Page 16 of Nightstalker

“Mr. Lewis how are you this afternoon?” a jovial voice came on the line.

“Could be better Mr. President.” Zane cut straight to the case.

This could go south fast. The President was not going to be happy with what the team found, and a few members of the team were not going to be happy with the President’s involvement. Namely Jasmin, this fucking girl could not catch a break.

“Snake bite?” the President asked.

“Confirmed, Sir. Snake Bite. The building is locked down,” Zane replied.

“Roger that! Rooftop fifteen minutes, is the team ready?” the President asked.

“Affirmative, Sir.” Zane disconnected the call.

Zane slid the phone into his pocket and faced the team. He stood silently for a few seconds, obviously gathering his thoughts.

“Everyone in the room with the exception of Jasmin and Eric has the option to abort mission and leave this room. If you choose to stay you have to know we are going to ground. You are my tier one team no one I would rather have my back, but if you leave now I will understand. This is your one and only chance. In fifteen minutes we will be picked up and taken to an undisclosed location and we’re going black. The choice is yours, make it. Drew I understand if this is where we part ways; you were officially off the clock yesterday.” Zane stopped speaking and looked at each member of the team.

“Will you need me for logistics?” Drew asked Zane.

“Abso-fucking-lutely,” Zane shot back.

“Then I’m good! Julie knows the drill.” Drew got up to presumably tell his wife he would be in touch when he could.

The rest of the team gave their ‘yes’ and waited for further instruction.

Zane once again picked up the office phone and began to speak, “Where is yellow team now… good…transfer all of Red team’s cases to Blue… tell Jake and Garrett all new information is to be sent to me through SAT COM one, all files are to be taken off line…. Good…Red is black all communication is code B230…copy that… oh and one more thing, my fish…. Thanks.” Zane disconnected the call and placed the phone on the cradle. Once again turning to the team, “Get your kit and go bags we are wheels up in…” Zane looked down at this watch, “eight minutes.”

Everyone dispersed without a word. That spoke volumes of their trust and respect for Zane. No one questioned where he was taking them or why. No one knew the mission or the gravity of what they were about to learn. They all trusted Zane enough to follow blind. Consummate professionals, Zane was lucky to have found each and every one of them.

I looked towards my brother before I left to get my own gear, his head was lowered and he looked tense. These next few hours were going to be hard on him. He was going to have to tell the rest of the team the truth about who I was and what role I have played in many of their missions. Then there was Jasmin, she was going to be red hot mad not only at Zane, Eric and I but the universe.

“I got your back, brother.” I rested my hand on his shoulder.

“I’m not worried about me; I am worried about my team.” Zane shook his head.

“They are your family and they respect the hell out of you Zane. There is nothing to worry about.” I assured him

“Jasmin is going to flip her shit. She is going to need a strong hand to get through this. She does not like showing weakness in front of her team.” Zane has always had a soft spot for Jasmin.

“I got her, Zane.”

I walked out of the conference room and into my office to grab my go bag. I opened the bag to confirm everything I needed was in there. Two passports, two sets of identification, credit cards, cash, extra magazines and ammo. I touched my right hip to confirm my HK45 was strapped on, a habit that was ingrained in me over my years on the Teams. Trust but verify – even yourself.

I slid my vest over my head and pulled the Velcro straps at the sides tight, threw my pack over my good shoulder and picked up my Blackhawk go bag and was all set. I checked my G shock watch, I had three minutes to get to the roof and wait for transport.

Roof access was on the top floor across from Zane’s office. Jasmin, Eric, Jaxon, Leo, Colin, and Drew were all standing outside of Zane’s office door waiting to proceed to the roof together. I studied each member of my new team; it was always strange going out a mission for the first time with a new team. Luckily I didn’t come across that very often; once you all get in sync it is hard to adjust to someone new. I wonder if that is how they all felt about me coming onto their team. Like I was the one throwing them off sync.

I heard the helicopter rotor blades pulsing as the aircraft made its descent onto the roof.

“Go.” Zane opened the door and everyone filed up the stairs to the waiting helicopter.

Each member of the team gave a quick salute to the Commander in Chief as they entered the cabin of the Eurocopter Dauphin II turbo shaft, helicopter.

Once everyone was strapped in and secured our Bose A20 headsets we could hear Zane. “Mr. President meet your team. Leo, Panther. Drew, Shades. Colin, Breeze. Jaxon, Blue. Eric, Wolf. Jasmin, Nightstalker. Lincoln, Ghost.”

Chapter Nine

Jasmin