Page 74 of Keeping Laryn
Edge’s blood ran cold. “She’s onboard the MH-60 with Casper and Pyro.” He explained what happened, how both his and Casper’s choppers had malfunctions with their FLIR.
“That was no malfunction,” Tex said. “The man has connections. It’s how he learned Laryn might be available to hire. How he got her phone number without her giving it to him. He works for the highest levels of the Turkish government, and they’re very determined to get their military up to the same standards as other, more powerful countries.
“I’mpositivehe’s got people on his payroll who work on that destroyer. I’ll look into money trails as soon as we hang up, but I’m guessing at this point, it’s moot. What’s done is done. Given what you’ve told me, I’m guessing Osman paid someone for intel about Larynandyour mission. That person probably sabotaged your choppers in a way that would necessitate Laryn jumping onboard and riding with them. Osman isn’t stupid—he’s crazy smart, actually. While there’s no way he could guarantee she’d insist on going, or being ordered to go with the chopper, the bottom line is that’s exactly what he wanted, and it’s what he got. This is not good. Not good at all.”
Edge had a feeling when Tex said something wasn’t good, itreallymeant they were royally fucked.
“You need to tell Casper not to land under any circumstances. I have no doubt Osman has boots on the ground, that he’s ready and willing to do whatever it takes to get his hands on Laryn. Casper needs to get their asses back to the ship, and she needs to be locked down. I mean it, Edge—no contact withanyoneother than you and your team, because there’s no telling who Osman has in his pocket.”
“That’s not going to be easy. Laryn isn’t going to want to siton her ass when her choppers need maintenance,” Chaos said, speaking for the first time.
“Who’s that?” Tex asked impatiently.
“Chaos,” Edge said.
“Well, would Laryn prefer to be a guest of the Turkish military for the rest of her life, forced to break the oaths she’s made to keep any and all intel about our military and the technology in our birds to herself?”
“No.”
“Contact Casper. Let him know. I’ll continue to try to unravel threads on my end and find out who he’s paying for intel and to sabotage the choppers.”
“You really think someone onboard is working for him? And that they disabled the FLIR on the slim chance that Laryn would go on the mission? That’s a huge leap. If the control tower wasn’t on their asses to get their asses moving, if the SEALs hadn’t needed an extraction ASAP, no one would’ve ever allowed Laryn to stay in that chopper. Especially Casper.”
“That’sexactlywhat I think happened. And is that level of pressure to take off normal?”
Edge huffed out a harsh breath. Now that Tex brought it up, he realized it wasn’t normal at all.
“Right. That’s what I thought. I don’t care what you’re interrupting—get a hold of Casper and tell him the CliffsNotes version of what I just told you. He has to protect Laryn at all costs.”
“Even at the cost of those SEALs’ lives?” Edge asked.
Tex was silent a moment, then he whispered, “Fuck. Contact him. I’ll be in touch. Keep me updated with what’s happening.”
The line went dead, and Edge put his phone back in his pocket as he looked at Chaos.
They shared a deeply concerned look between them, before Chaos turned and headed straight for the radio at the front of the room. Edge was right on his heels.
As they approached, they realized that while they’d been talking to Tex, the shit had hit the fan. Two injured SEALs had been separated from their team, and Casper and Pyro had volunteered to extricate those men. Buck and Obi-Wan were already on their way back to the ship with the other injured SEALs, so they could get immediate medical attention.
The entire mission, from the Night Stalkers’ perspective, had gone to hell.
They were too late. Casper and Pyro weren’t responding. They’d obviously already landed the chopper and were probably in the middle of attempting to extricate the SEALs. But the big question…what was Laryn doing?
With Tex’s words ringing in his ears, Edge held his breath, hoping against hope that he’d hear one of his friends reply any second now with the good news that the SEALs had been rescued and they were on their way back to the ship.
“Casper, this is Chaos. Come in,” his fellow pilot said, continually trying to get in touch with their friends.
Listening intently for any sign of Casper and Pyro’s return to the chopper, Edge jerked violently when the sudden sound of gunfire echoed throughout the ready room.
Then the line went dead.
Edge’s heart sank.
It seemed unlikely, and improbable that Osman would have managed to put people in place at the exact right spot to be able to snatch Laryn…but somehow, Edge knew that’s exactly what had happened.
Osman had done the impossible. Edge had no doubt he’d managed to follow through with his plan, and Laryn was now in the hands of the Turkish government…or at least one particular man, who seemed determined to get any and all information out of her that he could possibly get.
Chaos continued trying to get a hold of Pyro or Casper through the radio, but the line was totally dead. They had noidea what was happening there in the mountains or if their fellow pilots, the SEALs, or Laryn were all right. All they could do was wait for intel. From Tex. Hopefully from Pyro and Casper. From someone. Anyone.
