Page 54 of SEAL's Angel
Chapter 12
It was zero two hundred hours when Jake parked his truck in the parking lot at JEB Little Creek. He’d tried to sleep, or at least get some rest, but after checking the alarm clock for the hundredth time, he’d given up. It happened frequently before the team left for a mission—and this one was just more of everything. A quick shower washed away the cobwebs in his brain. Then he’d dressed and headed to work.
Jake setup the coffee pot to brew in the break room and waited impatiently for it to finish. Quinn Gallagher, Falcon 1 for the Red Falcon team, strode in. With his hair messed and his scruffy jaw, it looked like he’d just climbed out of bed. Seeing the leader of the Red Falcons on base early didn’t surprise him.
“Morning, Quinn. Your coffee-dar seems in perfect working order. It just finished,” Jake joked as he filled a mug and handed it to the other SEAL, then filled one for himself.
“Morning. Thanks.” Quinn he took the coffee. “I was hoping to run into you before the others showed up.”
“What’s up?” Jake quirked an eyebrow, then took a sip of his coffee. They’d worked with the Red Falcons many times. He had a lot of respect for Quinn and his team.
Quinn took a drink from his mug before responding. “Just wanted to make sure we’re squared away for the mission. I know Rafe and Cam’s women went through hell because of Azfaar. If it were me, I’d want to take him out, but the orders are to bring him in. Is that going to be a problem for your team?”
It pissed Jake off that Quinn asked, but he understood. It was his duty to protect his team, and if any of them lost focus, it could mean trouble. He’d have done the same thing if their roles were reversed. “We’re good. They may not be happy about it, but they won’t disobey an order. Knox knows it, too, or he wouldn’t have put us on lead for this.”
“I didn’t think so, but I needed to ask.”
“Copy that. Better to know than wonder. It’s going to be a clusterfuck if it’s like the other retrievals. Thank fuck Tex supplied the intel. Otherwise, I would doubt we’d be anywhere near the asshole. If it was the CIA’s information, who knows the wild goose chase they’d send us on.”
“No shit. Sometimes I wonder if they’re working against us instead of with us.”
Jake nodded before finishing the rest of his coffee. He picked up the pot and gestured to Quinn.
“Yeah, thanks.” Quinn held out his mug, and Jake topped it off.
“Agreed. But Tex knows firsthand what it’s like to operate as a Froggie. I don’t know what we’d do without him. He’s saved our asses more times than I want to think about,” Jake said.
“My team, too. He’s the SEAL secret weapon.” Quinn grinned.
“Truth. I keep hoping to get him to come down for a visit. I know Meghan and Miranda would love to meet him. They call him their savior. You know how much he’s got to love that.” Jake chuckled.
“No, shit. Seriously? I remember the last time someone tried to thank him, and it wasn’t pretty,” Quinn said. “Maybe his wife is mellowing him out?”
“Doubtful. Maybe we should have the women call Melody and ask her to come down. We can just do an end run around Tex?”
Quinn chuckled. “There will be hell to pay later.”
“But first, we have to capture this motherfucker. I really hope he forces us to kill him.” Jake’s hands clenched into fists and rage burned in his belly. This time the monster would not get away.
“We’ll get him. He won’t slip away this time,” Quinn promised.
The rest of the teams showed up a few at a time to grab some coffee before getting on the transport. The Black Eagles looked pissed off and ready to kill while the Red Falcons had their blank game faces on. Jake needed to remind his team that this wasn’t a personal vendetta, no matter how much it felt like one. Azfaar had hurt his team more than once, and not only on foreign soil.
“Any concerns before we leave?” Jake addressed both teams since he would be the one calling the shots while boots were on the ground.
“None from the Red Falcons,” Quinn answered.
“None from the Black Eagles. We know our orders,” Rafe replied for their team.
Jake nodded. He couldn’t get to Afghanistan fast enough, but they had a fifteen-hour flight ahead, and that would give them plenty of time to go over strategies and plans.
Their CO, Tony Knox, strode into the break room. “Quick tag-up in conference room one.” He turned around and left the room.
What the fuck?Command better not call off the mission. They needed to take Azfaar out and in the process eliminate one of the high value targets or HVTs on the CIA’s most wanted list.
After exchanging glances with Quinn, Jake shrugged. “You heard the captain.”
Both teams gathered around the large table in the conference room. They’d worked with the Red Falcon team many times over the years. Quinn Gallagher was the team lead, and his second was Luca “Lucky” Rossi. Fergus “Doc” O’Brien, Ryder “Rye” Purcell, and Josh “Heartbreaker” Hartman made up the rest of the team.
