AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was getting easier to look at photos of Lydia, except for the one.
One day at a time, he thought. But he doubted there would ever be a day when he didn’t feel that ache in his chest, as if her passing had forever physically altered his body.
And he’d never be the same.
Chapter 11
Harper got upat the crack of dawn, going for a run with Venom at his side. He managed to take on the hills first, then move to the lower areas of his property, down below Sally’s plot. He’d created crisscrossed running trails, protected with crushed granite, making a pleasant swoosh, swoosh sound as his feet lightly danced on the path ahead.
He paced himself, attempting to not draw any attention to his sprinting. The woods were just beginning to come alive. A few birds were already out, foraging for food or flying above in search of breakfast.
From his driveway, there was a palpable sound of the town he overlooked, Santa Rosa, almost like it was a steam engine that had started to rev up. It was a blank space type of sound. From years living there, he knew that, as the day wore on, the sound would grew louder and incorporate equipment noises, traffic, and horns. But right now, he heard that hush as he looked toward the horizon. That’s the best way he could describe it. Hush, like mother nature was holding her breath, waiting for somebody to pierce the air with a scream or a cat call of some kind.
He regulated his breathing, doing the box breathing exercises he’d been trained. He kept the same rhythm even as he ran up or downhill. By pushing himself in this way, he got the maximum workout possible.
Once back at the house, he heard sounds of Sally mucking around in her kitchen and soon smelled scents unique to her breakfast. She liked to cook bacon or other fresh meats, and it smelled so good he was about ready to crash in her door and give himself an invite.
But he had a lot to do today. After viewing the video last night, he’d sat propped up in his bed staring at the blank screen. Just thinking. Now that he was involved in the mission to get hold of Lydia’s killer, he was more plugged in. He noticed little details in those pictures, especially the ones at the end, and he used those to spur on his healthy curiosity in order to figure out what he did not know. It felt like he’d been there during the slaughter.
Harper learned long ago that it was crucial a group of men working together find out what they did not know so they wouldn’t be blindsided. It was okay to guess or make a decision based on valid information. But to not be curious, to not research and come to an accurate conclusion could cause great harm, not only to himself but all the others on the team. And anything that was assumed about the players, the intel, or the Team without verification was just plain foolish and could cost lives. He was to be prepared for everything, even the stuff that was unexpected. The objective was to achieve the mission no matter what.
He reviewed the list of suggestions Admiral Patterson had given him while he was waiting for his eggs to cook. Most of the names had email addresses and phone numbers, which made it easier for him. He knew the first two on the list, Kyle and Hamish, would be talking to him at some point in the morning. The rest of the men were not close personal friends. Some of them, he had met but not on a mission.
There simply wasn’t time to fly to Virginia Beach or down to Coronado to individually interview these men, though, and that bothered him. It was taking a risk. Harper was going to have to do it over the phone, approve and make the difficult choices, perhaps approve a larger group, and then cut back from there.
Harper left a message for one individual. As he was hanging up, Hamish was calling in on the other line.
“Well, I’m not sure if I’m going to be divorced or if we’re going to continue on for another twenty years or so, Harper, but she cried. It was ‘no’ last night, but this morning, she said she wanted me to go, but only on the condition that you were going too, Harper.”
“That’s good news. Should we wait another day to see if she changes her mind or are you set?”
“No, I’m set. We don’t go back and forth that way.”
“So what about your LPO?”
“I’ve already called for a meeting. I suppose it’s okay to tell him what we’re trying to do? I mean he is Navy, and I’m going to encourage him to talk to Kyle.”
“That’s a good idea. You’re going to see him today then?”
“Have to. We’re leaving like day after tomorrow. I’m out of time.”
“Good deal. Well, you get to working on that. I want you to make a list of your must-haves as far as firepower and any specialized equipment or explosives you would like to work with. I wanted it all laid out ahead of time for the entire team so they can get our provisions in one delivery.”
“Where are we going to be stationed? Do you know that yet? Are we going to have our own team building like they do here?”
“No clue. What I’ve got is not much. I’ll be getting more later tomorrow, I presume. I’m to be calling Patterson every day. If we had to, there’re places up here we could use. But I think it makes more sense to be close to where everybody lives, and that’s probably going to be Coronado. I’ll ask for permission to use the Team 3 building since so many of us have passes for it.”
“Makes perfect sense. I’m going to help my better half and then get myself presentable for my meeting. Fingers crossed here.”
“You’ll need more than luck, Hamish. How are your nerves?”
“To tell you the truth, Harper, I had a hard time last night. I couldn’t sleep a wink. Not nerves really, I’m jazzed about this whole thing. I’m as excited as I was on my first deployment. I was such a dumb son of a bitch. Maybe I’m doing that again.”
By the time Harper had called several names he knew to be on West Coast teams, he had filled his limit, thinking the first trip out he would only take a team of eight. He would take two shooters, and he was going to be one of those; two medics; possibly a linguist, depending on where they were going; a coms person; and two explosive Ordinance Handlers. He checked and cross-checked to make sure every man he called had a specialty or two, preferably more than two. If one of them got injured or was out of commission during an op, someone else could step into their shoes and complete the work that needed to be done. Cross training, having the right combination of trained team members, was a must and was the secret of success for their former Team 3.
Harper gave Admiral Patterson a call to let him know they were in, and the admiral agreed to send over several contracts: one for him, one for Hamish, and several blank contracts for the others to review. The salaries, certain terms of employment, and confidentiality clauses were all spelled out in detail. He just had to fill in the names.
“What about Kyle?” Patterson asked.
