Page 45 of Nightstalker

Chapter Nineteen

Lincoln

I swear to Christ if she left the God Damn White House unprotected while I was on this mission I would tan her ass when I got home! I usually used my time in transport to go over mission specifics and reports; this morning, however, I was thinking about how infuriating my wife was. My head was not in the right place for this op. Thoughts of Jasmin invaded every corner of my mind. Her sweet little body under mine, her capture and torture, her nightmares. They were all flashing together in a jumbled mess that only fucked with my mind more. Not to mention that fucked up stunt she pulled. Trying to play me as just a dick to warm her bed.

Two fucking years I lived and breathed filth and shit. I chased some cocksucker over four different countries to find those women. To dole out the punishment he deserved. It was slow and it was painful. By the time I found him there was only ten of the original fifteen women left, but the piece of shit had added twelve more to his stable. Twenty two women were rescued and returned to their countries of origin. Ten came back to the United States.

I gave up two God damn years to finally come home and claim my wife and her ass threw me attitude. If I was being honest with myself, I knew she would. I knew it would be a struggle. Nothing was ever easy with Jasmin. That was why I fell in love with her; she was all fire and sass. You had to work your ass off to get to the sweet. But once you get there, it was pure beauty. I needed that back. I craved to have that back. She soothed my soul and kept my demons at bay. After this mission I would make things right. I would not allow my pride to ruin me.

“Ten minutes out.” The pilot’s voice crackled over the headset.

“Copy,” Zane confirmed.

I laid my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. I had ten minutes to lock that shit down and focus. When I opened my eyes I could see The Farm in the distance. We would use the landing pad in the center of the oval driving course. I tried to distract myself by identifying all the additions Zane had made in the last two years. There was a new sleep cabin, a new shoot house, and it looked like the shooting range had been expanded somewhat, if all the new steel target systems were any indication.

“That a new rodgers range?” I inquired.

“Hells to the yes,” Jax answered. “When this shit is over, you and me. Best time wins.”

“Shit yeah, you wanna place a wager on that?” I asked Jax.

“I got a c-note that says I smoke your ass.” His lips twitched as he tried to hold back a smile.

“Shit, I’ll gladly take that bill off your hands, bro,” I joked back. Damn, it felt good to smile. The last twenty four hours had been absolute hell. I needed this.

I felt the helicopter start to descend and the aerial view of The Farm narrowed to just the landing field. We touched down with ease and Zane slid the door open. I quickly pulled my headphones off and grabbed my bag, patting the pilot on the shoulder as I prepared to exit.

“Smooth flight, thanks.”

I jumped to the ground, keeping low as I ran from the helicopter to the waiting Suburban.

***

Our first stop was the armory to get our gear and weapons. Holy hell, if I had thought the armory at Z Corp’s HQ was badass, this was the motherlode! Our gear for the mission had already been laid out for us on the larger work table in the center of the room. I made my way over to a pack and started to inspect my equipment. Picking up a fully kitted out Colt M4 carbine, I racked the weapon, leaving the slide open. Pointing the M4 towards the wall, and checked the Trijicon reflex sight. Clear and crisp. Perfect for close quarter operations. I placed the M4 down and did the same with the SigP220 .45ACP before I strapped my SERPA thigh rig on and holstered my weapon.

“God Damn, Z, you win the lotto?” Eric whistled as he inspected his gear.

“I think I need a raise if you can stock all this shit,” Leo said, noting all of the expensive gear.

“Yeah, cause your ass is broke,” Zane shot back.

“Fuck, the raise. I just want a week here at The Farm with unlimited ammo once a month as a perk,” Colin joined in as he checked the number of chem sticks on his tac vest.

“All a bunch of jokers, no raises, no free ammo,” Zane laughed. “You assholes get plenty of perks. Finish up in here. Garrett is ready for an updated brief.”

Zane finished checking his gear and started to walk out the door when he suddenly stopped and turned back towards us. “Though, Jax, if you can smoke my brother’s ass on the range there will be a five hundred dollar bonus for you.”

All the guys snickered and laughed. I bent at my waist in an exaggerated laugh, pretending to wipe a tear from under my eye. “Oh brother, that shit was funny.”

He just shook his head at my antics and continued out the door. We all followed him down a hallway into a conference room.

Zane wasted no time loading the video conference feed onto the large LCD monitor that hung on the wall. Garrett on half the screen and Drew on the other.

“Update.”

“Codes are filed and verified. Mission name: Sierra, Sierra. Countersign: Nightlight. Password of the day: Parris,” Garrett clipped.

I wondered if that man had left his desk in the last forty-eight hours or if he even slept. I hoped Zane had finally hired someone to help him, poor bastard.