CHAPTER THREE
“Where are you going?” asked Ham staring at his daughter.
“I’m headed to Aleppo, Dad. We’re negotiating the release of the hostages there. I’ll be with an entire Ranger team and the state department team members.”
That was the last conversation she’d had with her father before arriving in Aleppo. Days of intense negotiations, all while the Ranger team was searching for the hostages and trying to find a way in and out.
“We’re getting nowhere, sir,” said Bailey staring at the man from the state department. “We need to be more aggressive about this.”
“That’s what your family is known for,” he smirked.
“Don’t bring my family into this. They have nothing to do with anything here. I’m talking about getting more aggressive in our search for those hostages and not taking shit from the government.”
“This is a delicate matter, Miss McDonald. I think you should let us handle the details.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, Mr. Johnson, I’m a professional negotiator who speaks their language. I’ve negotiated other hostage situations, all successfully. How many have you done again? Oh, that’s right. None!”
“Bailey,” said her colleague. “Get a coffee.”
“Fine. Keep his smart ass away from me,” she said standing and stepping into the lobby.
She approached the coffee station and heard commotion behind her. There was a man’s voice and she thought it sounded familiar but couldn’t place it. Turning with her coffee, she walked past the group and heard her name.
“Bailey? Bailey McDonald is that you?”
Bailey turned to see the face of an extremely handsome man. He was older than her by at least fifteen years, if not more. He was six-feet-two or -three, maybe two-hundred pounds.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” she asked. The man’s clothes were dirty and torn, several others around him looking the same. “Are you the hostages?”
“Yes,” he smiled. “Yes, we are but we know one another. I used to work for RP, I mean, it’s now VG.”
“Wait, what?” she frowned.
“Bailey, it’s me. Angus. Angus Williams.”
“Oh, fuck me,” she muttered. He laughed, just shaking his head. “Angus, I can’t believe it. You were one of the hostages? You weren’t on our list.”
“Your list? I don’t understand.”
“I’m the negotiator here. I’m with the state department negotiating the hostage release. Or, at least I was,” she said.
“Oh, well, I was listed as Samuel Smith.”
“Geez, this is all coming back to me now. You left when I was just a kid but you got married. I think your wife didn’t want you working in something so dangerous.”
“Yes,” he nodded. “I was stupid to leave all of you. I left to take care of my mom, fell into a relationship with an old girlfriend and married too quickly. I was young, scared, and stupid. We divorced within three years and I went back to work for the Navy.”
“Why didn’t you call us? Why didn’t you come back? Wait. Never mind. Come in here. My colleagues are working to get your release. Looks like they’re a little late.”
It took hours of questioning, examinations, showers, and changes of clothing to finally get everything settled. Angus had organized their escape, taking his fellow hostages out a back window in the middle of the night and traveling through the desert only at night.
“Angus, that’s amazing,” said Bailey. “You didn’t happen to see my brother’s SEAL team, did you?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” he frowned. “Is something wrong?”
Bailey looked around the lobby, realizing that they were left alone. She gripped his arm and pulled him toward the sundeck restaurant, taking a seat beneath the shade of an umbrella. She released his arm, almost afraid to. It was wide and strong, rippling beneath her fingers.
“They keep saying nothing is wrong but I know that something is, I can feel it. I know everyone thinks that’s crazy but I’m telling you, something bad has happened to Cole and I need to find him. I took this assignment so I could be in the Middle East.”
“Have you called your family?” asked Angus.
“No, but now is as good a time as any.” Bailey dialed the number on her VG tablet and saw the faces of Hiro and AJ.
“Bailey, are you alright?” asked Hiro. “Hey. Who the fuck- I’ll be a son-of-a-bitch. Angus.”
“Hi, Hiro,” he smiled.
“Dude, where the fuck have you been?”
“It’s a long story but I’m back working contract for Navy Intelligence. Or I was. I was part of the group kidnapped. We got loose.”
“He got them loose,” smirked Bailey. “I was here at the hotel trying to negotiate the release and he walked in with the rest of the hostages.”
“I’ll be damned. Come home, brother. Come home with Bailey.” Angus smiled at the young woman and then turned back to the screen.
“Maybe. But there’s another issue. Bailey is certain something is wrong with Cole. Do you have a read on him?”
“No. Nothing yet and we’re worried as well. His team got split up during an op and his commander was killed. There’s no word on where Cole is.”
“Shit,” muttered Angus. “The group that took us is going to be pissed that we got away. If they find him, they might think it was him that got us out.”
“We have to find him,” said Bailey.
“Sit where you are,” came the booming voice of Ham. Bailey swallowed, staring at the Angus.
“Sir, I won’t let anything happen to her.”
“Angus Williams, fucking good to see you. You’re not the kid you were when you left here,” he smirked.
“No, sir. I’m not. But I will keep your daughter safe as long as she’s here.”
“Angus, you can’t promise that,” said Bailey. “The Navy is going to want you back at your duty station.”
“I’m former Navy Intelligence, Bailey. I technically left six months ago. I was here on contract for them, just traveling, and got swept up in the wrong group, wrong time, wrong country. I’m not technically working.”
“Yes, you fucking are,” said Cam coming into the frame. “You’re working for us again, as of right now.”
“Is that an order?” smirked Angus.
“Yes,” said Cam smiling. “Bailey, I don’t suppose I could convince you to get your ass on a plane and come home?”
“What do you think?” she said crossing her arms.
“Your parents are going to be worried sick for you. If you stay, you have to promise you’ll listen to Angus.”
“I promise, Cam. Just let me find my brother,” she said pleadingly.
“You know, this hits painfully close to home. I seem to remember chasing my wife half-way across the world because she wanted to save her brother.”
“You couldn’t stop her either,” smiled Bailey.
“No. I couldn’t.”
“I’ll get us settled at another hotel,” said Angus. “From there I can see if any contacts here have heard anything. Where is his team?”
“We’re not sure,” said Cam. “I’ll work our end here and see what we can come up with. Sit tight until I gather some intel.”
“Roger that,” said Angus. Cam stared at the screen, giving his head a shake at the sight of Angus Williams.
“You were obviously a late bloomer, Angus. You’re twice the size you were when you were here last.”
“I like my red meat,” he smirked.
Ending the call, they sat staring at one another across the table. A man cleared his throat and Bailey turned to see the lead from the state department.
“Mr. Williams, thank you for your help with this. We’ll be leaving on a transport within the hour.”
“I’m actually going to stay,” he said.
“Stay? Sir, you need to come back to the U.S. with us. We can ensure your safety. Bailey? Are you ready?”
“I’m staying as well.”
“You’re both nuts but I can’t force you to leave. Be safe,” he said walking away. A waiter set down two glasses of water and some menus and Bailey stared at it.
“It’s dinner time,” she said quietly.
“Yep. Are you gonna have dinner with me, Miss Bailey?”
“I guess I am,” she smiled. “I was just a little kid when you left Belle Fleur. I remember you but not like this.”
“Like this?” he laughed.
“Cam is right. You’re bigger, more fit. You look like the other guys back home.”
“Is that bad?” he asked.
“No. Not at all.”
“When my wife left me, I was devastated, humiliated, embarrassed, all of it. She ran off with a guy who was in the Army and lived in the apartment across from us. I had no clue they’d been having an affair.”
“I’m sorry,” she said gripping his hand. He nodded.
“The guy was big. Jacked,” he laughed. “I assumed that’s why she left me for him.
I sort of went overboard there for a while, then realized I was having trouble doing my job I was so big.
So, I balanced it with cardio, the right food, and the right amount of weights.
I’m healthy. That’s really all I care about. ”
“You look good,” she blushed.
“So do you, Bailey. Are you married? Engaged? You’ve got to be what twenty-four? Twenty-five?”
“Almost twenty-five,” she smiled. “And no. Not dating anyone.”
She had hoped that she and Joey would connect but it seemed that all he wanted was friendship, nothing more. She was fine with that and when she realized she was fine with it, she realized that she wanted nothing more either.
“I’m forty-six,” he said glumly.
“Such an old man,” she said in a withering voice. He laughed at her, shaking his head.
“Let’s eat and make a plan. Tomorrow we start looking for your brother.”