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On the other side of the aisle, Ali and Mike were chatting as she sipped her mocktail.
“Ernie told Junior we have Hatchet and the others,” said Ali. “Sent me a video of him dancing for joy.”
“I don’t know how I would have faced him if we weren’t successful,” said Mike.
“He would have been devastated,” she replied. “But, once again, you, Axe, and the guys came through for us.”
“Hey, it was a team effort. If it wasn’t for you, Maria, and Jenny, we wouldn’t have found the pups, much less recovered them.”
The roar of engines interrupted them as the business jet accelerated down the runway and climbed into the air. Minutes later, it leveled out, and one of the pilots told them it would be three and a half hours to San Diego.
“Babe, you should get some rest,” said Mike.
“So should you. You and Rick must be exhausted.”
“My eyeballs are hanging out,” he replied. “But there’s one thing I need to do before I eat and put my head down.” He waved the stewardess over. “Hi, is it OK if I check on the dogs?”
“Of course, you can access the rear cargo area through the door next to the toilets,” she replied.
“Thanks.” He kissed Ali’s cheek. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
He made his way to the back of the plane and through the door to the cargo area. The dogs greeted him with excited barks as he knelt alongside Axe’s cage. “Hey, bud. How are you doing? Good to have the family back, together?”
The dog was chewing on a hunk of dried venison. He paused to lick Mike’s hand through the bars before returning to the leathery meat.
“That’s one hell of a dog,” said TJ’s voice from the cargo door. “If Hatchet turns out to be half the dog he is, the team’s going to be set up for success.”
Mike turned. “TJ, I didn’t get a chance to thank Deb yet. She went above and beyond to make this happen.”
TJ smiled. “Bud, we owe that dog our lives and our relationship. Deb’s just happy she could, in a small way, repay that debt. He’s family. You all are.”
“That means the world to us, TJ. The fact that everyone pitched in to get this done is not lost on me. I mean, even Ernie stepped up to run daddy daycare.”
“Dude, I wouldn’t have that man’s job for all the gold in Fort Knox. His two and yours make a bunch of bikies and a broken SEAL look like morning tea at an old folk’s home.”
Mike shook his head. “I really hope Junior hasn’t learned any new tricks. Last time he had a sleepover with the boys, they taught him how to build a Mentos soda grenade. He set one off in the laundry and killed our dryer.”
“Kids will be kids,” said TJ. “Now you know what it’s like running a SEAL team.”
“Come on, we’re not that bad.”
TJ laughed. “You sank a boat, got kidnapped by bikies, then by North Koreans, and your dog had to save you. Yeah, you’re not that bad. Now get some sleep. Something tells me Junior ain’t going to let that happen when we land.”
It was a bleary-eyed and disheveled Ernesto who met the team at the private jet terminal in San Diego. Three very excited, highly animated boys immediately demanded to see the dogs as they were being unloaded from the cargo hold.
TJ, Rick, and Mike made their way across to Ernie, who wore a relieved look.
“How are you holding up, brother?” Mike asked his teammate as the kids swarmed over the dogs and their mothers.
“Bro, I haven’t slept in 48 hours. These kids don’t stop. Like, seriously, last night they wanted to camp in the backyard. At three in the morning, they decided to wake the entire neighborhood with an air horn. I don’t even know where they got the damn thing.”
Rick threw an arm over the shorter man’s shoulder. “Well, it’s over now. Maria will whip them back into line.”
“Thank God. Look, never leave me out of a mission again. I don’t care how loco it is. I want in.”
Mike laughed. “OK.”
Ernie’s face remained deadpan. “I’m serious. And if I ever talk about having a third, someone punch me directly in the balls. Two is hard, three is beyond impossible.”
