I reach a hand out, smoothing a lock of hair off her forehead. She murmurs, frowns, then winces. I’m assuming that’s a hangover headache, and I need to have some water and Excedrin at the ready for her.
Slipping quietly out of bed, I move into the bathroom and rummage through my shave kit as I always carry Excedrin, Tums, and Alka Seltzer. I head back across the large suite to the mini-bar for water when my phone rings.
Nabbing it quickly off the dresser before it can make any more noise, I press the connect button when I see Kynan’s name on the screen.
My eyes going to Jaime, who is still sleeping, I merely murmur into the phone, “Give me a minute.”
Kynan doesn’t reply, or at least I don’t think he does, as I set the phone down long enough to quickly pull on jeans and a t-shirt.
Barefoot, I nab the phone and the room key, then head out into the hallway. Once the door is shut, I keep my voice low so the sound doesn’t carry down the hall or back into our room. “What’s up?”
“There’s a potential mission down in Colombia that’s probably going to go down in a few days. I want you to head it up. We’ll work logistics all day tomorrow at headquarters.”
I curse inwardly, noting there was a day I’d be whooping in delight at the chance to go on a mission, but now all I can think about is my new wife sleeping in the next room.
“I’m going to send you and the others who will be on the mission down to Ft. Bragg first on Tuesday to join them in some MFF training. If this turns into a rescue versus an exchange, that’s how you’ll likely have to insert.”
Another reason for me to whoop for joy. MFF is military free-fall where we’ll practice HALO and HAHO jumps. It was one of my favorite things to do as a SEAL and something I couldn’t consider training, but more like the work version of Disneyland.
“What’s the mission in Colombia?” I ask. Because it fucking sucks I’m going to be leaving my brand-new wife as soon as we return to Pittsburgh, and I need to know how long we’ll be gone.
“The ELN has captured some American tourists. A rich banker out of Dallas and his family.”
“Fuck,” I mutter. The ELN is the Ejército de Liberación Nacional or National Liberation Army, and while somewhat dangerous, they’re more a pain in the ass. They are nothing more than a guerilla group, making money to fund their purpose by kidnapping people and ransoming them back. “How long have they had them?”
“About a week,” Kynan replies.
Which means they’ve been carted all around the jungle so local authorities can’t help and keeping contact to a minimum with whoever will be paying the ransom so they’ll be amped to pay. They’re well known for this negotiating tactic, and it works most of the time.
“The family employed a contract negotiator who has a lot of experience in these matters,” Kynan says.
I chuckle. “No doubt requiring a hefty payment from the family, and he’ll also get a kickback from the ELN.”
“Exactly,” Kynan replies. “They’re in negotiations, so this could go down any day now. We’ve been hired as the security to make sure the exchange of money for the family is carried out safely. But we’ll also be ready to use force to rescue them should something go wrong.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve made a jungle rescue, and it won’t be the last. Just as I’m sure I’ll be back in a Middle Eastern desert one day. But this is exactly the type of work I signed on for when I joined Jameson, and I am fully ready and able to lead this group at Kynan’s request.
Unfortunately, that means my new wife is going to have to wait to hear the truth of what I do. I’m not about to drop this bomb on her, then leave for what could be several days. She’ll have an annulment filed way before I return.
“We were scheduled to catch a late flight back,” I tell Kynan, glancing at my watch. “I’ll see if we can get out earlier.”
“Sounds good,” Kynan replies, but then his tone turns a bit more somber. “One other thing… I’m sending Malik on this mission with you.”
“You think he’s ready?” I ask, because I have no preconceived idea as to his current mental and physical recovery from his time as a prisoner.
“Dr. Ellery has given the green light to return him to full status, and he’s passed the necessary physical requirements.”
“Great,” I reply, truly glad he’s ready to go. I’m a firm believer that if Malik is going to continue to do this work, we need to get him out there sooner rather than later.