“You bitch. Get these clothes off her; I go first.”
Chapter 43
The Blackhawk and the Chinook took off together. “General, it looks like we have Mr. Brennan in sight. Should we pick him up?” the co-pilot asked.
“Roger.”
The helo banked and dropped, then they lowered a rope to Kip. He grabbed it, but with his injured shoulder, he couldn’t carry his weight.
“Asshat,” Wes called. “I’ll get him.”
Troy watched as Wes and Zach donned harnesses. Both men secure, they climbed down the rope. In the air and swinging with the rotorwash, Zach supported Wes as he flipped upside down, wrapped a ring under Kip’s armpits, pulled it tight and wrapped his arms around him. The team on board raised them up.
Inside the helo, Kip saw Troy and grabbed a headset. “I didn’t want to leave her behind. She said as my XO, it was her job.” Tim and Trask began ripping off the makeshift bandage Gwen applied to him. “It’s through and through,” he growled. “Friggin’ Billings. How did we miss him?”
“Caleb is working on it,” Martin joined the conversation.
Tim tapped his headset. “Kip, squeeze my fingers. Bend your arm. Raise it over your head.” He took Kip through a complete set of range of motion exercises. “Looks like not too much blood loss. I’m going to bandage the wound, and when we get you to the hospital, we’ll get a better look at it. Now tell me about Gwen.”
“Cook hit her a couple of times. They threw her on the ground and kicked her. She put me between her and a bullet and took one to her right flank. Tim, I couldn’t find an exit wound. I left her about to climb a tree.” Kip sighed.
“This is Chase HH-60 about to drop cargo,” the pilot of the other helo said.
“Roger, Chase Chinook,” the Pave Hawk’s co-pilot replied.
“Bravo Team, Alpha Squad, go, go, go,” their team leader, Josh “Hoist” Stone, said.
“Bravo Team, Bravo Squad, go, go, go,” Bravo Team’s XO, Noah “Rainman” Paulsen, ordered.
The red light blinked in the Pave Hawk. “One minute to drop,” the pilot called.
Their headsets went live, and Martin’s voice came over, “Alright, I know sometimes what makes the best sense is not the right thing. Zach, I need you to tandem repel with Kip. Wes, tandem repel with Troy. Jule, Tim, Trask and I will repel first.”
The green light flashed. “Stay frosty, everyone,” Troy ordered. “Alpha Team. Go, go, go.”
Wes attached his harness to Troy. “One for old times,” Wes said. The two men pounded fists.
Hand over hand, they grasped the rope and together stepped free from the floor of the helo, dropping toward the ground. As they came down, Wes released one hand and repelled faster, ensuring his legs would take the brunt of the landing. After hitting the ground, they released the rope.
Silently Troy pounded each of Wes’s shoulders and gave him a double thumbs up. Dropping their night vision glasses into place, they manned up with the rest of Alpha Squad.
“Control to Alpha Squad; you will see six trees spread out in front of you. The comm center is one half click behind them,” Ian’s voice filled their ears.
“Bravo Alpha, there are two armed men in front of the entrance. Bravo Bravo, you are about to stand on the roof. Its condition of support is unknown. Marine QRF, please form a secure perimeter around the targeted comm center.” Ian’s voice was ice-cold.
Troy said a prayer, then tapped his comm. “Move out.”
* * *
Gwen shivered hardafter the second bucket of cold water flowed over her now naked skin. They’d been foolish, and other than a man standing at each corner of the table, they failed to secure her.Misjudging a woman again.
Four men were down. As a fifth man, the other psychiatrist, Acosta, left for a shift at the hospital, she called to him, “Your days ruining people’s lives are over.”
He laughed. “She proves our point every minute she breathes. Women should be seen and not heard, and the men who believe in them are cowards.”
The door closed. She was alone with two men outside the door, three more inside the door, and CIA agent Patterson, Dr. Mitch Ackers, George Stacy, and Will Cook.
It was getting harder to move her jaw.If Troy could move his, I’ll move mine.“Doc, what’s the evil experiment on tonight’s agenda? Stacy, where’s your pad and your Samuel Carter pen?” He glared at her. “Big mistake, Georgy. One of the victims described it to me.” Gwen forced the words out.
