Trinity: Military War Dog (32 page)

There on the precipice before him, he sensed the winds shift. Change. The course would be altered. This journey, this determination to be relentless, would bring him something far greater than he could imagine.

Would he be free? Finally?

It was a vain and selfish hope. He chided himself for the thought. There were things far greater …

Palms up, on his knees, he surrendered those dreams.

“What’s he doing?”

Zeferelli snorted. “Meditating.”

“Well, let’s wake him up.” Early looked to Lance. “You ready?” Lance nodded. Together, they entered the room, and as if he rose from the air itself, Haur sprang to his feet.

Zeferelli jumped, reaching for his weapon.

Lance chuckled. “At ease, Lieutenant.” He motioned to the table. “Colonel.”

With a nod, Haur placed himself in a chair. Unnerving as all get-out was the absolute calm on the man’s face.

Ironically, Early’s storm overshadowed what was right in front of him. “You’ve played your cards,” Early said, hands folded on the table. “Now I’ll play mine.”

Eyebrows pinched, Haur leaned in as if confused. “Do you not understand—?”

“No.” Early’s commanding tone severed the Asian’s argument.

“We do not have time—”

“Then shut it and listen.” Early had a mean streak the size of the Mississippi, but it only came out when necessary. Absolutely necessary. “This is my base—American base. You don’t come in here giving orders.”

Plowing his hands through his short dark hair, chains dangling, Zheng pinched his lips into a tight line. He shoved back. Raised his hands in surrender. “Play your diplomatic and political games. But I will not be responsible for what happens by your waste of time.”

“And what is that?”

“The general’s son,” Haur said, his breathing haggard, bloated with frustration. “Wu Jianyu is loose in this country. He is without the approval of our government. There is no telling what he will do.”

Lance wasn’t flustered. “You have an idea of what that is though, don’t you?”

Tension bled through the Asian’s body. “Revenge.”

Early laughed and slapped the table. “Chinese getting revenge on Americans. Ya’d think he’d be more original.”

“Revenge against his father.” Haur craned his neck toward Early. “He will do whatever it takes to make General Zheng bleed humiliation for the entire world to see.”

“Now why would he do that?” Lance asked but he already knew the story. Too well.

“Jianyu dishonored his father’s name, so General Zheng disowned him. It is why Jianyu took a new surname, his mother’s. He feels the punishment is not his to bear, that he was betrayed by his own people, so he wants to make his father bleed publicly, just as his father made him.” Haur cocked his head to Lance. “He will kill till the blood awakens the sleeping giant. By the thousands, if he is allowed to move unchecked for much longer. He would like nothing more than to pit the Chinese against the Americans.”

“That’s a tall order for one Chinese soldier.”

“Tell me,” Haur asked. “What would your government do if they learned the son of the minister of defense antagonized and was personally responsible for the death of thousands of American soldiers?”

Foreboding truth hung like a noose in the room. “They’d dismantle that ministry brick by brick.”

“Yes.” Haur heaved a breath. “Do you not see? The one man in China who most wants to keep peace is the very man being set up.”

“By that you mean, General Zheng.”

Haur gave a slow nod.

“Easys words coming from the adopted son of said man.”

“The adoption was never formalized. It is—”

“A matter of honor.”

Haur inclined his head. “The very honor Jianyu seeks to destroy.”

“Says you,” Early said with a growl. “See, here’s what I’m not understanding, Colonel. If this minister of defense is so committed to seeing this through, why doesn’t he stop his own son? Why doesn’t he come here himself?”

“To be here would jeopardize a great many things. And—”

Time to throw a pound of steak to the lion. Lance eased forward. “We have located your brother.”

The man went stone still.

“Team of civilian geologists up in the mountains were attacked, some taken hostage—”

“Civilians?” Confusion smeared over the Asian’s face. “That makes no sense. Jianyu would not do such a thing unless there was great gain.”

He was beginning to know these demons by name
.

Lance was on his feet. “If you gentlemen will excuse me.” He’d seen enough. Had enough.

Haur shot up. “General Burnett, it was you General Zheng told me to seek out. He said you would understand …”

The words trailed Lance down the hall. Into the icy night. He stopped under a streetlight and drew in a hard breath. All the forces of darkness, all of his sins, were coming to bear. Oh, he understood all right. Twenty years ago, he should’ve gone back. Tied up some loose ends. Paid better attention and not allowed Li’s wife to be snatched—though even he had to admit the Chinese went to great lengths to stage that event, taking her while Li was out of the country, the kids at school.

And now … Wu Jianyu, to restore his honor, may have extracted a blood price from one of the best operatives the U.S. had ever trained.

He had no more time to waste. He wouldn’t wait this time. He’d waited, yielded his doubt to the benefit …

But now, the answers had come. The brutal, scalding truth that Jianyu knew
who
was up in those mountains, knew who he’d captured.

Lance prayed for the great blessing of being able to kill the man responsible for all this. At the very least, make him pay in a very painful, excruciating way. Snuff out some of these demons. It wasn’t a Christian thought. But that’s why they say, war is hell.

        Twenty-Three         

Camp Loren, CJSOTF-A, Sub-Base
Bagram AFB, Afghanistan

H
ere, have a seat.”

Heath lowered himself to the floor, where he stretched out, crossed his legs, and tucked an arm behind his head for a pillow. Since they wouldn’t allow the team to leave the room—Hogan had to be right, something was going on—he’d make the most of it and grab a few z’s. Eyes closed, he tried to settle his mind, bar it from thinking of a pretty Asian.

The soft click of nails on the floor made him smile. Soon, a soft, furry body pressed against his. With an exaggerated sigh, Trinity slumped onto his chest. Had she sensed his distraction over Jia and gotten jealous?

A cold, wet nose nudged his chin.

I’ll take that as a yes
. He roughed her fur, then settled into a smooth stroke along her ribs.

As he lay with his girl in his arms, Heath focused on his slowing heart rate. It amazed him that after all these years, Trin still had the ability to bring him to a point of near-stasis. She was more than a military war dog, more than the dog he handled, more than his partner. There weren’t many people he’d try to explain that to, because they’d get weirded out. Few understood the incredible bond.

Trinity’s head snapped up.

Heath opened his eyes, hand going to the weapon he didn’t have, mere seconds before the door opened.

A tall, lanky major stood in the doorway, and Heath noted the name patch: O
TTE.
His gaze swept the room till it landed on Heath. “Daniels, General Burnett wants you.”

Heath pulled himself upright. Glanced at the others. Had he done something wrong? Maybe the whole stint with the villager taking a bead on Trin. He climbed to his feet and reached for her lead.

“Just you. Not the dog.”

Heath paused. “Not happening.” Too many factors went into his resolve that he wouldn’t be separated from her again on this trip, and right at the front of the line was the villager who’d tried to shoot her. Though he knew Hogan and Aspen were dedicated to their canines, nobody would put their rump on the line for Trinity like he would.

“We can make you—”

Heath moved a foot back and lifted his arms, ready to take him on. “Bring it.”

The major grinned. “He thought you’d say that.” He tossed a nod toward the door. “C’mon. Time’s short.”

Heath hesitated. Who thought…? What…? What was happening here? He coiled the lead around his hand, shot a look to the others who shrugged. Out the door, down the hall, across Route Disney, and into HQ.

Otte pointed to a chair. “Wait here.” He stepped into the room—and in the brief second before the door swung shut, Heath peeked. Packed with all the brass Hogan had mentioned, a table consumed the room. Around it stood a dozen or so men—Watters and his team.

The visual connection severed with the wood barrier. Okay, that looked a heckuva lot like a mission briefing. Or had the airings of one. He wasn’t included but instead dragged to the wings. Were they trying to taunt him? Point out that he wasn’t good enough?

Head in his hands, Heath closed his eyes.
Lord, what’s happening? I—

“Daniels.”

Heath jerked to his feet.

The major stood at the door and motioned him inside.

Sweaty and smelly, the room bore the stench of the twenty-plus bodies crowding it. And that was the word—crowd. Only three paces into the den and there was nowhere for Heath to stand, let alone sit.

“Make a hole,” a deep voice boomed.