Chapter 14

We talked about our military careers and decided to serve our minimum three year term before moving into special ops. He was the top recruit in his basic squadron and was told about the Rangers. I could tell he was interested. "I'll support your decision Carlos. I want to work on the program to provide better intel. There's always details missing or overlap that gets overlooked. If we create a database, we could better organize the men and ops. I want you and our friends to come home."

I told him I passed through the requisite ranks, scored high on all written tests, my vision is excellent, I now have high clearance, I'm in excellent physical and emotional shape. Receiving the final classification was the icing on the cake. "I'm proud of you Babe," he said after I told him everything.

"Thank you. What about after we retire?" I asked.

"After our time serving our country, I want to start a security business. If I get into the Rangers, I could earn more capital to launch the business. I don't have a name for it yet," he admitted.

"Do you have a business plan?" I joked.

"I do. We need a lot of capital to start the business. I've made a lot of friends here. I would like to hire mainly ex-military," he told me.

"Because once we've left the military, it's harder to find civilian jobs," I added.

"It was the common story I heard from veterans. While they were serving for our country, they were taken care of. The day they retired, they stopped receiving government assistance for certain services. Did you know most military vets live off their pension? By the time they are seniors, they run dangerously low on funds." Carlos is an amazing, kind and generous man.

"I can see it. Our friends working in a cutting edge, secure building with a control room to monitor our accounts. The men wearing black cargos and tight shirts to display their muscular physique. You're the CEO while I run administration or research potential clients," I said. I could actually picture us in ten years running our own company. He would be running the occasional special ops mission because he is the best man for the job. We have a young daughter who looks just like him and a younger son who resembles me.

"I see it too, especially the little boy who is a mini you, Babe."

"Did I say that part out loud?" I knew it was a habit I developed since I lost Stephan. I never shared secrets or military ops, it was just my own personal musings.

"You did. I want to have a child with you, but I want to get through our first few years and Ranger training."

I agreed to having children with him. We would play it by ear after we finished our minimum time. I knew Mama and Papa would help me with the baby while Carlos is away on a mission.

The following week we moved into General Palmer's house. He wanted to give us every opportunity to share our nights together. My therapist was quite surprised I was able to move past the trauma with relative ease. It wasn't easy at all. Ram and Cal helped me see it from a different perspective. Once I got past my initial feelings, it became easier. He couldn't understand how I could compartmentalize the event. I decided to tell him about my baby and how I lost him. After discussing the various techniques I learned to cope with the loss and my rape, he cleared me.

I was scheduled to leave just after Thanksgiving. My Christmas will be spent overseas on a remote base training men how to use the new computer program. I would only be sent for reconnaissance if the team requires my special skills. Specifically, if they are approaching territory where insurgents could potentially ambush them.

Carlos wasn't too happy about the uncertainty in my deployment. "I'll be checking in every few weeks. You'll know I'm safe." This mission didn't give me any strange vibes. My spidey sense, as I called it, wasn't humming. With my assistance, he was learning to hone his own intuition too. His were more accurate from a tactical point of view and mine were more accurate where it involved my friends and family. Between the two of us, we would make an unstoppable team. Uncle Alex often joked about both of us joining the Rangers and kicking serious ass. It was just a pipe dream, but I seriously wanted to join. If I make it past the initial tests, I would be the first woman considered for the elite team.

I stepped up my training for a few weeks before my deployment. Lester, Carlos' cousin, joined the Army too. He was in a different battalion than Carlos. A man named Bobby Brown was training to become a medic and was Lester's assigned partner. Carlos introduced me to his partner, a huge man named Pierre Sherman who preferred to be called Tank. His nickname certainly fit him. He was the largest man I had ever seen. At six foot six, he towered over the other men. Lester was around six foot one and Bobby was six feet even. My Carlos was an inch shorter than Bobby. These men obviously hung around each other and were close friends.

Lester approached me in the gym as I was completing my sit ups. "I'm sorry about what I said to Carlos. It's my fault you lost your baby," he talked into his chest.

I stopped my exercises to respond to his stupid comment, "It really wasn't your fault. I would have lost him anyways. The only way he could have survived is if I was already at the hospital. It's in the past and it should be left there." Talking to him brought forward the anger I felt a few years earlier. The need to punch something was growing stronger.

"If you insist. Carlos said you're his wife?" I nodded. "Welcome to the family," he said as he pulled me to my feet and hugged me. I heard Carlos growl behind me. He must have realized how close I was to cracking.

"Thank you Lester. If you don't mind, I need to finish my routine," I snapped as I pointed to the mat.

After finishing my stretches and exercises, I felt the urge to spar with someone. The anger I suppressed for the last few years was simmering too close to the surface. If I didn't burn it off soon, it would come out later. It didn't matter who I fought, I just needed to work through the frustration and anger talking to Lester brewed. I moved towards the mat and removed my shoes and weapons. Tank approached me and removed his shoes. "Need a partner?" he offered.

"Hell yes." I smiled at him. He gave me a gorgeous smile before helping me climb over the ropes. I saw him wave over someone to help us. There was a basket just outside the ring with tape for our hands. We needed someone to tape our hands to protect our knuckles. I haven't sparred with anyone since Jeanne Ellen and I were training together.

"Let me help you," Bobby offered. Lester started wrapping Tank's hands as Bobby added more tape than necessary to mine. "He always skips on the foot opposite to the hand throwing the punch. Watch for his roundhouse kick with his right foot. When he throws a left undercut, duck and you'll miss the kick. If you push up on that leg, you'll knock him off balance. He's a big guy so he'll fall hard," he whispered as he finished wrapping my hands.

"Don't worry Little Girl, I'll pull my punches. Feel free to give me all you've got," he said through the mouth guard. I opened my mouth and Carlos slipped my guard into my mouth.

"You've got this Babe." I loved how confident he was in my skills.

We went 15 minutes throwing punches to warm up to each other. It was making me feel better. I saw him hop on his right leg and leaned away from the uppercut. Using my old gymnastics move, I flipped over and ducked under his roundhouse kick. I listened to Bobby's advice and knocked him off balance. He landed hard on his back. Instinctively I pressed my heel into his crotch. With a small amount of pressure, I could squash his balls into the mat.

He quickly tapped my leg in defeat. "She had my balls trapped man," I heard him tell my husband. "All she had to do was apply more pressure and I would be sterile."

"Didn't you think to wear a cup?" Carlos asked.

"No man. I didn't think your wife would go for the jewels," he confessed.

"You underestimated her. I bet you won't be making that mistake again." I could see pride in my husband's eyes. He was laughing from Tank's stupidity.

Lester decided to ask, "Would you be willing to spar with me? I've taken many types of martial arts. We could combine your gymnastic moves with martial arts. It would make you harder to beat." I could tell he wanted to make up for last year. Carlos told me he already kicked his ass after I broke up with him.

"Sure," I readily agreed. I really wanted the opportunity to kick his ass too. Lester had no clue Carlos was training me every night for close contact fighting. Uncle Alex only walked into our training session once to catch us having sex. He left us extra cleaning supplies and never interrupted us again.

After kicking him in the balls first, I agreed to train with Lester for a few weeks. It didn't take me long to bring him to the mats. He was easier to fight than Carlos. My husband may pull his punches and kicks, but he was still a very tough opponent. He taught me everything I needed to take down Lester without resorting to a well placed kick to the balls. I also sparred with Bobby and Tank. Uncle Alex was quite pleased with my close contact fighting. After my tour, I would be instructing the new female recruits.

Several weeks later...

It's Christmas Day and I'm stuck in this desert sweating out all the water I drank today. My hair was very short. I had it buzzed again before I was deployed. It was now a few inches long and irritating me. Another team was scheduled to arrive soon. Most of my team was sent to assist the other troops stationed in Afghanistan. I was receiving intel daily and building my database. Cal was working with me today. We were officially partners for this deployment. Last week he helped me work through the algorithm issue. "You just needed to talk it out," he told me. "It was in your brain all along."

"I really appreciate your help." He shrugged off my thanks, insisting he didn't help much. I beg to differ, he asked the right questions to guide me.

We were maintaining our position and entering the information into the computer system. Cal and I worked tirelessly to fix the computer program. Our on site computer could be used to test the program patch, but we needed it fixed on the mainframe back home. We were scheduled to return home for a few weeks to correct the issue then we'd have to return to our post. I could send instructions home, but there was too much of a risk of having someone intercept the message.

Carlos was on base training hard during his basic training. I've watched him run drills and train with his squad. He was an excellent soldier. Once his squad is fully trained, they were going to make an excellent battalion.

Cal and I arrived in DC to fix the computer program. We spent several months writing code and modifying the algorithm. It's been too long since I've seen my husband. By the time I return to Fort Benning, he'll be away on his first deployment. I spent another few months double checking the calculations to ensure the program was working correctly and efficiently. It was August 29, 2005 by the time the program was ready to go live. After a few more tests, we determined the algorithm was working within acceptable parameters.

Once we ran the algorithm, we discovered our primary troop was in the wrong area. I contacted the administration office and asked to speak to the General in charge of our mission. Major General Sherman introduced himself. He was managing all intel gathered by the troops.

I explained we needed them to move a few hundred miles south. He promised to review the program results based off the intel entered and make a decision. Cal and I were sent back to our post to complete our tour. Our men needed us at base camp overseas. DC could deploy a new team or move the current one. It would be more logical to deploy a new team, but that decision was for the General to decide.

We just arrived back in Afghanistan when I received a special code from Ace on my spare computer. When I read the message, I quickly deciphered Carlos, Lester, Tank and Bobby were deployed with their troops a few days ago to the new location. His team was closest. If Carlos uses his intuition, he'll be able to narrow down the location of our target. Sayid Hussein was not a nice man. He was responsible for the attack on our president during his last visit to Saudi Arabia. We were still trying to officially connect him to the attack. As though Hussein's plan was just a distraction to keep our men away from their intended target.

Hussein was planning an attack on American soil in ten months. The proof I uncovered didn't really support the claims he was making. Saudi Arabia was too far away from his home in Afghanistan. We need to neutralize him before he could carry through with his plans. They were given between four and nine months to gather enough intel before our special ops team arrives to neutralize him. I could only pray the men were wise enough to spot the trap. My concern was filed with our home base.

Over the next few months, I received cryptic messages to feed into the algorithm. I recognized the code as intel from Carlos and his troop. "This is much bigger than we expected," I told Cal. My husband's team uncovered more intel than the other deployed troops. It was as though he knew exactly what I needed.

"More players?" he asked.

"Kind of... but more... cloak and dagger... switch and bait," I attempted to explain.

"Dragon in the cave was guarding cubic zirconias. Diamonds are in the snake den," he stated understanding what I cryptically said. In fact, we decided to use these descriptors to update home base when we checked in.

"Exactly," I agreed. Sayid Hussein was our dragon. He was claiming responsibility for the attack on the president but he was just a means to an end... a distraction. The person responsible is really Marik Mohammed. His brothers and sons were recruiting men to misdirect our soldiers. Carlos smelled something fishy and talked to his CO to follow a hunch. He felt like they were walking into a trap, one designed to kill hundreds of men both friend and foe.

I went into a secure room and relayed the information back to Ace and Rogers. They were meeting with the other Generals and the ministry of defence to discuss options. In the interim, we are continuing with our original mission to collect intel. Hussein may be small fish in comparison to Mohammed, but he was still a very dangerous man.

A few more months passed before I received more usable intel. Carlos stumbled across a viable lead. He overheard a young boy bragging about a suicide mission he was personally selected to do. It was a great honour to kill the group of soldiers stationed a few miles outside the compound. The boy was supposed to stumble into the camp with enough explosives strapped to his body to blow up the entire camp. The thirty men with the boy were cheering, telling him it was a very important job. I was impressed my husband quickly learned the dialect and understood enough to send a warning.

Team alpha was being deployed to a non disclosed location. I had a feeling they will be sent to neutralize the threat my wonderful husband uncovered. That young boy and the enemy faction would be neutralized within a few days. He needed to be stopped before he manipulates his way into the camp to kill our soldiers.