Page 76 of Keeping Laryn
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The automatic gunfire that echoed through the mountains when someone destroyed their bird were the last shots Casper and Pyro heard. It was as if, now that the SEAL team was gone, and the last two men had been recovered, the operatives in the area had all bugged out.
Casper figured that was exactly what had happened. And it couldn’t be a coincidence. Shit went sideways in missions all the time, but this one seemed to have more than its fair share of fuckups.
After calling for backup, he joined Pyro outside the chopper with the two SEALs and got to work trying to stabilize the men. He had questions, lots of them, but he wasn’t sure what the men would be able to tell him.
The man Pyro had carried was still unconscious, with a head wound that was bleeding heavily. His friend immediately attempted to stop the flow, or at least slow it down. There was no telling if the man would pull through, but Casper knew from experience how hardheaded SEALs could be. They seemed to be able to defy the grim reaper himself on occasion.
He turned his attention to the man he’d dragged into the clearing. He was still conscious but seemed confused.
“Thought there was a chopper,” he said.
“There was. It got shot up. It’s unflyable,” Casper told him.
The man snorted. “Thought you Night Stalkers could fly anything.”
While Casper appreciated his attempt at humor, he wasn’t ready to find anything about this situation funny. Not when Laryn had been taken.
“What’s your name?” Casper asked him, as he did his best to staunch the flow of blood coming from his thigh. He started a tourniquet as he spoke.
“Mustang. That’s Pid. He going to be all right? His wife, Monica, and his daughter need him to pull through.”
“Pyro’s got him. What about you? You got a family?” Casper wanted him to think about what he had to live for.
“A wife. Elodie. We’re trying to get pregnant but it hasn’t happened yet.”
He nodded. “Well, hang in there. We’ve called in for backup. Almost seems as if the locals planned this,” he said, moving on to what was rolling around in his head and needing his suspicions confirmed or debunked. “Was this mission out of the ordinary for you and your team?”
“No. Not in the least. Things were fine. Nothing unusual. We joined another SEAL team, and we’d obtained the intel we went in to get. Hadn’t run into any hostiles, then they suddenly arrived as if out of nowhere. Waited until we were in this valley and opened fire. They surrounded us and pinned us down. But…I’d swear they weren’t shooting to kill. They could’ve easily used an RPG and taken us all out. It was as if they were prolonging things for some reason.”
Fuck.Casper looked over at Pyro, and he saw his teammate frowning as he worked on the other SEAL.
“Then they managed to separate Pid and me from the rest ofour group. One second we were together, working our way toward the extraction, and the next, they laid down gunfire to cut off the two of us, and we got pinned down behind a group of boulders. We heard the choppers but couldn’t get to them. We told our guys to go, to get the hell out, and at first they refused. But they all have families too…” he sighed. “I ordered them to go, and they finally did, but not before making sure we wouldn’t be left behind. Thank you for coming for us,” Mustang told him.
“You’re welcome. I hate to be the bearer of bad news…but I have a feeling your separation from the group was a setup.”
“To what end?” Mustang asked.
“To get a hold of my mechanic.”
Mustang looked surprised. “Explain.”
So he did. He told Mustang about Laryn’s expertise. How she’d worked on all the Night Stalker helicopters for the last three years. About his previous MH-60, how it was destroyed in Iraq, and how Laryn had worked day and night to get his new one up to snuff. About the countries that had been trying to recruit her—including someone representing the Turkish government. Then finally, how they’d just been deployed to the destroyer yesterday, and despite his chopper being in perfect working condition stateside, suddenly his FLIR had gone out right when he was scheduled to take off for this mission.
“It seems unlikely that someone would be able to arrange a kidnapping as elaborate as this. So many things could’ve gone differently that would’ve made it impossible.”
“I understand,” Casper said. “And I agree. But I’ve still got a bad feeling in my gut that says differently. That says this was all carefully planned, and we played right into the hands of the asshole who desperately wants Laryn’s expertise for himself and his country. I’ve asked a man named Tex to look into the guy for me. Maybe you’ve heard of him?”
“Tex?” Mustang asked, his face registering his surprise. “Of course I’ve heard of him. I consider him a close friend, actually.Let’s just say he’s been very hands-on with my team and when it came to keeping our women safe. If he’s looking into this, he’ll figure out what’s going on sooner rather than later.”
“I hope so,” Casper said.
At that moment, a sound reached their ears, and Casper tensed as he turned and picked up the pistol he’d placed on the ground while tending to the injured SEAL.
It only took seconds for him to recognize the sound of rotor blades. Help was coming.
Relief made him almost dizzy. The assholes who’d shot up his chopper and taken Laryn didn’t have that much of a head start. They’d be able to get Mustang and Pid medical help and see if they could locate the vehicle that had taken Laryn.
