by Ali Vali
“I don’t know,” Jeffery screamed before clenching his jaws shut from the pain in his side. Walby knew the maneuver was like having your chest cracked in two. “I don’t know—I swear.”
“Pay attention, Jeffery.” Walby let him go and sat back down, but stayed vigilant for any move on the young man’s part. “That was some bold move you made today, and I commend you for being in that first boat. You knew when to bail to save your life, but a lot of your friends weren’t so lucky.”
“Where are the rest of my men?”
“You’re not here to ask questions, Jeffery. I’m going to say that only once, so hopefully you’re a quick study. My goal here today is to leave here without facing too much opposition from you.”
“Fuck off,” Jeffery screamed but shut his mouth when Walby stood up.
“I see you’re not going to cooperate, and if you’re not, this is how we’ll play it. Quite a few of your buddies died today, but plenty of them survived. For every day you deny not knowing the answers to my questions, and I mean all my questions, I’m going to kill one of them. That is, after all, the cost of treason, but I’ll be happy to tell them why I’m doing it.”
“You can’t,” Jeffery said, much more subdued now.
“You can’t be serious?” He leaned over and flicked Jeffery on the forehead hard enough to make his eyes water. “No matter what, though, I’m not going to touch you again. I’ll record every execution and play each one of them for you every day for the rest of your miserable life. Can you live with all that on your head?”
“Yeah, right. The president and Congress won’t let you do that.” Jeffery rubbed his side and laughed. “This act’s pathetic.”
“Joanna, go ahead,” he said into his cell.
“Yes, sir. Any particular one?” Walby’s partner Joanna Barker asked.
“The youngest one, I think. No sense in making him live out his life, which could be years, in a cell no bigger than a bathroom stall. Might as well cut the pain off early.”
“Yes, sir.”
A few minutes later a stretcher went by with the body on it, and Jeffery stood at the door to watch. “You bastard.” He lunged at Walby and ended up pressed against a table again, but this time he yelled in pain when Walby pulled much harder on his ribs.
“Remember the rules, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Chapter Eleven
“When do you sail?” Mary Beth Sullivan asked as she sat on the bed and watched Aidan dress for dinner.
“In two days, and when we come back I’m going to marry Berkley and make you a grandmother.” She smiled when her mom hopped up and hugged her. “I can’t admit it to Berkley, but I’m scared. She runs into every situation like she’s invincible, and it drives me nuts.”
“She’s a carbon copy of your father, only much taller and better looking. You can’t change them, my love, but you can balance things out by loving them no matter how crazy their choices.”
“I do, which is why she drives me nuts.” She laughed and closed her eyes when her mom kissed her on the forehead.
“Just remind her often of what she’s coming home to, and everything should be fine.”
“What do you think they’re talking about?” She stared out the door for a second and couldn’t wait for the night to be over so it would be just her and Berkley, but she did want to go out to eat with her parents. After they left, they’d be gone for at least a few months, and she wanted to leave them with as little worry as possible.
“You know Triton,” Mary Beth said. “He’s great at the pep talk. Not that Berkley needs it when it comes to you, but he’s reminding her, like my father did when it was your father’s turn, about what’s the most important thing in her life. I doubt Berkley needs that either, but it’ll make your father feel better by beating her over the head with what’s most important in his life, and that’s you.”
Berkley glanced in her direction briefly and winked before returning her attention to Preston.
“What exactly are you two going to do?” Preston asked.
“They haven’t finalized the scope of our mission, but according to our latest orders, we’re sailing back toward North Korea. Intelligence doesn’t know exactly where Chandler is, but it’s got to be someplace like that. As far as the rest of the Pentagon is concerned, we’re headed in the complete opposite direction, but that was only a diversion in case any of Chandler’s moles are feeding him information.”
“I’ve attended a couple of the briefings, and they don’t have any clue about a lot of things. Because of that, don’t let these yahoos separate you from Aidan. One thing I’ve learned from my years of experience is that people like Chandler are unhinged, and the more they dig in, the more unhinged they become.”
“Until he’s brought in though, we’re in this, and for once, I’d rather be someplace else. We should’ve turned in our papers when we got back last year, but I made a promise to President Khalid, and I intend to honor it.” Berkley sat on the sofa and scrubbed her face with her hands. “I understand people like Chandler. History is littered with megalomaniacs. But I don’t understand the people who follow and believe so blindly.”
“That’s why I gave you my blessing to marry my daughter. If you’d understood these assholes, we’d have some problems.”
“Nah. You gave me a blessing because you love me. You can admit it,” she said and laughed. The buzzer stopped Preston from rebutting her. “Yes, can I help you?”
“Berk,” a woman said, and the voice sounded familiar. “It’s Wiley Gremillion. Can we come up? I hope you don’t mind, but my dad gave me the address.”
She pressed the release for the door, and the mission came more into focus. The powers that be probably hadn’t shared everything with them, and Wiley’s appearance meant there would be a ground operation. That was fine if all they had to do was provide air cover, but her luck hadn’t been great at work lately.
“You’ve been a busy little bee, haven’t you?” Berkley asked when she opened the door to Wiley, a kid, and a woman holding Wiley’s hand.
“I’ve actually been damn happy and extremely lucky. This is my wife Aubrey and our daughter Tanith,” Wiley said, placing her free hand on Tanith’s shoulder.
“Congratulations, and this is a good-looking group with you. I’m happy for you,” Berkley said, waving them all in and opening her arms when Wiley stepped forward.
“You’re ruining my retirement, pal.”
“You know me,” she said as she embraced her old friend. “If I can’t have fun, then I’m going to ruin it for everyone else. Come in, and I’ll change our reservations.”
“We actually have plans, but I wanted to talk to you before the brass throws anything else at me. You’d left your meeting with Secretary Orr before I got there, so I hope I’m not keeping you from anything.”
Berkley introduced them and held her hand out when Aidan and Mary Beth emerged from the bedroom. “This is my fiancée, Aidan Sullivan.”
“I’m not the only one who’s been busy,” Wiley said. “Looks like we’ve been buzzing in the same hive.”
“True, and if you’re in New Orleans when all this is over, you can celebrate with us,” Aidan said, offering them a seat. Berkley was surprised that Aidan had been so quick to extend the invitation, but it proved they’d come a long way. “How long have you two been together?”
“I met Wiley when we were eight,” Aubrey said, taking Wiley’s hand back. “She spoiled me for anyone else, and she’s stuck with me now.”
“With me too,” Tanith said, and they all laughed.
“It’s a good place to be,” Wiley said. “Like I said though, I didn’t want to intrude on your evening, but I wanted to talk to you two. I think I’ve been invited to your party, and I’d like to know what I’m getting into without the bullshit the suits are going to feed me. Sorry for my language,” Wiley said to the Sullivans before leading Berkley a little distance away for the talk she obviously wanted to have. “I’ve got w
ay more to lose than when I started my career, and I’m not willing to piss it all away in some hellhole, so tell me the truth.”
“Believe me, we all have plenty to lose. Tomorrow we’ll be at the Pentagon again, but basically we’re sailing toward North Korea and trying to reach a house where we should find a majority of the pieces we’re missing when it comes to Chandler and his little posse of misfits.”
“A house? Are you serious?” Wiley stared at her like she was standing there with little green men on her shoulder.
“I’ll fill you in completely tomorrow when we meet, but at the end of our mission, something happened,” Berkley said and told her about Jin Umeko and all she knew about Chil and his compound. “The admission that she’d seen Americans where none should have been is telling, and with any luck, whatever he had at the compound is still there.”
“That makes sense as to why they asked me to come along.”
“It does, and if you tell me where you’re staying, we’ll pick you up so you can get it firsthand in the morning. If you can change your plans, though, I’d love for you all to join us tonight.”
“My mother’s expecting us at home, so thanks, but we’ll pass. I’ll see you in the morning.”
They couldn’t convince Wiley and Aubrey to have dinner with them, so they headed out with the Sullivans. The dinner was a bit subdued, since they all seemed to realize their time together was growing short, but they tried to have fun and talk about the future. Preston paid, and Mary Beth hugged both Berkley and Aidan longer than usual.
“Why do you think they want Wiley Gremillion to come with us?” Aidan asked when they were alone. She smiled as Berkley started taking her clothes off for her.
“Tomorrow should be a truth day for everyone involved, at least it better be, but you have to know Wiley can’t shoot anyone from the deck of the Jefferson. She’s going ashore somewhere to deal with our problems, and I’m guessing she’s going to ruin more than one person’s day.” Berkley unzipped Aidan’s skirt and hissed in a breath when she saw the white satin underwear. “Right now, though, I don’t care about anything but this. You are so incredibly sexy.”
Aidan moaned when Berkley unhooked her bra and slid her hands down until she went under the pretty panties and squeezed her ass. “I love when you touch me—oh, shit,” she said when Berkley picked her up and pressed her closer. The move made her center press against Berkley’s abdomen, making her wetter than she was already. “Baby, don’t make me wait.”
Berkley set her down and got her completely naked before getting her own uniform off as fast as she could drop it onto the floor. This was probably the last night they would have all to themselves, and she was desperate for an orgasm. “Go inside—fuck,” she said when Berkley flicked her finger over her clit. “Go inside.”
The sensation of Berkley’s fingers quickly filling her and her thumb massaging her clit made her hang onto Berkley’s shoulders for the ride. “Uh…yes, please don’t stop,” she said right into Berkley’s ear, and Berkley followed orders. She pumped her hand until her hips came off the bed, and she reached the peak where she had no choice but to slide quickly down the other side. It was so fast and hard she almost regretted not taking more time, but she had to have Berkley right then.
“I really love when you touch me,” she said after her heart rate finally slowed. “But then, I love you period.”
“I love you too, but you’re not done. Tonight I want to hear you,” Berkley said as she held her.
“Don’t worry. I’ll keep up.” She pulled Berkley into a sitting position on the side of the bed and knelt between her legs. “Question is, can you?” She smiled when Berkley’s thigh muscles flexed taut as she sucked her clit in and ran her tongue over it. “I want you to come with my mouth on you, baby.” If her orgasm was fast, Berkley’s was lightning quick, with her hands in her hair as she drove her completely insane.
“We need to practice being quiet,” Berkley said when they lay back down, Aidan on top. “There’s no way I can go weeks without touching you.”
“Ah, there is my rule breaker,” she said, kissing Berkley’s shoulder. “But you also mentioned that tonight is no time for quiet. We’ll have weeks of silence, but it won’t start tonight.”
“There are rules that are meant to be broken, and you just inspired my rebel side,” Berkley said as she put her hand back between her legs.
“Thank God for that,” she said as she gave in to her desire for Berkley again.
* * *
“I have to say I didn’t think you’d hold out this long, Jeffery,” Walby said as he sat across from Jeffery Chandler in the interrogation room that was six by nine. He liked small rooms with desperate people. Sometimes confined spaces did more to ratchet up someone’s fear than anything he could think of.
Jeffery would be frog-marched here every twelve hours, where he’d watch another of his friends parade by on a stretcher. That, combined with the very little sleep he was getting, was making him almost frantic. Walby could detect the rising tension in the way he couldn’t sit still and his eyes darted around the room. Jeffery Chandler was a trapped animal who couldn’t find a way out even if he chewed off his own leg.
“There aren’t that many guys left back there, and they’re all cursing you for playing God. We were happy to tell them you value your father’s location more than their lives.” Walby tapped on his ice-cold soft-drink can, smiling when the repetitive noise seemed to bother Jeffery even more than his presence did.
“They know that’s not true. They’d do the same if they were in here with you. We all believe in the cause,” Jeffery said, whipping his head around when someone knocked on the door. “What, today you aren’t even going to ask before you murder someone else?”
“There’s no murder in war, little man.” Walby stood and let two of his men in. “Isn’t that why you won’t answer my questions and, instead, serve your father? You’re at war with us, and you’re running around pretending to play war games.” The two men stood next to his chair and waited. “Of course, when there was a real war and your daddy got called, he didn’t go. First it was school, and then all you little bastards came along to save his ass from the fight, and if that hadn’t done it, I’m guessing he would’ve faked an illness. Thankfully for him the war ended before he ran out of excuses for his lack of backbone.”
“My father is a great man,” Jeffery screamed. “Fuck you.”
“Your father’s a fucking coward,” one of the men said, grabbing the back of Jeffery’s head and pulling it back so far that Walby smiled.
He nodded and stood up. His orders were to stop with the subtleties and get this kid to talk. Walby was now working for Drew Orr, and the defense secretary wanted answers. “I’m going to finish my Coke. That should take twenty minutes, but I could go for a smoke too if you need the extra time.” When he reached for his can and stood, Jeffery’s look of fear changed his demeanor completely.
“I thought you said you weren’t going to hurt me,” Jeffery said, almost panting.
“I’m not—I’m leaving. My friends here, though, made no such promise.”
“You can’t go and not do anything to prevent this. We’re in the United States, for fuck’s sake.”
“You attacked a naval carrier intending to sink it. Seems to me you don’t give a shit about the United States, Jeffery. Why the fuck should we give a shit about you?”
“Because you’re supposed to stand for something. Isn’t that what you said separates you from my father?”
“What exactly are you worried about, Mr. Chandler? I’m sure Daddy trained you on all the procedures he championed when he was in office. Dick rallied for enhanced interrogation and changed the rules, so if you’re going to blame anyone, it should be your macho daddy. But I still don’t see a problem. If you know what’s coming, there’s no way for us to win, so this will be more for your bragging rights later. If you ever see the light of day again, you can tell your entire family how you beat the lik
es of me.”
“Fuck off, because I’m not talking. You can’t scare me.”
“Then we’ll consider this a training exercise on how to beat the shit out of all the tests we can throw at you. Before I go, though,” Walby tapped his chin with his index finger, “who’s your choice today?” Jeffery glared at him and tried his best to break the hold his men had on him. “Let’s change it up today and go for the oldest of whoever’s left. The big blond kid looks like a good candidate. We’ll make sure to tell him you send him your love. He can leave this world with a full heart, since he looks like someone you’d go for in a romantic sense.”
“I’m going to have fun killing you,” Jeffery screamed.
“Maybe later, pretty boy,” Walby said. “For the next hour or so, though, you’ll be busy shitting your pants.”
Chapter Twelve
Berkley woke up two days later but kept her eyes closed, enjoying the silence and the feel of Aidan pressed up against her. The last forty-eight hours had been jammed with meetings with the US Security Council, preparing the Jefferson to sail, and putting the personnel they needed in place. Because it was a big boat and a larger mission, she brought in three new pilots to replace David Morris, and the new team seemed to be working well together. At least they understood the gravity of what they faced and the importance of getting this right.
The rest of the pilots coming would be backup for the main team and to protect the Jefferson at all costs. Now all she could hope for was to not have another David Morris in their ranks ready to shoot down or sabotage one of their own to advance Dick Chandler’s organization. Her other thought went to someone like Hattie Skinner and her murderous brother. Hattie had worked for Edgar Caldwell, the Jefferson’s head mechanic. There was more than one way to bring down fighter jets, and who better than someone charged with keeping them running at their best.