Waiting... On You (Force Recon Marines)

by S A Monk

  “Can you fly a float plane?”

  “I can fly anything I have to,” he answered her without conceit. “So can Kurt.”

  “I guess there isn’t anything you recon guys can’t do.”

  “Not after twenty years in the field,” he said, again smiling without arrogance at her. “Eventually, we’re trained to do just about everything and anything that needs to be done in the military.”

  “So, we’re going to travel by plane and all-terrain vehicles. What kind of camping gear do you want?” she asked, watching as he jotted down more items. “Everything we take needs to be waterproof. It rains a lot at the northern end of Vancouver Island, even in the summer. Much of it is rainforest, just like the Olympic National Park.”

  “We need good waterproof backpacks, coats, and shoes; zip locked food and gear.”

  She continued to watch his mind and hand work to formulate a list, which, at the moment, consisted of a small arsenal of weapons. There were several different types of grenades, which she asked about.

  Nick described them for her. “There’s the standard fragmentation type that kills or severely injures anyone in its range of detonation. We’ll take a few of those. Then there are the flash-bang grenades that stun and create a sudden bright light that temporarily blinds and disables all within its range of flash. Then, one I imagine we’ll particularly need, that’s called a chaff grenade. It spreads a tiny cloud of metallic pieces that disrupt any electronic equipment like surveillance cameras and radios. Maybe a few smoke grenades for escape.”

  Hanna studied his growing list. “Where are you going to get C4 Semtex from, for heaven’s sake?”

  He grinned at her. “You recognize that?”

  “I’ve heard of it. It’s used to make bombs, right?”

  “Yeah,” he responded, then elaborated. “We’ll take it to use as a satchel charge, and with some remote detonators, to create distractions or destruction, whatever it is needed as we retreat.”

  “Can we transport it safely?”

  “Yeah, that’s not a problem until we wire it.”

  The next items on the list were guns. Hanna had already seen the one that Nick preferred. It was the lethal looking Glock. But he also had a note to bring a spare 9mm.

  “Is that for me?”

  He stopped writing to look over at her. “Can you use a hand gun? A 9millimeter?”

  “No and no,” she answered honestly. “But you could show me how to use one. I can shoot a rifle.”

  “I remember.” He was referring to the fact that the boys themselves had taught her when she’d gone hunting with them. “But I don’t really want you in a situation where you’d have to use a gun.”

  “Well, I’d rather not use one, either,” she agreed quietly.

  The rest of his list of equipment included extra ammunition, two semi-automatic assault rifles, a sniper rifle with a couple of different scopes, three sets of thermal night vision goggles, and three radios with tiny headphones and lip mikes for communicating with one another. In addition to all that, his SATCOM cellular phone, his handheld GPS, extra batteries, his compass, and the directional microphone were added to the list.

  The last item made her frown. “Why the directional microphone?”

  “I’m hoping to use it to find Lance.”

  “I guess you better be electronically competent to be in the military anymore.”

  Nick laughed and added more equipment to his list. “I want to be prepared for anything, and all these gadgets can help get the job done more safely and efficiently.”

  “Are we really going to need and use all the weapons you’ve listed?”

  “Maybe not, but I always go in more prepared than less. Plan for the worst, and come out alive. Forget that, and some small screw up will kill you.”

  Hanna shuddered to hear him talk so matter-of-factly about dying. “You have a good track record of keeping your teams alive, don’t you?” she asked, then wished she had thought before she had blurted out the question. The last time he’d been home, he’d been in such bad shape because he had lost nearly everyone on the team he’d been heading.

  He smiled at her, then decided she needed a reassuring kiss on the cheek. “Yes, I do. The only time I messed up was three years ago, and there probably wasn’t much I could have done about that. I found out later that the target had been warned we were coming. That’s why they were ready with that ambush.”

  Hanna shivered again, recalling how close Nick had come to dying in that disastrous mission to capture a terrorist leader. She was glad he had come to realize he wasn’t to blame for that failed mission.

  “I think I can still shoot a rifle or a shotgun,” she volunteered bravely. “Are these military ones that much different from hunting ones?”

  “Yes and no, but you won’t be carrying a weapon, or using one, I’ve decided,” he informed her gravely. “You’ll be far away from any firefight.”

  Hanna frowned, wondering how far away he meant.

  He caressed her cheek, trying to chase away that frown. “My intent is to go in unseen and silent, get Lance out, then all of us out, without them ever knowing we were there. A swift and silent extraction, nothing more.”

  She put her hand in his and stared at the image of her smaller one enfolded in his larger one. “Nothing deadly?”

  “Not if I can help it.”

  After squeezing her hand reassuringly again, he checked his watch. “It’s after three. I think we better get some sleep, don’t you?”

  Nodding her agreement, she turned out her table lamp and settled snuggly next to Nick in her bed. The thought of their upcoming rescue of Lance filled her with as much trepidation as excitement. There was no doubt in her mind that it was going to be dangerous, but by the grace of God, Lance was still alive, and she felt confident that Nick would get his brother home. With God’s help, it would hopefully be done without harm to anyone. As she held on a little tighter to the man beside, she said a silent prayer for a safe and successful outcome.

  Nick turned sideways to adjust the angle of his body to Hanna’s. She laid her head in the warm crook of his shoulder and arm. It was a lumpy pillow, but she had no desire to lay her head on any other. She hooked her arm around his waist to keep him close. Her fingertips stroked the tiny indentation at the base of his spine.

  “When do we leave?” she whispered in the dark as her hand drifted over the much-loved shape of his buttocks.

  “Probably Friday morning. We need to spend tomorrow getting our supplies appropriated. I’ll call Kurt first thing in the morning so he can get the time off to come with us.”

  “Unofficially?” Hanna felt Nick unclasp her bra.

  “For now.”

  The tips of her breasts were freed to snuggle against his warm, bare chest. The downy mat of hair there tickled her. Content to spend the rest of eternity in such an intimate position with him, she closed her eyes on a soft sigh.

  “Will you stay for breakfast?”

  “Will Colleen be shocked?” His mouth and nose were buried in the silky tangles of her hair, nuzzling it.

  “No.” And Hanna was certain of that.

  “Think she can hear us up here?” Nick’s lips moved across her face.

  “I don’t know,” Hanna giggled against his chest. “You were careful not to rock the bed the first time.”

  “This time it’s your turn to be careful not to rock the bed,” he teased as he rolled beneath her and lifted her on top of him. “Be gentle.” His muffled laughter died beneath a groan as she began to move above him.

  CHAPTER 22

  SHERIFF JEFF THOMAS made sure Phillip Douglas was alone before he entered the Chief of Police’s office. “You look a little queasy, Chief. Could it have anything to do with the two who just left the building?”

  Phillip rose from his leather chair and walked around to the front of his desk to face the sheriff, a man he wished heartily that he’d never met. “Kelly just got out on bail. Judge Wolcott signed the
order. Seems he’s an old friend of Colleen McHenry.”

  Thomas shrugged. “Well, we figured we wouldn’t be able to hold Kelly for long.”

  The police chief scowled. “Hell, I just arrested him this morning! He wasn’t in that jail cell more than a couple of hours.”

  “I didn’t expect too much with Master’s crew as witnesses. How believable are those damn bikers? Geez! None of them can lie worth a nickel. Worthless shitheads!”

  “Who really slit Master’s throat?” Phillip demanded in a lowered voice.

  Again Thomas shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. His death works for me.”

  Phillip Douglas blew out a disgusted breath, and watched the sheriff finally take a seat in the chair next to his desk. “Yeah. I’ll just bet it does. His death puts you in charge. Don’t get too comfortable, though. Doctor Wallace came in to have a little talk with me before posting Kelly’s bail. She told me that Kelly and she know that we’re all involved in drug smuggling. She warned me to wash my dirty hands of the whole sorry mess before it was too late, for heaven’s sake!”

  “Kelly was at Masters’ house last night, selling him heroin. He didn’t like what Yancy wanted to pay him for it. Master’s crew told you that they saw the Colonel slit his throat.”

  “Apparently Judge Wolcott wasn’t too impressed with the evidence.”

  “He only set bail. He didn’t dismiss the charges. You and I both know Kelly will go after Chen. The minute he crosses the border into Canada, he’ll be in big trouble with the feds, not to mention his own superiors in the Marine Corps. If he takes the pretty doctor with him, he’ll make her complicit, too. In fact, I have a feeling that they may take off for good once they leave the States. Don’t worry. Chen will handle the matter for us from that point on.”

  “Just who the hell is this Chen?” Phillip demanded as he moved behind his desk to sit down once again. Nothing Thomas had said yet made him feel any better about the whole sorry mess.

  “A big shot in the Chinese Triad.”

  “Oh fuck!” Phillip raked a hand through his light brown hair. “This is a lot worse than I thought. I figured you and Yancy were just pushing this stuff through those bikers that hang out at Masters’ bar. I thought that maybe they were the ones who really killed Yancy last night— a deal gone bad or something. But shit! The Triad! I can’t be involved in that!”

  Jeff Thomas rose from his chair slowly and braced his two beefy hands on the police chief’s desk. It placed him eye-to-eye with Douglas. Like Yancy, he was a large man, tall and husky. Only he was a lot meaner and nastier than the man he’d probably just disposed of himself.

  “You arrested and charged Kelly with the murder of Yancy Masters,” the sheriff said, enunciating each word. “He was trying to sell Masters some China White he’d acquired from somewhere. You’ve got witnesses and the evidence. When he skips bail, he’ll look even guiltier. It’s not likely we’ll ever hear from him again.”

  “And Doctor Wallace?”

  “Will be taken care of. Chen never leaves loose ends,” Thomas growled, slamming his fist down on the desk. “Buck up and don’t lose your nerve, Douglas.”

  Phillip shook his head. “This is too much— too goddamned much!”

  The older man pulled the Police Chief out of his chair by his open shirt collar. “Get it together, Douglas, or we’ll have a nice accident arranged for you, too. And for your pretty wife and cute little kids.”

  EVERYONE WAS SEATED AT JESSIE’S DINNER TABLE THAT EVENING. For the next few days and nights, Colleen, Christine, and Katie were staying at the Price house, under the protection of a rotating shift of carefully chosen sheriff deputies. The day’s events and the imminent departure of Hanna and Nick for Vancouver Island had rattled both families.

  Nick had insisted that they have protection, and had called a few of Dylan’s friends in the sheriff’s department for help. Their superior officer was not aware of the extra duty of a handful of his deputies. Once Nick had informed the older deputy he’d met at the hospital of their boss’ involvement with Li Chen, most of officers had wanted to help in any way they could. Rather than seek the sheriff’s arrest, they had all agreed to give Nick time to rescue his brother first.

  It had been a long tumultuous day for the whole family. Hanna and Nick had gone downstairs this morning to discover Port George’s police chief, Phillip Douglas, and a couple of his officers in Colleen’s living room with an arrest warrant for Nick. They’d been informed that Yancy Masters had been killed last night in his home on Shelter Island. Several of the men who worked for Yancy on the island had told the police about Nick’s late night visit, only they had claimed to witness the murder. A drug deal gone bad were the words they had used for it. Two of the men had told the police chief that their boss had refused to pay the price Kelly was asking for the two bags of China White heroin that he was trying to peddle. As a result, they had witnessed him slitting Yancy’s throat in his attempt to escape the island property.

  Yancy’s murder had shocked and even saddened Nick, but he hadn’t been surprised at being arrested for it. Obviously, the sheriff and police chief knew he was on to their illegal drug ring. At this point, Chen must also know he was coming after his brother. The time wasted sitting in a jail cell, uncertain whether he could get bail, had nearly shot his plans for the expedition to Chen’s compound to hell, but much to his elation, Hanna and Kurt had managed to salvage it and pull it all together.

  Once he’d heard of Nick’s arrest, Kurt had assisted in getting him out of jail, then he and Hanna had arranged for and gathered the remainder of the things they needed for their departure. Hanna’s thorough efficiency had surprised him. She’d attended to the list he had made the night before with the competence of a seasoned quartermaster.

  During dinner, Nick thanked Colleen again for putting up his bail. “I’m sorry you had to back it with your house and property.”

  Colleen waved his concern aside. “I have complete faith in you, Nicholas. I know you will bring in those responsible for my grandson’s death, as well as return Lance to us. I’ve known Phillip Douglas since he was a boy. The man’s become a disgrace to his family and his community. I told him so this morning, too.”

  Nick chuckled. Hanna had told him how Colleen had railed at Chief Douglas. She’d also mentioned that she had said nearly the same thing to the man. She had leveled some bitter and blunt accusations at her old nemesis. Nick was a little worried about it. Her confrontation with the police chief and her honesty put her in more danger, but at least she was going with him to Vancouver Island where he could protect her.

  “I told Judge Wolcott that you have been looking into Dylan’s death and Lance’s disappearance,” Colleen went on. “I told him what you have uncovered so far. Your friend at the FBI office in Seattle talked to the judge, too. Mr. Palmer vouched for you and told him about the investigation that is being conducted. After that, the bail was nothing more than cover. Once the judge knew the whole story, he figured you didn’t kill Yancy Masters.”

  “And he’ll keep all you told him hush-hush until we nail this down?”

  Colleen nodded. “He’s been a friend a long time. He’s an honest man. I trust him. He’s had his suspicions about Phillip Douglas and Sheriff Thomas for a while. He’s been hearing rumors of corruption.”

  “We still have to prove all this.”

  Colleen smiled and reached out to pat the back of his hand. “You will.”

  After dinner, Nick and Hanna left to pack the gear and clothing that they were taking to Vancouver Island. Because they were meeting Kurt and the floatplane he had rented early tomorrow morning, they returned to the Price house to check in one last time with their families. When they re-entered the kitchen, everyone was still seated around the big table, even the baby and Christopher. There was a sheriff’s deputy sitting with them.

  Jessie introduced the young man and explained he was taking the first guard shift. “Since you’ll be heading out early in the morni
ng, we all wanted to wish you good luck and a safe return.”

  Colleen set down her coffee cup and rose to give Nick a hug. “I know we’ve placed a big burden on your shoulders by expecting you to solve Dylan’s murder and find Lance, but you remember, we don’t want you to put your own life at risk. I will not countenance you dying on this mission, Nicholas Kelly. Take care of my baby girl, too.” Hanna saw the emotion glittering in her grandmother’s eyes. Her voice was noticeably husky as well.

  Nick hugged Colleen firmly in return. “I promise you that I’ll keep her safe.”

  “Thanks for not insisting that I stay home, Grandma.” Hanna stepped up to hug her grandmother once she was free of Nick.

  “Oh, I know you’d never be able to do that, sweetheart.”

  “I have to help bring Lance home.”

  “I know you do, baby, but do what Nick says, and be careful.”

  Jessie concurred with a nod and a smile. “Stay out of harm’s way, honey. I expect to see all three of you, safe and sound, for a big celebration dinner on Sunday. Invite that FBI agent who is helping you, too.”

  Nick bent down to give his mother a kiss. Christine reached over and gave both Hanna’s and Nick’s hands a squeeze. “Good luck, you two. Take care.”

  Nick noticed Christopher was strangely silent, just staring up at him and Hanna. He squatted down to eye level with his nephew. “Don’t you worry, sport,” he reassured him. “Your dad, Hanna, and I will be back here with you in no time at all. Get the football out. We’ll have a big game before dinner on Sunday. How’s that?”

  Christopher threw his arms around his uncle’s neck, clinging for a few seconds. Nick stroked his head and reassured him with kisses.

  When he finally rose to his feet, he looked over at the off-duty deputy. “Take care of my family and friends.”

  The man stood to shake Nick’s hand. “Will do, Colonel. Good luck. And don’t worry about your people. We’ll make sure nothing happens to them while you’re gone.”

  He nodded, then motioned Hanna to the back door. As they were leaving, Katie, in the hushed quiet of the kitchen, said, “Bye-Bye,” lifting her pudgy little hand in the semblance of a wave. Nick turned to blow her a kiss, then laughed as the grandmothers and her mother began a litany of wonder over the infant’s first such gesture and words.