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“Work,” Zack muttered and leaned his head on Tracy’s shoulder as if too tired to hold it up. The two of them had been hooking up of late, and I was happy for him.
“Is that dog hair?” Tracy plucked a few long hairs from his wool jacket.
“Don’t ask,” he huffed.
I had to smile at him. I knew we both thoroughly enjoyed these times with the girls. It gave us a chance to let ourselves relax a bit and have a bit of much-needed fun. I sat back and enjoyed the conversation between Tracy and Sue about their week. I tried to pay attention to Tracy’s story but found my mind drifting.
We’d spent the past few weeks cramming our heads full of as much information as possible on the Cartel. Dad had brought in a few speakers who had inside knowledge of what to expect from them and how they operated. It was a whole different world from what we were used to, and each rescue would be totally different. We needed to cover every possible contingency, and that meant a lot of work.
We kept ourselves in tip-top shape with a daily run, followed up by a couple circuits on a tough obstacle course we’d set up. Between all that and the fact we were nearing the completion of Shadows, our brains were full and our bodies exhausted.
“So,” Sue’s hand ran over my thigh and instantly brought me back to her, “can you come by for lunch anytime soon?”
“Are you asking because you want to see me or because you know Zack just made the best pumpkin soup known to man?” I teased.
“Both.” Her eyes lit up with excitement.
“I’ll see if I can get away.”
“All the ladies love the best friend’s cooking, Dan.” Zack used a piece of bread to soak up his leftovers. “Once you accept that, we can all co-exist. A foursome.”
“Aren’t I lucky?” Tracy snickered, and Zack scooped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. “Anyway, so, Sue, here’s what happened the last time my boss came in…” I tuned her out when I spotted a man helping his dog into his car.
Now that our dogs had arrived, most were making great progress in their training. The K9 guys had done exceptionally well with a few of them. I was pleased to see the border collie was adapting fast and seemed to love it even more than I’d hoped. I couldn’t help but feel proud of her; she was a natural. Adding to all of that was the excitement of the arrival of our new helicopter. We were mentally and physically riding a wave, but all of it took a toll on us. Sue had hit the nail on the head; we were mighty tired.
I thought back to yesterday when the last of the speakers had finished. We’d all sat there in silence and wondered what the hell was wrong with the human race.
“Edison,” Ray spoke up as we gathered our belongings, about to go to the kitchen for some much-needed food, “I’ve been doing some digging of my own on the Cartel, and aside from the import and export of drugs, weapons, and people, they are as heinous a group as I’ve ever heard of.”
“They are.” Dad nodded. “It’s why I’m trying to prepare you for the worst. The Cartel are incredibly violent and thrive on fear and never hesitate to use torture over words.”
“So, that being said, we do have permission to use deadly force, if need be, correct?” Ray glanced at me. “I mean, we aren’t supposed to try to spare any Cartel lives here, right? Because I want to be honest with you, if it comes down to me or them, it’s me.” We’d all spent a great deal of time with Dr. Roberts, trying to reprogram our mindset after Nam, where it was kill or be killed. He’d helped all of us get our heads on straight, and although the good doctor had given us the green light to head back into combat, we didn’t want to ruin what we’d managed to repair, with his help, in a spray of bullets. “I just want to make sure our orders from Washington aren’t to be peacekeepers, because there’s no peace when dealing with these people.”
My father waited for the room to quiet down and placed a hand on Ray’s shoulder as he spoke. “Men, our orders are to extract our mark with whatever means necessary. You be sure it’s always you, never them who comes out on top. Understood?” Dad then glanced around the room. “I know all of you have worked with the doc and are doing well, and I want you to know he will be speaking with each and every one of you after every mission. We don’t want you to take any steps back.”
“Copy that.” Ray let out a heavy breath, no doubt relieved with the answer he got. It was one thing to survive in the jungle that was Nam, with no real support and in constant fear, but it would be quite another thing to work directly under the Army as an elite team. We would be under a microscope and would be given every possible thing we would need to keep ourselves in the right headspace. I knew we all still felt the pressure to prove this was a good idea, and that rested on all our shoulders.
“I’m going to just say it.” Tracy pulled me back from my thoughts, and I tuned in to her and ignored Sue’s warning to be quiet. “What is it that you guys really do? Construction? Because, if it’s that, then why can’t we see what you’re working on? Why is it such a taboo thing to talk about?”
Before any of us could try out our lie, Sue piped up. “They work for a secret agency.” She kept a straight face, and I smirked at Zack, thankful she didn’t jump on Tracy’s insistence on knowing the truth. She dropped her voice and widened her eyes as she talked. “Didn’t you hear that Area 51 is actually Barry Lake?” Tracy rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at her. “It’s true. Remember when we were there, and you noticed those big lights that flickered above you?”
“No,” she huffed, unsure.
“That’s because they wiped your memory.” Sue shrugged. “They did other things too, but we’re not allowed to talk about it.” She made the whole table burst out laughing, and we joined the fun and started to give Tracy all kinds of shit about what the aliens might have done to her body. Soon Tracy forgot about her question and was laughing with the rest of us.
When we were saying our goodbyes at the truck later, I pulled Sue away from the rest and figured I should address it with her. I hated to lie, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.
“Um, so, about Area 51.” I smiled, and she looked at me with her head cocked to one side. “Even though we’re back from the war, we’re still kind of part of the military.” The truth was we did get some funding from the US military, but it could never be said we worked under or directly for the military. That part was left murky. I didn’t care because I knew we would be doing what was needed, and the government might just want to look the other way. They recognized the need for us. Who knew what might happen in the future if this whole operation panned out? “And with that some things that can’t be shared. Believe me, you would be the first person I’d want to share things with, but orders are orders, and—”
“Daniel Logan, you’re a great man,” she interrupted me, “with a great family and friends, and if you don’t or can’t share what you’re up to all day long, I’m okay with that right now. Just if it’s nothing illegal or you’ve got another family hidden away somewhere…” she joked.
“Never,” I promised her.
“Then it’s okay.”
“Okay?” This seemed too easy.
“Yes, for now, it’s okay.” She kissed me. “I love you, Dan, but I also know you have your military life during the day and me at night. For the moment, that works.”
