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“And when it doesn’t?” I felt a wave of nausea with that question.
“Then I’ll let you know, and we can go from there.” She gave me a smile, and I saw such trust and confidence in her that it took everything inside me not to blurt the truth.
“For the record,” I drew her in closer, “I’m unbelievably in love with you, too.”
“I think we both made our feelings quite clear the other night.” She gave me a hungry look. “But you better be in love with me, Mr. Logan, because I’m not giving you up. Ever.”
“Like I’d ever let you.”
“Seriously,” her hand cupped my face, “you seem even quieter than normal. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah.” I kissed her again and wished I didn’t have to let go. While I loved my time with her, these little visits were wearing on me mentally, not being able to share with her. “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“If there’s ever anything I can do to help…”
“You do help, Sue. You help by just being here, even if it’s only for an hour. I need my Sue time.”
“Let’s go, lovebirds!” Tracy called. I reluctantly let Sue go, and she slipped out of my arms to join Tracy in her car. “Seriously, you two are attached at the hip.”
“Don’t be jealous, friend, be happy.” Sue scowled at her.
“I am.” Tracy waved at me and slipped behind the wheel of her car.
“I’ll call you about lunch.” I waved at Sue and felt my buddies watching me.
I glanced over and saw Frank, Zack, and Ray all staring at me with big-ass smirks on their faces.
“Do you hear that, Frank?” Zack pretended to listen.
“Yup,” Frank played along, “I do believe that’s wedding bells.”
“Shut up.” I laughed. “Let’s get back.”
* * *
We ate, trained, researched, planned, and learned how to speak Spanish. Maybe not enough to pass ourselves off for long, but enough to get by. Thankfully, we were able to pick it up fairly quickly, as we all had a basic grounding in learning languages such as French and Vietnamese. It helped, anyway. A good soldier used whatever he could as a survival tool. We would never cower and run away from a situation when in the field. My team would use whatever resources we had and never stop taking advantage of every chance we could to learn something about the enemy. It allowed us to turn the tables and use it against them later. We learned as much of the language as we could from the ones we held hostage, used their own fighting techniques against them whenever we could, and never let something catch us off guard a second time. If you didn’t take advantage of every opportunity to learn about the dangers you faced, you were as good as dead.
“Here.” Dad handed me a knife, and Mom held up a camera as I crawled into our brand-new helicopter and carved our team’s name under my father’s then etched in the year. I heard the shutter on the camera go off a few times. “Let’s make it a tradition that when we have a new team join our family, the team leader will come aboard to carve their name into the skin of the chopper. This guy,” he patted the side wall, “gets us home.” We all cheered at that. “And it never hurts to have a little lady luck.” He smiled at Mom, who kissed her fingers and pressed them over the words.
I handed Dad back the knife while Mom snapped a few more photos of our two teams. The excitement was high as we looked forward to our first flight out.
Later that afternoon when the fun died down, I leaned against the deck railing with my notebook and practiced the words I struggled with. The boys and I spoke Spanish whenever we communicated with each other these days. It was imperative that we could understand each other as well as the enemy. We had to be able to know what was being said if we got in a position to hear the Cartel as they spoke to one another in person or over a radio.
“Dan?” My father stepped through the sliding glass doors, and he looked serious. “Gather your team. We’ve got orders.” He couldn’t hide the excitement in his voice, and my heart leapt in my throat. A mix of excitement and anxiety of the unknown shot through my body as well. “I’ll take the lead on the mission today, only because of how quickly this came about, but from the moment we leave, you’ll be in charge. Blackstone will lead, and Team Tracker will be your backup.”
“Understood.” I nodded. My dad had named his team Tracker after a dog he’d saved back when he was in Germany. My heart swelled with love for him. The fact that he had provided this new life and position for me made me realize once again how lucky I was. I knew my father was a great man, but he was an even better husband and father. So, for just one second, I allowed myself a moment to appreciate it.
I rushed back inside and used the intercom to communicate with the guys. It wasn’t long before my Blackstone team gathered in the situation room along with Team Tracker.
“We got our orders from Washington.” Dad jumped right in, and you could hear a pin drop as the men waited to hear what he’d tell us. “I’ve been on the phone with our liaison. It seems we not only have information on our mark but have confirmation on where he’s being held.” He put two photos up on a screen. “These were sent over, so take a good look. Dan, your Team Blackstone will take the lead, so you’ll need to make contact and confirm he is indeed there. Tracker,” he addressed his team, “we’re the eyes and ears and will move in or distract the enemy away from Blackstone if need be.” He pulled down a map of the US and Mexico and used a marker to show our route, and backup plans were discussed in case something went amiss. Dad was clear and concise and gave each of the men lots of time to ask questions and made sure everyone knew his role and was okay with it.
“Our orders are to use whatever means necessary to get this guy back, but my main concern is that I want you all back alive and in one piece.” My father checked the time. “Pack your bags, boys. We leave in one hour.”
Zack looked at me, and I saw the rush that sparkled in his eyes as he hopped to his feet and ran off to get ready.
As team leader of Blackstone, I knew I was the one responsible to get my men home in one piece, as well as our mark. As hard as it was to put my head back into combat mode, there was a sense of comfort in the control I felt. It was something I’d never experienced before. I knew it was because I’d had a direct part in the planning of it all. I’d also helped develop other contingency plans in case things went differently than we expected. That assurance that I knew exactly what would happen and when gave me the confidence I needed. I was ready for what was ahead.
“You set?” Ray asked as he tossed his black duffle bag by the front door.
