Cornerstone (Phantom Squad Series Book 1)

by J. M. LeDuc

  Brent laughed at her comment. “Let’s join the others and make that phone call.”

  Seven and Tag sat around a makeshift table and listened to a barrage of voices coming through the radio. They were unable to get a word in edgewise.

  Seven saw Brent walk in and said, “If y’all will shut up for a second, I’ll let him tell you.”

  Maddie took a deep startled breath. “Brent?” she squealed. “Are you there?”

  “Where else would I be?”

  “Don’t be a wiseass, we’ve been sick waiting to hear from you.”

  Brent was helped to a chair. “I’m fine, a little busted up, but all right.”

  “Thank God,” Maddie said.

  “Brent?” a voice quivered.

  Brent knew Joan’s voice and it warmed his heart to hear it. “Hi, Sweetie.”

  Joan twisted her bottom lip and pulled on her lip ring to squelch her emotion. “It’s a good thing you’re alive or I would have had to find your body and kill you again.”

  Brent laughed. “Don’t think for a minute that your promise of doing just that didn’t help spur me on. Your wrath scares me more than any terrorist.”

  Laughter could be heard from everyone on both sides of the radio.

  Brent spoke to his parents and told them he loved them and in the background he heard Faith coo. The sound of her voice took away all his pain.

  “Can you place the radio next to Faith’s ear for me?”

  He whispered that he loved her and he began to sing the lullaby that he sang to her every night.

  “Faith’s asleep,” Maddie whispered.

  Brent closed his eyes. A feeling of warmth washed over him—a father’s love.

  “When should we expect you home?” Maddie asked.

  Back in the moment, Brent looked around the table at the faces of his friends. His expression hardened. “We have some unfinished business to take care of and then we will be home.”

  Maddie stood up, put her hands on her hips, and forcefully tapped her well-healed shoe. “What unfinished business? As your superior, I order you to come home as soon as you are able.”

  “You’re starting to break up. I couldn’t hear your last statement. We will have to call back when we get a better satellite signal. Over.”

  Seven shook his head and spit. “You really know how to tick her off.”

  Brent’s expression remained steadfast. “I’m going to take a shower and then I need a complete rundown of what happened back at the mountain.”

  Brent’s movements were unstable as he turned to leave.

  “I will help him,” Alana said.

  The boys all looked at each other and smirked like a couple of teenagers.

  She rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I won’t look.”

  They laughed as she walked Brent from the room.

  Tag smiled. “I bet she does.”

  Seven shook his head. “That’s one bet I refuse to take.”

  “I heard that,” yelled Alana from the across the camp.

  Wide eyed, Tag looked at Seven.

  Seven wrapped his arm around him and began to walk out of the office. “Did I forget to tell you about her sense of hearing?”

  His laughter echoed throughout the camp.

  CHAPTER 66

  The four sat around the table as Seven and Alana recounted their ordeal. They told Brent of President Dupree’s insistence on making the Mid-East trip and how they were ambushed at Alpha Camp.

  “Did you know it was Jensen?” Brent asked Seven.

  “As soon as I got a clear look at his pocked face,” Seven answered. “But, it was too late. He’s been well-trained.”

  “Trained by whom?” Brent asked.

  “Joan’s intel has found a long line of mercenary activity led by Falcon. He was trained by the jungles of South and Central America and the sands of Africa and the Mid-East.”

  Brent paused as Tag poured him another cup of coffee. “Your skills at brewing have improved since I’ve been gone.”

  Seven’s face flushed.

  “I was not about to let him make the coffee,” Alana said. “My only stipulation before agreeing to join the Phantom Squad was that I was now in charge of that duty.”

  Brent took a sip. “My colon thanks you.”

  Smiles went around the table.

  Addressing Tag, he said, “Was there any sign of Omar leaving the cave?”

  “No, but I suspect . . .”

  Brent shook his head. “He left before the major explosions occurred. We have to assume he made it out alive.” He looked around the table and answered their unasked question. “I saw Jensen leave before I blacked out.”

  “So we still have some cleaning up to do,” Seven said.

  “But where would we look? They could be anywhere,” Tag said.

  Brent shook his head. “When plans fall apart, or things don’t go our way, we all go back to the beginning to regroup. That’s where they went.”

  “I don’t understand,” Alana said. “You’re talking in riddles.”

  Seven wore a broad grin. “What are you thinking, Colonel?”

  Brent took a long sip of his coffee. “Jensen will retreat and try to band together another group of his mercenaries. He will want to meet them back where this all began for him. My gut tells me that will be where he was originally trained.”

  “Back at the Grand Tetons,” Seven added.

  Brent nodded.

  “And Omar?” Alana asked.

  “Back to the only place he has ever called home. The only place he feels safe.”

  “Gaza,” Seven replied.

  Again, Brent nodded.

  “So what’s our plan, Colonel?”

  Brent looked at Seven and then the others. He sat back down and began to formulate a plan. “You and Tag will meet the rest of the squad and head to the Tetons. You know that area better than anyone. I’ll let you formulate the attack.”

  “And you?” Seven asked.

  “Alana and I will head to Gaza and deal with Omar.” He took another sip of his coffee. “I want Q to take you and Tag out tomorrow. You will need to meet with the team back at HQ and go through the specifics. My gut tells me that Jensen has spent a lot of time on that mountain in the past fifteen years, so you will have to be ready for anything. Your knowledge of what makes him tick will be your advantage. All other bets are off.”

  “I will stay here until my leg heals. Q will fly in supplies when he comes to pick you up.” Brent squeezed his leg and flinched. “The bone that’s broken isn’t weight-bearing so I figure I need two weeks before I can move out. We need to coordinate these missions.” He stopped to think. “I wish we knew if Omar and Jensen were in contact with one another.”

  “Omar said repeatedly that he would kill Jensen if his planned failed,” Seven said. “I’d bet, they haven’t spoken.”

  Brent eyed the people around the table. “I’m not a betting man, so we take no chances. Fourteen days from now, we both attack at the same time. We stay in contact by Endowment encryption only.”

  Brent thought for a moment.

  “Has there been any word on Red since he was sent to Dreamland?”

  Tag put his hand up to stop the conversation. “Who the hell is Red and why would he be taken to Area 51?”

  “Red was Omar’s second in command. He was captured when the Brotherhood stormed HQ and,” Brent said, “he was taken to ‘51’ because there is a prison there.”

  Tag just stared, open mouthed.

  “The most guarded, secretive prison in the world.” Brent said.

  “He has been debriefed using SIA standard protocol,” Seven said. “It’s my understanding that he has given up quite a bit of intel since his incarceration.”

  Brent nodded. “I’ll have Joan send m
e everything. I need a complete layout of Omar’s lair before we strike.”

  “I’m not going to tell Maddie what you have planned,” Seven said. “I have to sleep in the same bed with the woman.”

  Brent laughed. “Let’s get her and the rest of the directorate on the line. I’ll break the news to her. I wouldn’t want you to have to sleep with one eye open for the rest of your life.”

  “Hell, I do that already,” Seven said. “I just want to know that I will be waking up each morning.”

  Brent laughed. “She can be a little hot headed.”

  “It’s the redhead in her,” Seven joked.

  Brent smiled. “Take Tag and over the next few hours formulate a rough plan of attack. Teach him all you know about the Grand Tetons.”

  “In a few hours?”

  “Trust me Seven, he’s a fast learner and a new SIA operative.” He stared at Tag. “Isn’t that right Lieutenant Achak?”

  Tag’s chest puffed up with pride. “Damn right, Colonel.”

  “I’ll contact Joan,” Brent added, “and get her moving on gathering all of Red’s intel. We meet again at nineteen hundred hours. I’ll arrange for Q to pick you up at zero seven hundred.”

  “How are we to get to Gaza?” Alana asked.

  Brent thought of his friends in the Vatican. “Leave that to me. We will have some friends of mine pick us up at the allotted time.”

  At nineteen hundred hours, they again met in their makeshift headquarters.

  “Well, how did your training go?” Brent asked.

  “He learns faster than anyone I’ve met except for you. He even had some great ideas that we’re going to implement when we get to our destination.”

  Brent looked at Tag.

  “I’m going to teach the squad the art of shadowing,” Tag said. “It should increase the surprise factor.”

  Brent smiled.

  “And you? Was Joan able to gather any information on Omar’s whereabouts?” Seven asked.

  Brent nodded. “If my hunch is right, he went back to Khan Younis. She was able to get a detailed schematic of the layout of the catacombs under a structure called al-Qal.”

  Alana huffed. “Great, more caves.”

  Brent winked. “More caves.”

  “We better get Maddie on the line. I’m sure there is steam coming out of that pretty little redhead,” Seven said.

  “I arranged it with Joan. They should all be waiting for our call.”

  Minutes later a satellite connection was made to HQ in Palm Cove.

  “Madame Director, it’s Colonel Venturi and the others. Is everyone present?”

  A voice came on the line, but it wasn’t Maddie. “Everyone is here, Colonel.” It was President Dupree and he wasn’t happy. “What’s the meaning of you disregarding a direct order from your superior?”

  Brent had no time for bickering. “The last meeting I had with the directorate, I was fired from my position in the SIA and the squad, Mr. President. As per my release papers stated, these orders came directly from you and the Joint Chiefs. As of right now, I have no superiors and therefore I am not in violation of refusing any orders.”

  “And the others,” President Dupree huffed, “are they complicit in this scheme?”

  “They are being held against their will. They will do as they’re told until I let them go or until you listen to what I have to say.”

  President Dupree’s face flushed as his blood pressure skyrocketed. He took a moment to calm down.

  “Let’s cut the crap, Brent. We’ve been through too much together. What is it that you are planning?”

  “What I am planning is to end this mission on a final note. I am under the impression that both of the men who planned your kidnapping have both escaped. I plan to bring them to justice.”

  “Bring them to justice or kill them?”

  “I’m running this mission and I would not involve the lives of the squad or Lieutenant Achak for revenge. I will be running this mission, with your permission and with the permission of the Director of the SIA, as the leader of the Phantom Squad.”

  Applause could be heard coming through the sat phone.

  “That’s all I wanted to hear, Brent,” President Dupree said. “There is a pretty blond nurse tugging at me and telling me to get back to bed, so I will leave you to discuss your plan with Maddie and the directorate.”

  “Thank you, Mr. President.”

  “Oh, and Brent.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Thank you again, for everything.”

  “That’s what friends do, John,” Brent said. “Now you better get moving. You don’t want to make Nurse Collins angry.”

  “Tell me about it.” The president looked at Susan Collins and grinned. “She actually got me to change the date of my wife’s memorial service. It’s in sixteen days and I don’t plan on changing it again. Do what has to be done and get back home. I expect to see you at Arlington National.”

  “I haven’t missed that date yet, and I don’t plan on missing it this year.”

  “Glad to know,” the president said.

  Brent and everyone at Alpha could hear the airlock snap shut as President Dupree left the conference room.

  “Now that we got that out of the way, what is your status,” Maddie asked.

  “Our status is green, Maddie. I have arranged for Q to be here in the morning to pick up Seven and Lieutenant Achak and bring them back to the Cove. They will spend the next ten days getting the squad up to speed with all possible scenarios and then they will go Falcon hunting.”

  Joan stopped typing when she heard Tag would be coming back with Seven. She was momentarily distracted. The stoppage of her constant pecking on her keyboard drew everyone in the conference room’s attention.

  “Is everything all right, Joan?” Maddie asked.

  “Hmm, oh, yes, everything is fine. Just a little glitch with the keyboard.”

  Scarlet giggled. Joan burned a look in her direction.

  Maddie rolled her eyes and continued. “And you and Alana?”

  “We will stay at Alpha for the next two weeks. I need time to heal and we need time to formulate our plan of attack on Omar.”

  “If Q will be with the squad, how will you get to Gaza?”

  “I’ve contacted our friend, Cardinal Bullini, at the Vatican. The Swiss Guard will fly us to our destination by way of an unmarked Papal plane. All arrangements have been made.”

  “Well then, I guess there is nothing left to say except one thing.”

  “That is?” asked Brent.

  “Speaking for everyone,” Maddie said, “it’s great to have you back, Colonel.”

  Brent smiled. “Thank you. It’s good to be back.”

  “Oh, one more thing,” Maddie said. “Lieutenant Achak.”

  “Yes, Madame Director.”

  “Welcome to the family.”

  “Thank you, I look forward to meeting you all in the next day or so.”

  “You have no idea, how much some of us are waiting to meet you,” Scarlet said.

  CHAPTER 67

  Two weeks later, everyone was in place. The coordinated attacks on Jensen and Omar were to be synchronized down to the minute.

  Three days earlier, Seven, Tag, and the squad were dropped on the Idaho side of Grand Tetons. That meant climbing to the summit and then back down to the Montana side to the place where Seven trained the original squad members. The beginning.

  On the third day, the squad was in position to see Jensen and his men. Jensen was using the plane hangar as his headquarters. Seven came up behind Jefferson who was on night watch and handed him a cup of coffee. “What do you have for me, Sergeant?”

  “Same as the night before,” Jefferson said. “There are twelve men and Jensen. He doesn’t sleep much and he’s constantly ber
ating his men. I saw him slap one and kick another for sitting while on guard duty.”

  “Same ‘ole Jensen,” Seven replied. “Treating everyone with the respect they deserve.”

  Jefferson’s face contorted when he sipped his coffee. “It seems he’s not the only one who can’t break old habits.”

  Seven packed his lip with tobacco and smiled. “It’s the way my mom taught me to make it, so drink it and shut up.”

  “No disrespect, but I think I know why your daddy died so young.”

  Seven spit and squatted next to Jefferson. “None taken, I suspect you might be right.” He looked through his field glasses and said, “By the way his men act, they must be green. That’s good and bad. It’s hard to predict how untrained soldiers will act. We will have to be extra cautious when we make our move.”

  “Yes, sir. You still planning on attacking during daylight?”

  “Yep, I want the sun cresting this mountain as we make our approach. The glare will blind them a bit and it’s the time of day Jensen lets his guard down.” He checked his watch. “You better go eat, we move out in three hours.”

  Seven kept checking his watch. It seemed five minutes wouldn’t go by before he was rechecking. He heard one of his men approach.

  “You a little anxious, sir?”

  Seven glanced at Tag. “A little. I’m used to being in constant contact with the Brent. I don’t like not knowing what’s happening on his end.”

  “Excuse me for being out of line, but the little time I got to spend with him taught me that he always keeps his word.”

  Seven patted Tag on the back. “You’re not out of line and thanks for reminding me. Now, if you call me sir one more time, I’m going to use an old Indian tradition and scalp you, got it?”

  Tag pulled his hair back in a ponytail. “Got it.”

  Seven gathered the squad and went over the details one last time. “We make our approach straight down the fall line. We’ll make it look like we are trying to stay hidden, but we will allow ourselves to be spotted.” Seven spit. “I want to be able to pinpoint all of Jensen’s men. Jefferson and I will take the lead. Fitz, you and Tag will shadow us. Scarlet, you will shadow Tag until we pass the large Oak tree two hundred yards from base camp. You climb the tree as soon as there is a diversion.” He eyed Scarlet. “You are the only one who can shoot a bow from that distance with the accuracy we need. Jensen will think that there are only two of us coming for him. The idea is to lull him into a feeling of superiority. When we pass the last group of pines, we’ll be out of sight for fifteen seconds. That’s when we branch off.” Seven used a stick to make a diagram in the dirt. “Tag, you and Fitz will stay behind the trees. When you see Jefferson and me run behind the rocks, the two of you climb as fast as you can into the pines.”