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“How’s yours?” He smirked. He loved to give me shit about the time he’d kissed my sister at a party, while I only asked because I knew his sister had been quite sick. I dropped my head and rubbed my aching skull. Rowe sensed my stress and cleared his throat.
“Look, Frank’s got this lead on a town in Montana that needs some police. I guess they’re short staffed, and since it’s a training town for a military camp and more tourist flock there for vacation, they’re looking to hire. I know it’s way below what you’re used to, and I don’t know when your contract’s up, but…” He shrugged, and the weight of us being pulled from the place we’d spent years protecting hit me once again. I could tell he was done with the military. “Jay, Spade, and Beam are all considering it.”
“Yeah?” I let out a long breath. “Thanks. I’ll think about it.” I appreciated the information. Jay, Rowe, Spade, and I all trained together but later moved in different directions within the military. Beam came later. He was great until he took a hit to the leg a few years ago. I heard he was back, and I hoped he’d pass the physical. I wasn’t ready to leave this life, but if I was about to land in shit for assaulting Hill, maybe I’d pull the cards and join them in the mountains. I did love the mountains.
“Take it easy, Beckett.” He waved and left, and I sat back and tried to relax. The door was slightly ajar, and I could see a man around my age speaking to Frank and Dr. Roberts. I tuned in to them.
“There’s stuff there,” I read the doctor’s lips, “but I feel you’ve got something. He kept that boy alive through countless encounters, and to top it off, they formed a bond. That’s not something you can teach. You have it, or you don’t. Moore…” He turned slightly, so I missed the rest of what he had said.
I went back to staring at my stained fingernails and fought but lost myself in the replay inside my head. I could still hear the sound of horse hooves as they stamped loudly, then Brown’s cry, then Moore in my face telling me to leave him.
“Captain Beckett.” A man’s voice brought me back. He spoke loudly, as if he’d had to repeat himself. “I’m Colonel Cole Logan.” I’d heard of him before, and Frank had a picture of him on his wall. I quickly stood and greeted him. “I’d like you to meet my father, General Daniel Logan.”
“Sir.” I nodded respectfully and saluted him.
“I’d like to speak to you about something.” Cole motioned for me to sit with them. He spread a map of the route I’d taken with the kid out on the table. It was highlighted in red. “You managed to cross one of the most dangerous areas in Afghanistan with Brown and that boy. You managed multiple encounters in a countryside heavily armed and crawling with Taliban. That whole area has been a Taliban stronghold for over a year. You did all that and managed to live.”
“Not all of us did,” I corrected.
“That’s correct, but I’m focusing on you right now.” I nodded. “Why?”
“Why?” I questioned.
“Yes.”
“It’s my job. It’s what I’m trained to do.” He watched me for a beat.
“Was there ever a time where it got so bad that you second guessed your choice of bringing the child along?”
“Never.” I shook my head without a doubt. “It’s simple. Black and white. He was a kid, taken from his family. He had no one and needed someone. I was that someone. I don’t care if it was from here to here,” I traced my finger along the red line, “or from here to here,” I traced the entire map. “I knew I was meant to bring that kid home. So, I did.”
Cole stood and paced the room for a moment, lost in thought. I waited for him to speak. I had only done what I had to do and wasn’t sure what this was all about.
“What if I told you I could offer you an opportunity to continue the fight?”
That caught my attention. “I’d say I’m very interested in hearing how.”
“I’d like to offer you a position.” Cole locked eyes with me. “How would you feel about working with a senior team of special operatives? Ones who slip in and out of Mexico, snatching back kidnapped victims from the Cartel?”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that, but it sure sounds interesting.” He had me hooked already. “Tell me more.”
“The Cartel is getting stronger and bolder every day. While you’ve been in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban, we’ve been fighting a whole different war back here. We have a safehouse where we live and train. We have one established team at the house, but we desperately need a second. You’d be the leader of that team, and once you’ve seen how things work, and you’re comfortable, you’d start the process of building it.”
I nodded as he stopped for a moment to see if I was still with him. I could already feel the beginning of something resembling excitement deep in my stomach.
“We’ve a lot of rules,” he continued, “and the place we stay is nowhere near any kind of city life, but Frank brought you to us, and since you’ve already got the clear from Doc Roberts, we think you’re just what we’re looking for.”
“So, I’m not in trouble for what happened out there this morning?” I couldn’t believe that would go away.
“Let me deal with that.” Cole waved his hand, and I looked at both men, shocked this was even being offered to me.
“What do you say, Beckett?” General Logan drew my attention over to him. “Want to step into a whole new kind of war?”
Location: Dr. Ivy Knight’s Office
Coordinates: United States Army Headquarters
Washington DC
