Page 36 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

Chapter Seventeen

Mason

San Diego, California

2020

When I hang up the phone with Millie, I’m mad. I know she’s not telling me everything. Again. But at least she told me she’s going to Pakistan. And that means I’m going, too. I call Culver.

“I’ve been waiting for your call,” Culver says. “I just got the brief on the new mission involving Millie.”

“Yeah. I have to be in on that one.”

“Look, Mason. I want you back. You know that. But if you come back, you’re in for three or four months—however long it takes Stevie to recover. And, of course, I’ll take you longer than that—however long you want to stay.”

“Yeah. I get it. I’m in—for as long as it takes.”

“And just because you’re coming back doesn’t mean you’re going on this mission. It sounds like we’re going in immediately on this one, and I’m not sure you’re going to be mission-ready by then.”

“Give me any test you want to give me. I haven’t lost a step. I’m ready right now.”

“I’m sure that’s true. Just get here, and we can talk about it then. I’ll set you up with transport out this afternoon. Get to the base as soon as possible.”

When I get on the plane, I call Millie for the third time. I haven’t talked to her since she called me this morning. She’s not answering my calls or the several texts I’ve sent.

Unfortunately, I find out why when I land in Virginia Beach. Culver meets my plane. I’m barely on firm ground when he starts in.

“Millie asked me not to put your team on this mission.”

The engines are still winding down on the plane, so I think—and hope—I misunderstood him. “What’d you say?”

“You heard me the first time. She thinks it’s a conflict of interest because you’re dating,” he says with annoyance rising in his voice. “Why didn’t you leave her alone when I asked you to? I knew something like this was going to happen.”

I want to punch something so badly right now, but I know I need to keep everything in check, including my tone. “You’re not considering sending someone else, are you?” I say as unemotionally as I can. “You know my team is the best positioned for this mission.”

“I know, and it pisses me off that something else is clouding my decision. I don’t like emotional decisions, and I’m starting to feel like this is one,” he snarls.

“It’s not for me,” I continue on in an impressively even tone, considering how mad I am. Culver pulled me off the mission where she was kidnapped. I can’t let someone be responsible for her safety again. “This is not personal. My team is the most qualified. We’re already read in on the details of this network—this family. We’ve worked with Millie. The minute this mission starts, it’s one hundred percent the job for me—and it will be for her, too. I guarantee that.”

We’ve reached the parking lot where JJ—my second-in-command on the team—is waiting for me.

“Let me think about it,” Culver says as he heads to his car. “I’ll call you later tonight.”

“Welcome back, brother,” JJ says, cautiously eyeing my clenched jaw. He knows how to read every one of my moods, and he knows this one isn’t good. “What’s Culver thinking about?”

“Millie asked him to call us off this mission,” I say as I throw my backpack into the back seat.

“She did what now?” JJ shakes his head—the way he does when he disagrees with me on a decision I make on a mission.

“You heard me.”

“You talked to her about it?”

“Not yet,” I say, slamming the door so hard, it makes the car vibrate for a second. “She’s not returning my messages.”

JJ whistles. “Whew. How’s that sitting with you?”

“Not well,” I say, pounding my fist into the dashboard. “Not well at all. I’m going to need several shots of whiskey in my system right now.”

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