CHAPTER TEN
“Where are you taking Talia tonight?” Colt asked as they left the close quarter combat training house and started the long jog back to the main part of the SEAL’s Imperial Beach complex.
Lennox and Colt, along with Darwin, Kirk, and Simon had been going nonstop since 0400 that morning with miles of jogging intermixed with weapons training at the range, multiple runs through the obstacle course, live demolition training, and most recently, a hostage rescue scenario in the live fire shoot house. It had been one intense session after another that had all of them dead on their feet. If he didn’t know better, he would say that headquarters was punishing them for what’d happened down in Brazil. Like it was their fault the CIA’s op had gone to crap.
“To that awesome Mexican restaurant in Old Town,” Lennox said. “You know, the one where they make their own tortillas.”
He’d been there with Colt and some of the other guys from his platoon before and decided it was the best Mexican food they’d ever eaten. And to make sure that Talia liked Mexican too, he’d texted Katrina and gotten the thumbs up of approval. To say he couldn’t wait to see Talia tonight was an understatement.
“Has Talia had a chance to snoop around Rybak’s office yet?” Colt asked, glancing at him as they ran.
Lennox shook his head. “No. Talia texted me saying that Bogdan was working in his office until well after two this morning and that he’d be working from home today. There’ll be no chance of her getting in there until tomorrow.”
“Maybe you can get Maria to create a distraction,” Simon suggested.
“That’s not going to happen,” Lennox said. “Talia doesn’t want Maria eavesdropping anymore and she definitely doesn’t want to use her as a decoy.”
Lennox was in complete agreement with Talia about that. He wasn’t willing to put Maria at risk either.
Simon shrugged. “I guess I see your point.”
“Speaking of Talia,” Darwin said. “How did she react to seeing you again after your first mission?”
Lennox was silent for a moment as he considered that. “When I first saw her at Wes and Kyla’s place, she seemed thrilled to see me but when I asked her out after we got to her place, it took her a while to say yes, like she had to think about it. I still don’t know if she wants to get involved with a SEAL.”
“Which is yet another example of how impossible it is to be in the SEALs and be involved with someone at the same time,” Kirk said. “Just saying.”
“The two things aren’t mutually exclusive,” Colt insisted. “I made it work with Kira.”
Kirk snorted. “Kira is a former Russian spy and therefore not a good comparison to Lennox’s situation. Kira has lived this life so it’s easier for her to understand it.”
Lennox could see his point but there were a lot of other guys in his platoon who had significant others and they weren’t former spies. They were journalists and teachers and wedding planners and ballet dancers. But that didn’t mean Talia could handle falling for a SEAL simply because they had. Which sucked because he liked her.
They jogged in silence for a mile or so before Lennox noticed the looks being thrown back and forth between Darwin, Kirk, and Simon. At first, he thought there was an inside joke going on between the members of the other platoon but then realized it was definitely more tension than amusement, specifically between Kirk and the other guys. Now that he thought about it, he’d been picking up on the strange vibe all day.
“What’s going on with you guys?” he asked. “You look like someone stole your favorite MRE.”
Although, did anyone have a favorite meal that came ready to eat? None of them tasted very good.
Silence met his words for almost a quarter mile before Darwin finally spoke.
“This morning, headquarters told us who made the cut for that special training program,” he said, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the thud of their boots on the soft sand of the trail.
Darwin threw a quick look at Kirk, who was looking in every direction but at his Teammates.
“Simon and I didn’t make the cut,” Darwin added. “But Kirk did, along with Jagger, Austin, and Cruz.”
Lennox almost stumbled over his feet right there in the middle of the trail. “They’re taking your four most senior Teammates?”
Simon looked even more pissed off by this whole thing than Darwin. That’s when Lennox remembered that Simon and Kirk were best friends. Thinking about how he’d feel if the same happened to him and Colt, Lennox could definitely understand why Simon was so angry.
“But Jagger is your platoon’s master chief,” Colt said as they all came to stop as one in the middle of the trail. “Who the hell is going to run your team?” He looked at Kirk. “Now that I think about it, how long will you guys be gone?”
Kirk shrugged. “I don’t know. They haven’t told us anything yet other than to be ready to leave within the next few days.”
Simon glared at him. “So you’re disappearing off on a training program without a clue when you’re leaving, when you’re getting back, or even what kind of training you’ll be doing? That’s bullcrap!”
Actually, that was the kind of thing SEALs did every day. But Lennox didn’t point that out.
“I didn’t see you complaining about the lack of detail when you were volunteering,” Kirk said with a snort. “In fact, you thought it was cool and mysterious.”
“Yeah, well now I’m saying it sucks,” Simon grumbled.
“What do you want me to do, turn down the training because you didn’t get in too?” Kirk demanded.
Simon’s jaw tightened and for a moment, Lennox thought he was going to punch his buddy, but then he shook his head. “Do wherever the hell you want.”
With that, he turned and started jogging down the trail again. A few seconds later, Kirk cursed then followed.
“You’re quiet,” Lennox said to Darwin, who was standing there staring off in the direction his Teammates had disappeared. “Are you that upset you didn’t get selected for the training program too?”
“Nah,” Darwin admitted with a sigh. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not pissed that four guys from my platoon are going to disappear for who knows how long. We’re a Team. We’re not supposed to be split up like this. I don’t like it. Not that anyone cares about what I like. We’re SEALs. We go where we’re told.”
Before Lennox could say anything to that, Darwin ran after Simon and Kirk.
“Well, if the rest of their platoon reacts the same way Simon and Darwin did, the next few days are goin to be painful as hell,” Colt remarked.
“It’s a stupid idea if you ask me, splitting up a platoon like that,” Lennox muttered as he and Colt ran to catch up with the others. “Whenever Kirk and the other guys get back from that training, platoon morale is going to be in the toilet. It’s going to take forever to rebuild it.”
Colt grunted in agreement. “It sucks for sure. But better their platoon than ours.”
Lennox silently agreed.