Officer Povey was the one looking uncertain now. “Sir?”
“Unless you want to tell me who ordered this mission. I will personally call and inform him, or her, of your failure and insubordination.”
Povey looked intimidated, but not cowed. “Sir, your reputation is impeccable and admired by Navy personnel throughout the world, but you and I both know I cannot reveal the chain of command that sent us on this mission. What I would like to know is if Lieutenant Braden Moyle is right …” Maddie’s gut clenched. He knew Braden? “… and if you are the only person who can ensure the protection of the Delta weapon and safeguard it from King Frederick, or if the CO who sent us on this mission is right and the Navy should move the weapon to Area 51 and secure it there.”
Papa studied him and then surprised Maddie by asking, “Where is Lieutenant Moyle?”
Povey tilted his head. One of his men set his gun on the chopper floor and climbed back into the chopper. Maddie’s stomach turned over and her skin pricked. Braden was here?
The man escorted Braden out of the chopper, moving him with difficulty as his hands and feet were bound with zip ties and his mouth had duct tape on it.
“Braden!” Maddie screamed, running across the damp, cool grass in her bare feet.
Braden’s teal-blue eyes focused in on her. He looked okay, not beat up or anything, mostly concerned for her.
“Maddie,” Papa cautioned, holding up a hand and gesturing her back.
“Stand down,” One of the SEALs commanded in a harsh voice, leveling his gun at her.
“Maddie!” her mom screamed.
Her dad raced to intercept her.
She would’ve kept running to him, but Braden’s gaze begged her to stop and Papa stopped her with, “It’s okay, Maddie. He’s unharmed. These men are honorable and will not hurt Lieutenant Moyle.”
Braden and EOD Povey both nodded.
Maddie stopped a short distance away. She took aim with her pistol at the bald guy aiming at her. He smirked at her and didn’t lower his gun.
“Lieutenant Moyle and I went through Recruit Training Command and our first deployment together,” Povey explained. “I trusted him to have my back then and have respected and trusted him for years.”
Nobody lowered their weapons. The air felt charged and uneasy, but everyone listened attentively as the man focused in on Braden before turning to Papa and explaining further, “Lieutenant Moyle has an ability that few people understand, respect, or know about. But I came to rely on it when we served together. I believe it’s because of his deep spirituality, but he can see people, read them, and unerringly guess their intentions.”
Maddie’s skin prickled. Braden had said he knew her. It hadn’t just been a line or him thinking that he knew her. He truly could read her. Why that made her feel so happy and light in the midst of such a dark situation was beyond her, but if he could read her before she’d even dared tell him the truth and he thought she was “angelic,” then … how would he feel when he heard about her experience last night and her desire to return to her Lord and trust in heaven again?
But first things first. She held her pistol level as EOD Povey continued, “Before I was accepted into BUD/s training, Braden and I were deployed together.” He cleared his throat and looked at Braden. “His instincts saved my life in Baghdad when I was walking up to an old woman, wrapped in a blanket and begging for a bit of change. Braden looked into her eyes, commanded me to hit the ground, and shot the gun out of her hand. She would’ve shot me point blank.”
The entire area was silent. Some of Povey’s teammates shifted their weight, probably uncomfortable with the spiritual aspect of the story or wondering what was going to happen to their mission and how they were going to shoot the famed Admiral Delta’s family.
Povey cleared his throat again. “What I’m coming to, sir, is Moyle promised me that you have been tasked to protect this secret weapon and he believes whoever sent our team to obtain it is either doing it for selfish or monetary reasons, or even if they believe they are doing it for the right reasons, Moyle does not believe it is in our country’s best interest to move the weapon from your capable and careful watch.”
Papa held his gaze. “And what do you think, Officer Povey?”
“Well, sir, instead of following our carefully laid mission plan and landing this bird in a small clearing two miles east of the cave where the weapon is located, incapacitating your people watching over the weapon and blowing the cave open so we could retrieve the weapon, I had Hendrickson disable the transponder at the same time Leandro took out our radio signal. I trusted in my gut. I trusted in my friend Braden Moyle, who reminded me as I choked him out late last night …”
Maddie’s stomach hurt. She’d beat up Braden and it made her want to cry now. She never wanted any harm to come to him. She loved him. She couldn’t deny it any longer.
“He reminded me that he knew me. He knew I wouldn’t just be satisfied to follow orders, but I would do the right thing, even if it meant being stripped of rank, court martialed, or dishonorably discharged. More important than following orders, I must do the right thing. My friend trusted me, and I want to trust him. But first I wanted to look in your eyes and determine for myself if you are the man to keep this weapon out of King Frederick’s hands and thereby prevent nuclear winter. We thought we would be requested to eliminate Frederick, but that order was revoked and since then we’ve all been questioning why. Frederick needs to be stopped. Are you the man to stop him?”
“My family will stop him.” Papa said nothing else. He didn’t plead his task or beg them to stand down. He stood straight, tall, and stoic. He had nothing to prove, but he knew his task. There were multiple reasons protecting the secret had been assigned to him years ago. He wasn’t about to deviate from his mission now, when everything he cared about was on the line.
Povey studied him and finally gave him a quick nod. Then he walked over and ripped the tape off of Braden’s face. “Sorry, man.”
Braden’s face was raw and red, but he didn’t complain. Povey pulled out a pocketknife and cut the zip ties. Braden shook out his hands.
The man studied Braden and said, “I had them secure you so we could claim we’d captured you because you had enemy intel to help us on our mission and not have to explain who the sixth man was. From the moment you reminded me that you knew me, I knew you were telling me to do the right thing. Trusting you is the right thing.” He embraced Braden.
Braden slapped him on the back. “I knew I could trust you.”