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I rub a hand over my face, letting out a tired sigh. “Let’s go and find out what the fuck’s going on.”
We find Tobias and the others outside, along with a man I’ve not seen for a little under 6 years. I feel Ryder tense beside me when he realises who Tobias is talking with. I can’t say I don’t understand. In fact, I understand even more so. As we near the two men, I see Seb to my left, who has a firm grip of Jamie’s hand. He has his head held high, back ramrod straight, with his free arm behind his back and feet apart.
Tobias looks up, immediately drawing attention to us. The other man turns just as we reach them, and Ryder and I stop dead, standing to attention and saluting the man in front of us.
“At ease gentlemen,” he commands.
“Major, good to see you again.” The words sound sincere, but they hide the bitter taste of grief and guilt seeing Major Cole again brings forth. “Although, I’m surprised to see you here. I had no idea you were involved, sir,” I state, turning to Tobias, who looks away under my gaze.
“Good to see some things never change,” he says, slapping Tobias on the back. “However, I’m no longer a major any more than you are a lieutenant, so how about we do away with the formalities.”
“I asked Dickie to help out his oldest friend. I thought it was a good idea as it was him that recommended your company,” Tobias declares, returning the slap on the back. Richard throws a stern glare at him, to which he just laughs.
I almost baulk at Tobias calling Richard Dickie, but I maintain my military stoicism. I had no idea Richard and Tobias knew each other, and well it seems, but now is not the time for stories of old friends.
“Perhaps a heads up would have been an idea, Mr Harris.” My use of his full name cluing him into the fact I’m not impressed with my mission being hijacked. And by none other than my commanding officer and someone that brings back memories I don’t wish to think about.
Clearly noting my agitation at the intrusion, Richard suggests we move this inside. Offering a nod as he passes me, he enters the house with Tobias following behind.
Seb steps forward with Jamie, cursing under his breath.
“Who is that guy?” Jamie asks.
For several minutes nobody speaks.
“That is Major Richard Cole, and not somebody any of us thought we’d see again,” Ryder says.
Jamie accepts this without further question, even though I can see she knows there’s a story there. That girl is too perceptive. It’s one of the reasons I wanted her to join us, but I never imagined that it would be my own story she’d get a whiff of.
Ryder’s assessment on the situation is correct, but what he failed to say was that none of us wished to see Richard again. Don’t get me wrong, I have huge respect for the man, but his reappearance reminds me of a time I don’t care to revisit in this lifetime. The quicker we get this job done and Richard vanishes from my life again, the better for everyone.
We join Richard and Tobias in the war room with the others and spend another hour refining our plans. Despite not being happy that Richard is here, I can’t deny that having the extra help isn’t a benefit.
Three
Rick
“On my signal, we move in,” I say down the earpiece.
Ryder, Seb, Dean, Drew, Scott, Jamie and I are positioned in a copse of trees facing the front entrance to the building. Richard and his five men are positioned behind another building at the rear of the target site.
Adrenaline pumps through my veins as the clock ticks down, and as with any time we do one of these ops, memories try to infiltrate my mind. Pushing them back, I focus on the task in front of me.5…4…3…2…
“Move, move,” I command. The rustling of clothing and feet on gravel echoes back down the earpiece as we all move forward.
A menacing silence descends as I reach the door, stepping to the side, back to the wall, I give Ryder a nod. Raising a hand, I signal a count of three.
As I lower my last finger, Ryder pulls the door open, and I dispatch a flashbang grenade before we move in.
The old rec room is dimly lit with debris scattered across the floor. Moving in line formation, we make our way to the door at the other end, but before we can reach it, it opens.
“What the—” His words are cut off as Ryder’s shot hits its target, and the guy drops to the ground. I hear a small gasp from the left, that I know came from Jamie, but I ignore it as we move through to the next room.
A small wooden table littered with takeaway boxes, wrappers and beer bottles and several seats around it occupies the small kitchen space. The smell of rotting food and stale beer permeates my nose, causing it to turn up in disgust.
The door directly opposite leads to the rear entrance, where I can hear Richard and his guys making their way towards us. Of the other two doors leading from the kitchen, one is a toilet, but not hearing any noise in that direction, we turn our focus to the remaining door on the left.
Signalling to Ryder, we move into position as a cry of pain and shouting echoes from somewhere below. I watch as Seb positions Jamie away from the door to the rear of our group before giving the signal to move in.
