Jana Leigh (2 page)

ZIPPER - Acknowledge radio transmissions with two clicks of the mike button.

Welcoming His Future

"Life is divided into three terms - that which was, which is, and which will be.
Let us learn from the past to profit by the present, and from the present, to live better in the future."

William Wordsworth

Drake came out from the house frowning.  “
We have a 911 call from the town you guys were in, Mason.”

Arden jumped to her feet and grabbed the paper.  Please don
’t let it be Sassy or any of the others she met.  She saw the name but didn’t recognize it so she handed the paper to Mason.

“
Brin Plater?” Mason said aloud.

“
Emo’s oldest sister?” Thane asked and grabbed the paper. 

Jessie
‘Iceman’ James stepped up frowning.  “Oldest sister, what are you talking about, his younger sister is still in high school her name is Cynthia.”

Ice jumped when he heard his friend
’s Mark’s voice,
“Really, dumbass, the oldest of my two sisters, Brin, the one who went to Med School, remember her?”

Ice closed his eyes, he dreaded this day. 
“How could I remember her, I remember a younger girl who followed you around all the time?  I can’t even remember meeting her in the last year.”
His teammates looked at him with dawning recognition.  They knew who he was talking to.

“
You fucker, you did see her within the last year.  The party we went to before the last mission?  The one where you got so drunk?  It was Brin’s graduation party, asshole.  I didn’t know you had sex with my sister that night you ass!”
Emo yelled.

“
Wait I remember a hottie, that was your sister?  Man, I didn’t know,” Ice argued.  “It doesn’t count.”  The guys waited, trying to piece together what was going on.

Drake laughed and held out the paper to Ice, “
I would guess it counts now.  She was driving through the town trying to find Tulu.  She went into labor on the side of the road and someone from town picked her up.  She explained to them who she needed to call.  They put two and two together but didn’t know how to get a hold of us.  Thank goodness we tagged the 911 calls.”

“
Well that sucks. Where is the father?” Ice asked and looked at the guys who were laughing at him.  They apparently got the joke but Jessie didn’t.  “Hey, is that my final thing for you? Do you need me to find the father and beat the shit out of him and make him pay child support?”

“
The father is right in front of me, asshole.  Count back you dipshit.  Now, do you want to beat the shit out of yourself?!”
Emo yelled.

Ice focused and then began to cuss.  “
I need some fucking keys.”

The SEAL ran off with Emo trailing him yelling in his ear.

Thane rolled his eyes and said, “I will take him.”

There had been a bit of an argument over who was actually going.  Drake finally won the argument saying Thane was needed at the ranch.  Everyone understood why Thane wanted to go, he was t
heir team leader, he took responsibility for all of them even though now they were out.  The team agreed that Thane was going to have the biggest problem letting go of the guilt, if he ever could.

With a roar of dust, Drake peeled out of the driveway with
his loaded truck and took off down the road with Jessie in the passenger seat glaring at his driving skills.  When they were still in the service, Drake was not allowed to drive—AT ALL.  To say he sucked would be like saying the sky was blue.  Patiently obvious, and yet still a surprise to the people who seemed to be oblivious.  Like Drake.

Ice clutched his already unsteady stomach and closed his eyes.  The only thing he needed to focus on
was what the hell he was going to do about this mess.  How he was going to protect his child.  With everything going on, it would put a target on both of their backs if anyone found out.  The thought caused a shiver to run through him, what if he was too late?  Mark was his partner, his best friend, the one who helped him do his job to the fullest.

Ice and Emo were called into the Commander's office right when they walked into the hanger one morning.  Both men knew what was going to happen.  They had done this before.  The mission had nothing to do with the Team, and every
thing to do with the fact they were the best sniper team in the SEALs.  Both men grabbed their deployment bag they kept packed for such missions.  They had one for the team deployments and one for the separate ones because when they were sent out as a duo, no one knew where they would be going.

“
Sir,” Ice said and saluted their commanding officer, LC.  “We are on.”

LC looked up at him and nodded.  “
I know.”

Ice shrugged and waited with Emo who was standing at attention as well.  Both of them could be relaxe
d when talking to LC except when they had a mission, then it was all business.

“
This is your mission,” LC said brusquely and then handed them a file.

They were supposed to find and capture one man, one of the leaders of a well-known terrorist group.  The
man had been illusive, and Ice looked up at his commanding officer and said, “Do we know where he is going to be?”

“
It’s in there.  Chatter places him in a small town for the next week; there are meetings with some other faction.  We are still working on identifying the players, so far they seem to be an old cell taken over by someone.  They are not your worry, this man is.  We need him taken out of play because they are planning an attack.  We need to be ahead of them.  He is the key to stopping the latest terrorist plot.  If we get him, we can worry about the others later, it will disrupt the cell,” LC said and both men nodded.

“
We are gone,” Emo said and led the way out of the office.

Nineteen hours later, they were lying on a hillside, covered with their
camo nets and brush, not moving a muscle as Emo used his spotter’s device to keep his eye on the target, and Ice checked his sites on his scope.  The compound down below was isolated, when they had moved into place it had been on their stomachs as not to attract attention, the location was such, the men from the compound could see if there was movement.  It had been painstakingly slow getting to their current position.

When they spoke, it was in a low whisper, both knew it could be hours before they were a
ble to move again.  Their extraction team would not come until called, although they were only fifteen clicks from where they were. 

“
What I wouldn’t give for an ice cold beer right about now,” Ice muttered softly.

“
Yeah, and a large supreme pizza with extra cheese from D’jor’s on base.”  Emo sighed.

“
When we get back, we need to have a guys' poker night,” Ice said and then moved his scope slightly to narrow the margin for mistakes.  “Wind?”

“
SW coming at 3,” Emo said.  “Hell ya, LC owes me fifty from the last one.”

“
Locked on,” Ice said.  “Maybe Marie will make us that salsa again.  Damn that was some good shit.”

“
I have to visit my sis right when we get home.  She is starting her final rotation and it will be the last time before graduation she will have a break,” Emo muttered.

“
Cool, a little East Coast vacay.  Do I get to tag along?” Ice commented.

“
You can, then my sis will be sure to actually make time for me,” Emo chuckled.  “You know she still has a crush on you?”

Ice snorted softly.  “
Right, she has more brains than that.  Besides, last time I saw her she was too busy with what’s his name to notice.”

“
Yeah…well, what’s his name is history, and she has had a makeover,” Emo said slowly.  “In her letter she said it was time to grow up.  Apparently the idiot told her that wearing sweats all the time was not cool.”

“
She was in college,” Ice argued. 

“
He told her she was a slob,” Emo laughed.  “I was thinking we could kick some major ass.”

“
No prob,” Ice laughed.

“
Target moving N-NE, getting in black SUV on the right, his LT on the left,” Emo said.

“
Shit, he was not supposed to leave yet,” Ice muttered and moved the scope a little.  “Got him.”

“
Hold,” Emo said and then watched.  “Another SUV coming through gates, vehicle matches same as Target's.”

The two men watched as the man they were sent to kill remained in the back of one SUV, not moving, while the other SUV came to a halt next to the first one.  It didn
’t make sense what they were doing.  There was no movement in or out of the vehicles though they sat side by side.

“
What the fuck are they doing?” Ice asked.

“
Not sure,” Emo replied and they continued to watch.

The minutes rolled by, and both men were still.  The compound, which had been a flurry of activity a few m
inutes ago, was currently at a standstill.  The men who had been in the courtyard of the small compound were notably absent.

“
Status?”  They heard in their ears.

Emo reported as Ice remained silent watching the target intently, something was going on, and
they weren't in a good position to see exactly what it was.  From their viewpoint, no one had left either car, and they were just sitting there.  Slowly, Ice shifted a little to see if he could get a better view.  He saw the slight jerk of the SUV they were targeting as its engine started.

“
Movement,” Ice said.

Emo paused as he watched the SUV begin to move forward.  He reported to the JOC, and then waited for their orders.  The target was not supposed to be leaving yet, but if he did and didn
’t come back, they would have missed their opportunity.

“
Chatter indicates they are moving the target, if you have a shot, take him out,” LC ordered.

Ice blew out a breath, the SUV would circle the compound coming toward them, and then turning so Ice could get a clean s
hot.  “Call for extraction.  One shot and we are out,” Ice said.

They waited as the car pulled right where they wanted it.  Emo whispered the information Ice needed to make the shot from this far, without blinking Ice pressed his finger against the trigger
, and felt the recoil of his rifle as he took the shot.

The window to the back right exploded and Ice could see the man in the back look of disbelief as the target slumped against the front seat dead.  Emo grabbed the traces of equipment as Ice continued t
o fire, picking off more than one man who had opened fire on them after shooting the target.

“
Move!” Emo yelled as Ice slid back and pulled up, still firing at the men in the compound.

The two moved to where they were supposed to meet their ride and waited.  In and out, that was their job.

“So your sister has a crush on me?” Ice laughed.

“
Don’t even think about it,” Emo said and slapped his friend on the back of the head.

He wouldn't le
t Emo down because of one night of carelessness and he sure wasn't going let Brin and his down.  His eyes popped open and he glared at his friend.

“
Drive faster!” he ground out.  It was like giving candy to a baby, and releasing the Kraken all in one.  Neither were the smartest things in the entire world.  However, both were a force to be reckoned with, kinda like him when one of his own was in harm's way. 

“
Aooooooo,” Drake howled and thumped his hand on the steering wheel.  “We are gone…”

“
Shit,” Ice muttered.  He had a good sense of humor like anyone else.  Hell with the name Jessie James, he had to or he would have been eaten alive when he was younger.  Ice liked to tell all the jokes before someone could beat him to it.  For some reason it made him feel better.  Some people considered him a smart ass, while others laughed about his sense of humor.  Ice had both.  However, his sense of humor was controlled just like the rest of him.  He was a sniper, a good one.  Mark had been not only the Intel guy but also his spotter.  When you had a relationship with someone like that, it was hard to explain to most people.  The guys on the team used to say they shared the same brain, possible now that he thought about it.  They worked simultaneously when they were paired together for special missions.  It was literally Emo and him on their own.