Nightstalker: Red Team (17 page)

“Viper out.” Zane turned around in the front passenger seat. “Black is ready, we are a go.”

We all remained silent and nodded. The car rolled to a stop in a valley surrounded by red rocks, we had almost complete cover down here. It was no wonder the cartel used this location for the smuggling tunnels. Each of us filled out of the SUV, our M4’s at the ready, scanning the surrounding hilltops through the reticles of our scopes.

Zane walked towards Captain Black. Leo, Jax, and I followed. Eric and Colin stayed by the car, their weapons still pointed up towards the hills, scanning for hostiles.

“Black,” Zane greeted.

“Viper, good to see you again brother. Panther, Blue, Ghost,” Captain Black offered by way of greeting.

Captain Black was somewhat of a legend in the SEAL community. He was known as a badass mother fucker. I felt a hell of a lot better knowing I had him and his team at our six.

“My team will patrol the valley on this side of the border. Just an everyday training exercise as far as the DOD knows. Don’t make me blow my load over here; the Commander will have a shit conniption if I come back with a discharged weapon on American soil. Not that I couldn’t use some target practice.” Black’s team all chuckled.

“Copy that, simple in and out. Nightstalker relay mission codes?” Zane asked

“Affirmative.” Black was always no nonsense. Short and to the point, no bullshit. One of the many things I liked about him.

“See you on the other side. Team, let’s roll.” Zane shot his hand in the air and made a circling motion with his finger.

***

These God damn tunnels always smelled like stale death and shit only made worse by the stifling heat. I breathed in a lungful of clean night air when we made it out the other side. I pulled my Newcon Optiks night vision binoculars down over my eyes and scanned the area.

We stalked the South wall of the valley, following the winding creek. No one spoke. There was no need for words. Every now and then Zane would make a fist and stop our progress to scan the area. The team worked silently together assessing our surrounding. We finally made it to the Valley opening where Sonreír’s property began. 

“Blue, Wolf, go. Panther, Ghost, go. Breeze we’re out,” Zane ordered.

Each two man team quietly slid into place, keeping their positions concealed. Leo and I hugged the mountain and slowly trudged our way to the rendezvous point.

My COMS crackled to life and I heard the sweetest voice filling my ears. “Ghost you have movement at your eleven o’clock, confirm, over.”

We had already spotted the movement and halted our progress. Leo was investigating the area with his thermal monocular. I had my M4 up and scope fixed on the hostile’s head.

“Ghost here, confirmed, over.”

“Viper, advise we have a hostile at eleven degrees north of your location.”

“Viper here, how’s your view, Ghost?”

“Clear and bright, Viper. Yappin’ on a phone and rippin’ a butt,” I replied.

This mother fucker was standing outside, talking on his phone and smoking, delaying any further movement.

“Blue and Wolf, you are clear to proceed. Viper team halt. Ghost team stay put.”

“Ghost here, Roger.”

“Viper here, Roger that.”

“Blue here, copy.”

I continued to hold my crosshairs on the man’s forehead as he paced the forecourt of the house and leisurely smoked his cigarette. If I didn’t know any better, I would swear the asshat was fucking with us. My gut tightened again and I became hypersensitive to every movement around me.

“Nightstalker you got eyes in the sky?” I questioned, something was telling me this was fucked.

“Affirmative Ghost,” Jasmin came back.

Thank fuck she had real time drone footage. We would be pinned down in the valley otherwise.

Just when I was ready to shoot this asshole to get the show on the road he flicked his cigarette onto the gravel and walked back inside. Leo confirmed the man was back in the house as his heat signature disappeared.

“Clear. Viper team move out,” I updated Zane.

“Roger that.”

Leo and I started back towards the house, less than two hundred and fifty yards to go.

“Viper team coming up on your nine o’clock, Ghost team,” Jasmin warned.

Her voice should have calmed me. Knowing she was watching over us, giving me direction, hearing the sweet cadence of her voice. It did not do a damn thing to stave off this snake curling in my gut. I turned towards my left and saw Zane and Colin coming up next to us.

“Confirmed, in my sights. Nightstalker do you have intel on any micro Doppler imaging in this area?”

My instincts were now screaming at me and I could no longer ignore them. This shit was not right. Even for a man that ruled in fear, this should not be this easy. Zane was at my side now and with a nod from him I knew we were on the same page.

Micro Doppler, along with laser vibration sensors, would tell us if there were any hidden underground tunnels or bunkers. It was a new technology. Intel coming back from it was a crap shoot but something was better than nothing.

“Negative Ghost.”

“Copy that.”

Zane gave us the signal to proceed; we spread out, M4’s drawn and shouldered. We trekked to the side of the conservatory, taking cover between large planter boxes.

Zane gave me the signal to take the lead around the corner to scope out the large bay of windows. Just as I rounded the corner I spotted the man from earlier step back outside. Now I had a clear view of Benele Yost. Fuck it all to hell. I silently crept back to the corner stopping to listen to the man as he spoke in to his phone.

“They are coming tonight, it was confirmed by the spook himself.” Yost had a thick South African accent.

“Ghost has a hostile at his twelve o’clock ten yards away,” Jasmin said through the COM.

“Copy that Nightstalker,” Zane acknowledged. “Blue, Wolf, hold your positions, over.”

“Everything is in place, he has already been moved,” Yost continued to speak on the phone.

Damn, fuck, shit! This was a mother fucking ambush. I grabbed my radio and squelched three times signaling Zane and the team to move out and evacuate. I could not speak without giving away my location.

“Confirm that last transmission Ghost,” Zane came through.

I squelched my radio again.

“Roger that, Ghost. Fall back lookout one.”  

“Ghost can you abort?” Jasmin asked over the radio.

I squelched my radio once in the negative. I was pinned in this corner. One move would give away my location.

“Copy that Ghost. Viper team, Black has been dispatched to lookout one. Blue team is at the mouth of the valley.” There was no hint of panic in my woman’s voice. She was a fucking warrior princess. I was so damn proud of her.

Yost was still on the phone, just lighting a second cigarette. His back was to me, making it impossible for me to hear what he was saying. As long as my team was safe and at the mouth of the valley I could stand here all day.

“Viper team, I have you in my sights. You are fine as wine all the way through.” That was Jax. Thank Christ, Zane, Colin, and Leo where all at the fall back location.

“Ghost, I still have eyes on you. There is no other movement in your area. Give me two if you copy.” I gave Jasmin two in confirmation. “Roger that, Ghost.  Viper, you are good to go up the mountain. No other hostiles in the area.”

I felt better knowing that my team would be in sniper positions if this shit went any more FUBAR. I knew this shit was whacked from the start. I should’ve listened to my gut.

“The detonator is set. All I need is that Zane Lewis fuck to show his face and this place will be leveled.”

Mother of a cock sucking piece of shit, this place was wired to blow. If I wasn’t fucked before, I was now. I used my radio to tap out the code for explosives.

“Ghost, please confirm that last transmission,” Jasmin’s voice came through my ear piece. For the first time her voice sounded a little shaky. I confirmed. “Copy that Ghost. Get your ass out of there now. Blue is ready to lay down cover fire. Double tap that mother fucker in front of you and get out.”   

I had realized my mistake two damn seconds too late. I lifted my M4 to take my shot when the door I was backed up against flew open. There was no time. No time to take the shot, no time to turn and fight, no time to radio my sweet Jasmin that I loved her.

My time was simply up; I felt the first bullet burn through me. After that, nothing.

Jasmin

“Ghost, come in.”

I stared at the screen in front of me in horror. The corner that Linc had been standing in was covered by a portico, preventing me from seeing him. I watched as Yost turned and lunged in his direction after shots were fired.

“Nightstalker, confirmed two shots fired.” Zane was not giving me any new information.

Fucking hell, I knew something was off. I knew it.

“Viper team is on the move, I repeat Viper team is on the move, out.”

“Ghost, come in.”

Where the hell was he? We only had access to this drone for thirty more minutes, then I would be blind.

“Blue, thirty minutes until I lose eyes.”

“Copy that, Nightstalker.”

“Viper, you are in the clear, no movement.”

And just then my world exploded. Literally it exploded into a ball of flames and debris. My eyes widened in shock as I watched the house that Linc was next to explode. I no longer had a visual on anything other than flames and smoke.

“Viper!” That vaguely sounded like Eric. “Viper, come in.”

“Mother fucking hell, Nightstalker, come in,” Eric yelled. I could hear his breath coming out in short pants as he ran. I was frozen, “Jasmin, come in NOW.”

I jumped when Eric yelled my name pulling me back, “Go for Nightstalker.”

“Do you have eyes on Viper and Breeze?”

“That is a negative, there is too much smoke, I am blind.”

I was in a haze and barely heard any of the commotion going on around me. Drew was yelling on the phone to someone, The President had come barreling through the door of the situation room. I felt a hand on my arm and I shrugged it off without even looking up from my screen.

“Ghost, come in. Viper!” I tried again.

“Viper, here, you’re coming in broken and stupid, over.”

Thank God Zane was ok. His COMS must have been damaged in the blast making it difficult to hear me.

“Everyone, what’s your twenty? I have no eyes, too much smoke. I repeat no eyes.”

“Panther here, cover at the bottom of the mountain, over.”

“Blue here, sniper top of the mountain, over.”

“Wolf here, we are on our way back to the mountain. Viper and Breeze are five by five, I repeat they are square. No sign of Ghost.”

FUCK! I felt a tear slip past my lashes as I tried to blink back more from falling. I needed to fix this shit, not break down.

“Drew, is that Garrett?”

He gave me a nod of his head and put Garrett on speaker. I muted my COMS before I spoke, I did not want the rest of the team to hear me, “Garrett, Benele Yost was talking to someone before the explosion, see if you can pull records. Also I heard Yost say, ‘they are coming tonight, it was confirmed by the spook himself’ for the love of Christ, please tell me what sell out in the God damn CIA is responsible for this shit show.”

I unmuted my COMS. “Ghost, come in.” I yelled again.

“Negative Nightstalker,” that was Zane, his voice sounded defeated, broken. “No chance. There is a hole in the ground.”

“NO! Fuck no!” I ripped my headphones off my head and threw them on the desk.

I needed some air. I was going to vomit any minute; I could feel it making its way up my throat. Jesus Christ, what just happened? How in the hell did that just happen? I found myself locked in a bathroom on the floor wiping vomit off my lips and tears off my cheeks. My chest burned like someone had just carved my heart out with a freaking butter knife.

There was a knock at the door. I ignored it. It came again I could not speak a word it was physically impossible for me to utter a word through this pain. Then I heard my aunt’s voice. “Jasmin, darlin’, I am going to ask security to unlock this door. I need to hold you sweet girl.”

My entire body was wracked with sobs. He was gone. I had truly lost my husband forever.

***

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

I looked up at Lincoln. He looked so damn sexy in his suit, his eyes were sparkling and so full of love.

“I love you, Mrs. Parker.”

I sat up in bed, sweat dripping down my forehead into my eyes. The sweat quickly mixed with my tears as I used the balled up sheet next to me to wipe my face.

In the five days since Linc had been gone I had started to remember the seven months I had with him in Russia. It was both a blessing and a curse. I was now in a state of constant torture, willing myself to remember every last detail so I could have something to hold onto, then hating myself for remembering it.

I threw the snot covered ball of sheet off me and stood up, hurrying to the bathroom. This was my new nightly routine. Dream about Linc, then cry myself to point of throwing up. It was so fucking gross I could barely stand myself. I was in my own personal hell. Falling apart, I no longer cared who saw me, I could not bring myself to care about much of anything.

I was going crazy. There was something in the back of my mind that was nagging me. I felt like I was missing something.  I had watched the footage of the explosion so many times the team finally banned me from reviewing it again. Fuck them. Did they really think I needed to watch the video on a screen to see the replay? It was burned into my memory forever. Someone would die for this.  

Zane and the team were no better off than I was. Linc’s death fucked with all of them. Each of them blaming themselves for not saving him, not knowing it was a set up. I told them what I heard over Linc’s COMS. There was indeed someone to blame for my husband’s death and I would hunt the slimy mother fucker down and slice his throat if it was the last thing I ever did on this planet.

I screwed my eyes shut and remembered the last conversation I had with Zane. He was fucked up, in some ways worse off than I was. The man was in a dangerous place.

“Zane it is not your fault.”

Wrong thing to say on my part, way wrong! He detonated.

“How can you say that? I do not need your bullshit words, Jasmin. I sent him around that corner. I should have known better. I am the God damn boss, I should have known,” he yelled as he damn near knocked over the conference room table. “It should have been me. I should have died, not him.”

His head was hanging. His hands scrubbed over his face and when he finally looked up at me I was scared shitless.

“I will exact painful retribution for my brother’s death. I do not care if I have to tear the God damn CIA apart to do it. You hear me, Jasmin, it will be me. Lincoln would want you to breathe clean and easy. This will not touch you. No one will touch you. I owe him that. Mark my words, Jasmin; I will gut the mother fucker responsible for your husband’s murder.”

I had to fix this before I lost Zane too. He was not thinking straight. Lincoln would not want Zane on a suicide mission, and that is exactly where Zane was headed.

I washed my face and went down the stairs in search of something to drink. A quick check of the large clock on the sterile kitchen wall told me it was just after five AM. One of the private White House chefs came around the corner and startled when he saw me sitting at the stainless steel island.

“Can I get you anything, Mrs. Parker?”

My heart dropped. I remembered the day my little five foot nothing spitfire of an aunt ripped the staff a new ass for calling me ‘Ms. Smith’. She promptly told everyone I was Mrs. Parker.  If I wasn’t so fucked at the moment I would have busted out laughing. I quickly fell in love with that woman. I would be in a strait jacket by now if it was not for her.

“Just a cup of coffee, please, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble.”

“No ma’am, I have some ready. I hope you don’t mind hazelnut flavor. I wasn’t expecting anyone down for another hour.”

“That sounds perfect, if you hand me a mug I can pour my own. If you’d like some peace before everyone shows up I can take it and leave.”

“Here.” He handed me the mug and pointed towards the coffee pot. Thank Christ the coffee was already made. That thing had more freaking buttons and doohickeys on it then the damn space shuttle.

“Please have a seat and keep me company. Would you like some fruit?” He pushed a plate of cut up fruit to the middle of the table and went back to chopping. I was in a trance watching his knife make quick work of a mango.

“Holy cow, you are fast. Thank you for the coffee by the way.”

“Happy to dazzle you with my culinary skills; they go so unappreciated these days.”

I let out a laugh and then quickly covered my mouth. What was I doing laughing? I lost my husband five days ago. I had no business laughing.

Linc hated me when he left the cabin; he looked at me like he didn’t want to even know me. I had lost him even before his death. That was the absolute worst part. Knowing he left without me telling him how much I loved him, how I wanted to have all those babies with him. I had royally fucked up and I had no one to blame but myself. I knew I would regret that for the rest of my life.

“May I be frank?” the chef asked. That was an odd question. I gave him a nod, afraid of what my voice might sound like if I spoke. “I lost my wife of thirty years a few years back. I want to tell you that I know your heartache and I am truly sorry. One day you will understand it is okay to laugh again. Do not be so hard on yourself in the meantime.”

I would not cry. I would not cry in front of this man. The fuck I wouldn’t. The tears came. It took a few moments before I could speak again, “Thank you for that. My family thinks we should have a memorial service. We do not have a body to bury.” I sucked in a breath. If I was going to tell anyone, a stranger was best. My team already thought I had gone off the deep end. “It doesn’t feel right. Something in my gut is telling me that…” I trailed off not knowing how to put my feelings into words. I already sounded crazy enough.

“What is your gut telling you, darling?” He gentled his voice and his eyes were full of understanding.

“I just don’t know how to explain it. Maybe I cannot accept he is dead. Maybe I am just crazy, but deep in my gut something tells me this is all wrong. I need answers first.”

There I said it. Now he could tell my uncle I needed to be committed to the looney bin.

“Then find the answers.”

“What?”

“Mrs. Parker, if your intuition is telling you that something is wrong, then do not ignore it. Get the answers you need. They may not be the answers you dream to have, but you need them nonetheless.”

I drank my coffee and thought about what he said. He was right, just like Drew had done, this man had given me the words I needed to hear to get my ass back on straight.

“You’re right. Thank you. If you don’t mind, I am going to take my coffee and get to work.”

“Good day, young lady.”

The team was staying at the White House. Oddly enough I was staying in the ‘Lincoln bedroom’. Yes, there is indeed a bedroom named the Lincoln in the private living quarters. It was beautiful and it was kind of my uncle to allow us time here, but I wanted to go home to my town house and be around my things. Zane wanted me here, protected, until we had a lead on the mole in the CIA. And if I was here, my team was here. They all had my back and refused to leave me even after I begged them to. Even Drew stayed. I talked to Julie and she threatened to slash the tires on my bike if I even mentioned Drew going home to her. For a small little subbie thing she sure was scary. I had no doubt she would make good on her threat.

I made my way through the central hall way towards the Treaty room. My uncle was allowing us to use his private study as an office.

I sat at the desk with a blank piece of paper in front of me, tapping my pen against the desk. What do we know? Sonreir hired Deepweb336 to hack the CIA records. Deepweb’s brother Timothy Clark was paid to reinsert redacted information into a report for me to find. Why would Deepweb hack the data base if his brother was on the inside and on the take? Who actually ordered the information to be recovered and Deepweb to be taken out? The more I thought about what I knew, the more questions I had. My phone vibrated on the desk. I slid the lock open and entered my code.

G2579: The information you have requested has been sent to your tablet. Password of the                                           day will open.

Garrett had finally texted me back. Thank fuck. I was going crazy needing answers. I picked up my tablet and opened the file. Shit and Damn, two hundred and thirty pages. It bit my ass having to ask for help but it would go so much faster if I could get the team to help filter all this intel.

I was just about to text Zane when my phone vibrated again. The caller ID read BLACK.

“Black, everyone ok?” I glanced at the clock, 6:05 AM in DC meant it was 3:05 AM in California. Zane walked in the door, obviously surprised to see me already working. I motioned for him to shut the door. “I am putting you on speaker. Viper is in the room with me. We are private otherwise.”

“Viper. Nightstalker, we did some recon of the explosion sight like you asked. Ghost was right. There are tunnels under the house.” I looked up at Zane. He started clinching his jaw when he heard his brother’s call sign. OH SHIT! Black continued, “I will send you the map I drew while we were down there. The tunnel collapsed four hundred and ten yards south of the compound. Coordinates will be with the map.” Black stopped and took a breath. “Jasmin, you and I go way back, I do not want to give you false hope. There was blood in the tunnel; we swabbed it for a DNA match. Ghost’s record was wiped clean so it might take some time…”