Page 1 of Ghost

Prologue

Ghost

The C-130 hit turbulence,andI immediately jerked awake. As I lookedaroundthe transport, I wasn’t the onlyonethe motion disturbed from sleep. The transport had been full when we left overseas, but the one we were on now was at half capacity for the second leg of our trip. My SEAL team had been lucky when we reached Germany and was able to hitch a ride to the States on the plane headed for Bragg. Once there, we disembarked and had enough time to stretch our legs before boarding again and taking off to the west coast. I couldn’t have done better if I’d booked connecting flights with civilian carriers.

Our mission completed, with theaddedbonus of no injuries or casualties, made the hours spent in the air tolerable. Not like it mattered how long it took to get back to our home base considering we’d already been awake for seventy-two hours. The bay door hadn’t been secured before the other team membersandmyself were out cold. The brief stopover at Bragg to change planes had been only a small disruption in our sleep. Now we were almost home.

“Damn, my neck is stiff as shit,” my friend and team member, and the one in charge of our mission, Lieutenant Commander Max Browning, also nicknamed Flirt within the team, complainedbesideme as he rubbed his neck and yawned.

“Hell, be glad you have a neck.”

“No joke. Surprised we pulled the shit off. That had the potential to be one huge fubar.” Max had leaned in close and lowered his voice when he spoke,sothere was no chance anyone not from our team would overhear. Especially since we sat along one side and faced the seats that ran down the middle of the plane’s cargo area.

“As glad as I’ll be to get back and see the family, I’m not looking forward to the Captain’s debriefing.” Flirt groaned at my mention of the Captain. Captain Baker was a perfectionist and expected nothing less of his men. He’d praise the job being done, but the man never failed to find the one thing that could have been done, foreseen, or executed better.

“Yeah, he isn’t going to care about the flaw in theintelnor the end result of us completing this mission even with the bad information,” Flirt mumbled disgustedly, and I chuckled.

“Nope, but you better believe he’ll question the camels.” I grinned, and Flirt flipped me off.

“Hey, we only borrowed them. It wasn’t as iftheyturned into casualties. The original plan went south, we needed transportation, and they were there. I’d make the same call again if I had to.”

“I’m not disagreeing, Max, but if the other teams hear about that shit, we will never live it down.”

“Not me, ‘cause this is last time I’ll have to sit through this crap. As for shit from the other teams, they can kiss our asses. We have the best extraction record to date. It’s not how the job is done, it’s that the job gets done,” Flirt said.

“True. Still can’t believe you are calling it quits and processing out. Gonna miss you, man,” I said and bumped Flirt with my shoulder.

Max and I had hititoff from theget-go. We had a bond that superseded the one men on SEAL teams naturally shared with each other.

“Hey, not too late, bro. Don’t re-up. Grab the ol’ lady and kid and come with me, Brax.”

“Maybe I’ll head your way once I reach retirement if it’s an open-end offer.”

“Damn straight it’s open. You’ve met a couple of my club brothers when they’ve visited. You’d fit right in at Black Hawk, Brax. But I’m hoping to see you before you retire. Nothing stopping you and the family from visiting.”

“No there’s not. I’ll visit just to make sure you’re riding the straight and narrow.”

“I’ll be riding. That’s for damn sure. Straight and narrow might be a stretch.” Max and I chuckled just as the plane started its descent.

“Not long now,” I said as I glanced down at my watch. “I want a hot shower and a meal that doesn’t come out of a package or a machine.”

“I’m hoping the Captain holds off until at least tomorrow before we have to talk with him. And where does the ol’ lady and kid fall into your plans, Brax?” Max asked and lifted his brows.

“We aren’t that lucky with the Captain. And other than a hug and kiss for both Stormy and BJ, there’ll be no laying with the wife until I knock off a few layers of the grime and funk we got going on.”

“Speak for yourself, fucker. I smell manly,” Max said, and I rolled my eyes.

“Only to yourself,” I yelled out over the sound of the C-130 as it touched down and hit the brakes to get the big bird to slow. It hadn’t taken long before we were taxiing the runway.

The plane stopped and as the engines started shutting down the bay door was opening. I unfastened my harness and collected my backpack. When every team member was ready, we began filing out the back.

“I hope someone’s already here to pick us up and we don’t have to wait for them,” Max said just as we reached the ramp.

“I checked in with the unit when we were killing time at Bragg. They said someone would be sent out. I’m hoping Stormy got the text I left her and shows up at the unit.”

“Where’s your truck?”

“She has it. Her car died,andI didn’t have a chance to look at it before we left on the mission. As many times as the thing has broken down, I should junk it instead of putting more money into it. Warranty ran out,andthe damn thing spends more time in the shop than it does in my driveway. Not to mention that operating with only one vehicle sucks ass,” I said as we stepped off the ramp.

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