SEAL's Spitfire (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Black Eagle Book 1)

by Lynne St. James

  “Probably a good idea.”

  Chapter 11

  The team landed at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan just before sunrise. They were supposed to have all the intel on where the hostages were held, but they didn’t. Lynch’s people hadn’t gotten positive confirmation of their location or even which tribe had them. Captain Knox contacted Command and they were told to stand down. They were worried that if the team headed out without verification of where the HVT was they would end up causing her death. Apparently, the Senator and the President were close friends.

  The base was bustling with early morning activity. Rafe was so keyed up there was no way he’d be able to get any shut-eye. What he wanted to do was talk to Meghan. He had a bad feeling that something was wrong, and it wasn’t going away. He needed to hear her voice, but he’d settle for a text message. But with a nine and a half hour time difference, it was after midnight back in Atlanta. Too late to call and he didn’t want to take a chance he’d wake her with a text message. The other option was Tex, but it was even later there, and Jake had told him to disengage. He couldn’t disobey a direct order.

  That left only one thing, going for a run. He’d burn off the excess energy and maybe be able to rest finally. After dumping his pack in their temporary quarters, he grabbed a bottle of water.

  “Where are you going?” Jake asked.

  “For a run. I can’t sit here and do nothing.”

  Jake nodded. “No problem. Don’t go too far in case they actually come up with some intel we can use.”

  “Copy that.”

  “Want company?” Ryan asked.

  “Sure.”

  “We won’t be long, Boss.”

  “Catch you when you get back.”

  They left the tent and headed for the outskirts of the base to run the perimeter of the airfield. Bagram was practically a second home to the team, having been there more times than they could count. Neither of the men spoke as they circled the airfield. The breeze picked up as the sun rose over the horizon. It was fall and the desert air was cool, but the dry air eventually forced them to stop and hydrate. They knew better than to get dehydrated.

  “What’s got you so hot and bothered?” Ryan asked after taking a swig from his water bottle.

  “This mission.”

  “Don’t give me that bullshit. Crappy intel happens on almost every mission. It’s more the norm than not.”

  “True that. But I met a woman the other day and her brother is one of the hostages.”

  “No fucking way.”

  “I wish it wasn’t. When I went to stay with Dawn and the kids, I got stuck in the airport. I’d been watching her for a while but couldn’t decide if I wanted to take the chance that she would be one of those women like we deal with in the bar all the time. But after the flight got canceled and I heard her spout a list of cuss words that would have shocked you, I couldn’t resist.”

  “I take it she wasn’t after you for your cute SEAL ass?”

  “Hell no. At first, I didn’t think she would even respond. She mellowed as the wait went on.”

  “I bet she did.”

  “No, it wasn’t like that at all. She didn’t even ask what I did in the Navy. If I hadn’t volunteered it, she wouldn’t have known I was a SEAL.”

  “Why did you?”

  “Probably because she didn’t ask. She didn’t even ask for my name. I had to volunteer that, and it was only after she’d seen the news about her brother. If that hadn’t happened, I don’t think it would have gone any further.”

  Rafe would have gone on but a C-130 came in for a landing. The roar of the engines made it impossible to hear anything and vibrated the ground where they stood. It taxied down the runway and came to a stop on the other side of the airfield, bringing in the next group of troops and replenishing supplies.

  “It’s not like you to talk to female strangers. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of you. Cam? Murph? Sure, but you? No fucking way.”

  “I know. But there was something about her. She’s a little ball of fire wrapped up in a body to kill for. If she’s five foot it’s a lot, but damn she’s got curves in all the right places. You know? A woman you can hold on to and not worry about breaking.”

  Ryan nodded but didn’t respond. There was a gleam in his eyes that warned Rafe that trouble was coming.

  “She has long black hair, the most expressive green-blue eyes I’ve ever seen, and the cutest smattering of freckles along her cheekbones.”

  “Shit, bro. You’ve got it bad.”

  “Right? I don’t know what the fuck happened. It’s like she cast a spell on me.”

  “Or you finally met your one. It’s what we’re all inherently craving.”

  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  “Philosophy, dude. You know Plato, right?”

  “Yeah. What does he have to do with this?”

  “In the book The Symposium, he wrote that according to Greek Mythology humans were originally created with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. But Zeus was afraid of their power and split them into two separate parts. Now we spend our lifetimes searching for our other half so we can be whole again.”

  “How the fuck do you know this shit?”

  “I read a lot and I happen to love philosophy.”

  “So, is that where the soul mate thing comes from?”

  “Probably.”

  “I guess I learned something new. Go figure.” It made as much sense as anything else in the fucked up world. Ryan was right about one thing, he was the last one of the team to approach a woman. There were plenty who hounded him and the rest of the team, but it wasn’t what he was looking for. He wanted what his parents had, what Dawn had with Bob. Up until he met Meghan, he didn’t think it was possible.

  They continued their trek around the airfield at a slower pace so they could continue their conversation.

  “She was lucky to have you there when she found out.”

  “I’m not sure she thinks so. But I tell you, she didn’t even lose it.”

  “No tears?”

  “Not at first. She was in shock, sure. But she held it together. Trying to figure out how to get him back.”

  “I’m impressed.”

  “Yeah, so was I. That’s why I had to bring Tex into it.”

  “Makes sense to me. Besides, it wasn’t our mission yet.”

  “Exactly. And since it wasn’t, I couldn’t ask Jake to get me intel either. That only left Tex and his amazing computer super powers.”

  “I’m sure she appreciated your help.”

  “Yes, until she found out I hadn’t told her everything. Once Tex found out he was definitely one of the hostages, I kept it from her at first. She got so pissed off she lost it, and that’s when the tears came. Then she chewed my ass a new one, but she was so quiet Jake would have been proud. But I deserved it.”

  “You were only trying to protect her…”

  “That’s what I thought, but she didn’t see it that way. To her, I was hiding information from her about her family, information I’d promised to get for her.”

  “Did Tex find out anything else?”

  “Yeah, that the senator’s daughter was part of the missionary group. Hell, I think he knew it before the state department.”

  Ryan chuckled. “Probably did. The man knows everything.”

  “That’s what I told Meghan. When we got called in, I gave her his information in case she needed anything.”

  “Good plan. He’ll be able to keep her updated since you can’t.”

  “Yeah. But when Jake found out he told me no more contact with Tex.”

  “What did you expect him to say?”

  “I know, but I can’t shake this feeling that Meghan is in trouble.”

  “Where did you leave her?”

  “In Atlanta at her sister’s house.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine there.”

  “Hope so. I’d call but it’s too damn late.”


  “And that’s why we’re running, huh?”

  “Yup. You got it.”

  “Guess we better get on with it. I’ll race you back.”

  Running full out was just what Rafe needed to burn off the rest of his pent-up tension. By the time they got back to the tent sleep sounded good, but first he needed to wash off the grit from the blowing sand.

  Bill Lynch and Jake were in the middle of a heated discussion as he approached their tent. The fury on Jake’s face didn’t bode well for Bill, and his gut clenched with worry for the hostages. He’d hoped to hear something, but their conversation stopped as soon as he approached.

  “Any news?”

  “Not what we wanted,” Jake answered.

  “They’re in the mountains about twenty klicks from the village where they were grabbed,” Bill added.

  “What’s the problem. We go in and get them, no?”

  “They know about Miranda Stanhope.”

  “Fuck.” They’d hoped to keep that information quiet. Most likely one of the other hostages said something hoping to help themselves. Not that you could blame them. They were probably terrified.

  Bill nodded and continued, “This is where it gets dicey. Our intel says they’ve separated them. They still plan to sell the main group for arms. But now they’re demanding a prisoner exchange and money for the HVT.”

  The grim expression on Jake’s face said it all. He also knew that Rafe had even more reason to want to rescue the other hostages. Their primary mission would be to recover Miranda Stanhope. The other hostages would be secondary if they were told to do it at all.

  Sleep was no longer an option. Fear and fury warred within Rafe but instead of losing it, his training took over. One of his strengths was problem solving, running scenarios in his head until he’d found a solution. If there was a way to save them all, with or without permission, he’d find it. The only positive in any of this was that he couldn’t tell Meghan. His little spitfire would’ve had a nuclear meltdown, and he wouldn’t have blamed her. Rescuing all of them was the only option, whether JSOC agreed or not.

  “Rafe, did you hear me?”

  “Huh?”

  “That’s what I thought. TOC now.”

  “Copy that.”

  Once they were gathered in the Tactical Operations Center, Bill signed in to the video transmission from Joint Special Operations Command. An hour later they had their mission plan, the direction had come from the president, and there was no arguing with the commander-in-chief. Orders were orders. It sucked that they’d have to wait two days to go get her. But JSOC wanted proof of life and double confirmation of her location before they went in to do the rescue. Rafe prayed that the mission to save Miranda Stanhope didn’t mean a death sentence for the rest of the hostages.

  After the briefing with JSOC was finished, Captain Knox continued with the specifics, going over maps and locations until they had their plan nailed down.

  “You’ll helo in at oh-one hundred. If they haven’t moved her, it’ll be about fifteen klicks to the HVT. You need to be at the EXFIL at oh-five-hundred,” Captain Knox finished. “Any questions?”

  “No, sir,” Jake responded for all of them. None of them were happy, from the captain on down. Their only option was to rescue Miranda and take out her captors before they could alert the others. And if they had good intel on where the other hostages were being held, they should be able to free them before it was too late. There were a lot of ‘if’s’ in the equation, but it wasn’t the worst plan they’d ever had to execute.

  “I don’t like this, Boss,” Rafe said so only Jake could hear him.

  “It doesn’t matter. You know the drill. It’s not the first double extraction we’ve done. It won’t be our last.”

  “Usually they’re in the same location. We’re not even sure where the other hostages are being held.”

  “Rafe, I know you’ve never been personally invested before, but these are our orders. Is this a problem?”

  “No, sir.” Jake was right, he needed to get his head on straight. This was what they did, what they trained for every fucking day.

  Back at their tent, they went over the maps, searched the terrain and re-read the reports. As tired as he had been, Rafe didn’t rest until late afternoon when his body didn’t give him a choice.

  A wet tongue woke him too soon. He’d been dreaming about Meghan and didn’t appreciate Halo licking him awake. “What the fuck, man?”

  “Jake sent me to wake you for dinner, bro. Unless you’d rather have an MRE?” Cam answered, but all he saw was the teeth and tongue of his furry teammate.

  “Fuck, no.”

  “Then you owe Halo an apology.”

  Cam was right. “Thanks, boy.” He swore the dog smiled at him before trotting after Cam. Rubbing the sleep off his face, he checked the time and did some quick calculations. It was eight thirty a.m. in Atlanta. Way too early to call, but not to text. Texting would definitely be safer. There were too many things he couldn’t share with her, but he didn’t want to go dark without at least checking that she was okay. It might be a while before he had another chance. After typing and deleting a message three different times, he finally settled on brief, simple, and to the point. Then he clicked send.

  Hey Spitfire. Stay positive. I’ll text when I can. Love you, Rafe

  It didn’t take long to get a response. He hadn’t gotten halfway to the Mess when the phone vibrated in his pocket.

  All good here. Tex is great. Be safe, big guy. Love, Meg

  Maybe he’d worried for nothing. He’d know for sure if he could hear her voice, but he’d have to settle for her words for now. Besides, if something happened Tex knew how to get ahold of him.

  Chapter 12

  True to his word, Tex arranged everything. All she had to do was pack and make sure she had a valid Press ID, although he probably could have come up with one of those too. So far, she had the easy part, but what was coming would take all the strength and determination she had to get through. After Tex’s warning that the hostages may have been tortured, she’d almost reconsidered the plan. Almost. The thought of her brother being beaten, or worse, was horrifying, but it also strengthened her resolve to get him home.

  It had been two days since Rafe, and his team had left for wherever. She’d only heard from him once. It would be driving her up the wall with worry if she hadn’t been planning her own excursion. He’d be madder than a bull when he found out, but with any luck, it wouldn’t be until she was back home safe and sound with her brother.

  The phone rang as she was putting the last of her clothes in the suitcase. Expecting it to be Tex she didn’t check the caller ID.

  “Hey, are we all set?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.” Dang it. She really needed to be more careful.

  “Excuse me. I thought you were someone else.”

  “Obviously. I’m Ted Clement from the state department. I’m returning your call.” It took him long enough, she’d left him the message almost three days ago.

  “Thank you for calling me back. We were hoping you’d have news about our brother.” Too bad for him that she already had all the information there was courtesy of Tex. But it would be interesting to see if he lied to her or not.

  “We don’t really have anything new. There haven’t been any demands made by the kidnappers.”

  “Don’t you mean the terrorists?” Meghan tried to restrain her temper but if he was going to continue to feed her manure, she was going to lose it.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Henley. But that’s all the information I have.” After taking a deep breath, she answered with all the southern charm she could shove into one sentence.

  “Well bless your little heart, I’m sure that’s all they told you to tell us poor families as we worry ourselves sick. But it’s just cruel to keep us in the dark.”

  “I assure you…”

  “I’m sure you do. But you can be assured that I’ll be contacting your superior and moving up th
e food chain until we find out the truth about our brother. Now you have a nice day, you hear?” Without waiting for his reply, she disconnected the call and had to stop herself from throwing the phone against the wall. What a sorry piece of shit. To think that her tax dollars paid his salary and he couldn’t even tell her the truth.

  She’d been truly blessed when she and Rafe connected, and even more so when he gave her the means to help her brother. The next time the phone rang she checked the number before answering, but it wasn’t one she recognized.

  “Hello.”

  “Meghan? It’s Tex. Sorry but I’m sure they are probably tracking your number so I’m using a burner.”

  “Who is?”

  “The state department, the CIA, any one of the alphabet agencies. It would make sense that they’d monitor all the families.”

  “Oh. But what about before?”

  “It was routed through my computer and through so many countries they’d have a hard time tracking me.”

  “I’m not sure I get all this cloak and dagger stuff.”

  “It’s okay. It’s better if you don’t get mixed up in it anyway,” he answered with a chuckle. It made her wonder what he was like in person. She knew he had a wife, Mel. But what was he really like? Was he like a spy out of a movie?

  “Your new phone should arrive today. There will be extra SIM cards in the box. They’re for overseas so you can call me, your sister, and make the calls you need to while in Afghanistan. If you call home, make sure to destroy the SIM card before you make any more calls. Got it?”

  “Yup. Destroy cards between calls home.”

  “The sooner the better, okay?”

  “Okay. Do you really think they’ll be tracking me?”

  “Yes, I do. But maybe I’m just paranoid.” Another chuckle eased some of the tension that had been churning in her belly. Maybe she was out of her mind trying to do this on her own.

  “Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  “Good. Because it never hurts to be extra careful.”

  “I understand. I know what I’m doing might be considered crazy, but I can’t just sit here while everyone gives us the runaround and my brother is out there hurt or worse.”