained shots, we would’ve all died there that day. But luckily we managed to get away with minimal damage. We headed towards the western edge of town where the cartel leader’s home was. Regardless, we had a mission to carry out. But when we got near to the house, a black Humvee pulled out, nearly running us over. Before we could take aim, it stopped and the door opened.”
Cooper’s fists tightened in remembrance of that day. I watched the veins pulse against his forearms as his large hands curled in anger.
“Randall hopped out with the cartel leader. He had his rifled pointed at us. ‘Stand down, brothers,’ he said. ‘Let’s end this nice and clean.’” Cooper’s lips flattened into a white line as the memory seared through him, his anger and frustration from that day still very much alive. “I was about to demand what the fuck he thought he was doing but before I could a string of sobbing women came out of the cartel leader’s house. He had kidnapped a bunch of the women from town and had strapped them into vests loaded with C4 explosives.”
My hand flew to my mouth, horrified by the unwinding tale. If I had thought Randall monstrous before, it was nothing to what I thought of him now.
“‘Or follow me,’ he said, ‘and we can end things messy and bloody.’” Cooper’s lips tightened. “Basically, follow and he’d blow the women up. Randall was sure we’d stand down and got back in the SUV to drive off. But as they neared the town wall, I just couldn’t let that cartel leader go. He’d just terrorize some other village and ruin another batch of lives. He’d just keep going. I figured if I shot out the car fast enough, they’d crash before they could detonate the vests. Then we’d have the target in custody and the women saved. So I took aim with my rifle and fired at the tires. I shot out one and the car swerved but before I could take out the other,” Cooper’s face twisted in anguish and anger, “Randall detonated the vests.”
“No!” I cried out, my gut wrenching in pain. “No, he couldn’t have!”
Cooper’s whole body was as taut as a guitar string. “He did. He killed all the women. And the bastard didn’t just strap them with vests. He had them decked out with pieces of broken glass and metal so the shrapnel would fly once their vests were detonated. We lost a man that day because of a piece of shrapnel that got lodged in his throat.”
Cooper swallowed harshly, his eyes holding a distant glare for a memory from long ago. “I fucked up that day. I saw the women, I saw their vests, but I chose to go for that one target. I refused to let the needs of the many dictate my need for the one target. And…” he breathed out harshly, “that got half a dozen women killed, orphaning countless children, and taking one of my men.” He looked up at me. “I valued one life over everyone else’s and it cost me. Those lives are on my hands.”
I shook my head, reaching to clutch his sleeve. “You don’t know that!” I protested. “You were trying to save the countless other lives that that drug leader could’ve ruined! You were thinking of others! He might’ve detonated the vests anyway! He might’ve just killed the women once he was out of town.”
Cooper’s eyes were tight with pain and tremendous regret. “Well, we’ll never know that now,” he said. “All I know is, I spent the next thirty six hours helping those villagers scrape their wives, mothers, daughters off the streets and walls to have something to bury.”
I closed my eyes, the harsh visual too terrible to stomach.
“Later we heard through chatter that Randall had gotten involved in the drug trade and was doing extremely well. No one in the cartel business could match his skill or ruthlessness. We had thought the cartel leader had reached out to Randall. But later, we found out that it had been Randall who had made initial contact.” Cooper shook his head, snorting dryly. “Mercenary pay had finally become just too meager for him to live on. And he realized his talents could be used elsewhere. And for more money.”
“Oh my god,” I breathed, unable to comprehend all this new information. I imagined those terrified women, crying, as they clutched at the horrific vests strapped to their waists. The fear they must’ve felt, knowing that death was only a click away.
“I hadn’t heard of his whereabouts in a couple years till just this afternoon,” Cooper continued. “Now he’s in Qunar doing who knows what else besides selling girls as sex slaves.”
I stared at Cooper. Everything took on a deeper shade of understanding with this information. I could see why Cooper had been so ready to give up Sora when he realized how many lives were on the line. He knew Randall was someone who really would and could kill everybody. The only reason why he hadn’t was because of the monetary value the girls had.
And the fact that Cooper had assessed the situation correctly. He had sacrificed one for thirty seven.
He had tried to correct his past mistake in hopes of saving the lives he couldn’t save that long ago day six years ago.
Feels like old times, doesn’t it, Hawk?
I suddenly remembered Randall’s taunting words and I finally understood what he meant by that.
Randall had clearly had no problem throwing back those long ago deaths back in Cooper’s face.
I stared at the soldier in front of me. I could only imagine how he must’ve felt to have such a familiar situation play out again in front of him years later.
If I knew nothing else about Cooper, I knew he was a man who never not known a day of hard work. He had had a mission and he had wanted to accomplish it. And he had thought he could find a way to save the village and accomplish his mission at the same time. It had been a fatal error in calculation that had taught him just what his limitations were as one man.
Today, Randall had made sure to remind Cooper just how cruel and ruthless he was.
I can see you’re not a fan of history repeating, Captain.
Randall…what a monster.
I thought back to that night on the fallen tree branch.
“And what is it you deal with?” I had asked a little breathlessly.
“Death,” he said promptly. “Torture. Kidnap. Murder. Corruption.” His face twisted for a moment before adding, “Betrayal.”
Randall had been the one who had betrayed him. He had had a man whom he had trusted with his life betray him and then taunt him by holding captive lives at stake. Not once but twice.
Things began to become a little clearer around the mystery of Cooper Hawking. And yet, the clearer things got, the darker they became.
“Easy Team is called only when absolutely necessary. So you can imagine how many levels of shit the situation must be under for me to be involved,” he said. “That means we see the absolute most base, primal form of men. I’ve seen true bravery but I’ve also seen the lowest, dirtiest fucking point a human could sink to. This is not a life for everyone. It can be a difficult life even for the ones that lead it. And it is definitely not a life for a partner. A significant other.”
I had thought he had been wrong then. I had thought he had been underestimating me and my strength. But that was before I had had six guns pointed at my face. That was before I had watched a sick girl sold into sex slavery. That was before I had had to walk away from thirty seven more girls scheduled for slaughter to save the two dozen sick ones at camp.
“I’ve shot more men than you’ve shaken hands with. Lead a life like that and you’re bound to make enemies. Both kinds of enemies—the ones in the real world and the ones in your head.”
; The enemies in his head. I could only imagine. I could only imagine the guilt and anger and frustration he must deal with on a constant basis. Doing what is right against doing what is possible. Saving those against those he can’t. These were terrible, horrific decisions that most people in their wildest dreams would never have to make.
And yet this man’s job was to make these decisions every day. Every mission.
And enemies in the real world.
Now Cooper knew Randall was in Qunar. And more importantly, Randall knew Cooper was in Qunar.
There was unfinished business between them. Anger, betrayal, hatred—all things that could lead to the one ultimate ending that no one can come back from. Death.
Yes. Yes, I understood much better now. I saw much more clearly than I did that night on the fallen tree.
Cooper Hawking was a dangerous man.
Chapter Thirteen
Cooper
“Hawk, the camp’s been completely cleaned out. They even took the tents,” Dozer reported over the radio.
I sighed before replying on my own radio. “I’m not surprised,” I said. “I knew it was a shot in the dark. Why don’t you take the UN workers to the camp? I’m already prepping the team here for the town.”
“Got it,” Dozer replied.
I lowered the radio, harsh regret clenching against my chest. Outside of the U.S., there were always so many harsh reminders of how hard life was for people. How cruel it was. How unjust it was.
There was no justification for those poor girls being trapped and sold into slavery like that. But there was no justification for kids forced to mule drugs in South America. Or boys conscripted into African armies at twelve. Everywhere, there was pain and cruelty.
And I had had to grow a hard shell to face it. But it never completely protected me from feeling the pain of realizing there was nothing I could do to save them. As much training and experience as the men of Easy Team had as a whole, we couldn’t stop the entire drug world or all the civil wars or all the black markets that we came across.
It was impossible.
