Chapter 3
CHAPER THREE
Somewhere over North Carolina, Rush pulled his son to the side, handing him three blindfolds.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Logan, we can’t be sure that one of those men didn’t know about this as well,” said Rush. Ham stood beside him, Cowboy nodding at him as well.
“No. No fucking way. Those are my men and they’re good men,” said Logan.
“Logan, we know that Menzies and Star are new to your team. The guys back at base told us that. Didn’t you wonder why two of your members, long-time members, were sitting at base while you were handed two men who’d never served with you before?”
“I,” he started. He looked back at the three men talking and laughing at a table. They were checking out all the cool gadgets on the plane. “I guess I didn’t question it all that much. They told me that Marks was sick and Preston’s wife was due to deliver any day.”
“Preston’s wife was due to deliver. But Marks wasn’t sick. They told him they thought he had the measles but he kept telling them it was bullshit. He’d already had the measles as a kid. The doctor said he was ordered to keep him away from the rest of you, to make up a story, any story.”
“What the fuck is going on here?” asked Gator. “Does this have something to do with you how you reacted with Brooks a few weeks ago when you were home on leave?”
Logan stared at the man, both looking at one another, eye-to-eye. It was the only place where Logan felt ‘normal’ because of his size. His own family and friends were every bit as big as he was.
“I’ll tell them why they have to wear these as we land. Then we should all talk.”
“Talk now,” said Menzies. “We deserve to know what’s going on.”
“Okay,” nodded Logan. “Why were you sent into my team at the last minute?”
“Because you had a guy who had the measles,” he frowned. “At least, that’s what I was told.” He turned and dug into his pack, pulling out his orders. He handed them to Ham who passed them to Gator and Cowboy. They both nodded.
“And you?” he asked Star. He suddenly looked nervous and shrugged.
“I don’t know. I think the same thing. Someone was sick or something.”
“You didn’t ask?” frowned Rush.
“No. I was just happy to be on a team.”
“No man on a team doesn’t question where the last man was or what happened to him. They want to know they have a safe team,” said Ham.
“I knew it was safe. Anders has a reputation,” he grinned. Except Logan didn’t grin.
“What’s my reputation?” he frowned.
“You know, bad ass,” he chuckled. Suddenly Menzies and Forrester stood, frowning at Star. “They know. Everyone knows Anders is a bad ass from a bad ass family.”
“You met my family just a few hours ago. How would you know that?” he asked quietly.
“Look, I don’t know what the problem is. I was told to report to this team and that’s what I did.”
“No, that’s not what happened,” said Tanner on speaker in the plane. “Hello, boys. Seems our friend here isn’t Cody Star. His name Cody Storman. He’s Green Beret but a shitty one and the errand boy for your last command.”
“You fucking traitor!” yelled Menzies. “You were going to get us killed out there!”
“No, no, I swear!” he said frantically. “I was just trying to help command. They told me to make sure I had my location systems on so they could accurately find the building.”
“And do you know why, you piece of shit?” growled Logan. “Because that fucking commander had been raping those little girls for weeks. I’d found out right before I went on leave a few weeks back. I was sick to my stomach wondering how I was going to handle this.
“Then earlier this week when I was running recon, someone in that village said something to me. They asked for help. Begged me to help those little girls. I had no idea he was going to target that school and orphanage for the missiles.”
“Are you positive about that, Logan?” asked Rush.
“Positive. I saw it myself but questioned what I saw.
It was dark and I had gone into the village just to clear my head.
No one saw me, no one knew who I was. Then this woman showed me photos of our commander and a few other men, I assume those in the room that called the strike, as they entered the school at night.
She and her husband ran a shop down the street and her husband thought there was something suspicious happening.
“I promised her I would come back through the village and speak with her. I never dreamed that our target was that school. We were given coordinates but nothing else.”
“Wait,” said Menzies, “we’re on a descent. Why? Are we landing somewhere?”
“We’re dropping off the little shit weasel in Washington. They can deal with him,” said Ham.
“What? No! No, I’ve done nothing wrong,” said Storman.
“You let them kill a school full of women and children, you piece of shit!” said Forrester.
“I didn’t know! I swear I didn’t know!”
“You knew,” said Logan staring at him. “You knew because I saw you speaking to Fitzwilliam before we left.”
“General Leo Fitzwilliam?” asked Cowboy.
“That’s him. Asshole that he is,” said Logan.
“He’s trouble, brother. Big trouble. I thought they’d gotten rid of him years ago. How is he still there and more than that, how was he placed in command of a Green Beret team?” asked Cowboy.
“No clue. But he was talking to him before we left,” said Logan pointing at the man. Gator moved quickly, picking him up and slamming him against the aircraft door.
“What the fuck did you say? Tell me right now, you little shit. I’ll throw your ass off this plane right now.”
“No! You’re all fucking crazy! No!”
“Tell him,” said Menzies.
“Fine. Fine, okay. He knew someone saw them and had taken pictures. He thought it was one of the teachers. He wanted me to be sure that we found the place, leading to the exact coordinates so the missiles wouldn’t miss. He didn’t want to be seen in the area again.”
“You piece of shit,” growled Gator. “I should throw you out of this plane just because. Restrain him.”
“With pleasure,” said Cowboy. He had the man hog-tied and gagged before they landed with a full patrol of MP’s waiting on the tarmac.
“General Moisson, we didn’t expect to see you here,” said Gator.
“Well, shit surprises deserve like in kind,” he frowned. “We were prepared to begin court-martial proceedings against him.”
“For this?” asked Logan.
“No.” The general cleared his throat and looked back to be sure the MPs were far enough away from them. “This was about a recent incident involving hazing of three new Green Beret members.”
“Wait a minute,” frowned Logan, “we were told those were training accidents.”
“I know,” nodded the general. “It’s not been made public yet, but it was actually Storman giving the order to blindfold them and lead them through the woods and forcing them to find their way back. It was seventeen degrees that night and the three men were in their boxers. Nothing else.”
“That fucking asshole,” mumbled Ham.
“Two died from exposure. The third died when he swept downriver by the current. He was an average swimmer at best. Twenty fucking years old. All three in the primes of their careers.”
“Where is he now?” asked Logan.
“We’re not sure and off the record, I could use your help. I’ve told the Green Beret command center that I’ve pulled the three of you for a special project,” he said nodding to Logan, Forrester, and Menzies. “I’m going to hope you can work with them, Ham.”
“You know we will, sir.”
“And you, Rush?” he smirked. “Any chance you’ll jump into this fray?”
“If Logan needs me, I’ll be happy to help but I think they’ll be just fine without me. After-all, I’m semi-retired.”
“Bullshit,” laughed the general. “No man in your team has ever been semi-retired.”
“Hey guys,” said Evie from the cockpit, “we’re going to head up to Baltimore to pick up a part I need. We’ve got something going on with the fuel line but it shouldn’t take long. Get a hotel and I’ll let you know when we’re all done.”
“Sounds good, Evie,” nodded Ham. “We’ll see if we can catch a commercial flight back if we have to. You guys head to the hotel and get some dinner and sleep.”