Chapter 4
Trigger, Lefty, Brain, Oz, Lucky, and Doc sat impatiently around the conference table on the military base in Afghanistan.
The general in charge of the post was going over what steps had been taken to try to find the contractors in the past, as well as what the other special forces teams had found out when they were there.
Outwardly, Trigger was listening, but inside he was going over the information he and the rest of the team had found with Grover’s belongings. He’d encrypted a file on his laptop and had explained, in detail, how he’d planned on stirring up shit in the village near the post.
But it was the short note he’d left right before getting captured that caught their attention the most.
I have no proof, but I’m thinking this has to be an inside job. Someone on this base is either working with Shahzada, or he’s here himself.
The team had talked about it and agreed with their missing teammate. The lack of progress in finding Shahzada, or the missing contractors, had to mean the Taliban leader was getting information ahead of raids and missions to search him out.
“Right, Trigger?” the general asked.
Trigger blinked and glanced over at Lefty. He saw his friend dip his head slightly. “Right,” he told the officer, having no idea what he was agreeing to.
“I’m very sorry about your teammate, but reports say that he was out of control when he was here. Acting very out of character, drinking too much and being belligerent.”
Trigger wanted to rail at the other man. Ask him if he thought Grover’s actions made it okay that he’d been taken.
Of course they didn’t. Just as a woman wearing provocative clothing didn’t deserve to be assaulted. And it was insulting that the general hadn’t even considered the possibility that Grover had been acting out of character for a reason.
But no one knew Grover like his team. And they all knew how desperate their friend was to find information on Sierra Clarkson.
They hadn’t expected him to go to such extreme measures, however.
“We understand there are rules that need to be followed,” Trigger told the older man.
“But we’re going to do what needs to be done to not only find our teammate, but put an end to the disappearance of contractors on this post. Shahzada and his band of terrorists need to be stopped.
I would like to request that you lock the post down until we find our man.
No one comes in or out. That means no translators, no one from the Afghani Army, no local spouses or children. ”
The general looked surprised. “That’s easier said than done.”
Trigger leaned forward. “It’s our belief, and it was Grover’s too, that there’s a traitor on base.
We don’t know if he or she is a local or if it’s one of ours.
But if no information can get in or out, it’ll give us a leg up.
It’ll make Shahzada uncomfortable. Put some pressure on the organization.
We are going to find our teammate. And hopefully any of the missing contractors who are still alive as well. ”
Trigger could see the general was skeptical, but he nodded. “How long?”
“As long as it takes,” Oz said.
Everyone on the team knew that wasn’t going to happen. They might have a week at best; any longer and the general would have to return to business as usual. But they wouldn’t need a week. Nothing would keep them from finding Grover.
After twenty more minutes, the meeting ended and Trigger and his team headed for the tent they’d been assigned.
As they checked their gear, Trigger outlined the plan.
“I think our best bet is to do what Grover did…head out to the local watering holes. Brain, we’ll need you to eavesdrop to see if anyone talks about Grover.
If you hear anything, we’ll follow that person in pairs.
No one goes anywhere by themselves, got it? ”
Everyone agreed.
“And we all have our trackers, right?”
Again, everyone nodded. Trigger had learned from Ghost, the leader of another Delta team on post, that a mutual friend, Tex, had supplied his team with the handy devices.
Trigger had never been a fan of trackers, but he wasn’t willing to lose another of his friends while they were looking for Grover.
He regretted not forcing Grover to take one before leaving the States.
Trigger was also kicking his own ass for letting Grover come to Afghanistan alone.
He’d known how desperate he’d become over the last year to find out why Sierra just disappeared.
Since receiving the letter she’d sent that had gotten lost in the mail, he’d only become more concerned.
He should’ve known Grover would do something drastic.
But getting himself taken captive on purpose was even crazier than anything Trigger could’ve imagined.
He had no idea if Sierra was still alive, but had no doubt if she was, Grover would do whatever it took to keep her that way until help arrived.
“We’re gonna find him,” Lucky said, interrupting Trigger’s thoughts.
“I know.”
“Do we have a list of all the locals who work on base?” Oz asked.
“The general is supposed to send it over.”
“Good. Pictures too?”
“Yup.”
“We can show them to locals in town, see if they recognize anyone and what they can tell us.”
“You really think Shahzada is working on base?” Lefty asked.
“Yes,” Trigger said. “It makes the most sense. It would make it easy for him to pack up the contractors’ shit and make it disappear, along with the contractors themselves.”
“And he was probably working with others too,” Doc added.
“Fuck. No wonder the SEALs didn’t have any luck in tracking them down. Shahzada probably knew they were here, even what their plans were,” Brain said in disgust.
“If Grover got snatched because he was acting drunk, someone knows something. He’s a big fucker, they wouldn’t be able to fade into the night without being seen,” Lucky said.
“Exactly,” Trigger agreed. “Take the next couple of hours to talk to your wives and kids…then be ready to head out at seven tonight. We’ll see if we can’t find someone who will admit to seeing him and who he was with. We won’t be back here until we’ve got Grover…and hopefully Sierra too.”
Trigger needed to talk to his wife. Needed to hear Gillian’s voice. He didn’t like to think about not making it back to her…but he made a mental vow that he wasn’t leaving the country until Grover was back with them.
Grover had lost track of time. Sierra had been right, after the first beating, he’d been left alone for a couple days—but the third session with Shahzada had been even worse than the second.
The man was a sadist and took delight in hurting him just for the sake of pain.
Again, he hadn’t asked him anything. Wasn’t trying to get information. He just enjoyed making him bleed.
Shahzada had let him know he wasn’t pleased the military base had been locked down. No one was able to get in or out, which pissed him off. He routinely passed information to someone higher up in the Taliban, which, now that he wasn’t allowed on base, wasn’t possible.
Grover quickly realized that Shahzada had snowed everyone.
The US military thought he was this huge player in the Taliban.
That he had way more power than he did. As it turned out, Sierra was right again—he was simply one of hundreds of men who wanted to move up in the organization.
He’d perpetuated rumors about his power to cause fear in both the town, and in the Westerners who were stationed on the base.
As he was beating Grover, Shahzada bragged about all the times he passed on the wrong information during his duties as translator.
Instead of telling the villagers that the military would be helping to repair sewage systems and purifying water, he told them the Americans had no intention of lifting one finger to help.
That they were on their own. He’d done everything he could to sow dissent between the soldiers and the locals.
Used his position to threaten those weaker than him, warning that if they worked with the soldiers, their families would pay.
All in all, Shahzada was, for all intents and purposes, a schoolyard bully. He was a big fish in a small pond, with dreams of moving up in the hierarchy of the Taliban. He was attempting to do it with smoke and mirrors.
Yes, he had kidnapped half a dozen contractors from the base, but hadn’t had the balls to take an actual soldier. Until him.
And Grover was going to be his downfall. He just had to hold on.
He sucked in a harsh breath when he moved too quickly and his ribs screamed in pain.
At least a few were cracked, he guessed.
His kidneys were certainly bruised. And today’s torture session had included his arms being restrained behind his back, his body hung from the ceiling by his bound hands.
His shoulders were in agony, and Grover knew they’d been dislocated during the torture session.
Shahzada’s men had actually done him a favor by stomping on his shoulders when they’d finally let him down.
It had hurt like a son of a bitch to have them forced back into their sockets, but it was for the best in the long run.
Now he was lying on his back in his cell, in the dark. One arm was over his head through the bars, with Sierra once more holding his hand. Amazingly, feeling her palm against his went a long way toward easing his pain.
“I hate them,” she said after several silent minutes had passed. “I mean, I already hated them keeping me here with no obvious plan in place on what to do with me. But now? I want to kill them all. Slowly. Make them hurt like they’re making you hurt.”
“It’s mainly Shahzada,” Grover felt obligated to point out.