Page 100 of Call Sign: King
Thunder announced, “Time to dig in everyone. The food is getting cold.”
Ryder stood on the sidelines, watching his BSO family having fun, enjoying each other’s company. Watching how easily Khloe fit in with the rough crowd of soldiers made his heart swell with pride. She was so strong. She’d more than proved that these past few weeks. Looking back at him from across the room, she turned on that thousand-watt smile of hers. He felt its warmth in every part of his body — it was that powerful.
“Hey man, I’m sorry to do this, but something’s come up. I need a couple more days off.”
Torn away from admiring his wife, Ryder glanced over to see a frowning Torch. “Is everything okay? You seem upset,” he said, choosing not to ignore the obvious.
“Yeah… it’s probably nothing, but there’s something I need to check out. It won’t take long. I’ll be sure to be back before Wednesday’s big meeting.”
The men had known each other for a long time. There was a story here.
“You need to take someone with you?” he offered.
“Naw… I gotta do this one on my own. Like I said, it’s probably nothing.”
When Ryder didn’t say anything, Torch added. “I’ll tell you more when I get back, I promise. I just need to get out of here.”
“Okay, man, but you call if you change your mind. I don’t know what’s up with you, but if you need help, all you need to do is ask.”
“I know that, and I will.”
Amir didn’t wait any longer, and he didn’t bother to say goodbye to anyone else either.
“Is everything okay?” Khloe asked, bringing over a plate full of food — or at least full by Khloe Monroe standards.
“Yeah. I think so,” he lied. Changing the subject he said, “I’d better grab my plate soon. It looks like Hawkeye is taking all the bacon.”
“I earned this bacon,” Jacob called back, his mouth full.
“Don’t make me pull rank on you.” Ryder took the last strip of bacon. “It’s nice to be the King.”
* * *
Personal Author’s Note:I hope you enjoyed Ryder & Khloe’s story, but as you can see, things are just heating up for our Black Sky Ops team. Khloe may be safe now, but can the team scour the earth to find Axel’s daughter, Mia?
As a mother, I’ve always said that the absolutely worst pain I could think of would be to have something happen to my son and not know where he was or how to help him. Years ago, when I was writingBlack Light: Rescued, (Khloe & Ryder’s opening story) I gave Axel this horrific backstory, knowing that one day I’d be writing about the hell he and Mia have been stuck in. That darkness will continue to unfold in the next few Black Sky Ops books. Keep reading for a snippet of the next book in the series,Call Sign: Torch, coming soon.
Epilogue
TORCH
Torch pulled the rental car into a parking spot directly in front of the nondescript administrative building in Miramar, California. The empty parking lot proved why he’d needed to jump through the extra hoops to setup this meeting.
It was well past visiting hours.
Leaving everything in the car except his wallet and keys, he made the short walk to the entrance, stopping at the near-deserted information desk where the sole security guard on duty stood as he approached, a stern look on his face.
“I’m Amir… “ he started.
“I know who you are.”
Knowing what he’d gone through to arrange this little get together, Torch wasn’t surprised he was expected.
“Then you know why I’m here,” he supplied, not exactly sure what the protocol was for a visit like this.
“ID,” the guard spat.
Pulling his wallet out, Torch handed over his driver’s license, accidentally letting his wallet spill open enough to also show the Marine insignia stamped on the inside.
