“Sorry about that. Go on, Vixen.”
“You may not be members of SEAL Team Six, but that’s location and mission selection. Your clearances, missions, and success rate has marked you for elevation. It’s been in talks for some time for the West Coast to house a specialty team to counter threats when Team Six is otherwise engaged. Several teams were tapped for the honor, but yours has gained the momentum. You may not know it, but your team was slated to be named SEAL Team Phantom.”
“Come again?” Dude asked, scratching his jaw.
“SEAL Team Phantom, a team made to take on the missions of SEAL Team Six when they were indisposed. You would then be able to be attached to different units, if necessary, or even travel to the East Coast and link with the teams there if needed. It’s not something that is known outside of supervisorial positions. It took me two and a half years, and Tex, to find out,” Vixen continued.
Cookie got up and started gathering dishes, and the SEALs, as one, left the conversation rest. This had too many threads to follow, and so many things the hadn’t been privy to.
“Leave it to the Navy to leave us in the shitter,” Abe said.
The group laughed, but Vixen looked on with confusion. Cry Baby took pity on her. “In the military, we say shit rolls downhill.”
“And who’s at the bottom of the hill?” Wolf asked.
Cookie, Dude, and Mozart huddled together and pointed to themselves with their thumbs. “We are!”
Cry Baby turned away from them. As comedic as their show was, seeing them together messed with his head. He had no idea what his team was going through. Why had they been detained? Who planned this? And why? He couldn’t get his head around any of it. A heavy weight pressed into his shoulder, and he looked over to see Wolf’s hand resting there.
“It’s not your fault, Sailor,” Wolf told him.
“Yeah.”
Wolf shook him. “We’ve been in worst scenarios than this before. Things happen for a reason. Don’t lose sight of that.”
“And this Team Phantom? That hasn’t even come up. How does SIS know, and we don’t?”
“I think that’s part of the questions, son. Somewhere, someone is holding all the cards, and that’s what we’re here to find out. We won’t leave you to face this alone, that I promise you.”
“I’m grateful. I didn’t know who else to reach out to, when she asked me.”
“You did the right thing, James. We’re SEALs, and SEALs stick together.”
“Hooyah.”
A thought popped into Cry Baby’s head as Wolf went to corral the guys back into the briefing. If the world knew what SEAL Team Six did from the very public information available from their mission with Osama bin Laden, imagine what Team Phantom could do, and no one knew about them. The chance to do real work, completely hidden, and not attached, directly, to any base, was tantalizing. But the exact nature of secrecy their team would have made the fact that someone had been able to target them at all terrifying.
“That’s why you thought only JSOC, Special Operations Command Europe, or higher was involved. It’s been about my team the whole time. About the blow we could strike against ISIS,” Cry Baby guessed.
Wolf and his SEAL team looked to Vixen for confirmation, but Cry Baby felt it to his bones. This was beyond just a shot at the intelligence community. His team was in direct jeopardy.
“Yes. For all intents and purposes, your team would be the decisive striker against the War on Terror, and with your connections to other top teams,” Vixen added, motioning Wolf’s team.
“We’re a good target,” Cry Baby finished.
“Hey, look at that. They consider us a top team too,” Cookie said.
“Were you feeling a little left out?” Dude asked.
“Yeah, a bit, actually.”
“Question is, who would out you?” Abe asked.
“And that’s why my mission was to track Nestor Ivanov and put a track onto his phone lines. He’s the common denominator between all the attacks as the one who coordinates and executes them. He had contact with Hakeem bin Mohammed Tahib,” Vixen said.
“But you said before that Hakeem was small fish, and we didn’t know it” Cry Baby added.
Vixen looked over the SEALs for a moment before she squared her shoulders and faced them head on.
“There is a prisoner in Guantanamo Bay right now, his name is Abd Al Alim bin Abdul.”
A chill raced down Cry Baby’s back. “He came up with the mission to get Akwasi.”
“Oh, yeah. He was the one who came after her in Los Angeles. I remember my team was in Dubai on watch when Snake got an inkling that something wasn’t right with the sightings,” Wolf said.
“Correct. Thing about Hakeem was, he was just the face. His image and voice spewed the rhetoric from the cell in Qatar, but he pulled none of the strings. His death when he came to Akwasi was planned. We got information that he knew he would most likely die to do the mission, but it was his job to shake the American citizens up with a domestic terrorist attack for Abd,” Vixen explained.
“Someone make what she said make sense,” Dude argued.
“From what I gathered,” Tex interrupted, “Abd was a kid that went to Caltech and a genius. He took a trip to Bahrain five years ago and came back different. He dropped out of school and traveled to Pakistan shortly thereafter and came back with a wife. He then sent his wife back to Pakistan just two weeks before he took credit for hacking into the Domain Name Infrastructure.”
“The amount of personal information he got from around the world had to be amazing,” Abe agreed.
“Yes. We think this is when he met Hakeem, and Unknown Subject who started to betray their country,” Vixen explained.
“So, what do we do? We’re SEALs. We go on mission, and bring our people home. We’re not built for purely spy-like work,” Mozart said.
“You might just have to learn to be. We need to track down leads, and trace the line to the source. When we find out who did it, then we can attack,” Vixen explained.
“Nestor is dead, and so is Hakeem. We may be able to get clearance to go in and talk to Abd, but that’s pushing it,” Wolf said.
“I can handle that,” Vixen argued. “If I want to speak with him, and I have a protective detail, so be it. We get what we can from him, and study it until we can go after who sold you out.”
Cry Baby sat back, his mind in a whirl. He didn’t do missions that weren’t about point and shoot. His team was gone, he’d have to float along with a team that already had their places, and he had Vixen to deal with. Everything swirled around in his head, and nothing seemed to clear it up enough to act. He clenched his fist, a helpless feeling washing over him. Cool hands framed his and he looked up into Vixen’s arm eyes.
“We talk to Abd, we study him. Trace and Tex will have our back on camera to study, and you will protect me in close. We’ll find a name, and we will bring your men home.”
He nodded, unable to do much more.
“SEALs fight battles in more than one way. If this is a fight we have to let the spooks start, fine. We’ll get out chance when the time comes,” Wolf added.
“Hooyah!”
Chapter Nine
Vixen
Teaching SEALs how to be spies was more work than Vixen thought possible. Every few hours they asked for an update, or needed to do a rundown of how they’d react to scenarios at Guantanamo. Tiffany hadn’t even been approved for the interrogation, and the guys an entire plan mapped out. Three days after Cry Baby’s team got detained she was ready to pull out her hair and slap every single one of them.
“What is wrong with you?” she roared, as they went through another tactical possibility.
Wolf turned around first. “Uh oh. Hey, fellas, how about we step out to get groceries for dinner?”
“But I’m not—” Mozart started, but Wolf shot him a glare that shut him up.
“Let’s beat pavement,” Benny said.
Every SEAL, but the one
driving her the craziest, left the house. Cry Baby turned to her with a confused stare.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Don’t you baby me. Sit still, twiddle your thumbs, or read a book. I don’t care. Tex, Trace, and I have been working non-stop for approval to the Bay. Most have to wait months to get in, and we’re hoping for clearance by the end of the week.”
Cry Baby looked away and back, and, at the hurt expression in his eyes, she felt chagrined.
“Look, James, I’m—”
“Do you know why they call Heim ‘Heim’? It’s short for Heimdall, the all-seeing God. He was a Marine Sniper before he applied to BUD/s training. Snake? It’s the silver eyes, but it’s also because he has excellent vision. He is Heim’s spotter, and you never see one without the other. Welsh, well the Recruit Division Commanders thought it was funny to call the Scotsman Welsh. He came into the service and earned his citizenship while in the Navy. Hawk, he’s the easiest. It’s his totem animal. He’s Lakota Native American, and when we had to do a night flight he made animal sounds to sooth our nerves. He’s been Hawk ever since. Glitz, he likes to make things go boom.”
Tiffany didn’t know what to say as he slowly approached her. The emotion in his face choked her. So much price, worry, admiration, and anger filtered over his features as he talked about each of his brothers.
“I move because I can’t stay still. I want to fight, because I feel helpless. Those are my brothers, and I am not at their side. They are facing a battle that I am not fighting with them. It breaks me, in ways that I cannot explain, to not be with them,” he whispered, just steps away from her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“Do you know why they call me Cry Baby?”
The sun had set, and the room was barely lit by the moon’s glow. The SEALs had been practicing night maneuvers, and the lack of visibility made it real. In the darkness, his voice coiled around her and drew her in. She swayed toward him and he pulled her to his chest.
“It is because I never take a life without shedding a tear. From the first time I ever had to fire my weapon, until the death of a brother, I shed tears that my brothers cannot. It’s a badge of honor, what they call me, rather than a way to pick at me. I break, to keep them strong. I teach them to fight, so when they have no bullets they can survive. I am the foundation, Tiffany, when Heim leads us and Snake gives us direction.”
His words rumbled through his chest and she let them vibrate into her soul. He wasn’t a man looking for the alpha role, or even needed it. He understood quite clearly how necessary an omega male was. He didn’t need to lead them because he helped them stand strong.
“I should have understood,” she whispered.
“And I should have explained. We have such a similar life, versus civilians, but there are places where we differ. I’ve always heard half of spy work was waiting, but I didn’t realize how true that was until this happened.”
“I know you’re worried, but we are getting close. Trace has been keeping tabs on their care, and, since they are potential assets when they are cleared of wrongdoing, so their detainment is easier.”
“Heim and Snake both have wives, and Snake has a son. There will be nothing easy about this detainment for them. I need to call them, and give them updates.”
She released him as he went in search of his phone. Every day he’d called Katya and Akwasi to give them updates on what was happening, as much as he could. Katya, a girl after Tiffany’s heart, called her father, the Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, screeching to high heaven, and prepared to kick down doors on behalf of her husband, Heim. Tiffany had no doubt that sort of protection made sure the SEAL team was handled with care more than the SIS butting in.
But her man was stressed, and until they got word, there wasn’t much else they could do. She needed to find a way to calm him, to ease this time, as much as she could. Sex was the easy option, but they’d have a room full of SEALs soon enough, and she’d rather have her sex loud and proud. But she had an idea, and she’d get Tex to help her. She dialed up the former SEAL and waited for him to answer.
“All clear there?” he asked.
“Yeah, he got me straight.”
Tex chuckled. “It’s hard transitioning. I remembered that feeling when I got struck by the IED. It took my legs and my career and I had to find a new way to serve my country, but I didn’t know how to do it other than physically. Give him time, and he’ll calm.”
“That’s what I’m calling about, actually. Where the closest open range where we can get rid of a few thousand rounds of ammunition?”
Tex went silent for a moment, then a big booming laugh filled the receiver. “Hot damn, but you’re good for a SEAL. Tell him to get down lane ready and we’ll be there to pick you both up in ten.”
“Roger that,” she said and disconnected.
Cry Baby, aware of her ever move, turned to her when she got off the call. “What’s up?”
“Get down range ready,” she told him.
“Come again?”
“You heard me, move SEAL. I won the fight, now I’m going to out shoot you too.”
“As I recall I won,” he said. But he got up and headed towards his bedroom.
“Lies, I don’t remember this. I remember winning, and then forcing you to make love to me as the victor.”
“Is that what happened?” he asked. She turned to look at him, and her mouth went dry. He’d taken his shirt off, and his chiseled muscles were on display.
“How bad do you want it?” he asked.
Her response was to lift her shirt over her head and pull down the cups of her bra. She played with her nipple until they were stiff and moaned.
“How bad do you want it?” she tossed at him.
“How soon are they going to be here?”
“T minus eight minutes.”
“Get in here and bend over. I can get you off three times in that amount of time, pretty girl.”
He didn’t have to tell her twice.
*
“Here’s the deal, boys. There are nine of us tonight, and we are doing a going to see who’s the best. Silly water boys, or the badass SIS agent. Most grouped shots with the handgun, rifle, and then sub machine gun, wins,” she taunted.
She’d dressed in sleek black jeans and matching black camisole before throwing on a tactical jacket over. The open range was clear of any others but them, and even with the moonlight, the targets down range were hard to see.
“You think you can beat me, short stuff?” Dude asked.
“Of course, Dude,” she scoffed.
“You’re on,” Dude said.
“Oh, I’m game,” Wolf said.
Mission ready, the group all picked up the service Glock 19s Tex had gotten for them somehow.
“One clip a weapon. The best three out of five,” Tiffany said.
“That’s a lot of bullets,” Cry Baby told her.
“Yeah, a whole lot of chances for SEALs to lose, too,” she returned.
“Oh, she’s definitely going down,” Cookie hissed
Dream on, Tiffany thought. If there was anything she knew her way around, that was weapons. She’d qualified with more weapons than most in her class, and she’d been an instructor for the Central Axis Relock firing method. She palmed her pistol at the high position, parallel with her shoulders and pointing at the target in her slightly diagonal stance. Then she extended her arms up and forward and tilted her pistol toward her dominant right eye. The CAR method made her faster, more efficient, and combated the issue of double sight picture when she looked down the sight of the gun, and she didn’t have to close one of her eyes. Situated she fired, and didn’t stop until her clip was empty.
“Clear. On to the M16A4,” she called.
She heard Wolf say the same as he transitioned to the rifle, and then the other shooters. One after another they blazed through their clips, and moved to the next weapon, until they reached the Heckler & Kotch UMP, submachine gun. Tex go
t them the good stuff, and she was having the time of her life.
That was until she realized that Dude won the first round by one grouping.
“You’re going done, dude,” she yelled at him.
“Bring it sister,” he called back.
Cry Baby smiled at her, and tilted his head at her in acknowledgement with a soft smile.
You’ve done good, T. Now kick their asses or you’ll never live it down.
And what do you know, she won the next three rounds.
Take that, Water Boys.
Chapter Ten
Cry Baby
There was a feel to GITMO, the short name for Guantanamo Bay, that most would never get a chance to experience. Tall metal fences topped with spiraled barbed wire rose from the caked earth like wardens of forgotten souls. Strategic guard posts hovered at corners and vantage points with armed guards at the ready.
It was the silence that bother Cry Baby.
Camp Delta, an over 612-unit detention site, housed camps one through six, and was denoted as maximum security. Military personnel traveled back and forth, their heads on a swivel, jerking back and forth, to maintain physical watch on the detainees. Some played soccer in recreational yards, while others prayed on mats for the midday. Danger and desperation, with a hint of rage, clung to the air. Here the worst of the worst were kept, but, like with anything controlled by humans, there had been mistakes.
Cry Baby felt a sense of this roll over his skin as they traveled in further, passed just a mile or so outside of Camp Delta, to the classified black site of Camp Seven. It went by many names, some commonly known, others not exactly assured: Camp No, Camp Platinum, or the Strawberry Fields. The alleged CIA site for high-level detainees. This was where they’d kept Abd Al Alim bin Abdul, and where he and the SEAL team, along with Tiffany, headed.
They’d been frisked, stripped of weapons, made sure they weren’t carrying any explosives or anything. Tiffany, thankfully, had thought about the extra security and had not worn a bra with an underwire. That would have required a deep frisk, and Cry Baby would have broken someone’s hand, protocol or not.
Special Forces: Operation Alpha: Protecting Vixen (Kindle Worlds Novella) (A SEALed Fate Book 3) Page 5
