Chapter 35
LINCOLN
“Dobbs, you’re out,” a guard yelled as he unlocked the gate. “Come with me. Move it. I don’t have all day.”
Dave grinned at me. “Well, would you look at that? You’re being sprung. Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks.” I bumped his fist when he held it out, but I couldn’t quite muster the same enthusiasm. “I’ll see you around.”
At least I hoped I would. Dave had been my cellmate for only one night, but he’d made that one night a hell of a lot more tolerable just by being there.
The talking had been annoying at times, but it’d also kept me out of my head. As I stood up from my cot, though, I realized it couldn’t quite have been one night.
Sure enough, the guard was yawning and his eyes were red and swollen like he’d just woken up. Since they’d taken my watch, I had no way of knowing what the time was.
“Do you have the time?” I asked as I walked out of the cell that had been my home for God only knew how many days.
The guard rolled his eyes. “It’s just before three in the morning.”
“If you’re on night shift, why were you sleeping?” I couldn’t help myself. “Shouldn’t you have been making sure we didn’t fly the coop?”
He rolled his eyes at me again. “I could hear Dave’s yapping all the time. Knew you were staying put. Now get the fuck out of here before I put you in the hospital for not knowing when to shut your trap.”
Dave must have heard his comment because he started laughing. The booming sound followed me out into the corridor, and finally, a grin of my own broke through. I shook my head at myself, but I kind of wished he was going with me.
“Where am I going?” I asked the stone-faced guard, but it seemed he’d decided to ignore me.
A car was waiting for me when I stepped into the cool night air. It was quiet on the base, but some lights were on in the surrounding buildings.
If I was being let out at this time of day, I was guessing someone had been burning the midnight oil with my investigation as well. Trepidation crept into my veins, but I kept it at bay. Whatever was going on, I’d face it head on. Just the same as I faced everything else that got thrown at me.
An ensign waited in the car, merely nodding his head at me when I climbed in. As I closed the door, I leaned forward and frowned at him in the rearview mirror. “Where are we going?”
“To the airfield, sir.” His voice was clipped and nervous, his eyes barely meeting mine before they were back on the road.
“Are you scared of me?” I watched incredulously as he flinched at the sound of my voice. “Seriously?”
“Well, you were in the brig, sir. I’ve been instructed not to speak to you.”
“Right. Sure.” I sat back again, raking my hands over my face. “Well, I haven’t gotten much sleep. Mind waking me up when we get to the airfield?”
“It’s only a few minutes away. We’ll be there before you fall asleep. You have approximately two-and-a-half hours on the plane to San Diego, though.” His eyes widened when he realized what he’d said.
Sighing as I sat forward again, I clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone you let the cat out of the bag. I’m going home then, huh?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know where home is for you.”
“San Diego.” I rested my head on the back of the front seat and rubbed my burning eyes. “You’re new at this, aren’t you?”
“It’s my first week on the job, sir.”
“My name is Lincoln,” I said. “Stop with the ‘sir’ shit.”
“Okay, Lincoln.” His voice still seemed a little high.
“You might as well talk to me while we’re stuck together for a few minutes,” I said. “What are you so scared about?”
“Other than being told to go pick someone up from the brig in the middle of the night?” There was a hint of amusement in his tone.
I laughed when I realized it had been an attempt at a joke. “That’s better. I’m not going to hurt you. The only reason I was in there was because I tend to do my own thing. Then I started dating a girl who is related to one of the officers.”
He whistled between his teeth. “An officer’s daughter? No wonder you ended up getting in trouble.”
After being quiet for a few seconds, he blurted out his next question. “What do you mean when you say you tend to do your own thing?”
“I mean that I don’t wait for orders instead of doing what needs to be done, but you really shouldn’t take that as advice.”
“I heard a rumor bad orders had gotten some guys in real danger down there in…” He trailed off for a second. “San Diego. You’re him, aren’t you? The guy who saved that team?”
“What is it with you people around here? Do you just talk all the time about what happens on every other base?”
“No, but everyone heard about the mission that went bad. There’s an official statement about it.”
“Fuck.” I dragged my hands through my hair and over my face again. “What’s it say?”
He shrugged. “Everyone involved will be dealt with swiftly.”
“That’s just fucking great.”
“We’re here,” he said suddenly, slowing the car to a stop. As I got ready to climb out, dead on my fucking feet for more reasons than one, he caught my gaze. “My name is Turner. If you’re that guy they’ve been talking about, it would be my honor to serve with you when you get your own command.”
A humorless laugh tore out of me before I could stop. “I highly doubt that’s going to happen, Turner. If it does, though, I’ll look you up, okay?”
He nodded, then saluted me before taking off again. A plane was waiting to take me back home, and exhaustion dragged me under almost the second my ass hit the seat.
After the past few days, I was surprised that I’d managed to fall asleep so fast or that I slept for so long, but the realization that I was probably about to hear my fate must have finally allowed me to get some rest.
When I woke up, the plane was touching down. The sun had started to rise, and the airfield was already a blur of activity.
Few people paid attention to me as I disembarked after being told to report to Charles’ office. He was the last person I wanted to see, but it made sense that he was going to be the first.
When I walked in without having been given the chance to take a piss or splash water on my face, all the same officers as before were gathered there. Charles gave me one look and sighed as he shook his head.
“You look like shit, Dobbs.”
“I was yanked out of a cell at the brig in Washington in the middle of the night. My cellmate liked talking and hadn’t gotten around to letting me fall asleep yet. All things considered, the fact that I’m still standing is a miracle.”
I knew I shouldn’t be running my mouth, but the man brought out the worst in me. To my surprise, a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
“You’re not wrong,” he said finally. Shuffling some papers in front of him, he laid his hands down on top of them and lifted his eyes back to mine. “We’ve reviewed your case, and we’d like to make you an offer.”
“Okay,” I replied hesitantly. He wasn’t apologetic about what had happened, but he wasn’t looking at me like he wanted to squish me either. “What’s the offer?
“We want you to command your own unit. This is your only option. If you don’t take it, you’re out.”
“Excuse me?” Maybe my lack of sleep had messed with my hearing. “After all this, you’re not going to give me feedback on the investigation or the findings? But you want me to command my own unit?”
“You already know what happened.” He held my gaze evenly. “We don’t report to you. If you accept our offer, you will continue to report to us. Well, not me. But them.”
“Charles might actually finally go into retirement now,” one of the officer’s commented. “If you take our offer, that is. If not, he’ll need to look for someone else before he goes anywhere.”
Charles grunted, but his eyes stayed on mine. “What do you say, Dobbs? Are you finally ready for your own command?”
My mind spun. Just a few short hours ago, I’d been in a cell, and now he wanted me to make this decision on the fly? “Can I have time to think about it?”
“No,” he said simply. “The way I see it, a real soldier doesn’t need time to think about what we’re asking of you.”
“What will it mean for me if I say yes?” I was already sorely aware of what it would mean if I said no. I’d spent the last few days trying to plan around a scenario where I got told to leave.
Charles didn’t skip a beat. “It would mean a six-month tour in Iraq for starters.”
I sucked in a breath. After all I’d been through and having had time to come to grips with the thought that I might never go into battle again, a six-month stint in that sandbox sounded like a dream come true.
It would allow me to show them that I was meant to be a SEAL. Eden and I could clear our names once and for all. More than everything else, I would be getting back to doing what I did best.
But it would be under my own command. I’d kicked against this for years.
It would also mean leaving Sofia behind for six months. I doubted they’d give me a chance to speak to her about it before I gave them an answer.
Six months was enough for her to finish her degree. But it was a long time to ask her to wait for me.
My cheeks puffed up with air before I blew out a breath. Charles eyed me expectantly, but for once, there was no venom in his gaze. I didn’t feel like his glare was trying to pierce my organs and rip them to shreds.
Something had changed in him between my leaving there and today. Despite how unbelievably fucking angry I was with the man, looking at him now was more like looking at the instructor I had respected when I’d first arrived.
Either he was hoping I’d get shot, and that was why he wanted to send me away, or he really believed I could command my own unit. Sofia’s words from that day on the beach played in my mind. She’d said he believed in me but that I was a waste of talent.
Was I? I didn’t think so, but he did. It had been the crux of our problem, if she was to be believed.
And I did believe her. I also didn’t want to leave her. Or Eden.
Charles watched me closely as I turned all this over in my mind. Eventually, he got tired of waiting. He drummed his fingers on the desk before he cocked his head and looked me right in the eyes once more.
“Well, Dobbs, what’s it going to be?”