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This is bad.
Lt. Fallon Carter
stood at attention with her three remaining team members
when Colonel Hampton entered the briefing room. Her heart
rocked into her ribs at his serious expression. Something
was terribly wrong.
“At ease. Take a
seat.” The air crackled with tension while her squad waited
for the brass to explain their visit. “As of 0800, Recon
Team has failed to complete their mission.”
Kade.
Her ability to move
or breathe ceased as the news registered in her rapidly
numbing brain. Only death would stop him from completing a
mission.
“Lieutenant Eric
Saunders was wounded. He’s being treated and debriefed as we
speak.” The Colonel paused and looked around the room.
She stopped
breathing and waited for him to continue. For the first time
in her life, she was scared.
“Commander Kade
Taggart was captured.”
No!
She clamped her jaw
to keep from crying out. No one must know of the personal
hell the Colonel’s words caused. Calm on the outside, her
mind raced into action. Thankful to hear the man she loved
was alive, she knew something was off. Captain Kade Taggart
was too smart to let that happen. He analyzed his missions
carefully, allowing for every possible scenario. This didn’t
make sense.
Her eyes scanned the
others in the room. McGee, Sawyer, Lucy. Instinct told her
this was the work of a traitor. But who? For the past year
she’d trusted all of them with her life. Looking from face
to face, no one appeared guilty. Her gut didn’t agree. She
sighed inwardly. All signs logically pointed to Eric, but he
lay in quarantine, and she had no hope of speaking to him.
The room remained
silent as the debriefing continued, and it wasn’t until it
was over that someone spoke up.
“Colonel Hampton,
Sir.” McGee stood, gaining the departing man’s attention.
“What’s being done about the commander? Will there be a
rescue mission?”
Her pulse quickened.
She watched the colonel intently. She’d be the first to
volunteer.
“The State
Department’s aware of the circumstances. Until we get word
from them, they’ll be no rescue.”
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