Page 43 of Whisper
“Why?”
David said nothing. He turned and kept walking for the compound.
David burst into the nerve center. George and Ryan were conferring, their heads leaning close. Phillip was at the radios, starting the switchover to convert to the secured satellite uplink back to Langley.
“We need to talk.” David stared right into George’s eyes. “Now.”
“Are you kidding me?” Ryan rolled his eyes. “You too? What the hell?”
“Ryan.” George closed his eyes, for a moment. “All right, both of you. Ryan, Phillip. Out.”
“Sir—”
George cut off Ryan’s protest. “Out. Now.”
David waited while Ryan filed past him, brushing too closely, staring him down. David kept his eyes fixed on George. Ryan was an asshole, but he was just the voice in George’s ear. George made the calls.
“What’s on your mind, Sergeant Haddad?” George had a pained expression. He spread his legs and crossed his arms, as if he were waiting for the executioner’s bullet.
“You’re making a mistake. Don’t send Caldera home. He’s the best officer you have on the ground.”
Everything in George slumped, a puppet whose strings had been cut.
“General Khan respects the hell out of him. He was Khan’s honored guest. We’ve been at the front for two days, embedded with their fighters. Not once, not once, during that entire time was he treated with anything other than the utmost respect and deference.”
“What was your role during the scouting? Did Khan speak to you?”
“I carried the backpack and I wrote what Caldera told me to write. I was muscle. That’s it. If you’re going to try and say I was the one Khan worked with, you’re wrong.”
“What about the Shura Nazar fighters? Did anyone… perceive anything?”
“You’re asking if the Afghans are freaked out about Caldera?”
“Yes.”
“Why? What did he do? What about his performance is causing you to question him? What has he done to earn this skepticism?”
“His performance has been fine—”
“Then where is this coming from?”
“You know where! We took a chance bringing him because of his knowledge base, but it’s too big a risk! We shouldn’t have done it to begin with. We don’t bring female officers because of the risks, and we shouldn’t have brought Caldera! I’m sick of worrying that he’s going to be attacked! That someone is going to take offense to his existence! Or, if things go wrong, and he’s captured by the Taliban! I can’t sleep, I’m spending all my fucking time worrying about him!” George turned away, pacing to the far wall. He stopped in front of the map and dropped his head. “I don’t want to lose anyone I’m responsible for.”
“You’re willing to banish the best man you’ve got on the ground?”
Turning, George peered at him. “You really believe that?”
“I’ve seen it. Firsthand.”
George withered. One hand rose, covering the mark on the map where their village was.
“Your fears and your prejudice are going to ruin the mission. And they’re hurting Caldera.”
“I’m not prejudiced.” George glared. “I have nothing against Caldera. Nothing.”
“Except you’re judging him on all the wrong things. For all the wrong reasons. Start looking at what he’s doing, not who he is. Start looking at his performance. At how exceptional he is here.” David snorted. “Stop listening to Ryan.”
George’s glare turned sour. He squeezed his eyes closed. “What about—” He hesitated. “—him and you? What’s going on there?”
