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“You’ve got your work cut out for you.” Hamish sighed.
“We’ll have to see if there was enough interest to get a group to go over. If we take too long, he’ll slip out of reach. It’s taken them about a year and a half to find him. He doesn’t stay in one place very long, has houses all over Italy, also in France, and even up in the Netherlands. Canary Islands too.”
“So he was with the Okubo guys?”
“Apparently, he joined them for a few weeks in Africa, and he didn’t like the situation with the militia group. So he went back to Italy where he’s from and is working on setting his own team up. I was told they think he’s planning terrorist attacks in Paris, Germany, and parts of Italy. Hitting tourist destinations or open-air markets, places where he could place bombs, terrorize certain communities. And part of the job is to infiltrate, get close to him, and then extract them and send them off when the time is right.”
Kyle kept flipping through the pages, skimming some of the definitions, nodding here and there. Then, at last, he closed the book. Leaning over it, folding his hands, he looked directly into Harper’s eyes, which made his blood freeze.
“I’m not interested. I would prefer that you not do this either, Harper. I think it’s more dangerous than being on Team 3. But it’s your decision, and I won’t stand in your way if that’s what you want. Only thing I ask is that you take a temporary leave, and they should be able to work that out for you. Then, if it doesn’t work out, you come back to the Teams, unless you get injured or something. Does that sound fair?”
“Sure it’s fair. But I’m also asking you, Kyle, should I do this? I mean, if you were in my shoes, would you?”
Kyle picked up his fork, slid it around the plate in front of him, then finally scooped up some scrambled eggs and popped them into his mouth. He chased them down with a few gulps of orange juice and then a sip of his coffee. The face he made told Harper the coffee was terrible without cream. Harper never trusted the coffee in these places, unless he had lots and lots of heavy cream to dilute it.
“In your situation, Harper, I think it’s a good idea to try to get the guy. I think you’ll sleep better. I think it’s a good way to close that chapter. Maybe this is what you need in order to go on with your life. What do you think Lydia would want?”
Harper hadn’t expected that question. He looked at Hamish, who was nodding his head, as if asking the same question.
Harper knew Lydia would not like it if he got himself in harm’s way again, but she was still important to him, so prominent in his daily thoughts. He would have to say she haunted him, especially at night. So perhaps Kyle was right, and before he could get on with his life and perhaps find the next chapter among the living, he did need to get this resolved. The sniper was the monkey Harper needed to get off his back; he needed to make sure this guy was either dead and buried or captured and rotting in a cell somewhere.
“I think she’d say go for it. I honestly do. But I don’t want to lose touch with you, Kyle—with both of you,” he added, nodding to both his buddies.
“Of course. That’s a given. I want you back, if you go, Harper. You’d probably have a hard time getting away from me,” answered Kyle.
Harper was brightened from the inside out at that. He didn’t want to impose. He didn’t want to appear weak. But he also wanted to be successful, and Kyle could help a lot with that, in an unofficial capacity.
“You might find people who are getting ready to get out and might want to serve for a tour or two. Guys who’ve had a rough time. Maybe they’ll allow us to rotate people through, that way we could get guys who are current in their skills, just wanting a change for a rotation or two. I’m not looking to decimate the Teams. I don’t want to do that.”
“It could work, Harper. Just one more option. You’d never get the Navy to create it on their own, but with some muscle from the president, and he was a Navy man, it gives warriors and those who support them another capacity to serve.”
“I was told Kennedy got a lot of flak when he began planning for the SEAL Teams. Some branch jealousy, fighting over who would have jurisdiction. The Navy won out. I’ve been told that if Kennedy had been a group guy, it would have been Army all the way,” Hamish added.
Kyle agreed. “Well then, I guess you have your answer. I can probably make some suggestions. Let me think about it, and I’ll email you a list of guys I think might be good candidates, solid guys, some from other Teams and a couple guys that I know were flaming out on Team 3 who you haven’t gone overseas with before. Men who want to serve but in a different capacity without the horror of taking on a desk job. There’s nothing in the world worse than that for a man of action. Dead Man Walking.”
“Amen to that, Brother,” said Hamish.
Harper addressed his friend. “Same offer goes for you, although you’re working up to deploy here in a couple of days. Think about it while you’re gone, and when you get back, maybe I’ll have it all set up. But you’ve already been recommended, so if you say yes, maybe we can get the same kind of deal worked out with your LPO, Hamish.”
“Let me know if I can help, too, Hamish,” added Kyle.
“I got to talk to Angie about it, though. I am not going to be able to commit until she’s fully on board. But it sure does interest me, gets the juices flowing.”
Harper put a hand on his shoulder and agreed. “I like the idea of getting good back up, the best equipment, and limited duty, days or weeks instead of months. And I also like the idea of not being stranded in the middle of the desert or in the jungles or plains in Africa. I’ve had enough of that. I like the low profile of it, so you think about it, Hamish.”
“I will, Brother. I’ll ask her, I’ll let you know. I’ll try to call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Fair enough.”
“How’s your dad?” asked Kyle.
“His dementia is progressing. That’s also partly an issue here for me, because I may have to house him in a different facility, because he’s getting into trouble. They’ve had to strap him in bed sometimes when he gets carried away. He’s not sleeping regularly. Drawing on the walls. Every few minutes when I go there to visit him, he forgets who I am or where he is or what he was talking about. The only blessing in the whole thing is he really doesn’t know he’s going in and out of that. It’s gone a little bit too far.”
“That sucks, man,” said Kyle.
“I don’t really level with him, I just kind of play along. It’s hard for me to see such a strong, dedicated, focused warrior melt into a frail, feeble-looking man who wears pajamas all day long and shuffles along the hallways in slippers.”
Harper said his goodbyes to Kyle, promising he’d stay in touch and give him updates on what was happening with the team.
