Page 87 of Lucky Charm

He should go to his quarters and get some sleep, but he was amped up from the run, from the sex, from Cait, from replaying her soft I love you and respect you, and how that landed in his chest with a hard squeeze around his heart.

He’d heard those fake words many times, but only twice had he believed true ones. Once with Gramma Juanita who’d given him a home at fourteen, feeding him and keeping him in school until she died. She’d uttered those words on her death bed. Now, he’d heard them from Cait, and the sincerity and depth of feeling in her eyes left him choking back tears. He existed in deep, deepfeelings of not belonging anywhere since a small kid, but now he knew differently. His teammates would always be his, and Cait there was no question.

He went to the Operations Center to study the map, mulling over her comment about a diversion.

Scott stood in front of a large screen, doing the same. He scanned Hunt. “Where have you been?”

The trick to lying to a commander – which would be a first for him – was to own it. To act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened when once again she’d rocked his world. “Went out for a run. Feels like we’ve got too many options. We’re spinning in place. I was going over Doc’s statement again, since she’s a neutral party and not as invested in results.”

“And?”

“I never did explain to her why we pulled out as fast as we did. I’m not sure she even questioned.”

“So?”

“Were those vehicles even coming for us? I assumed they were based on Haquiri’s response to us being there.”

“Assumptions cause fuckups,” Scott offered, dryly.

“Indeed.” He’d been protecting Cait, not thinking like the commander of an important mission. He stayed silent for a minute. “Yet, I keep going back to Haquiri’s surprise. It’s possible he executed that mess in the mountains, but I’m having trouble with that scenario. Either way, though, we were in the crosshairs.”

“What would the other option be?”

“That we were too close to either IQS or their caches, and they were intent on chasing us out to protect their assets. Haquiri’s anger could be read as panic, that having us in his compound was a breach of his deal with IQS. He had to have one with Cait having seen the terrorist there and their argument in the back yard. Get rid of us.”

“Solid reasoning. Where does that lead us?”

Hunt stepped to the map and oriented himself. “They came from this direction. Army searched there?”

“They provided a distraction to keep eyes off you during the mission. It wasn’t focused to do a thorough search that I know of. Stocker didn’t give me the details of that mission, and I didn’t ask. Let me make a phone call.”

Hunt looked at his watch. “It’s the middle of the night.”

Scott snorted. “If you think anyone is sleeping with IQS spotted, you’d be wrong. Although, you should go take a twenty.”

“I will.” He kept his eyes on the map, tracing their route.

Scott exited the room heading to his office.

Not thinking like a commander. Thinking like a man. He was going to have to learn how to juggle the two. Thankfully, Cait would never be on another mission with him where he’d have to fight his way through protectiveness. Stepping closer to the map, he wrestled his mind away from Cait and asked thequestion he should have been asking days ago: where had the vehicles come from?

Zeke Pratt crashed through the door – dark hair standing on end, stubble covering his jaw, coffee cup in hand. His clothes were the same ones he’d had on yesterday. “I may have found the boy.”

Hunt jerked around to face him. “How?”

“Used Captain Michaels drawing. We scanned it, and I started running facial recognition on the satellite and drone footage we had. Honestly, there was so much footage and so much likeness to other boys, I wasn’t hopeful. Then, he popped, or at least who I think it is. I need confirmation from someone who saw him.”

“Where?”

“Marketplace outside of Jalalabad.” Zeke walked to a laptop and inserted a drive. Pushing a few buttons, he brought the image up on the monitor.

“How the hell did he get there?”

“Well, lends credence to the idea that the CIA’s man took him. He’s with someone.” Zeke zeroed in on the boy.

Hunt moved closer to the screen. Several moments later, he saw what Pratt had seen. “Enlarge that.” He pointed at the screen to narrow onto the boy’s face.

Pratt tapped some keys, and the area of the picture enlarged.