Raz was flat on his back in the grass with Joey standing on his stomach. Máire was sitting in between his calves, and Quince was taking pictures with her cell phone.
“You cannot make this stuff up,” Quince said with a laugh.
Laughing, Alex picked up Máire and gave her to Quince, but Joey refused to get off Raz.
“Joseph,” Claire said from the doorway. “Would you like to help me make the croissants this morning?”
Raz grunted when Joey jumped up and down on him and ran off. Quince set Máire down and she ran after her twin.
“Countdown to the terrible twos,” Quince said as she passed.
Alex smiled and helped Raz up.
“How did that happen?” Alex asked.
“We were looking for the raccoon,” Raz said.
Alex laughed. Raz took off his jacket and shook it to get the grass and dirt off. He set it down on the chairs next to the house. Facing the house, he pulled off his shirt and Alex saw the straight scar from his back fusion. Her mind filled with that precarious time.
“I kid you not!” Raz said when he turned around. “We were hunting raccoon.”
His eyebrows dipped with concern for her.
“What is it?” he asked.
She shook her head and she smiled.
“Did you find him?” Alex asked.
“Misogyny, please!” Raz said as he stepped out of his shoes. “We saw her.”
“Really?” Alex asked.
“No,” Raz said. He turned to the chair and stepped out of his athletic pants.
Alex dove into the pool, and he followed.
“Did you get the workout from Vince?” Alex asked.
“3000 meters,” Raz said. “Freestyle for warm up. Drills after that”
“Here we go,” Alex said.
She took off swimming.
F
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Monday early morning
November 7 — 8:28 a.m. PST
Oceanside, California
Raz pulled up to a secure entrance into Fallbrook Naval Weapons Station. Raz and Alex got out of the vehicle so that the contractors at the gate could be searched and the vehicle checked. Avoiding the security cameras, Alex and Raz kept their faces pointed toward the pavement. The sentry tapped on the hood of the SUV to let them know they could continue on to the station.
They drove a few miles before reaching another gate. They went through the same drill. After a few minutes, they were back in the car driving on Camp Pendleton. In less than a mile, the pavement end and they were driving on a well maintained dirt road. They drove through the dusty hills of Camp Pendleton for a while until they came to what looked like an abandoned one-story building. The windows were broken out of the building, and the door was hanging on its frame. Raz parked the SUV on a hill under a large pine tree. They had just stepped out of the vehicle when a young man wearing a plain blue jumpsuit and a military haircut appeared next to the car.
The young man scowled at Raz and then looked at Alex. She wore the male version of her dress uniform. She didn’t bother to return his gaze. His eyes lingered on her face.
“I don’t believe we’ve met,” the young marine said.
Alex turned to look at him.
“This is Lieutenant Colonel Hargreaves,” Raz said. His manner suggested that this Lieutenant Colonel was not only his boss but also a complete asshole. “He’s here for a meeting with the Fey Team.”
“Sir?” the marine said.
The young man popped to salute, which Alex lazily returned. Like a valet, he stepped into the SUV and drove the vehicle away.
“What now?” Alex asked in a low tone.
“You like this,” he said with a soft smile.
He nodded toward the road up the hill. They walked up a path and around the bend to a wide-open stable. Alex’s brother, Colin, was standing between a brown blanket Appaloosa mare and an enormous brown Arabian gelding. The Arabian was saddled, while the Appaloosa had only a blanket on her back. A beautiful grey mare nickered when they approached. Raz went to the dappled grey Tennessee Walking Horse mare, and Alex greeted Colin with a hug. Raz took an apple from his pocket and fed it to the mare.
“What are we doing?” Alex asked.
“We ride in,” Raz said.
“Seriously?” Alex asked.
“It’s either this or a long, circuitous route in a Humvee,” Raz said. “We won’t make the meeting if we don’t ride.”
“Good thing you told me to wear my boots.” Alex grinned and unbuttoned her dress-uniform jacket.
“I take it Raz rides the grey?” Alex asked with a smile.
“I thought you’d like the Appaloosa,” Colin said. “She’s a great horse.”
“No saddle?” Alex asked.
“She can tolerate a bit, but not the saddle,” Colin said. “I thought you’d like that.”
“I was thinking of riding the Arabian,” Alex said.
Colin and Raz looked at her in horror. Alex laughed.
“I’m not that dumb,” Alex said with a laugh.
She went to meet the Appaloosa. She petted and talked to the horse for a few minutes until the horse seemed comfortable with her.
“What a sweetie,” Alex said. “What’s her name?”
“She’s a very special horse,” Colin said. “Her name is, ‘Miss Sweetie’ because she’s as sweet as can be. Truly. Dusty’s giving Leena’s daughter, Chloe, riding lessons on Miss Sweetie. I know you’ll love her.”
Alex scratched the horse’s nose.
“She’s has never been able to tolerate a saddle,” Colin said.
Alex shrugged.
“Good. I didn’t think you’d care,” Colin said. He looked relieved. “This is Apollo. He’s from the herd from the Pinon Valley. You know about them?”
“Supposed to have Arabian mixed in every three or four generations,” Alex said. “They’ve won the last three long-distance horse races.”
Colin nodded.
“Apollo is a wonderful horse,” Raz said. “I’ve ridden him. Trece and White Boy take him in sometimes, but they prefer ATVs.”
“And the Tennessee Walking Horse?” Alex asked.
“How did you . . .?” Raz asked.
“The General made sure we knew our horses,” Alex said. “She’s very beautiful.”
“This is Tanya,” Raz said. “She and Miss Sweetie came from a wild-horse rescue in New Mexico. But Colin owns these three.”
“I can let you ride them for a fee,” Colin said.
Alex grinned at him. She shimmied out of her dress-uniform pants. She carefully folded her jacket so as to protect the ribbons. She took special care that the pants weren’t too wrinkled and she didn’t lose her beret. She put them in the backpack she’d been carrying. She wore her white undershirt, compression exercise tights, and her cowboy boots. She looked over at Raz. He’d take off his tie and jacket. He wore blue jeans, a work shirt, and Western boots. Catching her look, he gave her a sheepish grin.
“I’d never really ridden. Just trained on horses, you know?” Raz said. “Riding Tanya every day . . . Let’s just say that I’ll miss it when we return home.”
“Are we set?” Colin asked.
“Alex, do you need help . . .” Raz started.
Alex jumped on the horse’s back.
“You can’t know the history of the US military and not know the importance of a good cavalry,” Colin said in an imitation of his father.
Alex laughed, and Raz mounted Tanya.
“Miss Sweetie’s fast as hell, and she knows the way,” Colin said as he mounted Apollo. “You’re going to have to hang on.”
“Sounds fun,” Alex said.
“What happened to your long hair and nails?” Colin asked.
“I remembered who I was,” Alex said.
“Halleluiah,” Colin said.
With that, he took off on his horse. Alex followed close behind. To her surprise, Raz gave Colin a run for his money. They reached a
wide, open field and the horses slowed. The terrain was dry and dusty. If they rode any faster, they would be covered in sand when they arrived. With Colin in the lead, Raz rode at Alex’s side.
They rode in silence, each enjoying the sights and smells of the awakening desert. The air filled with the smell of dew-wet sage drying in the warming sun. Rabbits made fast zig-zagged paths out of the bush as they passed. Sage sparrows, with their blue-grey heads, twittered with a bell-link tink sound. A coyote moved along a nearby hill. The sky overhead was not still. High above them, a red-tailed hawk and his mate flew on the currents.
When they turned the bend, Alex stopped riding. Ahead of them was a small one-story building, surrounded by at least a thousand one- or two-person tents. Raz and his grey mare stopped with Alex.
“What is this?” Alex asked.
“They started showing up the day we got back from Washington,” Raz said in a comforting tone. “No one knows how the word got out, but the first men arrived less than three hours after we landed.”
“The first men?” Alex asked.
Colin stopped riding ahead of them. He turned back in their direction.
“Some of them are on leave,” Raz said. “Some of them were sent by their COs.”
“More than a few of them are AWOL,” Colin said.
“They all had some kind of gastric distress,” Raz said.
“So many,” Alex said.
“You didn’t know?” Colin asked.
Alex shook her head.
“Why?” Alex asked. “Why are they here?”
“They’re here for you,” Raz said. “They want training. Their COs want them to be trained. They want to be fit, or, for some of them, fit again.”
“We have a few officers,” Colin said.
“Wha . . .?” Alex shook her head.
“I can’t believe no one told you yesterday!” Colin laughed.
“They may have said something, but I wouldn’t have known what they were talking about,” Alex asked.
“Your buddy, Vice-Admiral Henderson?” Raz asked.
“He didn’t say a word,” Alex shook her head.
“Weird, since he hand-selected twenty SEALs,” Raz said. “And an equal number of women.”
“They came from Bahrain!” Colin said. “You can imagine their confusion.”
“I guess I know now why the guy at the stables was wearing an Air Force jumpsuit,” Alex said.
Nodding, Colin and Raz laughed.
“What are you doing with them?” Alex asked.
“Trece and White Boy work out with them,” Raz said. “Vince, Royce, and Leena have the SEALs working with the Army and Air Force in the water. MJ checked them out physically. Some of those old guys have been at war so long that they haven’t had a real check-up in years. Colin’s quite proud of his probiotic program to end dysentery they picked up in Afghanistan. Dusty’s set up teams to work with the horses. You remember that he was on the rodeo circuit?”
Alex nodded.
“Matthew and I are running fighting camps,” Colin said. “There’s one today, if you want to join. Raz and Margaret give them basic intelligence training.”
“And they just camp out here?” Alex asked.
“Alex, they’d walk to the moon to get the opportunity to learn from you,” Raz said. “We’re poor substitutes. They’ve just been here waiting.”
“On the off chance that you’ll show up again,” Colin said. “And Vince told me that Colonel Gordon is due here any day to help get organized.”
“This was always his vision,” Alex said. “How do you manage security?”
“The first guys just arrived,” Raz said. “They tricked the guards and got on base. Now, they have to have orders, even if they’re on leave.”
Alex mouthed “Wow.”
“How do you feed them?” Alex asked.
“We hunt for meat,” Raz said. “We’re allowed to hunt the deer and small game.”
“Rifles?” Alex asked.
Raz nodded and continued.
“Colin takes parties out every week,” Raz said. “The rest, such as it is, comes from the camp.”
“I want to take out a bow team,” Colin said. “We can get pheasant and turkeys with bows. But I’m not great with the bow, certainly not as good as you. If you want to lead a team, you’d have to teach us the bow first.”
Alex wasn’t sure how to respond.
“I . . .” Alex shook her head. “I was going to ask what you guys have been doing out here for the last month. I guess I know now.”
Colin laughed and took off up the path.
“Unbelievable,” Alex said.
“I’m right at your side,” Raz said. “All day. If it’s too much, we’ll leave. Period.”
Alex nodded. Colin reached the building ahead. He was standing in the doorway pointing at Alex. They watched Fey Team members rush out of the building. Alex waved, and they waved back to her.
“Is there a stable for the horses?” Alex asked.
“Of course,” Raz said. “Do you want to change? Or are you okay to just . . .?”
Alex encouraged Miss Sweetie forward. On Tanya, Raz stayed at her side. Alex stepped off Miss Sweetie and into the arms of her team. They welcomed her with hugs and kisses. She hadn’t made it inside when the visiting men and women rushed the building. They shook her hand and welcomed her back. She was overwhelmed with the love, kindness, and support available right there.
“My brother’s still out there!” a young man said as he grabbed her hand.
His voice was shaking with emotion. She looked him in the face. The boy looked like an Americanized Iraqi.
“Please! My parents are desperate,” the young man said. “They begged me to come here to get help. Please. Help us. We are afraid that the terrorists have taken him to make an example because we immigrated from Iraq. My mother has dreams of him getting his head taken off by . . .”
“I’m so sorry,” Alex covered his hand with hers. “Waiting for a loved one is unspeakable agony.”
Alex glanced at Raz.
“Alex, this is Petty Officer Masrfi. He’s AWOL,” Raz said.
“That’s not good,” Alex started.
“His brother is in SEAL Team 8,” Raz interrupted. “He was last seen heading leaving Pakistan for the Wakhan.”
F
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Monday mid-day
November 7 — 11:28 a.m. PST
Camp Pendleton, California
“I apologize for disrupting your day, sir,” Alex said.
She gestured to Matthew, and he rolled a chair over to her. She sat down next to the single desk they’d set up in the building. Trece was standing at her side and Raz was working on a computer at the desk next to her. She wore Matthew’s old sweatshirt with ARMY across the front over her tank top.
“This is about that Iraqi boy?” asked the Chief of Staff for the US Navy, Admiral Brinks.
“Your AWOL Navy SEAL, sir, was born in Cleveland,” Alex said. “That makes him an American, sir.”
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t give a shit about his citizenship, Lieutenant Colonel,” Admiral Brinks said. “You know, I took this call because I was hoping you were calling to tell me you’d found my missing platoons of Navy SEALs.”
“Petty Officer Masrfi’s brother is on SEAL team 8, sir,” Alex said.
Admiral Brinks didn’t respond. So Alex pressed on.
“I’m asking that you assign him to training duty under my team, sir,” Alex said.
“And not court martial him?” Admiral Brinks asked.
The Admiral fell silent. After a few minutes, Alex cleared her throat.
“I know you’re there, Lieutenant Colonel,” Admiral Brinks said. “I’m an old, fat Admiral trying to think even one clear thought.”
“Sir?”
“I assume Trece’s standing next to you,” Admiral Brinks said. Alex grinned. “Tell him that the diet and workout have been effective. I’ve dropped forty pounds and
have had to get my dress blues altered three times, but he’s still a prick.”
Alex repeated what he’d said to Trece, and Trece laughed.
“What’s he going to do?” Matthew asked.
Alex held up her hand up for Matthew to stop talking. He nodded in agreement.
“My team and I are grounded by the CS Army,” Alex said. “When we find your men, we’ll need a team to go get them when the time comes.”
“What do you need?” Admiral Brinks said.
“SEAL team 5 would work,” Alex said. “From their Arctic platoons.”
“For the Wakhan?” Admiral Brinks.
“Yes, sir,” Alex said. “We’d prefer SEALs to go get SEALs.”
Admiral Brinks didn’t respond. Alex let him think.
“I’ll tell you what,” Admiral Brinks said, “you find my missing men, and I’ll change the Petty Officer’s assignment.”
“I never make deals with brass over missing soldiers,” Alex responded in quick, angry words.
“I just remembered that about you,” Admiral Brinks said. “No offense meant.”
“None taken,” Alex said.
Admiral Brinks fell silent.
“Is Hargreaves your married name?” Admiral Brinks asked.
“My father is General Patrick Hargreaves, sir,” Alex said.
“No shit?” Admiral Brinks asked.
He abruptly laughed out loud. Alex held the cell phone away from her ear and pointed. Raz shook his head, Trece scowled, and Matthew looked worried. As abruptly as he’d started laughing, Admiral Brinks stopped laughing.
“Find my men, Lieutenant Colonel,” Admiral Brink said and hung up the phone.
Alex looked at the cell phone and shrugged.
“What happened?” Trece asked.
“He hung up on me,” Alex said.
“What about the Petty Officer?” Trece asked.
“He wants to trade finding the men with not court martialing the Petty Officer,” Alex said. “You heard what I said.”
“What was that about your dad?” Raz asked.
“No idea,” Alex said.
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