CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“You okay, man?” Lucas gripped Boone’s shoulder.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” His rigorous workout had helped release some of the edginess he’d been feeling since reading that fucking note. “Have any of you guys heard from Eddie yet?”
Boone tugged on his cowboy boots, stood, and swung his locker door shut.
“Calliope’s been texting with him, but she’s champing at the bit to find out what’s going on with him.” Lucas speared his fingers through his wet hair and tossed his towel into the basket with the others. “She doesn’t know whether to be pissed or worried.”
“If Eddie needed our help, Cole definitely would’ve told us.” One of the things Boone respected most about their boss was his deadly loyalty to his people.
“She knows that, but you know how she can get.” One corner of Lucas’s mouth lifted in a partial smile. “She considers everyone on the team to be family, which, in her mind, gives her the right to be in all y’all’s business.”
“I’ve noticed.” Boone chuckled.
Both of their phones pinged. They grabbed them and read the message from Cole to the entire team.
C: briefing room now
“That can’t be good.” Lucas hurriedly stepped into his boots and laced them up.
They took off out of the locker room and headed for the main building, meeting Calliope, Hawk, Remy, and Viking on the way.
“You guys know what this is about?” Calliope asked as they quick-footed it to the main building.
“No idea, babe.” Lucas looked over at Boone. “But I’m guessing it might have something to do with your old teammate.”
Hawk slammed the bar to open the heavy door leading into the stairwell, and they all took the stairs leading down to the briefing room. When they arrived, Cole was sitting at the head of the table, looking at his phone. Luna was to his left, her laptop open, clicking away at the keys.
She glanced up at Boone, saw the question in his eyes, and nodded.
There was news about Udall.
“Have a seat.” Cole’s serious voice rolled across the table.
Boone took his seat next to Luna. Hawk sat next to him, and Lucas, Calliope, and Viking sat across from them. Remy sauntered over to the wall, plopped down on the carpet, and fell asleep.
Eddie’s usual chair remained empty.
Once everyone was settled, Cole turned to Luna. “Go ahead.”
“We have more news regarding Udall.” Cole turned to Luna.
“Thanks to Emily’s contact in Aliabad, we were able to obtain some surveillance video of the American we think was on that audio.
” Luna tapped her magical keyboard, and a video began playing on the flat screen.
“Our target is near the front of this building.” She jiggled her cursor over what appeared to be a rundown auto repair shop.
“Right there.” She paused the video long enough to place a red circle around him. “That’s him.”
A man in olive-green hiking pants, tactical boots, a fleece pullover, and wearing a backpack was standing with another man in traditional garb in front of a building. They appeared to be talking.
“Did he just put something in his hand?” Calliope asked.
Luna paused the video, rewound it a little, and stopped.
“I’ve watched this video more times than I can count, and I’m pretty sure it’s an envelope.” Luna started the video again. “Watch what he does next.”
She slowed down the video, and they could clearly see Udall putting something in the man’s hand, then he patted him on the cheek. They finished their conversation, and Udall turned and headed down the street, in the direction of the person filming.
“He’ll be easier to see here in a minute, when he starts toward the hotel over on the left,” Luna said.
Boone stood and walked over to the screen for a closer look.
“Is that him?” Cole rolled back from the table and joined him.
“He’s put on some weight and looks like he’s wearing a long wig.” There was no way he grew his hair out that quickly since being at his folks’ place. “The full beard and mustache are new, too, but yeah, it’s him.” Just seeing that piece of shit walking free pissed Boone off.
“You’re certain?” Cole asked.
Boone watched the man cross the street, jog up the steps, and look in the general direction of the camera before disappearing into the hotel.
“It’s him. I recognize the way he moves.” You don’t spend eight months working side by side with a guy without remembering things like that. He turned back to the folks at the table. “That’s definitely Udall.”
“I enlarged the image just before he entered the hotel.” Luna gave two quick taps to her mouse, and the video was replaced with a still photo. “I cleaned it up as much as I could, but it’s still a bit grainy.” Another tap of her mouse, and Udall’s prison photo popped up next to the still photo.
“He sure didn’t do a very good job of hiding his appearance.” Calliope shook her head in disgust. “He had to know people would be looking for him.”
“Maybe he thought Pakistan was far enough away that no one would think to look there.” Hawk propped his elbows on the table.
“According to the information I obtained, the US Marshals and Air Force have been operating under the assumption Udall would still be in the States. They figured he wouldn’t want to risk being nabbed at one of the airports or border crossings between here and Canada or Mexico.
” Cole crossed his arms and stared at the man on the screen.
“They never considered he might have had help getting out of the country.”
“Even with someone helping him, something like that would cost a lot of money,” Viking said. “Where would he get the funds to pull that off?”
“Knowing him, he had money stashed away in some offshore account.” Boone had heard him talking about accounts like that when they were making their way from one forward operating base to another. At the time, he’d blown it off as just more of Udall’s bullshit.
“Department of Homeland Security and the Marshals are going to let us take the lead on tracking Udall to Pakistan.” Cole reached forward and grabbed a pen from the cup in the center of the table.
“They agreed to that?” Boone knew how territorial some of those government agencies could be about their investigations.
“Burke made a call.” Cole didn’t need to say more.
People knew not to fuck with his former boss.
“I’ll reach out to my contact at the Pentagon and give them a heads-up that Udall might’ve had help from someone in the military.
” He scribbled a note on a legal pad. “Luna, I’d like you to work with Emily to get us into Pakistan. ”
She nodded and started typing a secure direct message to Emily.
“Cole, is Eddie going to be part of this op?” Calliope knew to tread lightly with their boss. The man did not like to be pushed.
“Yes.” He scanned the group. “The reason Eddie left town so quickly is because someone tried to snatch his eleven-year-old sister off the sidewalk as she was walking home from a friend’s house.” Cole rubbed his hand down one side of his dark beard.
Every person at the table tensed and sat forward, their complete attention on him.
“Eddie’s mom heard her screaming, ran out with a baseball bat, and chased the guy off.” Cole shook his head in disbelief. “His sister is a bit shaken up, but otherwise, she’s okay. Naturally, Eddie needed to see for himself, so he flew home.”
“Holy shit.” Lucas dropped back against his chair.
“Did they get the guy who grabbed her?” Hawk asked.
“They did not. We have a few leads, and the local police department is working the case.” Cole’s tone was solemn as he tapped his fingertip to the table. “Eddie asked me to let you guys know. As usual, it stays in this room. Understood?”
They all nodded in agreement.
Calliope started to roll back her chair, as if preparing to hop on a plane and fly to Texas to kick some ass.
“Relax, killer.” Cole waved her back down to her seat. “You’ll see him tomorrow and can grill him then. In the meantime, our priority right now is Udall.”
With that, they returned their focus to their upcoming mission.
“Burke and Jonathan have arranged for us to piggyback on a C-17 from Joint Base Charleston to Al Udeid Air Base. Once there, we’ll either enlist someone from the base to fly us into Aliabad, or we’ll gain access to a helo so Lucas can get us there. If possible, I would prefer the latter.”
“A buddy from my old squadron is still active duty, and if I remember correctly, he’s stationed at Al Udeid.” Lucas used to fly with the Army’s elite Night Stalker Regiment and transported Special Forces personnel to the front lines. “He’s a solid guy, and he’ll jump at the chance to help us out.”
“Great,” Cole said. “Communicate your findings to Luna as soon as possible.”
“I’ll drop him a message to call me.” He slipped his phone from his shirt pocket and tapped out a text.
“We’re going to need a cover.” Boone glanced around at the people in the room. “This bunch doesn’t exactly look like tourists.”
“Let’s see.” Luna tapped her finger to her luscious bottom lip. “That area is popular with mountain climbers, right?” She looked from Boone to Cole. “And that would explain all the gear you’ll be carrying.”
“That’s a great idea,” Boone said.
“Thanks.” She beamed with pride.
“Instead of using our regular military duffle bags, we can stow our gear in climbing bags.” Viking tilted his chin toward his fellow sniper, Calliope. “Our rifles break down, so we won’t need our rifle bags.”
“Summer’s coming to an end, but weather over there shouldn’t be a factor.” Boone remembered how much they welcomed the end of summer in that region.
“Yeah, and we need to get this thing done before winter sets in.” Lucas propped his ankle on the opposite knee. “Traveling in that area gets pretty hairy once the snow starts coming down.”
“I want you guys to start prepping your gear, and plan to be gone for at least two weeks. I don’t think it’ll take that long, but best to be prepared.” Cole sat back in his chair. “Luna, if at all possible, I’d like to be wheels-up no later than Friday.”
“I’m pretty sure we can make that happen.” She typed something on her laptop. “I’d like you guys to bring your electronic equipment to me, too. I want to check ’em all out, change out batteries, that kind of stuff.”
Boone loved working for OSI. It would take the military months to prepare for an op of this type. It helped that OSI had access to intel and equipment most government agencies would kill for. Best of all, they didn’t have to play by anyone else’s rule book.
“Good idea.” Cole pushed away from the table, stood, and his gaze traveled from one person to the next. “Make sure your affairs are in order.”
With their boss’s ominous final words hanging in the air, they all quietly stood and started to leave the room.
“Is now a good time to bring my stuff to you?” Boone grabbed his cellphone off the table.
“Actually, can you give me about fifteen minutes?” Luna held her laptop to her chest, and they walked hand in hand out of the room and down the hall, where they stopped at the door to the ops center. “I need to have a quick call with Emily, then I should have time.”
“Sounds good.” He cupped her chin with his hand, tilted her face up to him, and kissed her.
Luna wrapped her free arm around his back with her laptop wedged between them.
She angled her head and, seemingly unconcerned about anyone seeing them making out in the hallway, she slipped her tongue between his lips.
There was a sense of desperation to her kiss that he attributed to his looming departure.
Understanding how she felt, and needing her in a powerful way, Boone was tempted to dive headlong into the kiss. But he was also mindful of the fact that this was not the place for what he’d like to do with her. So he slowly began nibbling lightly across her lips, then lifted his mouth from hers.
“Why did you stop?” She glanced up and down the hallway and whispered, “There’s no one watching.”
He pressed into her, and the look in his eyes had her scooching back until she was backed against the wall. He flattened his hands on the wall, on either side of her head, essentially blocking her in.
Wide blue eyes turned up to him.
“I stopped because every time you kiss me, all I can think about is you naked, beneath me.” Her quick inhale shot straight to his dick. Boone dragged his lips down the side of her neck and whispered, “And the first time I have you, I’m going to take my time until you’re screaming my name.”