Page 35 of Cade

“The rest of your team,” she said, looking at Franco. “I’m sure they didn’t just find a way to inject you and your two friends. I’m going to bet they injected the others as well. In fact, I wonder if you actually had the devices in you before you thought. If they were testing you in the Congo, then you were probably injected before then.”

“See,” smiled Cade, “beautiful and smart.”

“She’s right,” said Franco. “All those immunizations they gave us before we left. They could have easily injected us then.”

“Wouldn’t it have been odd to have them inject your leg?” asked Paige. “And the others, they had it in their shoulders and possibly the head.”

“I don’t know,” said Franco, shaking his head. “I mean, I remember getting two in my arms, one in my ass, and I think they did put one in my thigh. Needles don’t bother me, so I didn’t even look. In fact, I think I was on the phone at the time.”

“We need to find the rest of your team,” said Bodhi.

“We were all told to stand down for at least a month,” said Franco. “I’m going to bet a lot of the guys went home to visit families. Some may still be in the area.”

“Do you have a group text or some way of contacting them without command knowing about it?” asked Ryan.

“Yea, we did it a long time ago. We didn’t want our messages traced, so we started texting one another on a different app. It’s highly secure, and we make sure to do it only on a burner phone.”

“Smart,” smiled Cade.

“I’ll text them all now,” said Franco. “Should they come here?”

“Hold on a minute,” said Bodhi. “If they all start moving toward us, someone will know. I’m going to bet that your devices were traceable. That’s how they found all of you and knew where you were. They send out some sort of signal while it’s in your bodies. We need to go to them. Split up and take someone with us that can get the damn things out of their bodies.”

“How do we know where it is?” asked Cass.

“The mercury,” said Ryan. “If we send you with a metal detector, you can find it from the metal in the body.”

“Alright,” said Doc, nodding at the young men and women around him. He was impressed with the way they were working as a team, feeding off of one another for the best solutions. “We’ll buy some metal detectors, nothing big, small, hand-held. Franco? Contact the team and find out where the hell they are. We have to get out there now. Whatever they do, tell them not to leave or go to the base. And do not, I repeat, do not answer calls from our suspect doctor.”

“Roger that, sir,” he said, nodding.

“Franco,” laughed Doc, “brother, we don’t ‘sir’ around here. We’re civilians now, all of us. It’s just Doc.” Franco frowned at the older man.

“That may be, sir, but you are part of the most elite team in the history of spec ops. What you’ve done, the things you’ve seen, are unlike anything anyone else can compare to. You deserve respect, and if the respect I give you today is just calling you ‘sir,’ well, then, I’ve done my duty as a Marine and an American. Sir.”

He turned and walked away from the group, heading into the bedroom to text his team. Doc stared at his wide, square back. His hair, high and tight as any good Marine would wear it, was black, covering his almost square head.

“Now, that’s a Marine,” smiled Doc. Cade nodded, then turned to the others.

“Yea, let’s see if we can save him and the others.”

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