Her Wicked Hero

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “Give me another minute,” Aiden said.

  Zed watched as he finished applying a tourniquet to Mrs. Hoff’s leg. He gave her a shot, probably full of painkillers and antibiotics. She was going to need to be carried out of the jungle. Zed headed over to Gray and the rest of the team.

  “Mister,” the girl called out as Zed passed her.

  Zed stopped. “Honey, is your name Christie or Debbie?”

  “I’m Debbie.”

  “Well Debbie, I haven’t forgotten about Marcia, I promise.”

  “Raymond’s evil. You’ve got to help her.” Her eyes were bright with tears, but this time, she was holding them back.

  The picture of Marcia Price filled his consciousness, but instead of the smile on her picture, her face was a mask of dread. “We’ll help her. That’s what we do,” Zed said grimly. He watched as Debbie relaxed. He patted her on the shoulder, then continued on toward Gray and the others.

  “…all the communications deciphered ASAP. I need every little bit of data you can get, not just about the bidders, but anything you can find out about who else might be running this op.” Dex nodded at Gray then headed toward the barracks.

  Gray turned his attention back to the other men gathered around him. “Dalton, I want you to scan all of these assholes fingerprints. Something tells me more than just these two are US Spec Ops. Wyatt, I want you to confiscate all of their personal belongings, we’re taking it all. I don’t want one damn thing that can be traced back to the U.S. or any other country, for that matter, in case we can’t arrange an extraction team for the bodies before someone else stumbles across them.”

  Aiden walked up to the huddle. “How bad is it?” Gray asked.

  “We have two who need immediate help and will need to be carried. The professor and her husband can walk, but they’ll be slow like the Brockman girls. Mr. Hoff should be able to assist us with them.”

  Zed watched Gray carefully. This was the first time he had to see him deal with a totally fucked up situation. It would be interesting to see how he differed from his own lieutenant. “But we don’t have everyone accounted for, do we?” Gray asked. “Where’s Marcia Price?”

  And with that question, Zed decided Gray ranked up there with Max Hogan, the lieutenant of Night Storm. Both men had eyes in the back of their heads.

  Aiden pointed to Zed, “He knows what’s going on with Marcia. He found one of the Brockman daughters, and she’s been begging him to go after the Price girl.”

  “Tell me what’s going on,” Gray demanded of Zed.

  “When I found Debbie Brockman over near the latrine, she was hiding. She’d been hit in the head by an asshole named Raymond. She said he’s evil, and he has Marcia.”

  “Do we know why he took her?” Gray asked.

  “She told me more when I was treating her,” Aiden said. “This guy called Marcia an insurance policy. He also said that as long as he had her, he was assured a payoff.”

  “Most of the targets took head shots, but not the SEAL, I want everyone to take a look at him, and see if we can identify him,” Gray said pointing to the corpse. Zed hoped he couldn’t. He didn’t want to think any man he had served with was capable of throwing his honor away. “Actually, take a look at everyone,” Gray corrected himself.

  Everyone let Aiden go first, so he could get back to his patients. He made quick work of looking at the men. “Nada,” he said as he passed Gray heading into the hut with Harold Brockman. Everybody else made the same loop. Zed was last. He had another feeling, and when he looked down, he was right. The SEAL’s name was Sommers. They’d been at Jump School together down at Benning. He’d served on another team in Virginia. There’d been rumblings about him. Nothing that ever bubbled up to command, but rumblings about gambling and a couple of ex-wives.

  “I’ve got a lock on him, Lieutenant. He was on one of the Virginia teams. Do we have time to make a call? If I can get ahold of my communications guy for Night Storm, he’ll have the four-one-one on this guy.”

  “Why’s that important?” Gray asked.

  “I want to know if this guy Raymond who has Marcia is a SEAL.”

  Gray tilted his head toward Dex. “Dex, set him up to make his call.”

  Dex was already standing with the satellite phone in his hand. “Here you go.”

  It took a moment for Zed to remember Kane McNamara’s number since he had him programmed into his phone and didn’t have to dial it, but finally, he pulled it out of his memory banks and placed the call. After five rings, a disgruntled Kane answered the phone.

  “Who’s this?”

  “It’s Zed. I need info now.”

  “It’s nice to hear from you too. I’m doing fine. Yes, the team misses you.”

  “Cut the crap,” Zed growled. “Get to your fucking computer.”

  “I’m here now. Ask your questions.”

  Zed began to breathe a little easier. Dex was a nice guy, but he knew Kane’s capabilities, and the man was a fucking wizard. He could pull information out of thin air.

  “I need information about a guy named Sommers.”

  “Fuck, Zed, are you talking about the guy from Phantom Phoenix? I don’t need to go to my computer for that. He’s a loser. His lieutenant got rid of him. Made it so goddamn hard on him, the bastard ended up quitting.”

  “Do you have any idea when that was? Do you know what happened to him afterward? Did he have an associate named Raymond?”

  He heard Kane sigh. “It was three years ago in August. I remember because we were on that mission in Honduras, and Phoenix was supposed to act as back-up. But the rest of that shit I’m actually going to have to do a little digging, how soon do you need it?”

  “Now.”

  “Hold on.” He watched as Hunter, Wyatt, and Dalton started to drag the corpses into the barracks. Meanwhile, Dex was on his comp, reporting into command. Griff came out of a hut leading a woman who was hunched over. The woman had won a Nobel Peace Prize in physics and this slime had roughed her up? He shut his eyes for a moment and whispered a prayer. He’d like to say he couldn’t believe it, but he could. It was as if she felt his eyes on him. She looked over at him and gave him a small smile and nod. The mind boggled how sometimes the delineation between good and bad was so clear.

  Griff gently settled her next to the Hoffs, so Aiden would eventually be able to look her over. The fact he was still in with Brockman was not a good sign.

  “Okay, I have the info, and you’re not going to like it,” Kane’s voice was tense. “Fuck, I don’t like it.” Zed’s gut clenched. Kane never sounded upset. He was the most easygoing guy on the Night Storm team. This did not bode well.

  “Tell me.”

  “Felix Raymond made it through BUD/S third in his class. Hell, I have a copy of his file, there are notes up the ass about what a great SEAL he’ll be. That’s what makes the next part so bad.”

  “What?”

  “The night before the graduation ceremony, he was charged with murdering his girlfriend in San Diego. The public defender got him off.”

  “Did he do it?”

  “Oh, yeah, he did it, they got him off on a technicality. He’s a real piece of work, I’m looking at the psych profile they did on him. They’re saying he’s a sociopath.”

  Zed recalled Marcia’s picture. He had to go after them.

  “How is he connected to Sommers?” Zed asked.

  “It looks like he and Sommers went to work for an outfit called Thorn International, basically another security firm that augments our troops, but they both left five months ago.”

  “Kane, we have an issue here in Borneo. I’m going to hand this over to Dex Evans, he’ll fill you in. We need you to keep digging. I don’t think we know all the players yet, and we have to know them. I pray to God Raymond’s reporting to someone, so he’ll want to keep the girl he’s holding hostage in good shape.”

  Zed slammed the phone against Dex’s chest, then stormed over to Gray. “I need to go after the Price girl
and Raymond.”

  Gray gave him an assessing look. “What did you find out?”

  “Raymond passed BUD/S but didn’t get any further because of a murder charge. He went to work for Thorn International, it’s a―”

  “I know Thorn,” Gray interrupted. “Did Raymond do the murder?”

  “According to Kane, he was guilty but got off due to a technicality. He’s a sociopath. It’s worse because he killed his girlfriend, and now, he has a woman as a hostage. I’m hoping there are more players than just these assclowns,” Zed said as he waved his hand around the clearing.

  “Brockman said a man named Kyle was the supposed leader, but he overheard him checking in with someone else. There’s a good chance there was someone outside of the jungle handling the money,” Gray informed him.

  “Right now, Raymond thinks he has one of Brockman’s daughters, someone of value. He can’t ever know that isn’t true.”

  “Let’s go talk to Brockman,” Gray said.

  Zed didn’t want to, he didn’t want to waste another second when he could be following Raymond and getting Marcia out of that madman’s hands. He needed to do that.

  “Zed,” Gray said sharply. “Brockman will have information we need.”

  He nodded and walked swiftly to the hut. Aiden was bent over a prone older man who was obviously pissed.

  “Stop fucking around. I’m fine. Where is my daughter, Debbie? Where is Marcia? I won’t ask you again.” It wasn’t often a man who was lying in the dirt could sound so commanding, but what else would you expect from one of the former top officials of the United States Intelligence branches?

  “Debbie was hit in the head with the muzzle of a gun,” Gray said. Brockman’s head whipped around to glare at him. “My second in command, who is our medic, has determined she has a concussion. The less movement she does right now, the better.”

  “Take me to her.”

  “After I get your ribs bound,” Aiden said grimly. “You’re just going to be a detriment to us if we don’t get you taken care of.”

  “You’re right,” Brockman said in a resigned tone. “What about Marcia?”

  “Why don’t you go visit with your sister,” Gray suggested to the young girl who was holding her father’s hand. Brockman immediately caught on.

  “Christie, go check on Debbie. Tell her I’m all right, okay?” She bent down and hugged her father’s neck. Zed watched as his jaw tightened with the pain, but he still put his arms around his daughter. Obviously giving her comfort was his first priority.

  “Are you going to be all right?” she whispered.

  “Fit as a fiddle,” he promised her. “Now go see your sister.”

  All four men watched as the girl left the hut. As soon as she was gone, Brockman turned on Gray. “Report,” he commanded, his eyes flashing.

  “Zed, you got the intel, you give the Director a summary,” Gray commanded.

  Zed turned to the older man. “When we attacked, Marcia and Debbie were at the latrine with Raymond. According to Debbie, Marcia saved her from being taken as a hostage or getting shot. Instead, Marcia convinced Raymond to take her.”

  Brockman’s fist pounded the dirt. “Raymond was the worst of the bunch,” Brockman said grimly. “I’m eternally grateful to Marcia for intervening.” He jabbed his finger in the air at Zed. “Now you fucking find her.”

  He nodded. “I will,” Zed promised but didn’t move.

  “What?” Brockman demanded.

  “There’s more.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Raymond was in the Navy. He passed BUD/S with flying colors.”

  Brockman’s expression turned even grimmer. “I hear a ‘but’.”

  “But the night of graduation, he murdered his girlfriend. His lawyer got him off on a technicality.”

  “Fuck. When was this?”

  “Eight years ago, Sir. Since then, he has been working on assignments with Thorn International. One of the men who is dead out in the clearing was a SEAL as well. He and Raymond were both working for Thorne but quit five months ago.”

  Brockman frowned. “Five months ago?”

  “Yeah, why? Is that significant?” Gray asked.

  Brockman pressed two fingers against his eyebrow, his stress evident. “It could be. How many others out there were our men?”

  “So far, we’ve only identified one other. We’ve taken fingerprints of the rest and scanned them into command. Right now, getting you to safety is our number one priority,” Gray answered.

  “But if you have information that could explain why we have a bunch of US Spec Ops taking you and your family hostage, you need to let us know.”

  “I’m running some things off the books right now. You need a top-secret clearance to be briefed on the scope.”

  Zed and Gray mirrored one another as they crossed their arms over their broad chests.

  “With all due respect―” Zed began.

  “Of course, I’m going to tell you,” Brockman bit out. “I’m just trying to get my thoughts together. I should never have allowed your man O’Malley to give me something for the pain.” Brockman was clearly pissed.

  Zed relaxed.

  “In no way could this ever be traced back to the US, it had to have total deniability. We know but haven’t been able to prove the Peaceful Kingdom Brotherhood in Malaysia is funneling funds to ISIS.”

  “Shit. Doesn’t that cult have over one hundred fifty thousand members?” Zed asked.

  “You’re not keeping up,” Gray sighed. “That was last year, it has to have grown by at least ten thousand since then.”

  “His membership is nearing two hundred thousand,” Brockman corrected. “Afiq Zikri is like the Pied Piper, he’s getting Muslims and non-Muslims to join. Hell, there are centers popping up in places in the United States.”

  “And you think he’s funding ISIS?” Gray asked.

  “Not just that. We’re working on infiltrating his inner circle because we’re pretty sure he’s also tapping his most zealous recruits to join ISIS.”

  “Meanwhile, we’ve got people around the world thinking he’s a cross-between Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi,” Zed said with disgust. Then he peered over at Brockman. “Are you working with Thorne for this?”

  “Just peripherally. For the most part, they are too ham-handed.”

  “What else are you working on? Or were working on, the thing that made you wince?” Gray asked.

  “We had two ops, one that turned into a real goatfuck, and the other is still on-going. You heard about the prince’s palace in Saudi Arabia that was bombed?”

  Zed and Gray looked at one another, then nodded.

  “That happened on our watch. The Saudis had pulled almost one hundred thousand Yemen nationals visas and sent them back home. Hell, they’d been working in Saudi Arabia for years, sending money home, then suddenly they were without jobs, and forced back to their country that had no jobs waiting for them. What did they do? They joined Al-Qaeda. Who were they mad at? The Saudis. That’s how the Thorne Group got involved.”

  “Explain,” Gray said.

  “Off the books, we helped the Saudis employ the Thorne Group to put security in place. My job was to keep the Saudis and Thorne informed of imminent and credible threats. We helped them foil at least forty different Al-Qaeda attacks.”

  It didn’t matter. Failure was never an option. He looked at Brockman and saw he lived by that motto as well.

  “So that happened six months ago, right?” Gray said.

  Brockman nodded.

  “How many Thorne casualties?”

  “Seventeen,” Brockman answered immediately. Yep, just as Zed suspected, Brockman took this personally.

  “Did the people at Thorne know you were involved?” Zed asked.

  “Just ownership. But if someone good really wanted to dig, I’m sure they could have found out,” Brockman sighed.

  “And the last op?” Gray asked.

  “This can’t be what it’s
about. It just came about four weeks ago.” Brockman’s voice trailed off.

  “What?” Zed demanded.

  “Three weeks ago, Kyle and his men were selected to guard the yacht.”

  “What’s the op?”

  “Fissionable material was stolen from France.”

  “Where’s it going? North Korea? Pakistan?” Gray asked.

  Brockman gave both men a grim look. “Our source says Turkey.”

  “Holy fuck,” Zed breathed out. “Are you sure?”

  “No. But this source has been one hundred percent right for ten years. That’s why we’re following the material, instead of just reacquiring it. If someone in Turkey has gone rogue, we need to know about it.”

  Zed thought about it. After Russia took over the Crimean peninsula and Turkey’s proximity to Iraq, he could see where factions within the country would think having a nuclear arsenal would be critical.

  “You’re getting it,” Brockman nodded to him.

  “Yeah,” Zed agreed. “I’m getting it, but I’m not liking it.”

  “Why you? Why not have the C.I.A. work on this?” Gray asked.

  “Plausible deniability. They need some distance on all of these ops in case they go south. But I’m using some of their people when needed.”

  “So, these people who wanted you could have known about your involvement with current operations and wanted information on them, right?” Gray said.

  “Yes.”

  “Or they could have just been after you because you were the former NSA Director and wanted you, thinking you had knowledge of your previous job.”

  Brockman nodded. “This is a fucking mess.”

  “We need to find out who Kyle really was and who he was working for,” Gray said.

  “Let’s hope they wanted you for your current stuff,” Zed said.

  Brockman raised an eyebrow in question.

  “Getting info on that shit is a hell of a lot more valuable to someone than some old shit you might have done at the NSA. That means they have more incentive to keep Marcia alive and use her as leverage over you.” Zed said.

  “You’re right,” Brockman agreed. “So, who’s going after her?”

  “I am,” Zed immediately responded.