Chapter 3
LINCOLN
“You nervous?” Eden asked as he came to stand next to me in the eerily empty hallway of the administrative wing. He had his cap tucked under his arm and he looked smart in his whites.
I whistled between my teeth and gave him a firm slap on the butt. “Nope. I’m not nervous. There’s no reason to be.”
His light eyebrows swept up on his forehead. “We’re about to go in front of a panel of superior officers to be questioned about the mission we just went on. You know, the one where we went in without authorization?”
My jaw hardened. “Just remember that we did the right thing. We saved a lot of lives and lost zero. If they want to give me a rap over the knuckles for that, then so fucking be it.”
“It could be a lot worse than a rap across the knuckles,” he mused, shifting on his feet. There was a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and a vein jumping below his jaw. “They could end us for this, Linc.”
“They won’t.” I knew they could, but I really didn’t think they would. If we’d lost a hostage, sure. But with all the valuable American assets back safe and sound, they’d be stupid if they tried to get too heavy handed with us.
Eden glanced up at me, his tongue swiping across his lower lip. “If this is it, you should know it’s been an honor serving with you.”
My lips rose into a smirk as I arched a brow at him. “It has? Really? That’s great, Phillips. Tell me again at our retirement party fifty years from now.”
He rolled his eyes at me, but my confidence seemed to give him something of a boost. “Cocky asshole.”
“You love it?—”
“Dobbs?” a curt voice called. An officer I didn’t know stepped out of the room the panel had convened in, turning his steely-gray eyes on me. “Lincoln Dobbs?”
“That’s me.” I gave Eden a final smirk, planted my clean white cap at an angle on my head, and went to face my fate.
Despite what I’d just told Eden, I wasn’t a fucking robot. Nerves buzzed like angry hornets beneath my skin, but I refused to let it show. What we had done had been the right call. I just had to make the panel see that.
I’d expected the room we were going to be in to be decked out like some kind of court in a fantasy movie. Perhaps there would be raised seating around a coliseum-like arena or, at the very least, some hooded figures standing behind evenly spaced podiums.
In reality, it was just another room on the base. A plain long desk that looked like any self-assembled picnic table had the three superior officers behind it who held my career in their hands.
Commander Charles fucking Cantor had the seat in the middle. The man was a highly decorated officer who had been a SEAL instructor since before I’d been born.
His square jaw was set, and his spine was so straight that there had to be a broomstick up his ass keeping him from slouching over. Hazel eyes filled with hate met mine, and his mouth twisted into a grimace.
Every time he saw me, it was like he suddenly smelled shit. He wasn’t a nice guy, and he’d been vocal in his dislike of me before. And he’s the guy who has to decide if I get to keep doing the job I love.
Charles and I had never seen eye to eye. I had no reason to believe we’d start now.
Thankfully, it wasn’t all in his hands. I planted my feet about a foot apart once I reached the spot where I had to stand, snapping my fingers to my forehead in a salute. One of the men sitting next to Charles nodded. “At ease, Dobbs. Have a seat.”
The officer playing bailiff for the proceedings gestured to a plastic chair behind a table the size of a pea. I folded my big body in behind it as best I could, but my knees kept hitting the underside of the fucking thing. It was like it had been made for a first grader.
A hint of a cruel smile appeared on Charles’ features, but his colleagues waited expressionlessly for me to get settled.
Once I was, the Lieutenant Commander and Commander sat back while Charles preened like a peacock. Clearly, he was running the show today. Just my luck.
“Dobbs.” He folded his arms on the table. “You’re here to discuss your actions during your most recent mission to Tehran.”
“Yes, sir.” I fixed him with my gaze.
He narrowed his but didn’t look away. “Your mission was to locate American hostages and extract them, correct?”
“Yes, sir. We achieved both objectives.”
The Lieutenant Commander next to Charles nodded, but the man himself didn’t move a muscle. “You did, but you failed to wait for the order to move forward. According to the report, a firefight broke out before we had cleared the civilians from the area.”
There was no question there, but I answered anyway. “That is correct.”
“Are you aware that gunfire kills people, Dobbs?” He pursed his lips. “Particularly when being fired by hostiles within their own territory.”
“Yes, sir.”
A predatory gleam entered his eyes, and he leaned forward like he was going in for the kill. “In light of that, would you agree that your actions put the lives of the very hostages we sent you to save in danger?”
“No, sir, I would not.” I made eye contact with him first, then with each man beside him. “All the hostages were extracted safe and sound, sir. Their lives were in danger for the entire time they were in that building. Our actions did not place their lives in further danger. We saved them.”
He banged his fist against the table, his face turning an alarming shade of puce. “Your actions drew armed hostiles toward those hostages. Your actions caused said hostiles to fire on those hostages. How in God’s name can you justify something like that?”
“With all due respect, sir,” which, admittedly, wasn’t much, “suggesting that we drew armed hostiles toward the hostages is disingenuous. The hostiles were on the property, already armed and already wielding their weapons against our people. What we did got them away from their captors.”
“Without waiting for the order authorizing you to take any action whatsoever,” he barked. A vein in his forehead bulged, and his hands curled into fists. “Do you understand how the command structure works?”
“I do, sir. We waited for the order, but it never came. A window of opportunity presented itself when all the hostiles vacated the area where the hostages were being kept. After days of surveillance, that was the first time they’d left the hostages alone and none of their captors were in their immediate vicinity. ”
“Why do you think that makes it okay to move without permission from your lieutenant?” he ground out.
I raised my chin. “We passed the information on to the lieutenant, but no order was forthcoming. The decision had to be made, and I made it.”
“If you had waited?—”
I interrupted him. It certainly wouldn’t buy me any points with the panel, but this was getting ridiculous. “If we had waited, there might not have been another opportunity to get them out safely for days. If at all.”
“You don’t know that,” he spat, the vein visibly throbbing now.
The dude was going to have a monster of a headache after this.
Between the vein and the mottled appearance of his skin, it seemed the interrogation wasn’t doing his blood pressure any favors.
I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for him, though.
I shook my head, rolling my lips into my mouth as I stared him down. “I don’t know that, sir. None of us know what might have happened if we had waited. What we do know is that, as a result of our actions, the mission was a success and the hostages are safe.”
“As a result of your actions?” He scoffed, his eyes widening so much I saw the white all around his irises. Scary shit. “You cocky fuc?—”
“I think we can agree you achieved the objectives of the mission,” the Commander cut in. “Whether by your own actions or those of the team you formed part of.”
I nodded, not bothering to point out that it had been my decision that had led to the success of the mission.
I hadn’t done it for the recognition anyway. It just would have been nice not to have been having a pineapple shoved up my ass for making the decision that allowed the team to carry out the mission successfully.
“The question here is not to determine the success or failure of the mission,” he continued seamlessly, oblivious to my mental ranting.
“It’s about the fact that you didn’t wait for the order from your superior officer.
So far, you have defended yourself with poise.
We appreciate that, but we still need to know why you didn’t wait. ”
“We did wait at first. After first informing our superior officer that the target was moving, then that he had exited the room and no one was guarding the hostages, we waited at least three minutes before we moved into the house.”
“During that time, your lines of communication were open?” he questioned.
I nodded firmly. “They were, sir. We only turned down our comms once we’d already reached the entry point. Again, only after we informed our superior officer that we were going in. There had still not been any order coming from him. He also didn’t tell us to stand down, for what it’s worth.”
“He shouldn’t have to tell you to stand down when you shouldn’t be moving,” Charles barked, shoving his hands into his graying hair. “Do you even know what an order is?”
“Our orders were to go to Iran, to track down where the hostages were being held, and to bring them home. That’s what we did.
Our team formulated a plan before we went in.
A key aspect of that plan was identifying a point and time of entry that would involve the least risk to the civilians.
We reported on having found that time. Then we stuck to the plan in the absence of any order to the contrary. ”
“Did you receive confirmation from your superior officer that he received your communication about having found an opening as described in the plan?” the Commander asked, his ice-blue eyes hard as glaciers.
“Yes, sir. We did.” I dipped my head in respect because this man actually had mine. “We didn’t know how long the window would stay open, so we acted according to the plan when no further orders were communicated.”
“What are you really saying, Dobbs?” Charles glared at me. “Because it sounds like you’re trying to throw your lieutenant under the bus.”
“Not at all, sir. I’m just stating the facts, but maybe you should be questioning the lieutenant on why he was willing to let the moment pass.”
“Maybe we will,” the Lieutenant Commander mused.
Charles, however, didn’t seem to agree. “That’s the problem with mavericks like you.
You think you can do whatever you want and you never take responsibility for your actions.
Let me tell you what, Dobbs. I’m retiring this month and I’m not going to have you risking the lives of soldiers even when I’m gone. ”
For the first time since entering the room, his words got to me. Rage burned through me like wildfire. My hands trembled and my jaw clenched, but I kept the fighting words begging to be let out inside.
Contrary to what he believed, I did understand hierarchy. Bowing to authority might not be my strongest point, but even I knew if I mouthed off at an officer of his rank in a meeting like this, I would be out faster than yesterday’s trash.
The Commander’s eyes drifted to the side of Charles’ face, a slight frown flickering across his features before it disappeared. “Regardless of Ensign Dobbs’ wild streak, we have flagged him for advancement many times. Tell me, Dobbs. Why aren’t you moving through the ranks?”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Charles didn’t let me. “He’s going to be where he is for the rest of his career. If it isn’t cut short when we make our decision here. Do you gentlemen have any further questions for him?”
They both shook their heads, and a malicious grin spread across Charles’ face. “We’ll let you know what we decide, Dobbs. You’re excused.”
Extricating myself from the tiny desk proved to be even harder than getting behind it had. Once I managed to free myself, I gave them another salute and left the room.
Eden was still waiting outside, sweating profusely now. The stark white hallway was completely empty at this point, and his footsteps ran out as he rushed at me. “What happened? How was it? You’re not coming out in cuffs, so that’s a good sign.”
“Everything went great. It’s nothing to worry about.” I meant it, too. Maybe it was just because Charles was right and I was a cocky bastard, but it didn’t feel like my career was ending anytime soon.
Regardless, Eden’s face sank when they called him in. I reached out to grab his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze before he turned away from me. “We did the right thing, bro. Remember that. Just tell it to them like it was.”