Desperate Situations (20 page)

Megan kept her eyes glued to the floor.

Jake glanced at her then at the doctor. The doctor had basically been addressing the mysterious man.

Megan looked up. "What about Gunner?"

The doctor shook his head. "Touch and go. He lost a lot of blood and is still in surgery. At this point, it's a wait and see game. If that's all…" When no one had other questions, he left the room.

Masood looked at Megan then spoke to the other guy. "There is a car waiting."

Megan scooted off the bed and smoothed the hospital scrubs top that the doctor had given her. She motioned for Jake to hand her the body armor sitting on a table near him.

"I got it."

She nodded at him then glared at the mysterious guy. "Let's go."

They stepped outside to find a van waiting. Masood climbed in first. The mysterious man motioned Megan to get in, then motioned for Jake.

With a slight hesitation, Jake climbed in to find Masood facing the front in one seat and Megan facing back. Jake sat down next to Megan facing Masood. The mysterious man climbed in, shut the door and sat next to Masood. The van drove off.

The ride was in silence as tension mounted. The mysterious man was staring at Megan,
although his eyes were obscured by mirrored sunglasses that he put on as he exited the hospital. Largely they ignored him―as useless as yesterday's trash.

They were almost to the base when Megan finally broke the silence. "What?" She addressed the sun-glassed, mysterious man. He said nothing.

Jake got the impression that he looked at him, but the man's head hadn't moved.

"We
re you successful?" the guy asked Megan.

"Don't you know?"

"Indications would suggest that you didn't accomplish your objective."

"Yeah well, shit happens."

"So, you failed."

"Yeah." Megan's anger increased. "Am I not allowed a failure every now and then?"

The man frowned.

"Look, you got a leak in the organization," Megan said. She crossed her arms. "The pickup was compromised. The target was alert and waiting. Someone knew we were going to be in those mountains. I'd like to know who."

"I'll look into it."

Megan huffed.

"I think you should be pulled."

"Why?" Megan spit out.

"Stress."

"Stress? When isn't it stressful?"

"You're under a lot of stress with recent events."

"You mean my Dad offing himself?"

"That would be one."

"So, he shot himself
. It was his solution to a terminal problem. Gotta give him credit for taking control of the situation." Megan uncrossed her arms and folded them in her lap. They were still except for a finger tap.

Jake panned his eyes from her lap to the others in the car. He decided it was best to continue his silence.

"Are you saying you don't care?" the mysterious man asked.

"No. He was still my Dad, but I haven't seen the bastard in a couple of years. Not to mention shipping me off when I was young. It wasn't like we were confidantes or anything."

Jake was impressed with her bravado, although he knew the real depth of her love.

The mysterious man made it a point to let all know that he was looking at Jake.

Megan looked Jake in the eyes, then turned back to the mysterious man. "What about him?"

"Stress."

Megan faked a laugh. "With Jake? Please!"

Jake narrowed his eyes. It was obvious that he had been brought in
to the van for a reason and now he knew he would find out why.

"We have been watching you closely for sometime," the mysterious man said to Megan.

"So?"

"You appear to be losing perspective."

"Because I enjoy Jake's company? You've never cared about my friendship with Kelly."

"There's a difference."

"Really? So, I'm only allowed one male friend."

"You've been slow."

"I told you the last time, it'll be a mistake, but you didn't want to listen to me then." Megan leaned forward. "As I said, not everyone is suited for this. You know that."

"Yes, I know. But I think he should be the one to determine that." The mysterious man once more turned toward Jake.

Jake looked between the two. His eyes narrowed as he considered the conversation. Suddenly it struck him.
I'm being recruited. And I bet Megan was supposed to have done it.
His eyes rested on her, but she couldn't or wouldn't meet his gaze. He returned his gaze to the mysterious man.

"You've lived up to expectations, Mr. McGrew. We would like to offer you a more lucrative position in the White Pine family."

Jake said nothing.

"If you accept, next week you'll be sent for special training. If you decline, you'll be assigned a less critical role in White Pine."

"What's the whole deal, Mister… I didn't get your name."

"I didn't give it."

"Yes, I know," Jake said. He didn't like this guy. And it appeared from the feelings that Megan was broadcasting, she didn't like him either.

"Harding. William Harding." He stuck out his hand.

Jake looked at it but didn't return the gesture. "What's the whole scoop?"

"You're being invited to join us. You'll be assigned a crew in Iraq. We've followed your career with an eye to recruiting you for sometime. We've arranged it so that you won't be called back into active duty as the Pentagon is getting ready to do. So in essence, you'll be switching teams for your country. I believe that you would be a great asset helping us protect the interests of our nation."

"And this 'protecting' would include what sort of jobs?"

"Whatever needs to be done. For the most part, you would be doing exactly what the military trained you to do. We would capitalize on that training."

"I see," Jake said. "And when do you want my decision?"

"Whenever you decide."

"Then I'll need to think about it."

Harding smiled. "Of course. There are certain perks that come with the position."

The van rolled to a stop, but no one moved to get out.

"Certain perks that would allow us to rotate personnel into parallel positions." He nodded at Megan. "I'll be in touch, Mr. McGrew." He stepped out of the vehicle. There was another car parked next to the van which he stepped into
, and it took off. After a few seconds, so did their van.

Jake turned to Megan. "What the hell was that all about?"

Megan let out her breath. She turned to Masood, ignoring Jake's question. "I hate him."

Fahim chuckled. "Yes, he makes everyone nervous. I just wish Washington would let us be. They always complicate things."

"Did he just pimp you to me?!"

"That's about the long and short of it, Cupcake."

"And you're okay with this?"

"Not at all, but I know when to pick my battles. Harding's not the person to battle right now." She blew out her breath as the van pulled into the White Pine compound. She exited the vehicle then twirled on Masood as he exited behind her. She lowered her voice. "Who knew where we were going?"

"You, me, Cowboy, Harding…" Masood paused thinking. "Gunner. The crew who readied the aircraft would know it was going out, but not the destination. I cannot think of anyone else." He paused. "Do you really think there's a spy?"

"Damn right," Megan said, watching the van roll toward the hanger where it usually parked.

Jake looked around. It was past curfew and there was no one about.

"Forget it." Megan walked toward the barracks. "I'll figure it out."

Jake caught up with her and glanced back to Masood, who headed toward the main base building. With a slight grunt, he got her attention. "Here." He handed her the body armor.

Megan took it as she stopped. She looked around then caught his eye. "Truthfully Jake, I was to recruit you using any means necessary."

"Why?"

Megan shrugged.

"When did you get these orders?"

"The assignment came before you showed up in Germany. I didn't read it until during the plane ride here. It was after we talked."

Jake's eyes narrowed. "Was it a game? Were you playing me all this time?" His heart was squeezing tighter and tighter―his gut twisted in knots. He didn't, no, couldn't believe it. He didn't want to.

Megan glanced at the ground then around the open courtyard. She looked at him and smiled. "I'm not that good, or I'd be in their 'whore squad
.' No. I don't pimp myself even for the good of my country, Cupcake."

Jake smiled back. "Good. I'd hate to think I fell for a fake."

Megan blushed.

"Who's the leak?" Jake asked softly, almost a whisper.

Megan frowned. "I don't know, but this is the second time in Afghanistan that something funny has happened. That oil line was not… And it happened once in Iraq, but that could be a different…" She shook her head. "I think someone is trying to make me look bad." She grinned.

Jake frowned instead. "You mean get you killed
?"

"Same thing in this business."

"So, how serious is Harding about recruiting me?"

"Very. They want you, badly. We're short on personnel right now. Very short. And they need people who can speak the language in Iraq. You fit their bill to a tee."

"But you think it would be a mistake for me to take the job?" Jake asked seriously.

"Jake…" Megan stopped, then as though she changed her mind, shook her head. "It's your decision. You're a big boy. I just
… It takes a certain kind of person to do the things they want." She caught his deep, brooding blue eyes. "I'd hate to see such a good person turn into a stubborn, pigheaded bastard."

Jake said nothing. It seemed that she was being sincere at least.

Megan lightly touched his arm, just a brush. "Thanks for the help, Jake."

"My hero streak strikes again." He winked.

"Good thing." She started moving toward the building. "Now, if I can just get you to follow orders."

***

After working security at the runway the next day, Jake and the rest of the crew had two days off. He decided to hitch a ride to the military base to visit Gunner. The Chilean was still in critical condition, but the doctors expected him to live. However, according to Megan who gave them the news at the crew meeting the day before, Gunner would be leaving White Pine due to disability when he healed. As a matter of fact, as soon as he was off the critical list, he'd be shipped back to the States to finish his recovery.

Jake tried to find Megan to see if she wanted to go with him to visit Gunner, but she was nowhere to be found. Cowboy told him he had seen her first thing in her office on the phone, but after that he didn't see her again.

After visiting Gunner, Jake headed back to Chicken Street to buy another piece of jewelry. He was dropped off right outside the shop by one of the  White Pine vehicles. He'd walk back to the compound.

This time he bought another
Lapis Lazuli piece similar to the last one. He also purchased an orange/red necklace of Carnelian, worked in silver. The orange colored gems were oblong beads threaded with a silver chain. Two of the Carnelian stones were elegantly encased in silver, and the centerpiece of the necklace was a large, lighter, almost translucent, orange gem.

Again the shop clerk seemed to be especially proud of the
Lapis Lazuli piece as he wrapped each necklace in a red silk cloth in similar fashion as last time. He pointed out to Jake a small silver bracelet with several small Lapis Lazuli stones imbedded in silver. It was elegant yet not imposing. It spoke of strength with a touch of feminism.

Jake shook his head at first. He had enough now to send something to everyone, but as he reached the door of the shop, he stopped. His eyes flew back to the bracelet. He seemed to be drawn to the silver bracelet for some reason. He had no idea why, but buying it felt right. So with a smile, he nodded and pointed at the piece.

The shop clerk laughed, but quickly wrapped it up.

Wondering why he succumbed to buying it, he stood a few feet from the door checking out the area. Now that he had this much jewelry stuffed into his pants pockets, he needed to make sure that he didn't fall prey to local hoodlums. As he did his security check, he vaguely thought he heard shouting. He cocked his head
, and sure enough there was shouting from a side street not far away.

His eyes panned the streets to see several of the ever-present street urchins heading his way.
Suddenly the four boys stopped and glanced back toward the side street. Within seconds and like a wisp of fog, the boys disappeared from sight.

Jake frowned, but decided to follow the wise example of the street kids. If they feared the shouting enough to miss getting candy, there was probably a good reason why he too should 'disappear
.' He stepped back into the recess of the shop doorway. A glance inside showed that the store clerk had disappeared too. He wished desperately that he understood the language.