Page 40 of SEAL's Spitfire
True to his word, Tex arranged everything. All she had to do was pack and make sure she had a valid Press ID, although he probably could have come up with one of those too. So far, she had the easy part, but what was coming would take all the strength and determination she had to get through. After Tex’s warning that the hostages may have been tortured, she’d almost reconsidered the plan. Almost. The thought of her brother being beaten, or worse, was horrifying, but it also strengthened her resolve to get him home.
It had been two days since Rafe, and his team had left for wherever. She’d only heard from him once. It would be driving her up the wall with worry if she hadn’t been planning her own excursion. He’d be madder than a bull when he found out, but with any luck, it wouldn’t be until she was back home safe and sound with her brother.
The phone rang as she was putting the last of her clothes in the suitcase. Expecting it to be Tex she didn’t check the caller ID.
“Hey, are we all set?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” Dang it. She really needed to be more careful.
“Excuse me. I thought you were someone else.”
“Obviously. I’m Ted Clement from the state department. I’m returning your call.” It took him long enough, she’d left him the message almost three days ago.
“Thank you for calling me back. We were hoping you’d have news about our brother.” Too bad for him that she already had all the information there was courtesy of Tex. But it would be interesting to see if he lied to her or not.
“We don’t really have anything new. There haven’t been any demands made by the kidnappers.”
“Don’t you mean the terrorists?” Meghan tried to restrain her temper but if he was going to continue to feed her manure, she was going to lose it.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Henley. But that’s all the information I have.” After taking a deep breath, she answered with all the southern charm she could shove into one sentence.
“Well bless your little heart, I’m sure that’s all they told you to tell us poor families as we worry ourselves sick. But it’s just cruel to keep us in the dark.”
“I assure you…”
“I’m sure you do. But you can be assured that I’ll be contacting your superior and moving up the food chain until we find out the truth about our brother. Now you have a nice day, you hear?” Without waiting for his reply, she disconnected the call and had to stop herself from throwing the phone against the wall. What a sorry piece of shit. To think that her tax dollars paid his salary and he couldn’t even tell her the truth.
She’d been truly blessed when she and Rafe connected, and even more so when he gave her the means to help her brother. The next time the phone rang she checked the number before answering, but it wasn’t one she recognized.
“Hello.”
“Meghan? It’s Tex. Sorry but I’m sure they are probably tracking your number so I’m using a burner.”
“Who is?”
“The state department, the CIA, any one of the alphabet agencies. It would make sense that they’d monitor all the families.”
“Oh. But what about before?”
“It was routed through my computer and through so many countries they’d have a hard time tracking me.”
“I’m not sure I get all this cloak and dagger stuff.”
“It’s okay. It’s better if you don’t get mixed up in it anyway,” he answered with a chuckle. It made her wonder what he was like in person. She knew he had a wife, Mel. But what was he really like? Was he like a spy out of a movie?
“Your new phone should arrive today. There will be extra SIM cards in the box. They’re for overseas so you can call me, your sister, and make the calls you need to while in Afghanistan. If you call home, make sure to destroy the SIM card before you make any more calls. Got it?”
“Yup. Destroy cards between calls home.”
“The sooner the better, okay?”
“Okay. Do you really think they’ll be tracking me?”
“Yes, I do. But maybe I’m just paranoid.” Another chuckle eased some of the tension that had been churning in her belly. Maybe she was out of her mind trying to do this on her own.
“Yeah, I don’t think so.”
“Good. Because it never hurts to be extra careful.”
