CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER
FIFTY-TWO
Jayson stepped aside and watched Lana’s team leave the room. When Lana turned the cameras and voice recorder off, he knew it was personal.
“Ryan, you’re a good man. Do not let what Jayme said or did get to your head. You have one month to sulk and do what you need to do to get over her, then get back on your ‘A’ game, mister.”
Jayson couldn’t help the chuckle that came out at Lana’s firm order to his older brother. His woman was one hell of a warrior.
“Jayson, don’t be afraid to ask the team for help. They are staying to help you with the rest of the case and the twins. I need you both to get to your parents once you do what you need to do paperwork wise. They will need you both.”
“You’re really going with a team to find Bri?” Ryan quietly asked her.
“Yes. Rocky was one of the three females who passed not only ranger quals, but Green Beret and sniper training. Cullen is number two. Cullen is a ghost with her sniper skills, Rocky being number two. Rocky’s sills surpass everyone’s when it comes to stealth and her knives.
We will find Bryan and his team,” Lana vowed to both men.
Jayson nodded as his brother pulled Lana in for a quick, tight hug. When he left, Jayson pulled her into his arms and held her tightly against him.
“Come home in one piece. The kids and I need you. I just got you back and already know I can’t live without you,” Jayson pleaded to Lana.
“Be careful while I’m gone. Aside from Ashley, we don’t know who Jayme’s crew is. The Soriano’s crew that is here is being dealt with as we speak. Don’t let yourself be blindsided into being alone with Ashley. She will try everything and anything where you are concerned. She’s already proven that.”
“I know. I love you, Lana. I mean it. Come home to me safe and sound.”
Jayson didn’t give Lana a chance to respond before he crushed his lips to hers. He poured everything he could and then some into that kiss.
Reluctantly, he ended the kiss and looked Lana in the eyes. “I love you, Lana. You are my one and only.”
“I love you, too. And ditto for me, soldier. I need to go. Give the kids my love. I’ll be home as quickly as I can with Bryan. I promise.”
“I will hold you to that.”
Jayson walked Lana outside, hesitantly letting her go after another quick hug and kiss. He watched, along with Ryan and the rest of Lana’s team, that stayed behind as Lana, Rocky, and Cullen climbed into the chopper and took off.
When Jayson turned around, he saw his brother still watching the chopper disappear into the distance. Interesting.
“They will bring your brother home. Those three are the dream team used now and then. Trevor calls them the Army’s Valkyrie team.”
“Valkyrie?” Jayson’s eyes got wide as he turned to his brother, whose shock mirrored his.
He’d heard of Team Valkyrie. The rumors floating around were that it was a team of women who did what the males couldn’t.
The rumor was that they were part of the C.I.A’s most secretive ops team that went undercover deep into enemy territory. He knew his woman was a badass but never thought it went that far.
Jayson closed his eyes and said a quick prayer for the man upstairs to bring all three women and his baby brother home in once piece. For all their sakes.
Lana climbed into the chopper behind Cullen and Rocky. She chanced one last look at Jayson and drank him in.
She committed every part of him to her memory. She hated that she didn’t get to tell the twins bye.
She knew they were in good hands with their father and his family. She knew the rest of the team would be there to help them as well with everything.
“What do you know?” Cullen broke the silence when they were airborne.
“Two days ago, Delta team three, red squad was specifically pulled for an op in the Soriano’s cartel-controlled area in Mexico. The cartel was tipped off to their mission and were lying in wait for the team to arrive. There are three confirmed dead and five considered missing.”
“What’s the plan?” Rocky asked, her eyes going dark and deadly.
“Country, Hawk, and Viper are meeting with us at Bragg. Cullen, you are taking the Delta team and setting a perimeter around Ortega’s property once we get there. No one in or out unless I give the say so.”
“Okay. What are you doing?” Cullen asked, looking at Lana skeptically.
“I’m going into the lion’s den. Rocky, you can refuse and work with Cullen and the Delta boys. I will give the other three the same option.”
“What’s the game plan?” Rocky asked firmly.
“I strongly believe that Bryan’s Delta Force team was used as a pawn to go after the Soriano’s cartel.
The person who set them up was using them to boost their credibility for something.
We have elections coming up for the Presidency, Senate, and Congress.
We haven’t been able to ID the caller yet, but once we do, the gates of hell are going to open. ”
The three women landed on the busy airstrip at Ft. Bragg. Lana saw Country, Hawk, and Viper standing with the team that was going with them.
She also saw Geo, Blade, Houston, and Athena standing next to the others. Looks like she’s going with a full team as well.
Twenty minutes after landing at Ft. Bragg, Lana and the rest of her team were loaded into the C-130 and headed to Ft. Hood for them to get their last briefing before they moved on to the next location. They were going to be dropped four miles from their target location into a remote jungle.
Lana and the five she chose were going in by a private vehicle that would be waiting for them via the contact they had in the area. They knew it was a suicide mission, but she strongly believed what she had planned would work.
She had authorization from General Taylor to do whatever was needed to bring their people back home. The man was furious that his men went into an unknown ambush set up by one of their own.
While they were headed their way, Trevor was doing what he could to ID the voice before they arrived so that precious time wasn’t wasted before they could take off into the actual op itself.
The whole operation was being done in the dark without proper authorization from the White House or anyone above General Taylor, so that the person who set up the ambush would be none the wiser that they were on to them.
Lana, Rocky, and Cullen left their phones with Sgt. Bueller in case their locations were being tracked that way, so it would show that they were still in Hellburn Falls. She knew the others had left their phones at home or elsewhere in case of the same thing.
As soon as the plane had leveled off, they were dark. Lana gathered the others around and laid out the intel she currently had and the plan of attack.
These men wanted blood. Three of their brothers were dead and five others were missing.
While they understood the plan, they didn’t like it. She didn’t know if it had to do with letting the men responsible go without punishment or the fact only the women were going into the lion’s den or both.