Chain of Command (20 page)

On the positive side, he had some of the best with him. Daniel had volunteered first. He’d come armed with his M40 Sniper rifle rather than the bulkier .50 caliber Barrett. MSgt Trent and Gaucho were next, inseparable as always.

The last two members of their team of six had come as a surprise, and at the recommendation of Gaucho. Rather than bring two of his own men, he’d called back to Ft. Bragg. Vince and Karl had agreed on the spot, eager to deliver some payback to the corrupted soldiers.

Six men against who knew what. No electronics. No explosives other than grenades. Steel and flesh.

Mason had promised that other than the presence of highly advanced anti-air batteries that would keep Cal’s supporters from bringing in close air support, he and five men would be under the same rules as their opponents.

And so they flew and they waited, watching the treetops below and wondering when the wheel would stop turning.

+++

3:49pm

“You all know where to go.”

The men around Mason nodded. They were pros. All they needed was a point in the right direction and off they went. If their success against the Marines was any indication, the men in the empty Quonset hut were the best of the best. Sure they’d had their run-ins with the law, some even spending time in the stockade and/or civilian jail, but when it came to taking out a target, there were few to rival their talent.

Mason had collected them over the years, helping them when no one else would. In return they’d pledged their loyalty as he’d stuffed their pockets with crisp dollar bills. The big payoff was coming. They’d struck the heart of their enemy, but the lumbering beast wasn’t through yet. The operators salivated as much as their patron when they thought about the destruction of the Marine Corps and the spoils that would inevitably come their way.

The only tiny thing they had to do now was kill six idiots who were dumb enough to come onto their home turf. To the six men prepping their gear before step-off, the game was tailor-made.

+++

4:03pm

Cal wrote down the coordinates as Mason rattled them off. He repeated them to the general, who confirmed that they were correct.

The six men in the back of the Osprey examined the outspread map as the pilot shifted course toward their objective.

“At least he picked a spot away from civilization,” said Trent.

He was right. There was nothing but trees, hills and rivers all around the objective.

They didn’t want to insert too far away considering their time constraints and the terrain. It took them another two minutes to find a spot suitable for landing, and plot a preliminary ingress route.

Cal gave the pilot the LZ coordinates. After inputting them in his computer, the pilot said, “Seven Mikes.”

+++

Falls Church, Virginia

4:09pm

Despite the situation, Diane had enjoyed her time with Cassy Ellwood. The stories she told about her time as a Marine wife made her want to laugh and cry. Cassy described her first date with her husband, and how he’d almost driven them off a cliff when he’d forgotten to put the borrowed convertible in park. She’d told Diane about the long deployments and the unknown. The retelling was her way of stepping back in time and walking in her old shoes. At times she laughed and once she cried when she told Diane about the baby she’d lost when then Col. Ellwood was on deployment.

“I never really forgave him for that,” she’d said. Diane could understand. In a way it felt like a subtle warning. “Get mixed up with a Marine and this could happen to you.”

But Diane appreciated Cassy’s candid storytelling. She could tell that the career Marine wife wasn’t sugar-coating a thing. Diane wondered if she would’ve done the same if she were in Cassy’s shoes. In many ways, Cal’s choice of career was even worse than General Ellwood’s. Where at least Mrs. Ellwood knew basically where her husband was, and that he was surrounded by a battalion of Marines, Cal was the opposite. The Jefferson Group worked in small teams, often without outside help. Like they were doing now.

Diane wished she knew what was happening, but another part of her didn’t. Would she be able to handle Cal’s death as stoically as Cassy had with her husband? Diane doubted it.

And so she busied herself with helping Neil, then coming back to talk more with their hostess. They’d finally gotten to the end of the story. Cassy was telling Diane about their trip to Disney World.

“I pray that whoever you end up with, Diane, always strive to love each other as much as humanly possible. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it. I loved Doug despite his obsession for the Marine Corps. I know it was hard for him. He didn’t understand our sons, who were more than a little rambunctious with their liberal stands. I don’t blame him for pushing them away, just as they did to him. But there comes a point when a woman has to put her foot down. I gave him the choice, his family or his career.” Cassy sighed. “If I’d only known what he was going through. If only he’d told me, maybe I could’ve helped. Maybe we could have run away and left it all behind.”

Diane placed her hand on top of Cassy’s.

“If I’ve learned anything about your husband today, it’s that he wasn’t afraid of a fight. I’m sure he found a way to hit back.”

“And that’s why you’ve all been searching the house, to see what he left behind?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Diane said, hurting for the woman who stared at her with tear-filled eyes, begging for a solution that Diane could not supply.

“So tell me about Disney. What did you do? What did you see?”

Cassy nodded and talked about how the trip had started off with its rocky moments, especially between General Ellwood and his sons, but that they’d warmed to him by the third day.

“And what about you and the general? Did you have time together?”

Cassy smiled, her eyes sparkling. “Selfishly, I think that was the best part. It was like we were dating again. He rarely let go of my hand. We stayed up late and slept in until room service came knocking. We talked like we hadn’t talked in ages. I cared for him before we went, but I fell back in love with him while we were there. He really was like a college kid again. Nervous and horny. I thought he was having a seizure when he gave me my present.”

“What did he give you?”

Mrs. Ellwood slipped a silver chain out of her blouse. On the end was a beautifully carved silver Eagle, Globe and Anchor with an impressive diamond set in the globe.

“I know it may seem cheesy, like a lance corporal giving his date a brass EGA, but the way he explained it to me…I don’t think I’ll ever take it off.”

“What did he say?”

“Well, Doug wasn’t much of a romantic, and he stumbled a bit before he found the right words, but the gist of it was that he found me and the Marine Corps at the same time, and that while I may think that he considered the Corps more than his own wife, the diamond signified our love, and that the answer to any of our questions always came back to that, love.”

“Can I see it?” asked Diane.

Cassy smiled, unclasped it from her neck, and handed it to Diane. It was heavier than it looked. Not silver, probably platinum. The craftsmanship was superb with tiny intricate etchings along the eagle’s wings and the contours around the globe. She turned it over, admiring the continued design on the back. Something got her attention. It looked like a little clasp, just barely noticeable.

“Is it a locket?” Diane asked.

“I don’t think so, why?”

“It looks like there’s a clasp, or maybe…”

Diane tried to slide her nail under it but it wouldn’t give. She pressed harder and suddenly a perfectly inlaid hatch opened, like a secret door.

“What is it?” Cassy asked, breathless.

“There’s something in it.” Diane dumped the contents into her palm. It was a flat brown square with silver grooves that looked like a maze or railroads tracks crisscrossing at right angles. Her eyebrows jumped. “I think I know what it is!”

“What? What is it, Diane?”

“I think it’s a microchip.”

Chapter 36

North Carolina

4:11pm, December 11
^th

They disembarked as quickly as they could, taking up positions, weapons ready. The pilot didn’t waste any time. As soon as the last man had taken a knee, the Osprey powered up into the sky and disappeared over the trees.

Cal half expected the bird to be shot from the sky, and had recommended to the pilot that he loiter no longer than needed. The Marine captain and his co-pilot didn’t need convincing. They were brave, but they weren’t stupid.

As the sound of the hybrid Marine aircraft faded in the distance, Cal and his men watched and listened. Nothing. They waited another two minutes. Still nothing. The familiar racing blood coursed through Cal’s veins, heightening his senses. He could smell the frozen ground through the cut of the winter chill.

Finally, when no surprise jumped out to greet them, the team split into teams of two. Daniel would take his customary role on point with a decent head start. Karl had volunteered to go with him since he had the most experience as a spotter. They moved off into the gloom with a quick nod.

Gaucho and Trent would take the easternmost route while Cal and Vince would take a westerly route. The three pairs would be walking in a rough triangle, dispersement being the key. Better to give Mason multiple targets than to stay clumped together. It was a risk, but an acceptable one.

Five minutes after Daniel and Karl had left, the others split off to make their way to the object, and Cal wondered what tricks they’d find along the way.

+++

4:13pm

“Sir, their aircraft just dropped them off and is making its way north.”

“Good,” replied Gen. Mason, who was wearing a set of fatigues he’d purchased before the first Gulf War. He hated the new digital patterns the Army had adopted, for once following suit behind the Marines. “Which LZ did they choose?” There weren’t a lot of options for helicopter to land in the area he’d provided Stokes. Five had been pegged as the most likely to be used.

“They chose LZ Foxtrot, sir.”

So they’d chosen the northern-most of the five. It was a smart move, giving the invading force the most space to work with, but it was farther to travel. Mason wondered whether Stokes’s team of six would stick together or split. Not that it mattered, his men could handle either scenario, but something told him that they would maintain some sort of cohesion.

Mason had taken the opposite approach. His men were lone wolves, accustomed to working on their own. They thrived on it, mostly because they were more than a little rough around the edges, making teamwork challenging.

“Stow the laptop in my office and head out,” Mason ordered, pulling one of three cigars out of his blouse pocket.

Dan did as instructed, and then left the warehouse a minute later, not even giving his commander a second glance. The others were exceptional, but Dan was the best Mason had. Sure, he had a cocaine problem and liked to slap girls around, but Dan was exactly what Mason needed, a ruthless killer who would stop at nothing to destroy the enemy. He never complained and always got the job done. The perfect weapon for taking down the United States Marine Corps.

+++

Falls Church, Virginia

4:32pm

Neil confirmed Diane’s assessment and was in the process of digging out tools from one of his bags.

Diane and Cassy watched the perfectly tailored genius as he mumbled to himself and arranged his things neatly on the kitchen table.

“This may take a minute,” he said when he finally looked ready to start his examination. “Every chip is made differently, and sometimes it’s a matter of cracking the code, so to speak.”

He adjusted his glasses, grabbed a set of fine tweezers and laid the chip on a glass slide under a portable microscope. Neil turned on the light source and looked through the eyepiece. After fine tuning the magnification, he said, “Looks like…hmm, I think this is a standard medical microchip.”

“What does that mean?” asked Mrs. Ellwood.

Neil answered without looking up from his work. “It’s a lot like the microchips they’ve been putting into pets for years, but now they have them for humans. They’re implanted just under the skin and contain a sixteen digit ID number. The code is linked to a database that holds the patient’s medical information, allergies, anything that could help medical professionals in the case that the person with the implant becomes incapacitated.”

“Why would my husband use that?”

“They’re fairly common and readily available. And they’re not limited to medical history. You could put almost any information on them you’d like.”

“Do you think he left us a message?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” said Neil. He grabbed a small wand from the desk, turned it on, and waved it over the microchip. A long number popped up on Neil’s laptop. “I already know the manufacturer,” he murmured as he clicked through screens, “So now all I need to do is tap into their medical database and…here it is.”

Diane and Cassy leaned down to read what was on the computer screen.

Cassy, when you find this, take it straight to Scotty. He’ll know what to do. Love, Doug

Cassy Ellwood inhaled as Neil clicked through to the next section of the record. Diane’s heart leapt. “Oh my…”

“Everything’s here,” interrupted Neil. “All the answers we’ve been looking for. Names, dates, connections, accounts.”

Suddenly, Diane’s vision blurred as reality stung. She grabbed the desk for support.

“Are you okay?” asked Neil.

Diane couldn’t breathe, but she was able to choke out, “If everything’s there, then Cal…”

“Oh shit,” said Neil, the color draining from his face. “We need to call them back. But how? They don’t have a radio or anything.”