Page 38 of Tango

“Yes, that is what I ask.”

I looked at her directly so she could see I was going to be honest. “The truth is the man who died on your floor was like family to me. I was his captain, and I didn’t see or maybe didn’t want to see the signs that he was mentally troubled until it was too late. I knew him as a kind man, a good man. The man you saw was not the man I knew. He would never have pointed a gun at an innocent family.” I needed her to believe that. “When I made him see me that day, I was able to get him to lower his gun. You must have seen that?” Something passed over her face. “I had him calm. He was no longer a threat to you.”

“How do you know that?”

“He was my friend,” I reminded her. “He was one of my team, and when we were sent here to fight the Taliban, we all made a pact. We would keep ourselves in mental check by reciting three words. Only my team used these words, and we lived by them. It grounded us.” I leaned toward her as I said them. “Whiskey, Alpha, Tango. We are together.” My eyes prickled when I remembered the look on Brown’s face as he repeated those words with me. “He was right there. I had him, but then…”

“The other man shot him.”

“Yes.” I heard the shot once again and squeezed my eyes shut as the pain washed over me.

“I think this man, he’s done this before.”

Her choice of words had me pull in my chin and stare at her. I nodded. “Why do you think that?”

“I’ve seen that look in other men before.” At least she saw it, too. I glanced at Ahmad, and he held my eye. I knew I had made the right decision to come back.

“A few times, I think. Although not proven.” I shifted, uneasy with the entire conversation. “I came here to find something that I could take home and use against him. He needs to pay for his crime, for all his crimes.”

She reached for a sweet-looking cookie, and I watched her separate it on her plate as she thought.

“I’ve seen many bad men in my lifetime, Beckett. Did you know that you can see someone’s soul in their eyes?” I didn’t react. “When your friend had his gun to his own head, he looked over at me, and I could see he didn’t want to hurt us. He was lost. I believe you are right that you had reached him. You made him see us. The man who shot him had no soul. His eyes held nothing.”

“Yes.” I sighed with relief that she saw so much, and that she believed me.

“As far as proof, I’m not sure how I can help you.” My stomach sank. “The bad man left with his gun.” I opened my mouth to speak, but she raised a brow to stop me. “But I may be able to help you in a different way.” She held up a hand, palm out, then moved close to her brother and spoke quietly to him. I couldn’t hear what she said. His face paled, but he seemed to accept her words. “It will take time.” She turned back to me. “You must stay tonight.”

I was given a pad to sleep on in the same room as her brother. I could feel his angry stare on me and knew my eyes would remain open the whole night. There was no way I’d close them even for a moment. I tuned in to the low fire that burned in the grate near the wall.

I let my head slip back to when we first arrived in this country years before.

“Say goodbye to moisture, boys,” Moore squinted at the sun, “because you won’t find it here.”

“That’s why I brought my own.” Brown pulled out moisturizer and squeezed some onto his hand. “You can never be too prepared.” He grinned as he rubbed it between his palms.

“Yeah, that’s why you brought it.” I slapped Brown’s shoulder as I laughed. “Come on. I want a team meeting before we see our commander.”

We made our way to base camp, tossed our stuff, and met outside our tent. As I waited for a few stragglers, I rubbed my chin and scrunched up my face as I thought of what to say.

“Yeah, we all really did sign up for this.” I huffed a laugh. “We have no fucking idea what’s to come other than what we’ve been told. We’re definitely outnumbered here in a very different country than where we come from. As different as the local people are from us, we’ll treat them with respect, and kindness, and give them our protection. There’s a lot we can’t control, but what we can control is ourselves.” I took a moment and looked around at my team, Moore, Brown, Anderson, and Gail. All good men. “None of us are in this alone. We’ve got each other. I’m going to give you three words, and whenever you feel like you’re slipping, I want you to chant them out loud if you can, or in your head if you can’t. Use these words they will help bring you back from whatever darkness you find yourself in.” I tapped my head and looked at each of them until I knew they were with me. “Whiskey, Alpha, Tango. We are together.”

“Hooah,” they responded in unison.

“Again,” I called.

“Whiskey! Alpha! Tango!” they shouted.

“Hooah,” I replied. “Now, hit your bunks. You’ll need it.

“Don’t be touchin’ my lotion.” Brown laughed as he ducked into the tent around Moore. I smirked at the men in front of me and couldn’t be more pleased that we were here together.

We got this.

“American.” Someone touched my shoulder, and I jolted back to the present with my weapon up and ready. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and lowered the gun when I saw the brother’s face. “It’s time.”

I gathered my belongings and hurried toward the front of the house. I glanced at my watch and realized it was only three a.m. He led me outside to where Amina waited. Only her eyes could be seen, as she was dressed in a full head-to-toe Afghan burqa. She motioned me to follow her then slipped into Ahmad’s truck. I was nervous, suddenly. I knew how risky it was to travel at night, and especially for a woman. I hated to know I risked her safety as well as my own, but I joined her in the back. Two other men sat in the back with us, and I kept my eyes on them.

“It’s not far.” She encouraged Ahmad to get started. She must have caught my discomfort. “You asked me for my help, and that is what I’m doing.”

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