Learning to Stand (7 page)

“
You have a Sergeant to do
your paperwork,” he said. “You have a second in command. Hell, you
have an intelligence officer in training who has nothing to
do.”

“
Oh shit, I completely
forgot about him,” Alex said. “Is he still locked away at Fort
Carson?”

“
He was released by Captain
Mac Clenaghan. While you were with Agent Rasmussen at the hospital,
Captain Mac Clenaghan drove to Fort Carson for Sergeant Flagg. They
are on their way to Denver right now.”

“
Oh, thank God,” Alex said.
She took a long drink of her coffee. “See, my second in command
can’t do the paperwork. He’s busy with Flagg.”

“
Major Drayson.”

“
Yes sir,” Alex
said.

“
How did it go with your
team?”

“
What team?” Alex asked.
“They fought with each other. They thought I was crazy. I had to
yell at them to knock it off more than once. They were like
competent tornados each working toward their own end. I...
“

She shook her head.

“
I suck,” she said. “I can’t
do this ‘command a team’ thing.”

“
Every leader feels that way
sometimes,” Colonel Gordon said. “You need to get your feet under
you.”

“
I was wondering, sir, if I
might join a team?”

Colonel Gordon’s scowled. This was not the
first time he had heard this request.

“
I’d happily take a lower
rank and...”

He opened his mouth to say something then
changed his mind. Shaking his head, he looked away from her.

“
There are two wars going
on, sir,” she said. “I’m an okay intelligence officer. And as you
know, there’s more than a hundred people held hostage in the world
at any given time. I could join the team that replaced us
and...”

“
Alexandra
Hargreaves!”

“
Sir?”

She scanned his face. His bushy eyebrows
betrayed his worry over his obvious anger. She smiled as if he
caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. He sighed.

“
Maybe I could go back to
drawing maps?” She gave him a big smile.

“
Alex.” Pulling his cap off,
he ran a hand through is bushy gray hair. “Every leader goes
through exactly what you’re feeling. Hell, I’ve had many sleepless
nights over this very same issue. The key is to find what works for
you.”

“
Charlie was
so...”

“
Charles O’Brien is dead,
Alex,” Colonel Gordon said. “He was an exceptional man, a natural
leader, and my friend. But he is gone. You have to learn to carry
on without him.”

Nodding, Alex pursed her lips to keep from
displaying her desperate grief at the words: ‘Charles O’Brien is
dead.’

“
Listen,” Colonel Gordon
said. “I’m sorry. I see so much potential in you and wish you could
see it yourself. You collected these men from assignments around
the world. They came to here to work with you. Each man is the best
soldier in his class. Period. And they aren’t easy. You didn’t pick
them because they were easy. You picked them because they were your
friends. And they left great assignments to work here with
you.”

“
But sir…”

“
They’re pains in the ass.
Every single one of them. Did you hear the feed from the Jakker
while he waited for you? He disobeyed a direct order to return to
base. A big fat ‘fuck you’ from the Jakker.”

“
Are their repercussions to
his defiance?”

“
Christ, Alex. That’s my
point. Everything the Jakker does is defiant.”

Alex shrugged.

“
It might help if you filled
the other slots in your team with neutral players,” Colonel Gordon
said. “You still need...”

“
No Marines,” she said.
“I’ve never had good luck with Marines, sir.”

“
You need at least one more
Navy and two Marines. That’s not to mention your glaring lack of
medics.”

“
See, I suck as a
leader.”

Alex tried her
‘please-sir-can-I-stop-doing-the-job-I-suck-at’ smile. Colonel
Gordon glared in response. Her smile faded.

“
The Fey Special Forces
Team’s first year was not easy, you know.”

“
But we had...”

“
Charlie,” they said
together.

“
Yes,” he said. He softened.
“Listen, I’ve never known anyone who has continued working after
what you have been through. Most people retire.”

“
I could retire,” she said.
“Ben said he’s retiring this year. I could...”

“
You know you cannot
retire,” he said. “It’s too dangerous.”

“
I could draw
maps.”

Her eyes lit up with glee at the idea of
retreating into the solitary joy of cartography.

“
The Admiral would like you
to return to extracting hostages. You’re supposed to
be...”

“
Creating a team that will
extract hostages around the world,” Alex finished his sentence.
“Problem is? I suck.”

“
Alexandra.”

“
Ok, you know what I’m
really good at?” She pointed to the paperwork on her desk.
“Paperwork is my specialty.”

Colonel Gordon raised his hands in
submission to her sarcasm.

“
What do you need to make
this work?” he asked. “I’m authorized to give you any resource,
training...”

“
I need Joseph Walter,” she
said. “He would know how to pull this team together. You’re right.
We need to a few neutral members. He’d know how to choose the right
people.”

While Colonel Gordon nodded his head, he
eyes spoke his remorse.

“
But?” she asked.

“
It’s complicated. Fort
Carson had dibs on him for their training staff. He can’t come here
and be there. You know that.”

Alex nodded. She did know that. She just
hoped for the help she needed. Sometimes she felt as if she was set
up to fail. She sighed at her no-win situation.

“
Don’t give up, Alex,” he
said. “That’s really what I came in here to say. Everyone
struggles, especially their first year. Just don’t give
up.”

Picking up his cap, he stood to leave. He
stopped in front of a photograph of the Fey Special Forces Team
goofing for the camera. The photo was taken after they had rescued
their first hostages – five journalists from the jungles of Central
America. Colonel Gordon leaned closer to look at their faces. They
seemed so young and happy. He stepped back from the photo.

“
What did the Weasel have to
say?”

“
Nothing. Everything. Who
knows?” Alex replied. “There are so many little itsy bitsy pieces
to this puzzle. Somehow they fit together, but how? I have no idea
how to connect the dots.”

“
Perses was there? I always
thought he was a myth or legend.”

“
Perses accepted a contract
to assess the viability of a hit on the Fey and the Weasel. He led
us to Shelter 17. I probably could have found it but not in time.
Plus he had the key.”

“
Odd behavior for an
assassin.”

“
He owes me a favor or six.
And, yes sir, he’s odd.”

“
Well good night,” Colonel
Gordon said. “We’ll talk again tomorrow.”

“
Yes sir.”

“
And Alex, go home. You’ve
done enough today,” he said. “Let Sergeant Flagg become an expert
in paperwork.”

“
Yes sir,” she
said.

He raised a hand in ‘good-bye’ then walked
out of her office. Looking from stack to stack, she finished her
mug of coffee then poured another. She wandered to the place where
Colonel Gordon stood. Her finger touched each face.

“
Go home, Alex,” Jesse said
appearing beside her. “There are no answers here.”

Nodding to Jesse, Alex dressed in her winter
gear. Limping on her injured hip, she pulled her office door
closed.

“
Walk you to your car?”
Jesse asked.

She nodded.

“
Did I ever
tell…?”

FFFFFF

Tuesday night

March 25 — 9:40 P.M. MDT.
Fillmore Auditorium
Denver, CO

John and Max were watching the roadies
finish setting up for DeVotchka.

“
Remind me. Why are we
here?” John yelled to Max over the background music.

Max raised his eyebrows. He nodded his head
toward the Slavic Sisters. The women trapeze artists were testing
their aerial silk cloth.

“
Yes, very interesting,”
John nodded. “But...”

John felt a hand on his shoulder. He
grimaced to Max then turned to see who touched him.

“
Hi John,” the woman said.
“I’m surprised to see you here.”

John tried to remember the woman’s name. She
worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital or at least he thought she worked
at the hospital. She spent so much time pushing her inflated chest
and lips in John’s direction that conversation was nearly
impossible. Too polite to actually dismiss her, he avoided her as
much as possible.

“
I heard your wife is out of
town.” Her tiny hand caressed his arm. “When I saw you here, I
figured you were looking for some company.”

John stepped away from the woman. She bat
her long eyelashes at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Max
laughing at him.

“
Listen,” John started but
his words were lost over the trumpet playing announcing the start
of the concert. His attention jerked to the stage. Maybe if he
ignored this woman...

While the band played their first song, the
Slavic Sisters vibrated the aerial silk to the music. The silk
tapestry billowed down from the stage hitting John’s face. He
stepped back to stay out of the way. The trapeze artist winked at
John then flipped the fabric from his face.

Smiling her crooked smile, Alex stood in its
place.

In a breath, she was in his arms. She
giggled when he lifted her from the ground. She wrapped her legs
around his middle, their lips fused in passionate consumption.

When John pulled back to look at her,
DeVotchka’s lead singer, Nick, yelled, “Drayson, get a room!” The
crowd cheered in agreement.

With a nod to Max, John carried his laughing
Alex through the crowded venue to Colfax Boulevard. He set her down
for a moment then instantly regretted the decision.

“
The cab’s waiting for us,”
Alex started.

He lifted her back into his arms and carried
her to the cab. Nestled in the back of the cab, they took the short
ride to their new home. John scooped her off the sidewalk and
carried her into the house. They kissed and stroked their way up
the stairs until, unable to wait any longer, they made fast love on
the third floor landing.

“
Wanna try out the bath?”
Alex asked.

“
Very much so. But the
water’s not hooked up to it yet.”

“
What?”

“
It’s a long story.
Shower?”

“
Bed?”

“
You’re so traditional,” he
said.

Opening the door to their bedroom, they were
hit with a blast of cold air.

“
NO HEAT?!?”

Alex ran to jump under the covers.

“
You weren’t due back until
tomorrow.”

“
Lemme guess, long
story?”

“
I know how to warm
you.”

Slipping under the covers, he did just
that.

F

CHAPTER SIX

Three hours later
Wednesday early-morning
March 26 – 1:00 A.M. MDT
Denver, Colorado

Alex woke with a gasp. Her abdomen cramped
and her mind flooded with images and emotions. In her sleep-induced
stupor, she stumbled to the bathroom. She splashed water on her
face to clear the nonsensical images. She startled when John
spoke.

“
What is it?” John asked. He
was standing in the door. “It’s freezing, love. Come back to
bed.”

He wrapped her in a blanket then guided her
back to bed.

“
Nightmare?” he
asked.

“
I don’t know.
Maybe.”

“
Your PTSD
has...”

Next to the bed, a telephone rang. Rolling
on his back, John reached for the phone.

“
When was that installed?”
Alex asked.

“
Yesterday,” John said.
“Shall I answer it? We don’t have an answerphone yet.”

“
They’ll call back. What
were you saying?”

“
Your PTSD has been in
remission for a while. Do you think you were triggered by your
adventures?”

“
Maybe,” Alex said. “I don’t
remember having this kind of… experience.”

The phone stopped ringing then began ringing
again.

“
Sorry, love. I know you
hate the phone. I wanted to make sure you could get me if… anything
happened, you know? Shall I answer it?”

She nodded. He kissed her nose then picked
up the phone.

“
It’s Ben.”

John gave Alex the phone.

“
Alex,” Ben said. “There’s
been a kidnapping. The president asked for your help. He
specifically requested ‘the Fey.’ Do you know the
president?”

“
Of course not.” In an
attempt to get warm, she pulled the covers over her head. “The boys
and I received the Presidential commendation last year. I mean
Major Drayson did, not the Fey.”