The Risks We Take Duet Box Set

53. Cooper

COOPER

T he United States government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists.

That’s their official stance. But when those terrorists kidnap US citizens—who happen to also be the very beautiful daughter of a US ambassador and her best friend, who’s the equally beautiful daughter of a very high-ranking FBI official, both overseas and volunteering for a peace mission—the official stance may be that we don’t negotiate with terrorists. But the reality is they send us in to do it for them because the PR nightmare of letting these women be taken and tortured or sold would be worse.

Axe and I have been sitting for hours on top of this empty house in the hills of Pakistan, just outside of an old, abandoned village, waiting for the exchange to happen about one hundred yards west of us. “Dude. What the hell’s wrong with you?” I adjust my scope and do a cursory look around, zeroing in on Ford and Linc, who are waiting outside of the first vehicle, with Trick and Rook in the second one. “You haven’t stopped fidgeting.”

Axel grabs a protein bar from his bag and throws half of it my way. “They’re thirty fucking minutes late. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” He chews his bar, then looks back out at the designated meeting zone. “Why the hell is Linc with Ford anyway? It should be Rook and Ford.”

“Ford wanted Linc today.” I don’t give anymore thought to it than that. He’s the team leader, and he makes those calls.

Through my scope, I clock movement to the east, and speak into my coms, “Get your shit together and your party hats on, boys, because the guests just showed up.”

A caravan of old military vehicles is heading down the winding dirt road toward our team, who waits to make the handoff.

I make my adjustments and settle in, while Command gives information through our coms.

Axel hunkers down in place on the other end of the roof and prepares to have the team’s back, should anything go wrong.

The fucking dirt kicks up with the dry wind that’s always present in this sand pit as two men emerge from the first vehicle, followed by two more from the second. All of them carry AK-47s strapped around their necks.

The men from the second vehicle pull two hooded women from the car and shove them out in front of them, digging the barrels of their guns into the women’s backs. But they don’t move toward Ford and Linc, leaving that instead to the other two men.

Ford holds the duffle full of money at his side but tells them he needs proof of life before he shows them the money.

“Remove the bags from their heads,” Ford’s voice filters through my earpiece.

“That’s five million dollars in Ford’s hands, Sinclair.” Axe places his eye against his scope. “You ever seen five mill in cash before?”

“Nope. And we’re not going to today either.” Not from up here. “Get your fucking head in the game.”

The potato sacks are ripped off both women, and yup, they’re the women we’re looking for. Banged up and bruised, but they appear to be in one piece. “Confirmed,” I say into my coms. “I have eyes on Saylor Reynolds and Calista Gallo.”

Ford gives the signal to confirm he heard me.

“Shit.” The guy from the first car turns, yelling something behind him. “What the fuck is he saying?” I ask anyone who can confirm.

“No clue,” Rook answers into the coms. “He’s too far away.”

“He’s moving. He’s moving,” Linc adds as the men behind the girls pull them back.

“Fuck. Something’s got them spooked.” I look into the hills but don’t see anything.

“Disable the last car” is ordered. And I don’t hesitate before taking out their tires.

“Are we taking out the others?” I ask, then look over at Axel, who’s been strangely quiet. “Axe, man. You with me?”

He adjusts his body to line up better with his gun.

Ford doesn’t answer as he tries to calm everyone down on the road. Both our team and theirs point guns at each other.

Fingers on the triggers.

One of their guys grabs the women.

And then, the world explodes.

T here’s a certain rhythm to a hospital room. It’s in the hum of the lights. The buzzing of the machines. The movement of the staff. Like everything moves in perfect synch.

In my few short years in the Navy, I’ve woken up this way a time or two... maybe three. The difference this time is that I don’t remember why.

When I force my dry eyes to open, the dark room takes a minute to come into focus, and even then, it’s not crisp. What the fuck is wrong with my vision?

I attempt to sit up and immediately regret it as pain spikes up my abdomen, and a massive pressure in my head threatens to detonate.

“Relax, Sinclair.” Ford’s voice comes from my left—I think—and I turn my head slowly his way as a wave of nausea rolls through me. “I’ll get the doc.” A chair scrapes against the floor, and I groan in response to the offending noise.

“What happened?” I rasp quietly as I try to focus on Ford, who grabs something that looks like a crutch next to his chair and leans his weight on it to maneuver himself to the door of my room.

Why is everything out of focus?

Ford opens the door and speaks to someone on the other side, then makes his way back to me. “What didn’t happen would be a better question,” he groans as he slowly lowers himself down into the chair as the curtain between my bed and the one next to me opens.

Rook drops down into a chair next to Trick with a grunt.

Trick is lying in the other bed, with his leg casted from hip to toe and hanging from a metal thing above the bed. “The mission went FUBAR in a way none of us could have possibly expected.”

I close my eyes and try to focus on something scratching at the back of my mind, but it doesn’t come. I will myself to remember what happened, but I’m coming up blank. The room goes in and out of focus as my eyes attempt to adjust. “What the fuck?” I rub my eyes, trying to clear them. “What happened out there? Did we save the girls?”

The girls... We were there to save two women.

I think.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Ford adjusts his position at the foot of my bed.

“The last thing I remember was the team sitting in the command room, going over how to execute the mission.” The pain behind my eyes settles to a dull ache as I try to focus on Ford but can’t.

Rook leans his elbows on his knees. Dark circles surround his eyes, and a white bandage wrapped around his forearm pulls tight against his skin. “How’re you feeling, Sinclair?”

“Like someone put my brain in a blender. Will one of you tell me what the fuck happened? Where are the other guys?” I don’t dare try to move again, for fear of the pain in my head coming back.

Ford clears his throat. He and Rook are both in sweats, unlike Trick and me, who lie in our beds in hospital gowns.

“Where’s Linc and Axe?”

Just then, a nurse in blue scrubs walks through my door and starts fussing with my chart. “How’s your pain on a scale of one to ten, Petty Officer?”

“A two,” I tell her without thinking it through, just wanting her out of the room so I can fill in the blanks.

“Now is not the time to be a hero, sailor. Your body will heal faster if it’s not in as much pain.” She checks the machine next to me, then she adjusts the starched white blanket around my waist and lifts my gown to check the bandage on my abdomen.

“Holy fuck. Was I shot?” I ignore the groan coming from Trick while I look down at my bandaged abdomen in shock.

“Yes. They had to go in and retrieve the bullet.” She writes something in her chart, then rolls a tray my way and fills a cup with water. “A doctor will be with you shortly. Let me know if you need anything.” She hands me the remote for the bed, then turns to Rook and Ford. “You’re both supposed to be in your own rooms.”

Ford smiles at her. “But you’re not going to kick us out, are you, Denise?”

Denise shakes her head as she rolls her eyes and goes through a similar assessment with Trick before glaring back at Rook and Ford. “Leave the lights off and the blinds drawn for now. And no loud voices or noises or you both go back to your room. Got it?”

Both men agree before she shuts the door. Then they turn back to Trick and me without saying another word.

I push the button on the bed and adjust myself slowly to a sitting position, feeling the slight twinge in my side.

Damn. These must be some good meds.

“What the hell’s going on? How long have I been out?” I demand.

Trick tries to adjust himself and winces. “Two days, brother. We both got out of surgery yesterday, but this is the first time you’ve woken up.”

Rook leans back against the cabinet and groans, then looks at Ford while my brain tries to catch up. “What aren’t you saying?”

“Linc’s dead.” Ford lifts his eyes to the ceiling. “The damn building came down on all of us.” Ford blows out a long breath before adding, “We got one of the girls, but they still have the other.”

“What?” There’s a whooshing in my ears as I try to absorb what he just said.

He’s not right.

He can’t be fucking right.

“Linc—” The rest of the words stick in my throat.

He was my battle buddy all through boot camp.

We got each other through hell week together.

I don’t want to believe they’re right.

I can’t.

Rook presses the palms of his hands against his face and rubs his eyes. “Yeah, man. Linc’s gone... And it gets worse.”

“What the fuck’s worse than Linc being dead?” There’s no way it can get worse.

Fury settles in Rook’s face like I’ve never seen before. “Axe betrayed us.”

“What?” Clearly, my brain isn’t working at top speed, so there’s no way I heard him right. “What the fuck did you just say?” My stomach drops as my blood roars.

Ford stands up, leaning against his crutch, and moves next to my bed. “Axel shot Linc. From what we’ve gathered, he was working with the terrorists.”

I sit in stunned silence as Ford’s words bounce around in my broken brain, like a puck trying to find the net in the air-hockey game Nat and I used to play when we were kids.

And why can I remember that, but not what happened? Wait. “Does anyone have any idea where Axe is?” I try to focus on Ford, but he’s too far away, and my head throbs again in a brutal revolt.

A look passes between Ford and Rook that makes me brace for what’s coming next because it’s not going to be good. Even broken, that much is obvious to me. “Say it.”

With a heavy sigh, Rook sits in the chair by my bed and seems to brace himself for whatever he’s about to say. “Look, what I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room.”

“It doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere anytime soon, brother.” I motion to my body sitting under the starched hospital sheets.

Trick nods his agreement, and Ford, who already seems to know what’s about to be said, makes himself more comfortable against the door, crossing his ankles, and blocking anyone’s entrance from interrupting us.

Rook exhales and leans forward, his forearms braced on his knees. “I’ve told you I have four brothers, right?” The corner of his mouth kicks up as his gaze sweeps the room. “I mean, other than you asshats.”

Trick scoffs. “You fucking love us.”

“Mm-hmm,” he agrees, shaking his head.

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned them,” I say, trying to keep us on track. My brain’s having a hard enough time focusing. I don’t need the extras right now.

“Okay, what you don’t know is the five of us also have a half-brother.”

I shrug. “And? So do I. That’s not so unusual.”

Rook grimaces. “My brothers and I all have the same father. Jasper Woods.”

Trick frowns. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

“Because he runs Black Box Ops,” Ford speaks up, the muscles in his jaw twitching. “He’s also a decorated general. Retired a few years back and started his company. He hires ex-military contractors.”

“Shit, I’ve heard of them.” Most military men have. They’re a mercenary company that works for the highest bidder, in both the government and private sector. They’ve been involved in some shady shit in the Middle East and Asia. They tend to recruit from branches of the military, focusing on the best of the best from each branch.

Rook sighs. “Jasper is a fucking maniac.”

“We’ve all got family issues, man.” Trick tries to play it off.

“Did your father murder your little brother?” Rook stares off to the side.

My heart slams in my chest. Fucking hell.

“Didn’t think so,” Rook says when no one speaks. “Jasper’s involved in a lot of shit with a lot of guys.”

“Like?” Trick presses.

“It’s too much to get into, but my brother Court and some friends started Phoenix International. It’s an organization that fights back against what Black Box does. They work in direct opposition to them. You guys know this is my last tour with the SEALs. I’m going to work for them when my contract’s up.”

My head pounds in time with my pulse. “What exactly are you saying?”

“Phoenix operates under the radar, but one of the guys Court is friends with is doing some digging into this op. So far? He’s found quite a bit about the shit Axe has been up to. He made some deals with some nasty motherfuckers.” Rook looks like he’s swallowing nails.

“Who?” I grit out, wanting the details on why a guy I trusted with my life betrayed us and killed Linc.

“We’re working on it,” Rook mutters.

“There’s a reason we’re having this conversation now,” Ford adds. “The mission we were on wasn’t officially sanctioned. The Navy is going to minimize public and political fallout by burying as much shit as they can.”

“Having a SEAL go AWOL probably doesn’t look good for Uncle Sam,” Trick snaps.

“Which is why I have my people looking into Axe,” Rook states, his tone cold. “Axel was one of us. He betrayed us . I want fucking answers before we turn him over to the authorities. As soon as we find him, we’ll handle this together.”

“Hooyah, motherfuckers,” Trick agrees with a savage grin.

Ford looks from Trick to me. “You two listen to the doctors and heal up. We’ll need you soon enough.”

I nod, frustrated that I’m stuck in this bed when I should be out there trying to find Axe.

I look at my friends—my brothers—and know I need to be there when this shit goes down.

There’s no other option.

Whatever it takes, Axe has to answer for what he’s done.

He’s got to answer for Linc.