“Life is what you make of it
,
” Lou
said
firmly. “Let’s make a plan. To the kitchen where the phones are at, and the food
is waiting.”
“I will get Sable
,
” Slone murmured and they heard the thumping of his feet as he ran to find his
and Alex's
new pregnant wife.
San Diego California, home of Coronado SEAL Training’s main facility. All of the
guys had come, while Sable, Lou, and Timothy stayed back
to take
care of the ranch.
Gage had been grateful when David found out the
circumstances
and
chose to come with them as well. Coming home was hard enough to deal with. This
was the first time any of them had been on base. None of them had the heart to do
this before. If they met
someone,
it was in San Diego.
Driving up to the gates in their huge rented SUV
,
Gage felt his hands
grow
clammy. What were they going to find here? All of them had spoken to various men
from the base. Not wanting to draw attention to
themselves,
they had
quietly retired and hired someone to come and get their stuff.
“Well fuck
,
” Thane said f
r
om the back and groaned. All of them strained to see what he was looking at. On
the side of the rock wall, next to the entrance were the large signs that are made
for
each of the teams. They look like the coins they approved of when they first joined
the Unit
.
There were only 100
coins
made and given to the
members
, spouses, support staff, and the higher ups. The wall was lined with each of the
Teams circular sign and before
going on a mission, t
he guys would wal
k out and hit the sign for luck.
The Team TEN sign had a black ribbon across the
top of it. Signifying that they had lost a member of the team.
One
ribbon
was not enough
, Gage thought,
there should have been one for each of the men who died for serving their country
. Being a Navy SEAL was not a job
—
it was a lifestyle
—
a belief
—
something tangible to each
and
every man and woman
who
served
within
these gates.
The MP walked out with a clipboard in his hand
,
l
ooking down not at the driver of the SUV
,
who was Thane, one of the most decorated men
to
serve in the SEALs. He was a legend here, once an enlisted man like the rest, he
'd
clawed his way up, becoming an instructor, and finally joined a team when he saw
the team that was put together. He had worked with
each and every member of the squad before
and
he knew what
they
could do.
“ID,”
t
he MP said
gruffly
before looking up.
“Here,” Thane said and handed the man all of their IDs
. They were needed
to gain access to the base.
It took only a moment for the guard to glance at the ID and then his head snapped
up
, he
looked at the driver and then the passengers of the SUV, his eyes grew
huge
and
he snapped his hand in a salute and nodded.
“Clear,”
t
he man said
,
holding his head high out of respect for the men
,
and Thane nodded back and took the IDs.
When they cleared the gate
,
Ice said, “Bet the phone lines are burning up right about now.”
“Fun times
,
guys
,
”
Gage said
solemnly
. None of them wanted to do the whole dog and pony show. It was going to be rough,
trying
to grin and b
e
ar it while men shook their hands and saluted them.
None of them wanted that. They were not men who did what they did for the accolades
or the glory. It was and had always been about the men they fought next to
—
the country they loved
—
and the family they left behind. There was nothing else.
Thane pulled to the admin building and parked. They sat silent for one minute, then
two, gathering themselves
.
David sat in the back,
respecting
their need to prepare themselves.
Thane
was the one to break the silence
.
“
Pony
up
,
”
h
e grumbled and the men nodded briskly and opened their doors. “In and out, no socializing.
The quicker we are out of here, the quicker we will have Sammi.”
David stood next to Gage when they exited. He could feel the tension coming off his
friend and knew there was nothing he could say that would help the situation. His
silent support was felt by all
of
the men.
Thane led the small group to the front of the building and then
paused
briefly and looked back. His men nodded and David felt the suction of the door opening.
The cool
breeze
felt good after being outside.
As they
entered
the building
,
David noticed several things. The
lobby
was decorated with
pictures
of all of the teams, including the men who had fallen in the line of duty. It was
arranged in a hierarchy with the President on the top, then the Joint
Chiefs
and down.
Hell
,
the wall had to be forty feet tall, and forty feet wide.
The stairs situated in the middle of the lobby had to be needed to see the whole
thing.
Then along each wall stood men and women standing at attention, and when they entered
the lobby the snap of the salute was
unmistakable
.
Wow
, was all he could think. He had
never
seen anything like this.
Thane and the others froze as they took in the sight. Men and women wearing uniforms,
men and women wearing BDUs, and off
-
duty men and women who had apparently rushed to get here before they did. All of
them showing the respect
these men
deserved. It was an awesome sight,
and
an awesome fe
e
ling to know these men, and be with them.
Thane
snapped
his boot clad feet together and saluted back, as did the rest of them. A tall distinguished
-
looking
man
in BDUs lowered his arm and then walked toward them. He looked larger than life,
his
shoulders were
broad
, and his white hair
speckled
with
streaks
of black made him look like someone they could trust.
“LC, Master Chief, Voodoo, Ice, Boyscout, and Lobo, good to see you home
,
”
t
he man said and Thane nodded.
“
Good to be here
,
Commander Greese
,
” Thane said
gruffly
.
David knew from the tone of his voice the leader was touched at the
outpouring
of support.
He
would
have thought the men and women would disperse. But i
t
was the opposite, they seemed reluctant to leave before speaking to the guys. It
was a tribute to the men he already knew.
“We have people on the horn, getting rooms reserved for you to stay. We will figure
this out f
r
om there
,
”
t
he Commander said.
“Thank you
,
sir, but we are a little pressed for time here. I need info on Marie
,
” Gage said stepping forward.
“
Marie
? She is on leave, called at the beginning of the week
,
said she had company coming
,
”
t
he Commander said.
“To the house?” Gage said. “Is Sammi in the daycare then?”
“No, she said Sammi was being
taken
care of, she needed a little space. Now that
I
think about it. She did say something a little strange
,
”
t
he Commander said and frowned. “She has had a
rough
time of it
so
we have been giving her all the time off she needs to make sure they are solid.
My wife calls on her every other day to talk.”
“When did she speak to her last
,
”
Gage pressed.
“The day she called to ask for leave, she called me at home, which was a bit strange,
but she had done that a few times. No, she said she needed a bit of space to deal
with some company she was having.
Said
it was unexpected. I asked if
there
was a problem and this is where it got a litt
le weird. Marie said she had to go and pick up an impounded dog name Diego that was
sent from overseas. She didn’t know how the baby would react so she had someone watching
her. We offered. Anyway, she asked for June and I turned the phone over
,
”
t
he Commander said.
“Marie is allergic to pet dander
,
” Gage said grimly.
“Shit,” Thane swore. “That’s right
. R
emember when Ted tried to find one of those hairless dogs for her as a companion.
Marie said it looked like a rat.”
The Commander turned and began barking out orders to the men and women who were still
there. Thane and the guys didn’t hesitate.
They broke
into a sprint
and headed for
the door.
It had taken him m
ore than a year and a
half
t
o find t
he assholes who took his father
. More than seven million dollars
in
bribe
money to
hire men to help him. All of it was worth it, as long as he finally got his hands
on the team who was responsible.
He didn’t care if his
father
was a mean son of a bitch who sold arms. He was his blood. His family demanded
revenge on the United States military who still held his
father
at
Guantanamo
Bay. They had not been able to speak to him at all. In eighteen
months,
their family empire had almost crumbled when the men capture
d
his father. Now he was in charge, and his father had
taught
him well.
No one knew of his existence, since his father had kept the marriage a secret, protecting
his
brother, his
mother
,
and himself. Javor Dragomir was a name to be feared in his country. Now, Diego
Dragomir was the head of the family and nothing was going to stop him until he killed
each and every member of the team who took his father.
It was about honor for his family, and himself. An eye for an eye.
He would start with the insignificant men who carried out the orders, then he would
move up.
Soon the American government
would
realize their mistake, but not before he took as many lives as he could
.
He knew the team
. He had
gleefully helped them lose
half of it in a bombing. It should have made him feel better, but inst
ead it had infuriated him. This was moving too slow
—
the bomb had not accomplished wiping the
m
all out as intended.
When the team returned to the
S
tates
battered and broken, they disappeared. No one had been able to tell where they had
gone.
As luck would have it, last month someone told him about the wife of one of the
dead men
, still in the same house, working for the same place her husband had. She would
be able to tell him where the hell the rest of the team was.
Then two days ago his men had gotten a little over
-
excited because
of
the knowledge
of
information she
could and
would give them
—
it
had been exciting. The ball would finally be rolling.
She had proven more difficult tha
n
anticipated, refusing to tell them anything during her questioning. It was
disappointing
, but even more disappointing was when he received the call she was dead before telling
them a single word.
Unacceptable
, he thought as he paced the length of his massive office.
He had taken control of his
father’s
estate, and so the mansion now belonged to him. I
t
would
not
take long for the
governments
of the countries he sold weapons to,
to
discover he had taken over. He was going to strike fear into the hearts of the
enemies
before hand.
He was currently waiting for word of when the
y
had found the child. The men would come for her. He could feel it. The mother
planned smartly after their first contact making sure she hid the child well. However
,
a
mere
woman was no match for his intelligence
. I
t was
just
a matter of time before they were right back to where they started. In control and
on top.
He finally had all of their names and they were working through finding the families
of each of them. The easiest had been the wife, since she was still residing in
her
husband’s
home.
His update would be coming in the morning, for now he would wait, but soon his impatience
would get the better of him.