Page 60
“Had a busy night, boys,” he murmured as he sipped his coffee, oblivious to the fact that the SEALs he’d sold were now on board.
Chapter Twenty-Two
It was a somber hour-and-a-half journey back to the Canadian Coast Guard Station in Victoria. They arrived as dawn broke over the coastal city, but none of the team felt the reassurance that usually came with the sunrise. They had come so close to recovering the pups, only to fail. Mike and Rick were ultimately responsible and were feeling particularly disheartened as they stepped off the boat.
“We’re going to need you to come down to the station and make a statement,” said the RCMP officer. “We’ll get you some dry clothes and coffee.”
“Sure,” said Mike. “If you run us back to the marina with Charlie, we’ll get the women back to our accommodation and then come to the station.”
“We can make that work,” said the officer.
“We’ve got a lounge in our office. They can wait there till you get back,” added the Coastguard captain.
As the group walked along the wharf, a Blackhawk helicopter thundered overhead.
“There’s a naval station next door,” explained the captain. “Sometimes the Mounties use it.”
Ali’s phone rang as they reached the office. “It’s TJ,” she announced as she answered it. “Hey, TJ, yeah, I’ll put him on.” She handed the phone to Mike as they entered the station.
“I thought I told you to stay out of trouble,” said the team leader.
“Not the time, TJ. Rick and I are wrecked.”
“Well, you’d better unwreck yourself ASAP, frogman. We just landed at Malahat Navy Base, and we need to gear up for a ship underway.”
Mike stopped in the foyer and grabbed Rick by the arm. “Are you kidding me?”
“I don’t kid about this shit. Deb drummed up support for a ship underway recovery of abducted US personnel. Allegedly, the children of a retired SEAL war hero and their mother, a decorated former police officer, were abducted while on a fishing trip off Vancouver Island. Now get your ass over to Malahat naval base. We need to run mission planning before we get underway.”
“Will do,” Mike replied before handing the phone back to Ali. “Rick, we got a job on.” He turned to the RCMP officer. “Where can I find the Malahat Naval base?”
“That’s the base next door,” replied the officer. “You can walk straight along the waterfront and turn right. You can’t miss the air hangar.”
“Was that our helicopter, TJ?” asked Ali.
“Yeah,” said Mike. “He’s got us a second chance. Rick and I need to get over there.”
“Shouldn’t we all go? I mean, we’re a team, right?”
Mike glanced at Rick, who nodded. “OK, let’s all see what the old man’s got planned.”
“Over here.” TJ waved to the group as they rounded the side of a large building. “Deb has us set up inside.” He directed them through a narrow gap in an aircraft hangar’s doors.
Inside, an olive drab Blackhawk helicopter was being inspected by two aircrew in flight suits. Off to one side, Deb was setting up laptop computers next to a stack of black equipment cases. Upon spotting the team, she came over to meet them.
“You guys have been busy,” she stated as she hugged each of the girls and stooped to pat Axe. “I thought TJ told you to stay out of trouble.” She aimed a wink at Mike and Rick.
“Ah, it looks like you’ve been even busier,” said Mike. “How did you whistle up a Hawk?”
“Contracted solution, the agency has an account set up with them. I shuffled some of my discretionary funds and got them to run us up here.”
“Are they certified for long-distance over water?” asked Rick.
“Over water, shipboard operations, and fast roping,” said Deb. “The pilots are former 160th, and the bird is state-of-the-art. They’re rigged for low load long range maritime interdiction.”
“Your gear’s over here,” said TJ, gesturing to a row of boxes.
Deb gestured for the wives to join her at her makeshift command post. She had multiple laptops set up with headsets. “Girls, we’re going to run the operation from here. I’d usually have a couple of techs and an ops guy. You’re going to have to learn on the job.”
