Page 81 of Keeping Laryn
“Besides the latest two choppers that were blown up, you mean,” the captain said sarcastically, a smirk on his lips.
Casper refused to be baited, even though the man was being an asshole. “Neither of which was her fault. And she was able to get the last MH-60 ready in months. I don’t know any other mechanic who could do that.”
“True,” the captain said with a nod. He drummed his fingers on the tabletop.
“You aren’t seriously considering approving this insanity, are you?” the admiral asked.
“Actually, I am. If Tex Keegan says the woman is at that hangar, she very likely is. I’ve also worked with Casper and histeam several times, and I believe him when he says they can handle the extraction. And I spoke with Mustang before he was shipped out with his team. He told me that if Casper and Pyro hadn’t come to get him and Pid, they would’ve died out there. Even when it was obvious shit had gone sideways, they didn’t abandon their duties. They stayed with Mustang and Pid and ensured they were extracted. Night Stalkers aren’t going to turn their backs on a loyal member of their team. It’s literally not in their DNA.”
Then the captain turned and studied the men before him and said, “I don’t want another chopper destroyed.”
“Yes, Sir,” everyone said at once.
“The thought of anyone being held against their will pisses me off. Especially not knowing what that young lady is going through, what her captors might be doing to make her more…receptive to helping them with their MH-60s.”
Casper refused to even think about that right now. He’d already spent too much time wondering the same thing as he lay in his bunk each night. Warm and safe, his belly full, while Laryn suffered through who knew what. It was enough to give him nightmares.
“If you can gather any useful intel while you’re there—what kinds of choppers they have, the technology they’re using, things like that—it would be good.”
“Of course.”
“And you’re to have your body cams on at all times. That’s nonnegotiable.”
Casper wasn’t thrilled with that order, but it would make gathering data easier. All he had to do was take a moment or two to scan the place with the camera strapped to his chest and that would have to be enough, as far as intelligence gathering went. Others could analyze the footage when he returned. He nodded.
“You realize this is gonna be a disaster, right?” the admiral said to the captain.
Casper was sick of the man being such a downer. “With all due respect, you’re wrong, Sir,” he said.
“Did you happen to see the movieThe Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare?” the captain asked.
Confused, Casper nodded. “Yes, Sir?”
“Good flick. Not a hundred percent historically accurate, but entertaining all the same. What I donotwant to hear about is a similar number of bodies left in your wake as were taken in that film.”
Casper’s lips quirked upward. It wasn’t exactly a smile—nothing about the situation made humor possible—but he couldn’t deny there was a lot of bloodshed in that movie. And done so nonchalantly by the characters. They didn’t break a sweat as they killed their way through the flick. “Affirmative. Wedoplan on making sure the man who planned this kidnapping is no longer a threat, however,” he felt obliged to point out.
“I should hope so,” the captain replied. “That’s the reason I’m approving this mission. Yes, I’m concerned about Ms. Hardy, but I’d be demoted so fast my head would spin if I spent millions of dollars to send men who some would claim weren’t qualified, into a country they shouldn’t be entering, under the cover of darkness to rescue a mechanic.”
Casper’s hackles rose at hearing Laryn referred to with such detachment, but he didn’t have time to comment—probably a good thing—before the man continued.
“But spending the money to take out an HVT who has connections and moles in our military? On our bases, on our ships, and on the ground? That is perfectly all right…and encouraged.”
“Tex has passed on the intel he uncovered about Osman?” Edge asked.
“Yes. We know who he paid to force you to take off before the FLIR could be fixed, the sailor in Norfolk who tipped him off that you were coming to this part of the world in the firstplace, and the mechanic who temporarily disabled the FLIR in both choppers. And before you ask—no, you can’t have two minutes with them in the brig. They’ve already been taken off the ship. They’ll face judgement in a military court back home. But we can’t leave a man with the kind of connections and power Osman has alive.Thatis officially your assignment. Get in, take him down, get out. If you find Hardy in the process, great.”
That definitely rubbed Casper the wrong way, but he wasn’t stupid enough to argue. He was ultimately getting what he wanted—permission to go find Laryn and bring her home.
“It’s sixteen hundred right now. You’ll leave at oh-two-hundred. That gives you three hours of darkness to get in, find your man…and woman…and get out. Understood?”
“Yes, Sir,” all six pilots said at the same time.
The admiral didn’t look happy, but he didn’t contradict the captain’s orders, thankfully.
Casper turned to leave the room, feeling more hopeful than he had in the last week.
“Casper…”
