Page 64 of Unloaded
“What do you mean? They wouldn’t do that…would they?”
“I heard rumors that the C.I.A. had been recruiting servicemembers to infiltrate insurgent groups by any means necessary so they could learn the ins and outs of their organization and their routines,” Kelvin replies while typing furiously on his laptop.
“What does that have to with 1Lt Montgomery? She wasn’t C.I.A,” I remind him. I’m really struggling to put this all together. She wasn’t undercover. She’d been abducted in broad daylight. We’d been called in as soon as they’d gotten credible intel on where she was being held.Hadn’t we?
“You said she’d been held for two months before your team had been called in,” Kelvin says, repeating what I’d already told them. “What if her abduction had been a ruse? What if she’dbeen a plant to gain intel on the group, but something went wrong?
“The C.I.A. wanted her pulled out, but the 1stLt may have had information someone within the C.I.A. didn’t want to become public knowledge.”
“Are you for real?” I ask incredulously. “Are you seriously hinting that someone within our own government organization could have been involved in the intel leak, making our extraction damn near impossible?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Kelvin replies, staring me dead in the eyes. “There’s a group I joined on the dark web that strives to bring light to corruption in the system. There’s been a lot of chatter lately that has led me to believe it is highly possible your mission was intentionally compromised. Unfortunately I don’t believe the 1Lt is the only victim of whatever is going on.”
The room is silent as we all process what Kelvin has divulged. Either our government is corrupt and knowingly sacrificing members of the military, or an individual or individuals have taken it upon themselves to do so, but why?
“Have you talked to your C.O. since you got out?” Bo asks, changing the subject. I shake my head. The man, Pitbull, has tried to call me several times, but I’ve always sent it to voicemail. It’s the same message every time, ‘Call me’.
“You need to talk to him. A buddy of mine from when I was on the teams called me recently. I was in the labor room with Shelby, when Axel was being born, so I didn’t answer.
“He left a rather strange voicemail, but with having a newborn and everything, I haven’t taken time to call him back to ask him about it,” Bo says, pausing a moment. “Now I’m thinking the voicemail was meant for you, or at least, for me to get you to get in touch with your former team.”
“Who’s the buddy?” I ask, racking my brain to think who had been on both teams that Bo and I had been on.
“Tiger.” Well, that makes sense. I’d gotten a call from him, too, but I’ve been avoiding everyone who reminds me of that time in my life.
It had been a shock when I’d seen a group of still active SEALs in Jay’s when Marley had worked there. I’d stopped by their table and talked to them briefly. Just long enough to let them know Marley was taken, and they were to treat her respectfully, or they’d have to deal with me and my brothers. Needless to say, we hadn’t had any problems out of them.
When I’d gotten the call from Tiger, I’d ignored it and hadn’t even bothered with listening to the voicemail he left me. Yeah, I know. I’m an asshole. He could have been needing a brother, but I haven’t felt worthy of being a brother, not since that day.
I haven’t had their backs like I should have since I got out. Yeah, I’ve gone to funerals since then, paid my respects to our fallen, but I haven’t hung out with anyone from the teams other than Dalton and Bo.
Bo and I couldn’t be on the same team or even same unit due to the high-risk nature of our jobs. The government doesn’t want to have to tell a family that they’ve lost both their sons in an operation that went to shit. I get it. It’s the worst thing in the world to lose a brother, whether it’s a blood brother or team brother. I’ve lost more than my share of team brothers over the years, both active duty and after getting out.
I’ve been blessed to not have lost one of my blood brothers. We came mighty damn close when Luke had had his accident, and Daisy has put herself in some seriously dangerous situations. She’s been at Walter-Reed enough I’m surprised she hasn’t had a wing named after her.
Although I’m thinking I’m not going to have to worry about her getting into shitty situations so much anymore. Ace has calmed her down significantly since he came into her life. I hate thinking about my sister doing the deed with Ace, but he’s agood man. I saw that when she and Marley had been abducted. That man had been ready to obliterate the planet to get my sister back, safe and sound.
And when he did? He treated her like the queen she is after properly spanking her ass for getting into harm’s way. I’d rather not think about the spanking part, but he did what she needed to keep her safe while making sure she recovered from her ordeal. I can’t be upset with him for that.
I’m coming to understand a man will do just about anything to make sure his woman is protected, which is why, for the first time in more than six years, I’ve talked about the day 1stLt Montgomery lost her life in the desert.
“You need to find out what Tiger wanted.” Bo’s statement draws me out of my head again. “It must be important.” I nod, dragging my phone from my pocket. I pull up the voicemails, click on it, and put it on speaker.
“Man, you need to fucking answer my calls!” Tiger exclaims with annoyance. “I got something to tell you that’s going to change your world, but I can’t talk about it on the phone. I need to see you live and in person, Duke.”
“Call him.” The demand comes from Dalton who’s still giving me the stink eye, which if I’d be honest with myself, I deserve completely. I pull up my contacts, press the button, again placing it on speaker and wait.
Tiger is still active duty, so I’m not expecting him to answer, especially since it’s been a couple of weeks since he last called. Yeah, the man has called daily, sometimes more often than once a day for the last few months. I’ve ignored them all, not wanting to deal with the ghosts of my past, even though I wrestle with them every night.
“About fucking time, Duke! Where the hell you been?” Tiger’s voice booms over the speaker in greeting.
“Hey, Tiger,” I respond. “Long time no see.” It’s lame; I know, but I’m not sure what the fuck else to say, because I have no excuse for ignoring a brother for so damn long. It just goes to show how good a brother he is that after six years, he still tries to reach me.
“And who’s fault is that?” We all know the answer to that, so I don’t bother replying.
“I got you on speaker,” I inform him instead. “My brothers and team members at Invictus are here, just FYI.”
“Bo? You there, man?” Tiger queries.
