CHAPTER FOUR
“Who is she with?” asked Eric.
“Angus Williams. He came to us as a kid, working with Tiger. He was here a few years, left to care for his mother and then went back to work for the Navy. I guess his ex-wife was a piece of work and he was embarrassed to come back to us,” said AJ.
“We rehired him, right?” asked Luke.
“On the spot,” smirked Cam. “They moved hotels, something nicer and we’ve overnighted his equipment to him. Everything in stealth mode, obviously.”
“Obviously,” nodded Luke. “What about Cole? Any read on his whereabouts?”
“Brief blips but nothing that gives us a solid read. If I could just pinpoint the area, we could get out there.”
“What was the op? Where were they?” asked Cam.
“That’s the other issue. With the commander dead, I don’t have anyone to ask other than his teammates and they’ve got them locked up tighter than Fort Knox on a ship in the Persian Gulf,” said AJ.
“What ship?” asked Luke.
AJ gave him the name of the ship and they watched, as five phone calls later, Luke was speaking to command of the ship asking to speak with the team.
“They could have my stripes for this, Luke,” said the man. “But I know who you are and what you’re going to try and do. These guys are beat up pretty bad. It’s like the whole damn thing was cursed.”
By the time he was off the phone, the entire team was staring at one another wondering why in the hell they would approach a potential nuclear hotspot in that way.
“If we knew there was a nuke there, and chances are we did know,” said Ham, “why not just blow it from the sky?”
“That’s a great question,” said Luke. “We risked an entire SEAL team for something stupid. But. It gives us an area to search.”
It was as if a golden light went on above them as the distinct sounds of ‘ping-ping-ping’ echoed in the auditorium.
“Holy shit,” said Pigsty. “It’s his signal, the manual one turned on from his VG phone.”
“Call it,” said Luke. “Call it.”
“Luke, what if they’re close to him?” asked Ham.
“We need to chance it. He won’t have it audible, so if he can’t answer, he won’t.”
They all nodded at one another as AJ dialed the number. It seemed to ring forever then a voice was heard.
“This better be fucking home or I’m going to be pissed,” he growled in a low voice.
“Son? Shit,” sniffed Ham, suddenly overwhelmed. “Cole, are you alright?”
“Hey, Dad. Nope. Not even close. During our extraction we got separated. I’m at the bottom of what appears to be a dry well.”
“How far from the nuke site?” asked Luke.
“Maybe a mile or less. I headed north toward the mountains, so it’s somewhere…”
“Got him,” said AJ.
“I love you, AJ,” said Cole. “Listen, I’m pretty sure I have some broken ribs, maybe a broken wrist. It’s been a couple of days and my hip is fucking killing me, so I have no clue how mobile I’ll be but if someone will get me the fuck….”
“Cole?”
“Hold,” he whispered.
Everyone held their breath, listening for the sounds of someone above him. They heard trucks pass the location and then an eerie silence. Not wanting to give away his location, they held still until Cole spoke.
“I think I’m good. Something is happening at that nuke site. We need to blow it.”
“Not until we get you the fuck out of there,” said Luke. “We have someone in the area. Just hold tight.”
“I’ll be here.”
The call ended and Luke stared at the others.
“You didn’t tell him it was his sister out there,” said Ham.
“Would you have? He’ll fucking flip out,” said Luke. Ham nodded, knowing that he was right.
“Should we let Bailey and Angus know his location?” asked AJ.
“It’s the middle of the night there but yes. Wake them up. If I know Angus he’ll want to take off now in the dark,” said Cam.
Bailey heard the soft tapping at the door to the connecting room with Angus.
“Bailey,” he whispered. “Bailey, I’m coming in honey.”
“Hey,” she said with a sleepy gaze. Her long blonde hair was hanging in her face, a mass of tangles and waves around her head. Angus chuckled, shaking his head. “What? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, except you look fucking adorable,” he smirked.
“Oh,” she blushed. “No, I mean what’s wrong?”
“We have a location on Cole.” She jumped from the bed forgetting that she was sleeping only in a tank top and panties. Angus immediately turned his body toward the door. “Uh, I’ll let you get dressed.”
“Angus, it’s not a big deal. We’re adults and I don’t have anything you haven’t seen before.”
“You might want to clarify that,” he said to the door. “Just get dressed and come over to my room. Take everything in your backpack. We’ll leave our suitcases here. With any luck, we’ll be back by tonight.”
“Okay, I’m ready,” she said.
He turned and smiled at her standing in cargo pants, the tank replaced by a long-sleeved desert shirt, and her hiking boots. Her hair was twisted on top of your head, tucked beneath a baseball cap.
“Well, at least you’re covered,” he grinned.
“I was always covered Father Angus,” she laughed.
“Believe me, I wasn’t thinking priestly thoughts,” he said shaking his head. Bailey gripped his arm, turning him toward her.
“I’m glad.”
Angus stared down at her beautiful face. She was tall, maybe five-feet-ten and he loved that. Her beautiful blue eyes blinked at him and he kept reminding himself of their age difference and that her father, or most likely her mother, might kick his ass.
He swallowed and she just kept staring at his face. When he found his voice, he nodded at her.
“Let’s go. We got a special delivery from the boys back home last night. Do you know how to shoot?” She looked at him with a side-smirk.
“Did you forget who my father is? Hell, who my mother, grandfather, great-grandfather and -grandmother are? Yes, I can shoot.”
“Okay, okay, Annie Oakley.”
“Annie who?” she frowned.
“Never mind. Thanks for making me feel ancient. Here. Put this in your backpack. It’s loaded and the safety is on. Do not pull it unless you have to. Clear?”
“Clear,” she nodded.
“Bailey, we’re going to find Cole but you have to promise you will do whatever I say. If something were to happen to you, I'd never forgive myself."
"I promise, Angus. Really, I do.”
He nodded, taking her hand in his own and leaving their rooms behind. They left a ‘do not disturb’ sign on their doors and headed downstairs via the elevators.
“According to the information sent by the team, he’s about twenty miles outside of the city in a well. The problem is we’re having trouble with the exact location. We need to stay together and search at night, not during the day unless we see the area clear.”
She nodded at him as they left the hotel and walked two blocks down, then left. At the corner was a small truck waiting for them.
“How did we get this?” she asked.
“Do you really want to know?” She shook her head. “I still have a lot of contacts here from my time in service. I was a good intelligence officer and the men in this country trusted me. No one has heard about anyone searching for Cole but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t.”
“I understand. Okay,” she said as he shut the truck doors. “Let’s find my brother.”