But for now, she stayed huddled against the edge of the dirt wall in her cell and held Grover’s hand as he slept. At least she hoped he was sleeping and hadn’t passed out. There was always the possibility that Shahzada had hit Grover hard enough to rupture something inside his body.
Moving a finger down so she could feel the pulse in his wrist, Sierra sighed in relief at the steady beat.
She’d been afraid to believe Grover earlier, when he’d told her his team would find them, but now she prayed harder than she’d prayed in the last year.
Find us. Grover needs you.
Chapter Four
Trigger, Lefty, Brain, Oz, Lucky, and Doc sat impatiently around the conference table on the military base in Afghanistan. The general in charge of the post was going over what steps had been taken to try to find the contractors in the past, as well as what the other special forces teams had found out when they were there.
Outwardly, Trigger was listening, but inside he was going over the information he and the rest of the team had found with Grover’s belongings. He’d encrypted a file on his laptop and had explained, in detail, how he’d planned on stirring up shit in the village near the post.
But it was the short note he’d left right before getting captured that caught their attention the most.
I have no proof, but I’m thinking this has to be an inside job. Someone on this base is either working with Shahzada, or he’s here himself.
The team had talked about it and agreed with their missing teammate. The lack of progress in finding Shahzada, or the missing contractors, had to mean the Taliban leader was getting information ahead of raids and missions to search him out.
“Right, Trigger?” the general asked.
Trigger blinked and glanced over at Lefty. He saw his friend dip his head slightly. “Right,” he told the officer, having no idea what he was agreeing to.
“I’m very sorry about your teammate, but reports say that he was out of control when he was here. Acting very out of character, drinking too much and being belligerent.”
Trigger wanted to rail at the other man. Ask him if he thought Grover’s actions made it okay that he’d been taken.
Of course they didn’t. Just as a woman wearing provocative clothing didn’t deserve to be assaulted. And it was insulting that the general hadn’t even considered the possibility that Grover had been acting out of character for a reason.
But no one knew Grover like his team. And they all knew how desperate their friend was to find information on Sierra Clarkson.
They hadn’t expected him to go to such extreme measures, however.
“We understand there are rules that need to be followed,” Trigger told the older man. “But we’re going to do what needs to be done to not only find our teammate, but put an end to the disappearance of contractors on this post. Shahzada and his band of terrorists need to be stopped. I would like to request that you lock the post down until we find our man. No one comes in or out. That means no translators, no one from the Afghani Army, no local spouses or children.”
The general looked surprised. “That’s easier said than done.”
Trigger leaned forward. “It’s our belief, and it was Grover’s too, that there’s a traitor on base. We don’t know if he or she is a local or if it’s one of ours. But if no information can get in or out, it’ll give us a leg up. It’ll make Shahzada uncomfortable. Put some pressure on the organization. We are going to find our teammate. And hopefully any of the missing contractors who are still alive as well.”
Trigger could see the general was skeptical, but he nodded. “How long?”
“As long as it takes,” Oz said.
Everyone on the team knew that wasn’t going to happen. They might have a week at best; any longer and the general would have to return to business as usual. But they wouldn’t need a week. Nothing would keep them from finding Grover.
After twenty more minutes, the meeting ended and Trigger and his team headed for the tent they’d been assigned. As they checked their gear, Trigger outlined the plan. “I think our best bet is to do what Grover did…head out to the local watering holes. Brain, we’ll need you to eavesdrop to see if anyone talks about Grover. If you hear anything, we’ll follow that person in pairs. No one goes anywhere by themselves, got it?”
Everyone agreed.
“And we all have our trackers, right?”
Again, everyone nodded. Trigger had learned from Ghost, the leader of another Delta team on post, that a mutual friend, Tex, had supplied his team with the handy devices. Trigger had never been a fan of trackers, but he wasn’t willing to lose another of his friends while they were looking for Grover. He regretted not forcing Grover to take one before leaving the States.
Trigger was also kicking his own ass for letting Grover come to Afghanistan alone. He’d known how desperate he’d become over the last year to find out why Sierra just disappeared. Since receiving the letter she’d sent that had gotten lost in the mail, he’d only become more concerned. He should’ve known Grover would do something drastic. But getting himself taken captive on purpose was even crazier than anything Trigger could’ve imagined. He had no idea if Sierra was still alive, but had no doubt if she was, Grover would do whatever it took to keep her that way until help arrived.
“We’re gonna find him,” Lucky said, interrupting Trigger’s thoughts.
“I know.”
“Do we have a list of all the locals who work on base?” Oz asked.
“The general is supposed to send it over.”
“Good. Pictures too?”
“Yup.”
“We can show them to locals in town, see if they recognize anyone and what they can tell us.”
“You really think Shahzada is working on base?” Lefty asked.
“Yes,” Trigger said. “It makes the most sense. It would make it easy for him to pack up the contractors’ shit and make it disappear, along with the contractors themselves.”
“And he was probably working with others too,” Doc added.
“Fuck. No wonder the SEALs didn’t have any luck in tracking them down. Shahzada probably knew they were here, even what their plans were,” Brain said in disgust.
“If Grover got snatched because he was acting drunk, someone knows something. He’s a big fucker, they wouldn’t be able to fade into the night without being seen,” Lucky said.
“Exactly,” Trigger agreed. “Take the next couple of hours to talk to your wives and kids…then be ready to head out at seven tonight. We’ll see if we can’t find someone who will admit to seeing him and who he was with. We won’t be back here until we’ve got Grover…and hopefully Sierra too.”
Trigger needed to talk to his wife. Needed to hear Gillian’s voice. He didn’t like to think about not making it back to her…but he made a mental vow that he wasn’t leaving the country until Grover was back with them.
Grover had lost track of time. Sierra had been right, after the first beating, he’d been left alone for a couple days—but the third session with Shahzada had been even worse than the second. The man was a sadist and took delight in hurting him just for the sake of pain. Again, he hadn’t asked him anything. Wasn’t trying to get information. He just enjoyed making him bleed.