Chapter 19

After finding McDunna and reluctantly making the introduction, Rad returned to the empty briefing room and sat down. He could see the men were gathered around the picnic table outside again and assumed they were discussing the upcoming mission. He didn’t want to join them just yet. He knew there would be questions from Wynn, and he wasn’t ready to answer them. Hell, he didn’t even know if he had the answers.

Sitting down on the couch, with his head leaned back and his eyes closed, he thought about his conversation with Angie. Had he said too much? Acted too concerned? Had he and Lauren been too sociable out on the landing zone? Or was Angela just grasping for straws?

He groaned and sat up straight. Here he was worrying about Angie’s next move when his thoughts should be on Lauren. Had she landed yet? Even though McDunna had made light of her getting out of Pakistan to do the briefing, he knew she had a long ordeal to get back in. She would probably be dropped miles away from the village where she lived and would have to trek over dangerous terrain to either reach a pre-arranged ride or wait for cover of darkness and hike in herself. He knew she had the training, the background, and the smarts to do it—but it was still risky, and he hated the thought she would put herself in that type of danger. He hated even more that he had no way to contact her now, and no timetable as to when she would contact him.

Rad raised his hands to his head and rubbed his temples. Like Lauren said, he had to keep his focus on the mission. That’s what she wanted him to do. That was his job. He leaned back again and closed his eyes. The voices outside the window created a soothing hum that lulled him into a half sleep.

“You okay, man?”

Rad looked up to see Wynn standing in the doorway. “Yeah. I’m great.”

Wynn closed the door behind him and stared at Rad a moment. “Nothing personal, but you don’t look like it.”

Rad shrugged. He didn’t even know where to begin.

“So I take it you just found out with the rest of us.” Wynn sat down beside Rad. “That’s some tough shit to handle, dude. Especially at a time like this.”

“I’ll get over it.” Rad leaned forward with his elbows on his knees. “Anyone else say anything?”

Wynn nodded. “They figured it out. Be impossible not to.”

“Okay.” Rad stood. “I’ll come clean at the next meeting. I don’t want them to think I’m hiding anything.”

To synchronize their preparations for war, he had called team meetings where he handed out to-do lists like taking inventory, requesting gear, and prepping weapons and radios.

“You sure you’re good to go? To lead this thing?”

Rad looked over him. “Why wouldn’t I be? Same shit, different day.”

“’Cause you got a no-count love affair going on brother, that’s why.”

Although he was one of the most sensitive and emotional men Rad had ever met, Wynn was also a sparkplug for jokes and pranks. “I’m almost afraid to ask.” Rad gazed at him inquisitively. “What in the hell is a no-count love affair?”

Wynn leaned back and crossed his arms. “There ain’t no countin’ what you’ll do for it.”

Rad rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry. I got my head in the game, man. Not on her.”

And I’ve never wanted anything more than to get this guy. Rad gave his friend a smile and squeezed his shoulder. He was excited about this mission and felt honored to lead it. The man they were targeting had killed Americans and continued to organize fighters to ambush U.S. troops.

He wanted nothing more than to show the terrorists they had underestimated their enemy—in fact, picked a fight with the wrong one. This group of men had the skill and the courage to prove just that. They feared no one, and held back nothing, because they knew their enemy only understood one thing—brute force.

Rad glanced out the window at the sound of voices and watched a cluster of men hurry toward a vehicle parked outside. “Mail’s here.”

Wynn jumped off the couch. “Awesome!”

Mail was as close to a holiday as you could get on a military base. Rad walked out and leaned his shoulder against the doorway as the men ran around waving envelopes, acting like kids at Christmas.

“Radcliff, Michael.”

“Here you go, boss.” Pops took the stack of three letters and walked it over to Rad.

“Looks like you’re a pretty popular guy.”

Rad joined the other men, sitting on the ground with his back propped against the building. The first one he opened was from his mother in Texas. It was long and detailed and made him smile. She talked about everything from the weather to family matters, relatives, and general news about home. The next one, from his sister, was shorter, but it was filled with news from the states and an update on how Tara was doing. He hadn’t heard from her in more than two weeks and was relieved to finally get word.

When he got to the last piece of mail, Rad paused and turned it over. He didn’t recognize the handwriting, which was scrawled as if it had been written during a roller coaster ride. There was no address, just his name printed on a dirty, crinkled piece of paper that looked like it had been dug out of the trash.

Unfolding the letter slowly, he swallowed hard when he read the words:

Hey, Dude — Don’t worry about me. Just kick some ass. I got it on this side. – L.C.

“You okay?” Pops sat down beside him.

Rad folded the piece of paper back up and stuck it in his pocket. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Not bad news from home, I hope.”

“No.” Rad forced a smile. “It’s all good.” He stared into the horizon a moment as he visualized Lauren jotting down those words while heading back to Pakistan in the chopper. No wonder the writing was barely legible. She must have given the note to the pilot, who passed it on to someone else to put with the mail. They were words of comfort to him, yet written in such a way as to be inconspicuous if read by someone else.

“Looks like everyone’s about done.” Pops stood. “Ready to get this thing rolling? You’re the lead guy, you know.”

Rad nodded, although all he wanted to do was go back to his bunk and re-read the note. “Yeah, let’s go,” he said. “I got this.”