Bracing for the Storm

by Matt Lincoln

  My eyes shot immediately over to Doc, who popped up and ran over to the edge of the hatch. When he turned back to face me, his face looked pale, and my stomach sank.

  “We can’t leave these guys!” the driver shouted. “They need medical attention!”

  “I can help!” Doc shouted. “Send them here and take the cartel members!”

  Doc hopped aboard the Coast Guard small boat while I removed the ties keeping our prisoner attached to the chair. I dragged him over and handed him off to the Coast Guard and then helped Doc bring the wounded Coasties over. Once Rosa was relieved from her position, she dove in with Doc, each of them taking a Coastie and examining them for wounds. I watched as the rest of the Coasties brought their prisoners on board and headed off to the cutter, while I stood there for a moment in shock.

  “Jake, we need your help.” I looked down to see Doc pointing over at Rosa, and noticed that Rosa had ended up with Linda. Her face was pale, and she was struggling to breathe. Rosa had cut Linda’s sleeve to access a gunshot wound on her arm but was ignoring that as she disassembled Linda’s body armor in search of something else. I dropped down to my knees and helped her remove the armor before reaching up to remove her helmet. I looked down at Linda’s face, and our eyes locked. The fearful look in her eyes ripped right through me, and I choked back tears as I worked.

  Rosa slapped my hand, and I jerked my head up in surprise.

  Leave the helmet on, she signed quickly. We don’t know if there is a head injury. Leave it.

  I nodded and waited for Rosa’s cue. When she cut through the last layer of fabric to find nothing on Linda’s chest, her eyes grew wide, and she looked up at me.

  We need to turn her over, she signed urgently. I nodded, and together we propped her onto one side to find a large red welt in her back. My eyes darted back up to Rosa.

  She got hit in the back. Possible broken ribs, and by the looks of it, maybe even a collapsed lung.

  Rosa’s face reflected no emotion as she focused on her task. We slowly laid Linda on her back again as we heard helicopter rotors through the rain. I looked up to see a Coast Guard rescue helicopter dropping their basket down to us. Rosa and Doc stood up to help guide it down, and at that moment, I heard splashing as Angie and Hawthorne popped up out of the water.

  “Finally!” I hugged the side as I squeezed past to help the two of them up onto the hatch. Hawthorne slid something bulky onto the deck before climbing up, and then they both started taking off their gear. I noticed blood seeping out of Angie’s wetsuit, but when I turned back around, the basket was being raised, and both Linda and her coworker were gone from my deck.

  I turned to Doc. “Hey, Doc, Angie needs some assistance.”

  “I’m alright.” She shrugged off as she peeled off her wetsuit, but Rosa grabbed her and flung her down into one of the foldout chairs and began administering first aid.

  Suddenly, the Coast Guard small boat whizzed by us out of sight. Hawthorne laughed sharply, and I looked over at him. He watched the small boat cut around the bow of the cutter before turning back to me.

  “They’re picking up the two divers,” he informed me with a shrug. “It is possible that their lines are cut, and they can’t dive back down. Now, they’re stranded.”

  Hawthorne continued to get himself situated while Rosa finished wrapping up Angie’s leg. The rain was slowing now, and the thunder was moving further away. The Coast Guard small boat swung back around and slowed as it approached us.

  I gingerly kicked my small side hatch shut, hiding the rest of the Wraith’s armament from view. When their boat aligned with ours, I saw a tall man with brown eyes and two silver bars on each shirt collar standing on the side closest to us.

  “Are you Jake?” he asked as his boat came to a stop.

  “Yes,” I acknowledged, stepping to the aft end of Wraith to better address him. “You must be Linda’s Commanding Officer.”

  “Lieutenant Charles Watson,” he nodded.

  “You might want this.” I gestured to the object Hawthorne had hauled onto the deck.

  “What is that?” he asked, eyes squinting to make it out through the lingering mist.

  “The bomb that was intended for your cutter, sir,” Hawthorne’s voice boomed from his position next to Angie.

  “A bomb?” Linda’s CO seemed incredibly calm, considering the circumstances.

  “Not activated,” Angie chimed in with a pained groan. “They didn’t get a chance to.”

  I carefully lifted it and handed it over to CO Watson. “Evidence,” I urged. “Also, as much as we are happy to help, I am not happy to linger while we await backup or whatever. We were never here.”

  “I can’t stop you,” Watson said as he gingerly took the parcel from me. The whole time, he eyed my boat with admiration and what I thought I detected as a hint of jealousy. “We would never catch up. I did want to thank you in person, though. We have only two injuries on the cutter, plus the two that you helped. Without you, it would have been much worse.”

  I gave the man a curt nod. “Let’s just say we are big fans of the military.” I chuckled, and Hawthorne and Angie snickered behind me. “Fair winds and following seas,” I said with a wave as I took a step back off the hatch door.

  The CO smirked before turning back to his small boat crew and directing them back to the cutter. As the boat finished passing us, I caught a glimpse of the two divers handcuffed and sitting on the deck. I couldn’t make much out, but there was definitely a lot of blood covering their wetsuits. I turned back to Hawthorne and Angie.

  “You did a number on those two,” I muttered as I quickly made my way to my pilot chair to navigate us back to safety.

  “Yeah, the one kept running into my K-Bar like an idiot,” Angie said through gritted teeth as Rosa tightened the bandage around her leg.

  “Like a damn idiot,” Hawthorne agreed.

  With that, I raised the hatch back up and sped away from the scene, setting our course back to the shores of Colombia to meet up with Hawk and his team. If they had been as successful as we’d been, we could count this whole mission as a win. The sooner we were able to establish that, the sooner I’d be able to get back to Linda to ensure that she would be okay. I kept pushing my fears down, but they kept resurfacing and would continue to do so until I knew she was safe.

  As we approached the docks where Xavier’s yacht was, I noticed the pier and the main deck of his yacht were empty. I turned back to Rosa.

  “Have you heard from them yet?” I asked as my concern shifted focus.

  Not yet, Rosa signed, and my feeling of unease grew even worse.

  33

  Linda

  The bright light beaming in through the window was blinding as I slowly tried to adjust my eyes. I took in the view of my hospital room and took note of the obnoxious balloons and the cheaply-made stuffed teddy bear in the corner.

  I heard movement and turned to see Slade walking into the room.

  “Oh, hey! You’re up!” She had a small paper cup in her hand and a huge grin on her face. “Hold on, let me grab a nurse.” She went back out, leaving me alone in the room.

  I thought back to yesterday’s events and felt beyond lucky to be in the condition I was in. That was thanks to Jake, and if he hadn’t been there, it would have ended a lot worse. I hoped Taylor was alright, and I hoped not too many others were injured.

  Slade came back in with a nurse in tow.

  “Good morning.” The petite blonde came over to me and began checking my vitals. “How do you feel?”

  “Alright, I guess.” I shrugged. “A little sore.”

  The nurse nodded. “You will feel sore for a while. Luckily, your injuries were minor, and since there isn’t much else we can do here for you on top of what we’ve already done, we are sending you home with some pain medication and strict orders to rest at home.”

  “Minor?” Slade interjected from the corner of the room, clutching her coffee cup with both hands. “What happened?”<
br />
  The nurse looked at me, and when I nodded, she addressed Slade directly. “Ms. Reyes had what is called a traumatic pneumothorax. The force of the gunshot to her back caused a small puncture in the lung. It needs time to heal on its own.”

  “How long will it take?” Slade’s concern was plain on her face as she began chewing her bottom lip.

  “Usually, in a situation like this, a full recovery can be expected in six to eight weeks.” The nurse finished her vitals check and straightened up. “I’m going to get your discharge paperwork together, and then you are free to go. Do you have help at home?”

  I hesitated.

  “Yes, she does,” Slade chimed in.

  “Alright, then! That’s great.” The nurse smiled and walked out, leaving Slade and me alone in the cold room.

  “I have help at home?” I mumbled to Slade as I sat up straighter and rubbed my eyes.

  “Yes,” Slade said over the top of her coffee cup. “I’m coming home with you. I’ll have to go home periodically, of course, but I’ll stay the first couple of nights. Once you get settled, I’ll come by every day after work to help out.” She nodded confidently as if this ended the discussion.

  “Do I get a say in this?” I chuckled. I’d be happy to have some company at my place, and I wasn’t at all upset at her willingness to help.

  “Nope! You don’t.” Slade smiled. “Besides, it’ll be fun!”

  “If you say so.” I laughed. “No, but seriously, thank you. You don’t have to do all that.”

  “I mean, I kind of do.” She shrugged. “I mean, I would have offered anyway, but Watson pretty much ordered it.” The smirk on her face told me it had been in jest, but she took her role seriously anyway.

  The nurse came back in with the discharge paperwork, and Slade helped me down to her car. She carefully guided me into the passenger seat before hustling over to the driver’s side.

  “Buckle up!” she called out as she pulled out and merged into traffic. She looked at me sideways once she had accelerated up to speed.

  “There’s something you should know,” she said hesitantly.

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Err, what’s that?”

  “CO Morris wants to speak with both you and CO Watson,” she muttered at her windshield, stealing a glance my way to gauge my reaction.

  “CO Morris?” I rolled my eyes. “That doesn’t sound good when the CO of Sector wants to meet you fresh out of the hospital.”

  “Yeah…” Slade bit her lip. “He wanted to visit you in the hospital, but I told him he should wait since you’re getting discharged. So, now, he wants to meet at your apartment.”

  “What? Why my apartment?” This was a lot to drop on me before I’d even gone home.

  “Your comfort is the reason he gave me.” Slade looked at me pointedly before turning back toward the road. “However, I think he is trying to give it a more casual approach, either to keep it off the record or catch you off-guard. I don’t know which one it is, but those are my working theories.”

  “When does he want to come over?” I asked, curious as to which way this would all lead.

  “Tomorrow morning at nine?” Slade cringed slightly as she said it. “I know it’s last minute.”

  My eyes widened at this news. “Tomorrow morning? That’s fast.”

  “I know,” she replied. “He says he wants to get to the bottom of this quickly.”

  I sighed. I hadn’t spoken to anyone on the boat since I was lifted off Wraith yesterday, and it would probably be good to get the entire story before I spoke to CO Morris. Speaking of Wraith…

  “Slade, what happened to the supercavitating boat that was helping us?” I turned completely sideways in my seat to give her my undivided attention.

  “Well, after you got airlifted out of there, CO went out on the small boat to meet them and retrieve the bomb, and then they left. I never saw them up close or anything, but the boat looked cool from up where I was sitting!” Slade grinned widely as she spoke.

  I was struck speechless for a moment. “I’m sorry,” I blurted out suddenly. “Did you say bomb?”

  “Oh, crap, yeah.” She turned to look at me with a mischievous grin before turning back to the road. “Apparently, the cartel was planning to plant a bomb below the cutter. The day would have ended a hell of a lot worse for all of us if that had happened. Thank God your scuba diving friends were there.”

  I swallowed hard and wondered if Jake had known about this. He had to have known if he had enough foresight to pack diving gear. I made a mental note to chew him out later for not telling me.

  “So, let me get this straight,” I stated. “The cartel came at us with three go-fasts armed with machine guns, and in addition, they were going to bomb our boat?”

  “Yeah, that about sums it up,” Slade replied with a shrug.

  “How many people were injured?” I pressed. I hoped the number wasn’t too high.

  “Four, including you,” Slade replied, “but you’ll all be okay. No one got too banged up. It all works out right now, though. The boat sustained enough damage that we are going to have to go into drydock for a while, which means you guys all get recovery time.”

  “It also means a small crew on the boat during drydock,” I thought aloud. “Which is why you wanted to help me, so you don’t have to do all that.”

  “Oh, you read me like a book,” Slade teased. “Oh, and listen, we are all in agreement. We don’t know who was in the supercavitating boat or where they came from, we are just grateful they were there. We all agreed that if we stick to that story, we will all be alright.”

  I smiled gratefully at her. “Thank you.”

  “Eh, don’t thank me yet,” she answered. “Let’s see if it works, and hopefully, they don’t go after your friend. He’s on his own.”

  “Yeah, I’m not worried about him, though.” I shrugged. “He can handle himself.”

  Slade laughed. “You know when I came down here after getting assigned to this boat, I thought it would be boring.”

  I burst out into laughter, too. “And now?” I asked, looking over at her.

  She looked back at me and laughed again. “I’m having the time of my life!”

  34

  Jake

  It wasn’t until the next morning that Hawk met up with us at the pier. He was limping with his arm in a sling, but he still looked every bit the Marine he prided himself on being.

  Hawk was tall and lean and walked with an air of confidence that intimidated most civilians. His dirty blonde hair was cut close to his scalp, and his pale green eyes pierced through anyone who dared question him. Even with the limp, Hawk’s appearance did not invite challengers. Although, to be fair, the dried blood covering his shirt did nothing to soften his appearance.

  He clambered onto Xavier’s yacht and looked at each of us in turn.

  “You guys look well-rested,” he grumbled. “What’d you do? Lie to us, and hit up a spa instead?”

  Doc laughed. “It’s easy to stay in one piece when Header’s boat is doing all the bullet-deflecting.”

  I lifted an eyebrow in amusement. Doc had a point.

  So, what’s the damage? Rosa asked.

  Hawk looked at her and then over to the rest of us helplessly. “I don’t speak sign language, I’m sorry.”

  It’s no big deal, I understand, Rosa signed to him and looked to me for help.

  “Rosa is asking what we’re all asking. What happened? How did it go?” I stood there with my arms crossed, trying to mirror Hawk’s confidence, but inside, my stomach was in knots.

  “Well, pretty much my entire team is injured in some way.” Hawk gestured to his sling and his bad leg. “The good news is, we dismantled the fortress. Broke down the walls, went through the grounds, killed everyone that needed to be killed… There was just one problem. We can’t find Santiago Días.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t find them?” Rage clouded my mind as I stepped forward. “That was the whole point of the mi
ssion, and this guy is still alive and avoiding the law?”

  “Yes, and from what Xavier has gathered, he has a safe house. However, none of my team is equipped to handle it. He may be armed and dangerous, but Xavier thinks he is in his safe house alone. So we don’t need a big team, just a couple of salty old guys.” Hawk slapped me on the shoulder. “Looks like you’re up, man.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing we had our night at the spa, then.” I looked across the pier to see Xavier jogging up to us.

  “Another spa visitor?” Doc joked as Xavier hopped onto his yacht with uninjured ease.

  “You know I don’t purposefully put myself in harm’s way,” Xavier said nonchalantly. “It’s bad for business if I get injured.”

  “The guy does have a point.” Hawk gestured toward Xavier. “He was critical to our mission’s success. He saw where the snipers were, who was coming up behind us. If it weren’t for his help, a few of my men wouldn’t be here right now. So, thank you.”

  Xavier simply nodded wordlessly before reaching for his laptop.

  “So, if the big boss wasn’t where he was supposed to be, when should we attack the safehouse?” Doc sat up straighter as he readied himself for action.

  “Tomorrow night,” Xavier stated. “We use the cover of darkness.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I agreed, and I noticed Rosa had nodded in agreement as well.

  Hawk looked at me pointedly. “I’ll join you,” he said matter-of-factly, “but my team is done. I want to see this through with you, but my team needs to recover.”

  “That is good with me, man.” I reached out and shook his hand.

  “Let’s meet back here in the morning then for a briefing,” Xavier suggested.

  I nodded in agreement. “Yes, let’s all meet here in the morning, and then at six tomorrow evening to get geared up before we head out.”

  Hawk thanked us and hobbled off the boat, and I turned to the rest of my team.

  “Alright, guys. I think we all deserve some food. Who’s in?” I clapped my hands and looked around the boat, but I needn’t have amplified my enthusiasm. Everyone was already starving and excited, and we were all grateful to have a break before we went out to end the mission.