Chapter 4
Patch swiped the sweat from his brow as Knight led Sparky through the small village, where he stopped and she asked them questions. Saint positioned himself in front of her while Taco watched her back. The others covertly surrounded the village.
“What did he say?” Patch demanded.
“He’s getting his wife. They haven’t seen anyone matching Leo’s description. They have information to trade for food. Do we have any more meat left?” Sparky replied, reaching for her canteen.
“I have half a goat,” Patch said. “Can’t you smell it?”
“I thought it was you,” she teased.
Patch grunted and scanned the area. “We’ve scoured every village within a ten-mile radius. How can no one see anything?” he asked, venting his frustration.
“These people live in fear daily. It takes time to build trust. There’s talk of two villages on the verge of war with one another. It makes them uneasy and less trusting of outsiders,” Sparky explained. “Don’t scowl. We’re trying to make friends.”
“How do you know what I’m doing?” he asked, growling.
“Your voice changes when you get pissed off,” she replied. “It sounds exactly like the time when Brody kept stealing the bacon, and Leo made you clean toilets for a month,” she said, laughing, and then stopped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sound unkind.”
“You didn’t,” Patch assured her. “We’ve asked people for weeks with the same result.
It’s nice to hear us talk about Leo without feeling guilt about not finding his body.
The bastard’s probably in hell getting a good kick out of watching us traipse all over the desert.
I can hear him now. “Move it, assholes. It’s taking you too damn long to find me.
I’m giving you ten more laps in this sand trap. ”
Knight chuckled into the comms. “You sounded exactly like him. What about the time when he caught the flu and whined nonstop?”
“Geez, don’t remind me. He called me every fifteen minutes to take his temperature. The man has three kids and one on the way, and he didn’t know how to swipe the thing across his forehead,” Patch said, shaking his head.
“We’re not on a joy ride down memory lane,” Saint barked at them. “Our friend and brother has died, and we can’t bring him home to give his family some peace. Do you find something funny about it?”
“No, sir,” all three of them responded.
The man returned from the village, pointed at Sparky, then at his wife, and spoke in a language Patch and Knight didn’t understand.
“No,” Sparky said, shaking her head and firing a rapid response back to the man, ensuing an argument between them.
“What’s going on, Sparky?” Patch said, scanning the area for any threats.
“He wanted to know if we knew the woman who has red hair like me. The wife insists I made empty promises. It’s getting tense down here,” she warned the men.
Villagers came out of their huts to see the commotion, making the men go on high alert.
“Thank them and let’s go,” Patch urged, not liking the gathering crowd.
“Get out of there,” Shadow growled. “I can’t see you with the crowd surrounding you.”
Knight grabbed Sparky’s arm, pulling her down the dirt road.
“Hollywood and I have the dogs ready. Say the word,” Cole said, his voice steady.
“Hold back,” Saint said. “They’re leaving them alone. We’re leaving. Let’s head back to base. We’re getting nowhere.”
Patch and Saint guarded the beat-up truck as Knight guided Sparky inside and shut the door. When he turned the engine over, the two men jumped into the back, and Saint pounded on the side, letting him know to give it some gas.
When they arrived at the cave, Sparky took off her gear and dropped it near her space on the floor. Taco did the same while Cole and Hollywood stood guard. Saint took a long drink from his canteen and wet a cool cloth to wipe his face and hang around his neck.
“Shadow, you and Taco take second watch. Sparky, what did they say?” Saint asked as he sat down beside her.
“They spoke of a redheaded woman. Didn’t you have Victoria and Ivan’s men searching the west side?” Sparky asked.
“Yeah. Victoria always wears a cap. I doubt he referred to her,” Saint said thoughtfully. “I’ll confirm with Ivan to clear any confusion.”
“He said they haven’t seen me in months. They wanted some sort of payment. Toward the end, he wanted American money. What good will it do him out here? If he uses it, he risks others thinking he cooperated with the Americans,” Sparky said, taking another drink.
“I don’t like this,” Saint growled. “You’re risking your life coming out here with us. I wish we didn’t need a translator.”
“What? Do I need a dick to join your team now? I know this blindness thing can really cramp your style. It’s not a picnic for me either, but I’m still here and doing everything to bring our leader home,” Sparky snarked, slamming her canteen on the cave floor.
“I’m sorry, Sparky. I don’t like you vulnerable. It’s not a woman thing. If we get separated, we may lose you,” Saint argued. “Then I’d have Leo’s ghost bitching me out for my stupidity and Ty saying, ‘Fuck you, you lost my wife, no steaks for you, buddy.’”
“You lose me, and you won’t have to worry about steaks,” She threatened, smiling. “I’ll kick your ass at the first opportunity.”
Saint chuckled. “I have to make the call home this evening. Doc and Bear will be there. I can’t stand saying the same thing over and over. We have no leads. It’s like he vanished in thin air.”
“Then maybe he found a way to survive,” Sparky suggested. “He’s biding his time. Maybe one of the enemies took the opportunity to grab an American.”
The men glanced at one another before Patch spoke.
“He didn’t walk away. The blood loss indicates he died instantly or shortly after.
Whoever took his body did it for spite. The one small speck of blood we found a few feet away proves he didn’t walk or run on his own.
Leo didn’t carry any blood packs. We’ve covered every scenario, every village, and traded everything but the guns, and no one knows anything. ”
“We still need to figure out who set us up at the base and who’s involved with stealing the weapons and medical supplies. We know my good buddy, Sergeant Ford, has his bloody fingers in the pie. Who else has something to gain from this?” Cole asked from the cave’s entrance.
“I’m thinking we need a visit with Sergeant Ford,” Shadow said, pacing the cave.
“He’s not smart enough to act as the mastermind.
From what we gathered, he’s an order taker.
His wife left him over the affair. He leaves the K-9 unit and returns in time for Rutherford’s death, and another shipment gets hijacked. ”
“Hollywood, you and Ragu watch him. You both say he never leaves the base,” Taco said slowly. “Why? Even the other airmen come over for beers on Friday night when they’re off duty. Why not our murderer?”
Cole sat up. “Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. What or who’s coming into the base? They’ll want to keep him removed from this scandal. Out of sight, out of mind,” Cole muttered.
Saint pulled out their surveillance records. “Every Tuesday and Saturday, Hollywood and Ragu noted a vehicle entering the base. It appeared an officer visited. We know it’s not Rutherford’s replacement. Then who?”
“May I take Hollywood’s assignment?” Cole asked. “I know most of the people on the bases out here. I can identify the vehicle and hopefully the person visiting.”
Saint frowned. “What will you do with Striker? He can’t spend hours out in the heat.”
“Hollywood can handle both dogs while I do surveillance,” Cole explained.
“Leo’s death has to mean something. He’d want us to find out who did this to him and all the others.
Good men have died because of these greedy bastards.
I know I’m new to the team and not part of his original group, but Leo gave me a life worth living.
If he didn’t offer me this position, I might’ve never met Stormy or any of you.
Even in this freaking hell hole, I’d rather be here with you than with a bunch of scum bags I can’t trust.”
“I second his stance,” Sparky joined his argument. “Leo gave me a job when anyone else might’ve avoided the blind woman like the plague. He’d want us to solve this. Maybe we don’t find him, but we’ll avenge him.”
“The only easy day was yesterday,” Knight said. “Leo meant it for all of us. It doesn’t matter whether we’re from Team Hawk or the Alpha Team.”
Saint rose and stared at his men and Sparky.
“You’re right. Leo hired each of you because he saw something in you.
With each passing day, our chances of finding him grow slimmer.
Hell, we nearly died when we lost Whiskey and Ragu.
They thought we perished in the helicopter crash, and somehow, we made it out.
Leo got his call sign because he lay in wait for hours for his enemy to appear, exactly like a lion.
We need to honor his name and figure this out.
On this team, we have no division. We’re family.
As much as we want to find our brother, we need to avenge him first.”
Saint held up his canteen and scanned his team. “For Leo,” he said softly.
Taco and Shadow held up theirs first, and the others followed. “For Leo.”