Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
J ess tensed as Logan silently came back. He halted at her horse.
“Taliban in the caves.”
Her heart slammed with fear. She felt Logan’s hand grip her thigh a little more, as if to reassure her.
“We ride. Follow me.”
The sky was lightening by the minute as they left the grove. Logan found a path continuing down from the fields and dry, yellow hills above. They couldn’t talk, and she rode drenched in terror. What if the Taliban woke up and saw them? They were now trotting their horses and, as the light got better, they would be easily spotted. Her heart pounded relentlessly in her chest.
Logan continued to keep watch as he pushed his horse to remain at a steady trot. The animals had had no water. He knew they were tiring. Now, they were in the gauntlet between the Marines he knew patrolled the valley below Bravo, sitting high on the opposite side, and the Taliban behind them. He saw farmers starting to come out to their fields with their implements here and there. Any of them could be Taliban sympathizers. They could well have a radio on them and call in to the enemy. He felt adrenaline continually leaking into his bloodstream as he rode.
Up ahead, Logan saw a road that was used by all vehicles, including military ones. How many IEDs had been planted last night along it? Taliban sympathizers did their work after dark, hoping an American Humvee would roll over it the next day. Logan opted not to use the road unless he had to. His horse could step on one of those unseen IEDs and they’d die in an instant. Better to use a footpath along the fields, instead, because that is where the farmers walked, and they would be loath to blow up one of their neighbors. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Jess keeping up. She was learning to ride the horse, whether she wanted to or not, and a fierce love for her welled up in his chest. She had grit.
They rode for nearly fifteen miles, getting close to the halfway point of the valley, when Logan spotted a pool of water off to the side of the path. He brought his horse to a stop and loosened its reins so the animal could drink. Jess rode up and did the same thing. They sat together, their legs touching one another, as their horses eagerly gulped down the water.
He could only see her eyes through the drawn-up shemagh . “How are you doing?”
“Okay,” Jess said. “Scared. My butt’s never going to be the same again.” She saw Logan nod, his eyes crinkling, indicating he was smiling beneath the shemagh wrapped around his own lower face. “How far to go?”
“See that dirt road off to our left?”
“Yes.”
“That’s the main road through the valley. The Marines would use it with their Humvees and trucks when they patrol this area. It’s probably got IEDs planted on it.”
“And we’re staying on this path?”
Nodding, Logan respected her intelligence. Jess very quickly caught on to any situation. “Right. We have another five miles to go and then we can start climbing the hills you see ahead. Camp Bravo is on the other side of them, sitting at eighty-five hundred feet up the mountains.”
“Will there be a Marine patrol through here?” Jess asked, rubbing her numb butt.
“Don’t know.” Logan scowled. “Once we make it to the hills, we’re going to get rid of our Afghan disguises.”
“Because the Marines might mistake us as Taliban?”
“Yeah.”
Jess looked up at the cloudy sky, the sun already riding high, somewhere above. It looked like it might rain. She saw a wide scattering of many men and younger boys out in the fields, tending the rows of crops. Sometimes, they would look up and watch them. It always sent terror through her. Her and Logan both drank deeply. Her now-familiar problem was back, stomach knotted so tight she didn’t want to eat. Logan casually ate a protein bar. They were getting close to being safe. Inwardly, Jess wanted nothing more than to just be with Logan, out of danger, and not constantly worried about being attacked by the Taliban.
“Let’s go,” Logan told her, stuffing the bar’s wrapper in his pocket. He wanted to reach out, touch her, but, with the eyes of Afghan farmers on them, he didn’t want to raise suspicion.
Jess had learned how to ride at a trot by watching Logan. They trotted the horses along the path. Every mile that went by made the tension wind tighter within her. Sometimes, she would look over her shoulder to see if they were being followed. So far, so good.
Logan took a path that led up between two brown, rocky hills. Jess began to breathe a little sigh of relief as the horses, sweaty and tiring, moved through the notch between them. Logan veered to the right, off the path and pulled to a halt. She rode up to him. He was looking around, and then dismounted.
“Climb down,” he told her. “We’re getting rid of our hajii gear.”
Jess was grateful when Logan walked around her horse, offering his hand to help her dismount. She groaned softly, never so stiff and sore. Logan squeezed her hand and released it once she had both feet on the ground.
“Okay, let’s get rid of these in a hurry.”
Jess quickly shucked out of the clothes. Logan gathered them up and threw them behind some rocks so they wouldn’t easily be discovered.
“Give me your AK.”
“Okay… Why?”
He smiled a little. “I don’t want anything on us that might create suspicion or confusion with the Marines at Bravo. We’re only five miles from the FOB.”
The sun peeked out for a moment between the gray, low-hanging clouds. The wind was inconstant. And the temperature had rapidly climbed from below freezing to around eighty degrees Fahrenheit in the valley. Jess nodded and hauled the AK-47 off her back and handed it to Logan. He placed it behind the rocks with the clothing. He came back and hauled his M4 out of the leather sheath on his horse’s flank, clipping it back on its harness across his chest.
Logan walked around her horse and slid his hand along Jess’s jaw, looking deeply into her eyes. “We’re almost home, Jess. Hang in there with me?”
She closed her eyes for a moment, savoring this unexpected moment of Logan’s care. His hand was roughened with callouses. She gave a jerking nod, her throat dry. When his mouth slid against hers, she moaned, stepping closer to him, kissing him with everything she had. Feeling Logan go tense against her as she leaned into his strong, tall body, only enflamed her need of him. His mouth was gentle, and she craved his closeness. Gradually, Logan eased from her mouth, and she opened her eyes, drowning in his hooded gaze.
“I love you,” he rasped, his thumb moving across her cheek, her skin soft velvet beneath it. “I’ll get you home, Jess…”
They mounted up. Jess felt less encumbered without the heavy wool clothing she’d been sweating in for hours. Logan told her to put her own baseball cap on, as he settled his black one on his head. He slid on his wraparound sunglasses, and then gestured for her to follow him up a narrow trail that would take them higher. The horses labored, stumbling and tired. When the forward operating base came into view, Jess almost cried with relief. It sat on a flat-topped mountain, looking like a huge castle surrounded by concertina wire. She could see the road that led up to the gate. Logan kicked his horse into a trot and the animal sluggishly responded.
As they rode up, Jess saw two Marines with M-16s manning the gate. Logan dismounted and so did she. Her heart was hammering again, but this time with relief. She stood by him as he explained to the guards who they were. Instantly, the gate was opened, and they were allowed into the heavily guarded facility.
Logan was met by SEAL Chief Evans, head of Charlie Platoon. This had been his home off and on over the years and never had it looked this good to him. There was a large SEAL contingent at the CIA base. Another SEAL, one Logan didn’t know, came and took their horses from them. They would be well cared for, watered, fed some grain and as much dried grass as they wanted to eat. Logan shook Evans’s hand.
“Welcome home,” Evans said, nodding toward Jess. “We got worried about you two.”
Logan nodded. He placed his hand around Jess’s arm and brought her forward. “Our horse fell and broke his neck. My sat phone as well as my radio were broken.” Evans was six foot tall, his face darkly tanned, wearing cammies and a black baseball cap.
“We figured something happened. Most likely dead batteries, but we’re glad to have you back, Logan. Helluva welcome home, eh?” and he gave him a lopsided grin.
“Can you call my partner, Chris? Let him know we’re safe?” Logan asked as he followed the chief back toward their SEAL compound.
“Yes, I’ll get on it. Are you two hungry? Need a shower?”
Logan grinned. “Yes, to both.” It was good to be home with his SEAL friends at this compound, and he looked fondly at the one-story, gray-block building. It had no windows. They walked through its entry door and into a hall.
Evans stopped in the passageway. He pointed to a nameplate up above a doorway.
“Ma’am?” he said, “This is Sarah’s room. She was an Army medevac pilot who was stationed here a while back. Married one of our SEALs in this building. The guys built this room for her so she could be with us, instead of the doggy Army,” and he grinned. “It’s comfy. You take it? I’ll get one of our SEALs to rustle you up a towel, washcloth and soap. Someone will escort you to the FOB’s women’s shower unit area in a bit.”
Jess nodded, more than grateful. “Thank you, Chief.”
“Randall, you come with me to my office,” the Chief ordered.
Jess saw Logan give him a nod. An irrational fear hit her vulnerable mind: was he suddenly going to walk out of her life again? He must have seen the look on her face.
“I’ll be right back,” Logan reassured her.
Inside Sarah’s room was a twin bed, and the air conditioning was on, both seeming heavenly to Jess. A shower would complete the perfection. She turned slowly around as she entered and saw a small desk and chair, as well as another chair to sit in and relax. The room was a pale pink and there was a dresser with a mirror as well. Stumbling over her own boots, Jess grimaced, feeling the grit of the desert’s ever-intrusive sand chaffing against her sensitive skin beneath her cammies. There was a knock on the door, and she turned.
A SEAL with black hair and brown eyes smiled and handed her the towel and other promised items for her shower. She thanked him.
Logan came back and retrieved her twenty minutes later. Jess walked with him toward some two-story blockhouses that comprised the shower area. She heard the whine of Apache helicopters spooling up for takeoff at the busy airport within the massive, busy FOB. This was a large place. She saw row upon row of desert-colored tents. It was a veritable city; needed to be to house the one-thousand-odd black ops personnel that manned it.
“How are you holding up?” Logan asked, keeping his stride short for her sake. Jess looked exhausted. He walked close to her but didn’t touch her. They were behind the wire, and both were as aware as always of the military’s hard stance on fraternization.
“Like I’m stuck in peanut butter,” she admitted, casting him a wry glance.
Logan stopped at the showers. “Maybe some good, hot food will help, after we take our showers.” He drowned in her shadowed green eyes. How brave and courageous Jess had been. “I asked the chief to put a call in through channels to your parents so they would know you’re safe, now.”
Relief surged through her. “Thanks, I’m sure they’re dying of worry.”
Nodding, Logan said, “We’re going to get showered first, eat at our main chow hall, and then we’re taking a late-evening CH-47 transport jet flight back to Bagram. Chris said that LT Parker was going to have your orders sent over there.”
Her heart crashed. “I won’t get to see my team? To say goodbye to them, first?”
Hearing the raw emotion in her voice, Logan said gently, “No. They can’t risk it, Jess. You’re a wanted woman by the Taliban. If you showed up at that village again, Khogani could be lying in wait.” He saw tears come to her eyes, saw her fight them back. “I’m sorry.”
Swallowing hard, Jess whispered, “No… I understand.”
“Look, get cleaned up,” Logan urged. “I’ll meet you here in thirty minutes and then take you over to the chow hall to eat.”
***
Jess sat with Logan in the busy chow hall. It was early evening and there were about fifty people eating. Most of them, she assumed, were going on duty shortly. She saw some women in desert-colored flight suits sitting together, Apache pilots, Logan had told her. She’d learned there was an Apache squadron here, as well as a medevac squadron. Logan had chosen the last table, sitting with his back to the wall. Sitting opposite him, she hungrily ate fried chicken, peas and mashed potatoes with gravy. Food had never tasted so good. Logan had piled his own aluminum tray with so much chow that Jess didn’t see how he was going to eat all of it. A number of Logan’s SEAL friends came up to welcome him back, but they didn’t stay long, allowing him some precious time with Jess.
“What now?” Jess asked between bites. Logan was clean, his short hair still damp from his recent shower. He hadn’t shaved, and it gave him a dark, lethal look.
Logan heard the trepidation in Jess’s voice. “For us?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“I’ll be going back to the village where you were working because that was an ordered assignment, whether you are there or not. I was on the sat phone with Chris earlier and he said our orders hadn’t changed. I filled him in with what the master chief told me that we’re to stay until the well-drilling unit permanently left the area. Then I’ll be coming back with Chris to Bravo for the duration of our time here.” He saw the grief in Jess’s eyes. “Remember when we met at Landstuhl?”
“I’ll never forget it,” she whispered, forcing herself to eat. For all Jess knew, she was going to lose Logan, all over again , tonight when they arrived at Bagram air base. “Why?”
“Hold on to that meeting, Babe.” Logan searched her exhausted features, knowing she needed a good night’s sleep. “I’ve got two more months before my platoon returns to Coronado. Then, I’ll be home for eighteen months on U.S. soil.” His voice lowered. “And, providing you’re Stateside, I want to spend my sixty days of leave with you.”
That sounded so good to Jess. She saw the burning quality in Logan’s eyes. The love she felt for him nearly overwhelmed her. “I want the same thing. But I don’t know about my orders, where they’ll send me. I could be another foreign country…”
“Let’s take it a step at a time,” Logan soothed. He could see her getting anxious; he knew Jess hated not knowing. She was an orderly person and did best when she knew the lay of the land. Unlike SEALs, who worked in chaos all the time. There was no regime or rhythm to their lives and they dealt with it. Jess did not. In that way, they were exact opposites.
“I lease a condo on Coronado Island from a SEAL,” Logan told her. “It’s a good place to be, Jess.”
“And my parents live in San Diego, right across the bay from the island,” she agreed, sipping the hot coffee, relishing it.
Logan gave her a warm look. “Then, you have to come home if you get orders stateside, Babe. I’ll be there and so will your parents.”
“You could meet them, Logan.”
Nodding, he said, “I want to.”
Despite all the reassuring talk, Jess felt her world collapsing in on her. She needed to cry. She needed to be alone with Logan. He must have read her expression because he cocked his head, giving her a dark look.
“We’ll stay in the conjugal unit at Bagram, like we did before.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Two times in a row? Aren’t you pushing your luck?”
He grinned. “Nope. Wait and see…. Tonight,” and his voice grew rough with promise, “we’ll be together.”
By the time the CH-47 landed at Bagram, it was close to ten p.m. Jess had gotten a few hours’ sleep in Sarah’s room at the SEAL compound on Bravo. The nurse at the dispensary at the base had cleaned her wound, changed the bandages, and said there was no infection. That was good news. Surprisingly, her arm wasn’t as achy as it had been, and the nurse had told her the muscle was rebuilding what was lost by the bullet wound, and Jess was relieved. As they walked down the plane’s ramp into the dark of the night, she felt Logan grip her hand. She couldn’t see anything. Again, he was the one wearing the NVGs. Logan guided her into Ops and out the doors to an awaiting Humvee. He gave the driver the address of where he wanted them to be dropped off. As Jess sat in the back of the Humvee, she was too tired to even look around. It seemed all the shock was still rolling through her and she felt beyond exhaustion. More than anything, Jess wanted to sleep in Logan’s arms.
When they pulled up to the three-story building, Logan led her up the now-familiar steps. Inside, he gave the clerk, the same one as before, the set of orders. In no time, Logan had the key and led Jess to the elevator at the rear of the building. Once inside it, he slipped his arm around her, giving her a gentle squeeze.
“Almost there,” he told her, kissing her temple.
“Did you lie to the person on the desk, again?”
He grinned. “Not this time. Master Chief Evans made a phone call for us,” was all Logan would tell her. “He knows we’re in a relationship.”
Gasping, she whispered, “You told him?”
Grinning, Logan said, “Master Chief’s run the universe. They are mind readers, and they have a sixth sense like a wolf. He figured it out and I told him that we were serious with one another.”
Eyes widening, she gulped and whispered, “And you won’t be in trouble?”
“Nah,” he said, his smile widening. They stepped out into the highly waxed hall, and he led her down to their room and opened the door. “Go in,” he invited, barely able to keep from smiling more broadly. Master Chiefs ruled the SEAL universe. And Evans had done him a big favor. SEALs stuck together.
Jess walked in, unable to still her surprise. The room was huge , with not only a king-sized bed, a dresser and sofa, but an even larger bathroom! The door closed behind her. She turned on her boot heel and stared up at Logan. He looked like a little boy who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
“I’m not even going to ask how your Master Chief, managed this.”
“Naw, it wouldn’t do any good, Jess. That’s top-secret intel.” Logan walked over, settling his hands on her shoulders. “Your orders will be sent over here, and you can pick them up tomorrow morning at the clerk’s desk downstairs. Until then, you and I have this place, and each other.” He looked around. “Not bad. I’ve never been in this section of the conjugal unit before, but I’ve heard some other unmarried SEALs say it rocked. And it does.”
Jess shook her head. “You guys are impossible,” and she added a slight smile.
“Does that shower look good to you?” Logan saw that there was a clean set of cammies for Jess laying on top of the dresser. And a set for him, as well. The Master Chief planned every detail to perfection.
“Yes,” she uttered.
“You’re about ready to collapse,” Logan said, kissing her hair. “I think, right now, you need a shower and then bed.”
“I’ll be with you in that bed,” she murmured, looking longingly over at him. “That’s all I want.”
He guided her to the bathroom. “Go get clean. I’ll be next.”