Grumbling under his breath, he shot off a quick text to Wyatt.
Harrison:I have three addresses of where the package is likely being held.Possible deployment in the morning.Waiting on authorization from Command.
Wyatt:Roger that, sir.
Agitated, Harrison rose from his desk and paced his office.Waiting around didn’t suit a man like him.If push came to shove, he knew he’d be on plane himself.He had weapons.Access to his teams’ body armor and gear.Going AWOL might damn well be career-ending, but deep in his gut, Harrison knew he needed to get to Luciana.
He stilled, his mind a torrent of thoughts.There’d been another woman, long ago.In another life, there’d been someone that he couldn’t save.Harrison’s career as a Navy SEAL had made him the man and commander he was today.He’d had successes right alongside failures.Yet he’d never forgotten the young woman who’d been left behind when his SEAL team took out a terror cell during his early years in the service.Multiple hostages had been rescued, countless lives saved because of the evil men killed, and he’d seen the young woman, screaming for help.
There’d been so much confusion and chaos.So much blood and gore.He’d looked over, ready to go to her, when she was kidnapped right in front of them by a group of retreating insurgents.One vehicle was blown up by his teammates, but the second escaped.
He’d found her broken body the next day in a field, inadvertently discovering her during their final sweep of the town, and remorse shot through him like a bullet.
Painful.Piercing.
The horrors of war would never be something he could fully comprehend.Even living it, breathing it, the rationalization of the evil of mankind was still impossible.
Harrison hadn’t saved that woman an entire lifetime ago, but he’d damn well save this one.
His phone buzzed with an incoming message, and Harrison crossed to his desk, grabbing his cell.The silent notification had pinged on his laptop as well.Harrison cursed, seeing the newest message from the admiral.He quickly scanned it over, reading the last snippet as he filled with anger.
Upon review of the latest SITREP, DOD requires additional intelligence gathering and further analysis of the situation unfolding in Panama City.Your team is not authorized to move in.
“God damn it!”he seethed, pounding his fist on the desk.
Time was something they didn’t have.He had the men, the knowledge, and the capability to move in and exfiltrate Luciana, but he couldn’t send the team in and risk their careers.Harrison looked at the open folder on his desk, his eyes landing on Luciana’s picture.“I’m coming for you,” he swore.
Thumbing a message on his cell phone, he sent another text to Wyatt.
Harrison:Stand down.I’m retrieving the package alone.
Chapter 7
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GRAVEL CRUNCHED BENEATHhis boots as Harrison hustled down the ramp and onto a remote airfield in Panama at ten hundred the next morning.It had been a lengthy, thirteen-hour flight, and Harrison was grateful he’d gotten a few hours of shut-eye.It was fortuitous that he’d gotten a ride so quickly, enabling him to grab his gear and immediately go wheels up.Harrison had called in a favor from a pilot buddy of his.The upside of being in the military for so many years was that his list of contacts was long.The list of favors he was owed was longer.He hadn’t gotten to where he was in his career today without making both friends and enemies along the way, and this time, he’d cashed in on a promise from a friend.It had come in the form of a one-way flight to Panama.Harrison would work out a way home later, but at the moment, that was the very least of his concerns.
