Page 55 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

Mason, In-flight, Rome to Jalalabad, 2020

“What’s wrong?” Mack answers on the first ring. “Is Millie okay?”

“She’s fine. The job’s done. She can fill you in on the details, but she’s fine.” I take a deep breath. “JJ’s dead.”

“How?” It’s the first question we ask. So many of our brothers have died in service that we don’t even feign surprise anymore.

“On a mission. I can’t get into details right now.” I pause for a second. He doesn’t say anything. He knows. “Mack, I’ve got to track down the people who killed him. I’m already on a plane headed to Afghanistan.”

“I know,” he says. “Do what you need to do.”

“I promised you I wouldn’t leave Millie alone. I left her in Rome—”

“Millie’s going to be fine,” he says. “I’ve got her until you get back. Take care of business and get home to her.”

“I just tried to call her. She didn’t answer. Will you try?”

“Mason, she’s a grown woman. It took me a while to realize that, but she is. She’ll be fine, but yeah, I’ll call her when we get off.”

“There’s something else,” I say slowly. “She doesn’t want me to tell you, but if something happens to me I want you to know—”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“That day at the barbecue when the agency director showed up—he told Millie Amar Petrovic might be her father. He married her mom right before she died. Millie didn’t want to tell you. She just talked to Amar, he confirmed they got married, but he kept ignoring her when she insisted he wasn’t her father. She’s never thought he was, but I want you to know. Millie keeps things from people so—”

“Mason,” he says quietly. “I know what she does. She doesn’t want to hurt the people she loves. She’s one hundred percent my daughter. She knows that as well as I do, but I’ll talk to her about it. Thanks for telling me. Just get home safely.”

“There’s more Mack.” I’m not sure I should tell him, but I know I’d want to know. “Nejra sent you a letter to tell you about the baby. She gave it to Amar to mail. He burned it. He said he told her that before she died, so she knew you didn’t get it. I’m sure she knew you would come for her.”

Mack takes a long, loud breath. “She knew I would come for her,” he says finally. “She knew. Did he tell you any more about how she died?”

“Yeah, peacefully. Haroun Hadzic’s wife drugged her when she realized what her husband was going to do. Nejra was sleeping deeply when he smothered her. Amar saw it happen. She didn’t struggle. She never woke up. Millie was sleeping on her chest at the time and didn’t wake up either, so it must have been very peaceful.”

“Does Millie know all this?” His voice is starting to get angry.

“Yeah. When I left, she seemed okay, but I know she’s not. She needs you.”

“I’ll call her right now.”

“God, I shouldn’t have left her,” I say, blowing a breath out through my teeth. “I’m sorry, Mack.”

“Son, you listen to me and you listen good,” Mack says, his voice getting deeper. “Get your head in the game. Millie’s fine. I’m fine. Worry about yourself and your team. That’s it. If you don’t, you’re going to come back in a body bag, too. Get over there, do your damn job, and then get back to my daughter. You understand me?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Mason, she needs you every bit as much as she needs me. We’re a team now. Get this done and get your ass back here.”

As I hang up with Mack, Culver’s making his way across the plane to me.

“We got some more information on JJ,” he says. “I’m not sure you want to hear it.”

“I probably need to though,” I say, sighing. “Just tell me.”

“The coroner did tests on him. He had heavy levels of meth in his system.”

“What?” I say, shaking my head to try to make sense of what he said. “JJ never took drugs. You know that. His body was a temple. He was healthier than any of us.”

“Yeah, I know. The coroner said he didn’t have any signs of long-term use. It must have been just recently that he started using. You know how agitated he’s been these last couple of months. I thought it was stress, but apparently, it was more.”

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