“On a plane to Kandahar and then on to the same village you visited. Seems I know the man you were going to meet; the bigwigs want me to have a sit down with him.”

  Derek got out of bed. “I don’t like this.”

  “Tough shit. It’s my job, Derek,” James sighed and sat back, closing his eyes. “I had to find out from my boss what happened to you.”

  “Which one?” Derek chuckled.

  “Not funny, this is so not funny.”

  Derek looked at the picture on his nightstand of him and James at a function. “I was going to call you, I promise.”

  “I thought…” James closed his eyes.

  “I’m okay, James, I promise. I’ll be on that boat with you, I swear it. We need to talk about some things.” Derek said. “What things?” James asked.

  Derek sighed and sat back down on the bed. “Things that can only be said in person okay? Can you get out of this assignment?” “You know I can’t.”

  “I’ve got a bad feeling, James; please find someone else to take this.”

  “You have a job and so do I. This is what they pay me the big bucks for. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done, okay?” “Okay,” Derek said.

  “I have to go.” James felt the plane speeding up. “I’ll call you soon.”

  “James?” Derek grabbed the picture and closed his eyes taking a deep breath.

  “Yes?”

  “Please be careful.” He wasn’t going to tell James he loved him over the phone. The man deserved to hear it in person; after six years James deserved that much.

  “You know me,” James smiled into the phone. “Bye.”

  “Bye.” Derek hung up the phone and stared at it. His chest was constricting; something was very wrong with this whole deal. Derek got dressed and made his way to operations. He stopped in and looked at the men working on surveillance of the area. “Anything?”

  “Movement up in the mountains, but it’s not insurgents. These guys are way too advanced, too well trained.”

  “Rangers?” Derek looked closer.

  “No, none of us are out tonight. These guys know how to evade us, too. One of them actually flipped the drone off while smiling wide.”

  “Civilians?”

  “They aren’t military, that’s for sure. But they know exactly where to hide.”

  “Keep me informed.” Derek walked to the coffeemaker.

  “Yes, sir.”

  ~~ James landed at Kandahar airport and was bitch slapped with the heat. He was in a car and on the road within minutes. It was odd to know he was standing in the same country as Derek and he couldn’t see him. James sighed and closed his eyes; he could have lost Derek. He knew it was a possibility every time Derek left the base. It was also possible when he was on it. RPG rounds were known to fly over the walls.

  James watched as the car made its way to the village Derek had been in days before. The meeting location had been changed and James looked around, surveying the area. As soon as they pulled up men surrounded the car and James was escorted into the house. Five men sat around on the floor in the living room and James entered, shaking hands. When he turned he tried to keep the shock off of his face. Lucas Cain was smiling at him.

  “Ah, James. It is good to see you. How many years has it been?” Aasim smiled.

  James put pressure on Lucas’ hand and gave him a warning glare.

  “It’s been two years, my friend.” James sat down and nodded to the bottle of whiskey. “You started without me.” “We had our friend here to drink with.” Aasim looked at Lucas.

  “So tell me what the hell happened, Aasim. I was told you were to meet with General Jacobs about the stability of the village and

  then they were ambushed. I thought you were taking care of things around here.” James said. Aasim sat back with his drink. “I have tried to keep the peace. The whole region is unstable. We know you say you will be leaving soon, but we all know how truthful that is. The natives, as they say, are restless, James.”

  James narrowed his eyes. “Did you have anything to do with the attack on General Jacobs?”

  “I was not even home nor aware a meeting was taking place, James. I had left for the day with my wife and children.”

  James watched Lucas in his peripheral vision; they both knew the man was lying out his ass. “How can we play by the rules if you won’t?”

  There was screaming at the front of the house and then gunshots went off. James stood up immediately and grabbed Lucas. They ran through the house looking for a way out. Lucas pulled him to the left towards the back of the house. They found a back bedroom and threw the window open; Lucas was out and hit the ground and James fell on top of him.

  “Run!” James shouted.

  Gunshots were going off behind them and more screams could be heard as James ran through the desert with Lucas trailing behind him. Shots were getting closer and James turned in time to see Lucas go down. He grabbed Lucas by the bicep and hauled him up over his shoulder, running again. An explosion went off and James looked at the house they’d just left. It was a huge fireball and men were running in all directions. James headed for the mountains. A loud crack went off and his thigh exploded in pain. He lost his footing and went down with Lucas on top of him.

  “Go!” James pushed Lucas off.

  “Fuck you!” Lucas growled. “Crawl, goddammit!”

  James grabbed his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. “Meeting was compromised! Agent Cain and I are down!” James left the phone open as he and Lucas tried crawling away from the area. His leg was on fire; he’d been shot in the same damn leg as before.

  Lucas looked back and saw men approaching. “Fuck, move faster!”

  James could hear shouting on his phone and put it in his pocket. He felt a hand on his ankle and then he was being pulled backwards. He kicked at the hand and felt a sharp pain in his back. “Fuck!”

  “James!” Lucas tried to crawl over James and shield him. A white hot pain hit him behind the eyes and then all was black.

  ~~ Derek sat at his desk looking over the surveillance photos of the area from the night before. Heat patterns were picked up in the mountains, at least four. Whoever they were, they weren’t threatening. Just observing, at least so far. He hadn’t heard from James; the meeting should have been over by now. His skin was crawling and he felt sick. Something was wrong. Derek stood up and grabbed his jacket. As soon as he opened the door to his office, Prescott was standing in front of him.

  “I knew it!” Derek shouted. He pushed past Prescott and ran to operations.

  “Derek! Slow down!” Prescott ran after him.

  Derek slammed the door open to the communications room. The whole room was abuzz and every phone was in use. It was pure

  chaos.

  “What the hell happened?” Derek shouted. One of the monitors was up showing a house engulfed in flames. “Oh God…oh no…” Prescott turned Derek around. “He got out, that much we do know. He called it in, Derek.”

  “I want to hear the tape.” Derek walked to the recording device.

  “Derek,” Prescott shook his head.

  Derek put the headphones on and pressed play. He could hear James shouting that he and Cain were down. Gunshots were going

  off and an explosion was heard. Cain was screaming at James and then James could be heard cursing and fighting someone off. The tape went silent until Derek heard someone on the phone breathing. His hand gripped the desk and he threw the headset across the room in a rage.

  “Why are we still standing around?” Derek shouted. “You heard him! They are going to kill them!”

  “We have people in place for this Derek.” Prescott crossed the room. “We are putting a team together.” “Fine, I’m going.” Derek grabbed one of the helmets from the table.

  “No, you aren’t. That is a direct order, General Jacobs. You are too close to this.”

  “Fuck you!” Derek snarled. “I’m going! Court martial my ass, I don’t give a shit!” Derek pulled out his own cell phone and dialed

  Sam. The phone rang twice before Sam’s voice came over the line. “Get out to Afghanistan right now, and bring Troy.” “Yes sir.” Sam hung up the phone and looked at Dakota. “I have to go.”

  “Is everything okay?” Dakota sat up in bed.

  “I don’t think so.” Sam got up and threw his pants on. He called Troy’s house and waited; Sawyer answered. “Hey, where’s

  Troy?” Sam asked.

  “He’s right here, hang on.” Sawyer handed the phone to Troy. “Sounds like something’s wrong,” Sawyer whispered. Troy took the phone. “What’s up?”

  “Derek just called in a full blown panic,” Sam started.

  “I’m leaving now.” Troy hung up and looked at Sawyer. “I’m sorry, babe. I gotta go.”

  Sawyer nodded. “Just call me and let me know, okay?” Sawyer caressed Troy’s face.

  Troy took Sawyer’s face in his hands and kissed him gently. “I will, babe; don’t worry.”

  Within a half hour, Sam and Troy were packed and loaded up in Troy’s truck. Sam held Dakota and kissed him. He pulled away

  to see concern in Dakota’s eyes.

  “Hey, I’ll be okay. I’m super wolf,” Sam winked.

  “Love you.” Dakota whispered.

  “Love you.”

  Sawyer held his husband close. “I love you.”

  “I love you. Hey, everything’s going to be okay and I’ll send for you as soon as I can, okay?” Troy palmed Sawyer’s face. “I’ll see

  you soon.” Troy got in the truck and backed up. Sawyer and Dakota were standing together holding hands. Troy smiled and waved and pulled down the road.

  Sam pulled out his cell phone and dialed Josh’s number. Josh answered on the second ring and Sam looked out the window.

  “Did Derek call you?”

  Josh sat up and looked at his cell phone. “No, why?”

  “Something’s up. He called me and Troy and told us to come to Afghanistan.”

  Josh ran a hand through his hair. “Must need your werewolf abilities.”

  “Yeah well, we need you and Mateo, too. We’re a team and we work as one. Derek wouldn’t have called in a panic like that—”

  “Unless it involved James.” Josh nodded and looked at Mark. “I’m on it. I’ll call Mateo and we’ll hook up in Germany.”

  “Roger that,” Sam sighed. “Thanks Josh.”

  “Hey, we are one.”

  “Yes, we are.”

  ~~ Vince Markov sat up in the mountains of Afghanistan and looked through his night vision goggles. They’d been called in to take out a key figure and now that key figure was on the move. They’d arrived too late the first time, the house had been incinerated and the target gone. Vince sighed and took a drink from his canteen. It was hotter than hell and he felt sweat pouring down his back.

  “Do you see what I see?”

  Vince sighed. “Great, Lorenzo, now that fucking song will be in my head for hours.”

  “What song?” Lorenzo chuckled.

  “Yes, I see what you see, fifteen men or more. Looks like they are transporting people. We are going to have to get Dimitri and

  Justin over here.”

  Lorenzo nodded. “I have called Jay and Roman back from the north side.”

  Vince pulled his radio out. “Mason?”

  “Yup.”

  “Where are you and the hubby?” Vince poured water down his back.

  “Coming to you, so don’t shoot us.” Mason chuckled.

  “What is it with you guys lately? Okay, so I’m divorced and pissy. Doesn’t mean I have an itchy trigger finger.” “That is true.” Lorenzo nodded. “You prefer knives.”

  “Jesus, guys lay off.” Vince growled.

  Mason laughed and looked through his scope. “Um, guys? Remember that cave we thought was empty?” “It was.” Vince looked over at Lorenzo with his brow raised.

  “It’s getting new residents.” Mason zeroed in on the men entering the cave. “Weapons up the ying yang.” “Stay put,” Vince motioned to Lorenzo. “We are coming to you instead.”

  “Oooh, can’t wait.” Mason said.

  “Shut up, Mason.” Vince laughed.

  ~~ James opened his eyes to see a gun pointed at his head. He looked up to see Aasim smiling at him. He should have known. In all the years he’d known the man he should have seen this coming.

  “Where’s Lucas?” James licked his lips and tried to move his leg. The pain spiked up his thigh and he looked down to see an open gunshot wound. At the sound of a moan to his left, James turned his head to see Lucas chained to the wall. His feet and wrists were in shackles.

  “He does not know who you really are, does he?” Aasim crouched down in front of James. “In fact no one does, do they?”

  James looked up and smiled. “Fuck you.”

  Aasim sat down and opened a folder. “James Mitchell Pruitt, born April fifteenth, 1974. Parents: Janelle and Joseph Pruitt. Joseph worked as a Secret Service agent until he retired and your mother was secretary to the President of the United States. James Pruitt, four years in the Army and then went on to the FBI.” Aasim looked up and smiled. “This is where it gets interesting. You also worked for the CIA. Your IQ is higher than 180, you are an expert in computers as well as weapons. Your training in lethal combat rivals that of a Navy SEAL.”

  “Blah, blah, blah.” James balled his fists in the shackles. “What the hell do you want?”

  “You are one hell of a catch, James. I am going to get whatever I can for you. As you Americans had a deck of cards for us, we have one for you as well. And you are the king of spades, James.”

  James narrowed his eyes. “You are the leader.”

  “Bravo, James.” Aasim clapped softly. “You are very smart indeed.”

  “Son of a bitch!” James growled. “You could have killed those men! They were there in good faith!”

  Aasim smiled and leaned down to look at James. “Who were you worried about, James?”

  “Fuck you.” James spat in Aasim’s face. The pain was immediate and he bit his lip to keep from screaming outright. Aasim had shoved his finger into the open wound in his thigh and was now twisting his finger inside.

  “You can scream. I will not hold it against you.” Aasim laughed.

  “Kiss my ass!” James shouted.

  “You hold a wealth of information in that head.” Aasim pulled his finger out and wiped the blood on his pants. He gripped James’ head in his hands and squeezed. “I am curious as to how much we can pull out.”

  James pursed his lips and looked at Aasim defiantly.

  “Oh, you have stopped speaking?” Aasim smiled and got up, making his way to Lucas. “I wonder how much you will be willing to talk if we start hurting Agent Cain.”

  James closed his eyes. He now had a very good idea of what Keegan Ripley had endured. The man had had to sit by as his captors killed his partner. James was pretty sure he was going to have to watch Lucas die.

  “It is all right, we have time.” Aasim gripped Lucas’ hair and yanked his head back. “You should rest, Lucas, I have a feeling you will be in much pain.”

  James watched Aasim leave; he scooted as close as he could to Lucas. “Lucas?”

  “Don’t tell him shit,” Lucas whispered. “I signed the same contract you did, I think.” Lucas looked at James and smiled. “Are you James Bond?”

  James reached for Lucas’ hand and managed to touch his pinky finger. “We’ll get out of this.”

  “Do you have any idea what time it is? What day it is?” Lucas looked around the cave.

  “No,” James sighed. “But I do know one thing.”

  “Yeah? What’s that?” Lucas whispered.

  “My team will come for me.”

  ~~ Derek watched through the night vision goggles as Sam and Troy in wolf form made a sweep of what was left of the house. The two of them were the best chance he had of getting James back. He was working against the Army right now and he didn’t care. James meant more to him than anything. After twenty five years, he was shucking his whole career for one man and he was just fucking fine with it.

  “Do you think they are picking anything up?” Derek crouched down, watching as Sam and Troy sniffed the air. “I don’t speak wolf,” Josh whispered. “God, that looks so cool.”

  “Oh yeah, so cool,” Mateo whispered. “I heard it’s painful as fuck.” Both Derek and Josh looked at him and Mateo shrugged his

  shoulders. “What?”

  “Since when does pain bother you?” Josh raised a brow.

  “Since I don’t want all my bones broken at once.” Mateo motioned to Sam and Troy. “They are coming back.” Derek had pants ready for when Troy shifted. He handed him the pants and looked at Sam, still in wolf form. “What’s up?” “Sam’s staying in wolf form; he’s got the better nose.” Troy stretched his arms out. “We picked up James’ scent all around the

  house.”

  Derek looked at Troy. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Troy looked towards the house, avoiding Derek’s glare. “It’s a blood trail.”

  Derek stood up and ran a hand through his hair. “We have to move out and now. We have no idea how much blood he’s lost and

  whether or not he’s….he’s…” Derek ran his hands over his face.

  “He’s okay, Derek.” Mateo took Derek by his shoulders. “He’s going to be just fine. We’ll get him back.” The area lit up as two Hummers pulled up. Military Police jumped out of both vehicles and German shepherd dogs accompanied

  the men. Sam growled and sat down in front of Derek. Troy pulled Sam back as the German shepherds whined, realizing what Sam was. Derek stood with his arms crossed, looking at the MPs.

  “General Jacobs, you are to come back with us to base,” one of the MP’s said.

  Derek chuckled. “I think not.”

  General Prescott came out of the first Hummer, and made his way over. He stood in front of Derek and looked over the other men. “You will come back with me and cooperate or I will put you in prison. How are you going to be with James, if you’re behind

  bars? Come back, get the okay and then you can go. I give you my word, Derek. Your men can continue without you.” “You bet your ass we will,” Mateo growled. “More fucking paperwork? Then you wonder why the four of us left, Prescott. Too

 

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