Chapter 25 Trust
TRUST
Fort Liberty, North Carolina - Two Weeks Later
Logan sat outside the company commander's office waiting to be called in.
Bulldog was beside him, equally quiet. Down the hall, Hawk was already inside getting his own debriefing.
Or more accurately, his own ass-chewing.
The mission had been a success in terms of bringing Mara home, but command had questions. Lots of questions.
How did they know there was an American hostage at Nazari's compound?
How did they develop that intelligence so quickly?
Why did the tactical approach suggest coordination with an outside entity?
And most importantly, how did Sergeant First Class Logan Reed end up with a personal relationship with the rescued hostage?
"You think they'll separate us?" Bulldog asked quietly.
"Maybe. Probably." Logan had been thinking about nothing else for two weeks.
Ever since they'd returned stateside and the official investigation had started.
"Conflict of interest. Compromised judgment.
All the reasons they break up teams when personal relationships interfere with operational effectiveness. "
"That's bullshit. You made the right calls. Got the hostage out. Everyone came home alive."
"Doesn't matter if the calls were right if the process was wrong." Logan looked at his hands. "I'd do it again. Every decision. Every risk. But that doesn't mean command has to accept it."
The door opened and Hawk emerged. His expression was carefully neutral but Logan could read the tension in his shoulders. "You're up, Steele."
Logan stood and walked into the office. The company commander sat behind his desk looking tired. He gestured to the chair across from him.
"Sergeant Reed. Have a seat."
Logan sat at attention, waiting.
"I've been reviewing the after-action reports from the Nazari operation. Both the official reports and the supplemental intelligence analysis." The commander pulled up files on his computer. "You want to tell me how you developed intelligence about an American hostage in less than two hours?"
"Ghost ran analysis on Nazari's patterns, sir. Cross-referenced with regional events. Made an educated guess based on available data."
"An educated guess that turned out to be completely accurate. That hostage was exactly where you said she'd be. In exactly the condition you prepared for." The commander's eyes were sharp. "That's either the best intelligence work I've ever seen or you had information you're not sharing."
Logan kept his expression neutral. "Ghost is very good at his job, sir."
"He is. Which is why I pulled him in first. Asked him the same questions.
Got the same answers." The commander leaned back.
"Here's what I think happened. I think you had outside communication with the hostage's team.
I think you coordinated this rescue with a private military organization operating without authorization in Iraq.
I think you used official resources to support an unauthorized operation. "
"Sir—"
"I'm not done. I think you did all of that because someone you care about was in danger.
And I think every man on your team was complicit because that's what teams do.
They back each other up. Even when it bends the rules.
" The commander's expression softened slightly.
"I also think you brought an American citizen home alive from enemy captivity. And that counts for something."
Logan didn't know what to say. The commander was right about all of it. But admitting it meant disciplinary action. Meant potentially ending his career.
"The official finding is that you acted on limited intelligence with good tactical instincts.
The hostage rescue was a fortunate secondary outcome of the primary mission to interdict Nazari's arms shipment.
The fact that you have a personal relationship with the rescued individual is noted but determined to be coincidental rather than causative.
" The commander pulled up another file. "However, that personal relationship does create complications going forward. "
"I understand, sir."
"Do you? Because I need to know that if your team gets deployed again, you're not going to compromise the mission because you're worried about your girlfriend. I need to know that you can separate the personal from the professional."
Logan met the commander's eyes. "I can, sir. But I won't lie and say it's easy. Mara does what we do. She's in the same kind of danger we face. That's not going to change whether I'm on this team or not."
"Fair enough. Then here's the deal. You stay on the team.
No transfers, no disciplinary action. But you report any contact with Mara's organization to your chain of command.
No more surprise coordinations. No more bending intel to support unauthorized operations.
If you need help, you ask for it through proper channels. Clear?"
"Crystal, sir."
"Good. Then get out of here. You're on leave for the next two weeks. Use the time to get your head straight. Figure out how you're going to balance this relationship with your career. Then come back ready to work."
Logan stood and saluted. "Thank you, sir."
He walked out of the office feeling like he'd dodged a bullet. Bulldog looked up hopefully. "Well?"
"Still on the team. Two weeks leave. No formal discipline."
"That's a win." Bulldog stood and clapped him on the shoulder. "What are you going to do with two weeks?"
Logan's phone buzzed before he could answer. Mara. She'd been released from the hospital three days ago and had flown back to Louisiana to recover at L'Abri S?r. They'd talked every day but this was the first time she'd called instead of texted.
"Hey," he answered.
"Hey yourself. How'd it go with command?"
"Better than expected. Still have my job. On leave for two weeks."
"Good. Then you can come here." Mara's voice was stronger now. The rasp from dehydration was gone. "I want you to see L'Abri S?r. Meet the team properly. Understand what I do and where I do it."
Logan had been wondering when this would happen. When Mara would be ready to show him the parts of her life she'd kept compartmentalized. "You sure? You don't have to share that if you're not ready."
"I'm ready. I've been keeping you separate from this for months because I was scared.
Scared you wouldn't understand. Scared it would be too much.
Scared of a lot of things." She paused. "But almost dying in Iraq made me realize that keeping you separate wasn't protecting either of us.
It was just making both parts of my life harder. "
"Then I'll be there. When do you want me?"
"Tomorrow? I know it's short notice, but I miss you. And the team's been asking when they get to meet the guy who coordinated a international rescue operation for me."
"Tomorrow works. Send me the address."
"I'll do better than that. I'll pick you up from the airport." Mara's smile was audible. "See you tomorrow, Logan."
"See you tomorrow."
Logan hung up and looked at Bulldog. "I'm going to Louisiana."
"To meet the team? The whole operation?"
"Yeah. Mara's ready to show me her world."
Bulldog grinned. "That's big. That's her trusting you with everything. Don't screw it up."
"Wasn't planning on it."
Lafayette, Louisiana - The Next Day
Logan's plane landed at 1400 and Mara was waiting at baggage claim.
She looked better than she had in Erbil.
The bruise on her face had faded to a yellowish green.
The bandages were off her wrists, leaving only red marks that would scar.
She'd gained back some of the weight she'd lost. But more than the physical healing, there was something different in her eyes. Something lighter.
She walked straight to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her face against his chest. Logan held her tight, breathing in the scent of her shampoo, feeling the solid reality of her alive and safe.
"Missed you," she said against his shirt.
"Missed you too." He pulled back to look at her. "You look good. Really good."
"I feel better. Kira's been force-feeding me. Winter won't let me do anything strenuous. Nadia keeps checking on me every hour like I might disappear." Mara smiled. "It's annoying and also kind of nice."
"They care about you."
"They do. And they want to meet you. Fair warning, they're going to grill you. Ask uncomfortable questions. Possibly threaten you if you hurt me."
"I can handle it."
They drove out of Lafayette into the bayou. The landscape changed from commercial development to wetlands and cypress trees. The roads got narrower. The houses got fewer. Finally, Mara turned onto a gravel road marked only by a small wooden post. No signs. No identification.
"This is it?" Logan asked.
"This is it. L'Abri S?r. Safe Haven." Mara drove down the gravel road for another quarter mile before the compound came into view. "Home."
Logan had expected something military. Something tactical and fortified.
What he saw was more like a small college campus.
Main house with wraparound porches. Several smaller buildings scattered across the property.
Gardens and walking paths. A dock extending into the bayou.
It looked peaceful. Welcoming. Not at all like the headquarters of a rescue operation that had saved hundreds of lives.
"Sixty-three acres," Mara said as she parked.
"Main house has living quarters, kitchen, common areas.
That building there is the ops center. Medical wing is attached to the main house.
Training facility behind the ops center.
We've got capacity for about thirty residents at a time, plus the eight of us who run operations. "
"It's beautiful."