“Good. You’ll partner mostly with Sammy or Dom, but the situation is fluid, so be prepared to switch when necessary.”
“Got it.”
Foster piped up from behind the wheel, “You’re getting thrown into the deep end, kid, kid. Remember your training. It’s a three-foot world outside the wire. For all of us, myself included. I won’t be thinking about my kids, who are too young to remember me if something happens, or my wife, who’d be left holding the bag. I’ll be thinking about my men. The guys to my right and my left.”
They weren’t speaking to me, but they spoke to me. I needed that reminder myself because spending energy worrying aboutmy unsettled situation with Xander when I had a job to do spelled disaster. And Alex needed to keep his mind on keeping his ass alive.
That meant I needed to let Xander be Alex, no matter how much I hated to do so.
The gates of NAB Coronado loomed ahead. We all pulled out our IDs as we got in line for entry. My phone rang as Shore Patrol checked the car.
I answered, “Lennox.”
“Where are you?” Commander Turner barked.
“At the gate, Commander.”
“You got a go bag?”
“Yes, sir.” Not with me, but I kept one at the base just in case we got a wheels-up call.
“Good. You’ll be getting a call from Langley. I requested you deploy with us. You’ll be working with Navy Intelligence. I want target packages before we hit the ground.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Turner?” Parker and Foster asked, their voices so in sync they almost sounded like one person.
I nodded. “Looks like you’ll be hitting the ground running.”
“Good. I’d hate to think the Navy pulled me away from my eight-week-old twins to hurry up and wait,” Foster grumbled.
“I’ll do my best to make sure you stay busy.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
“I’m confused,” Alex admitted.
“That’s a given, new guy. What’s all muddled in that baby SEAL mind of yours?” Foster asked.
“Two things: you’re a SEAL, right?”
Parker and Foster laughed. “Yes,” Foster said. “I’m on Team 3. I head up Charlie.”
“You said there were two things,” Parker said.
“Yeah, what the hell was the test? I get I passed, but what the hell did I do right?”
“And now you’ve passed another one,” Foster said.
Parker finished, “The test was not needing a reminder that you owed the team drinks. And the one Foster just mentioned was being smart enough to ask a question when you weren’t clear about something.”
Foster pulled into the parking lot, as did the other two vehicles the group had piled into at the bar. Doors opening and slamming shut covered the silence of operators walking into and through the building to the war room. The beeping of the locks echoed off the concrete. The door swung open, revealing chaos inside.
Commander Turner looked up. “Good, you’re here. We go wheels up in an hour. Get yourselves ready.”
The team and Foster nodded, leaving the room as a unit, headed to the cages, if I had to guess. I moved to my office. I needed to call my family, but Langley came first. I pulled out my chair, sat down, and logged into the system. I quickly checked my email, locating the orders to deploy with Team 3 and to call once on the ground.
I checked the time. Fuck. Fee would have a shit fit for waking her, but if I didn’t, who knew when I could let her know where I was.
