The Shift: Book II of the Wildfire Saga (63 page)

A sickening image of Aliana and CJ, face down in the pool, flashed through Cooper’s imagination.
 
He put a hand on Charlie’s shoulder.
 
“Wait here, okay?” Charlie nodded absently, that stupid smile still on his face.

“They’re alive,” he whispered.

Cooper caught Jax’s attention and pointed at Charlie.
 
Jax got the message and placed himself between Charlie and the patio door.
 
Cooper took a deep breath and made his way to the patio.
 
The helo was much closer now, he could clearly hear the
whump-whump-whump
as it surveyed the neighborhood.
 
He swallowed as he reached the big glass door and prayed he wouldn’t find what he feared.
 

Cooper peered around the edge of the door and found everything largely as they had left it over a week ago—there was Mike’s cooler from the party and over in the corner, a trash can full of empty beer bottles.
 
His eyes swept over the patio: a few pool chairs, some towels and a couple of CJ’s pool toys lay scattered on the concrete.
 
The pool was empty—a serene little oasis with slightly murky water.
 

Cooper sighed in relief.
 
The pool took up most of the tiny backyard and there was nothing on this side of the privacy fence that suggested anything out of the ordinary.
 

A shadow passed over and Cooper quickly flipped around the corner, throwing his back against the interior wall.
 
The roar of the helicopter’s rotors made the windows in Charlie’s small house shake as it passed low overhead.
 

Cooper counted to ten and listened as the helo moved on before he let out his breath.
 
It wasn’t moving fast, that was for sure.
 
He risked a glance through the dust-smeared glass and spotted a dark shape in the sky making a lazy circle west.
 
It disappeared behind the lemon tree a few houses away and its sound echoed off the rooftops, creating an audible 3D effect.
 
Cooper frowned.

“
He’s knows we’re here
,” whispered Jax.

“Yeah,” said Cooper.
 
He shouldered his weapon.
 

“They’re alive,” Charlie whispered to himself again, staring at the table.
 
He turned to Cooper and his bloodshot eyes were haunted.
 
“They’re alive…I thought I’d lost them, but they’re
alive
.”

Cooper smiled and clapped his XO on the back.
 
“Look, when the sun goes down, we’ll head out and see if we can find them—maybe they’re just hiding out at a neighbor’s….”
 

Cooper knew from the way Aliana had left the table—she was notorious about cleanup—they had left in a hurry.
 
Someone had either spooked them into running or…

No
signs of forced entry—I don’t think anyone broke in and kidnapped them.
 
I think they ran.
 
He thought about the tracks they had seen, the path of the survivors through Chula Vista.
 
Safety in numbers.

Cooper watched as Charlie moved into the master bedroom and began to rummage around.
 
“I don’t know, man,” Cooper said quietly.
 
“Maybe they ran off with all those people that went through Chula?”
 

He started to follow Charlie, then decided to give the poor man some time alone with his memories.
 
He’d been through enough and had waited too long.
 
They all deserved a little peace.

Cooper turned around to face the SEALs as they gathered in the kitchen.
 
The rooks looked pretty ragged, but were holding up well all things considered.
 

“All right, listen up.
 
We—” a horrible screech in Cooper’s bone phone caused him to double over in pain as he ripped the thing out.
 
“Fuck!
 
What the hell was that?”
 
The others were cursing as well—not just his equipment then.
 
Charlie yelped and there was a crash from the bedroom.
 
Cooper glanced over his shoulder and saw Charlie picking up a jewelry box from the floor.

“I’m good,” he called out.
 
“That was loud.”

“
That was some serious interference
,” said Jax in a hushed tone.
 
“
Somebody’s got a strong signal…
”

Cooper looked at Sparky.
 
“You think…?”

The sniper tilted his helmeted head, hand up for silence.
 
“
I got a signal!
 
It’s HQ…
”

Cooper slapped his bone phone in and listened: “—
again, Striker this is Viceroy.
 
Come in Striker
.”

General Rykker’s gravelly voice was unmistakable and crystal clear.
 
Cooper hadn’t heard comms of this quality since before the invasion.
 
He keyed his mic, “Viceroy, Striker Actual.
 
Damn glad to hear your voice.”

“That makes two of us, Striker.
 
No time for small talk—I understand the situation.
 
I have an extraction team on standby.
 
What’s your location?”

Jax’s helmet shook slowly back and forth.
 
Cooper got the sentiment.
 
Can we trust him?

Cooper frowned.
 
What choice did they have?
 
They were wounded, outnumbered, outgunned, and behind enemy lines…they
had
to escape.
 
If nothing else, so that he could hunt down and kill whoever had betrayed them.

“
I say again, Striker, gimme a location and we’ll come get you.
 
There’s something back home you need to attend to—I’ll help
.”

That clinched it.
 
Rykker knew what had happened, or at least had an idea who was responsible.
 
Cooper had sized up the Commandant in Los Angeles and everything he’d heard about Rykker previously had backed up his initial impression.
 

Cooper checked his wrist map and relayed coded coordinates.
 
He held his breath.

“Jesus, son, you’re deep in it.”

Someone choked off a bitter laugh.

“Look, I can’t reach you there—sending the extraction team that far behind the lines would require air support.
 
If I draw too much attention to myself right now I’ll end up useless to you.
 
If you can reach…”

Cooper waited, looking at the map on his wrist.
 
He heard the NKor helo approach again.
 
Its monotonous drone emphasized the urgency of their situation.

“
Can you get to…extraction point Zebra-Seven-Niner?
”

Cooper flipped through the maps on his wrist until found the right coordinates.
 
It was over 120 miles east of their location, on the edge of the Imperial Sand Dunes.
 
Shit, that’s a hike.
 
“
Time?” he asked.

“My team will be on station by sundown.
 
When can you get there?”

Cooper remembered the briefing before they left Denver: any time-related transmission was to have 7 hours tacked on to get the real time in case someone was listening.
 
General Rykker was telling him he’d have the extraction team at the rendezvous point by about 0100 hours, local.

Cooper grimaced.
 
There was no way they’d cover 120 miles without stealing another vehicle and that option—with the NKor helo buzzing around—wasn’t viable.
 
They’d have to wait until dark and hike out on foot until they were far enough away to grab some wheels.
 
He calculated distances.
 
“We can’t be there any earlier than 1500 hours tomorrow.
 
It’s too hot around here at the moment.”

“Understood.
 
My people will be waiting.
 
Viceroy out.”

“
So, what’s the plan?
” asked Juice.
 
He pulled back a corner of the kitchen curtain and peered out to the pool.

“We’re high-tailing it east as soon as that helo leaves.
 
This mission is over.”

"I'm not leaving," muttered Charlie.

Cooper turned around to face his XO.
 
"Say again?"

"You heard me…"

"Charlie, man, look," Cooper said with a shake of his head.
 
"Nobody's more upset than I am that they’re not here," he said reaching out to his friend.
 

Charlie ignored the gesture and stared at the picture of Aliana in his hands.
 

“We can't stay here,” Cooper said.
 
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder.
 
"You heard the helo, you remember those guys that were chasing us back on the 5?
 
The ones trying to kill us?
 
They're gonna be crawling all over this place if we don't get the hell out of here.
 
Soon—like, now.”

"
Listen
," said Jax.

"I don't care what the rest of you do," Charlie said.
 
"I'm done, man."
 
He looked up at Cooper, his eyes pleading.
 
"I'm
done
—I got nothing left.
 
If I stay with you, I'm gonna get somebody killed because I’m not thinking about the mission… You know it—"

“
Listen,
” Jax said.

"I got this," said Cooper, failing to keep the irritation out of his voice.

"No!
 
Will you two shut the fuck up and
listen?
”

Charlie opened his mouth to say something, but Cooper held up a hand and froze him.
 
The only sound they heard was silence.
 
The open window above the kitchen sink allowed a slight breeze to ruffle the curtains and outside, if Cooper strained, he could hear sparrows chirping.

"
The helo
…" said Jax.
 
"
It either landed or left."

Cooper clenched his jaw.
 
"Shit.
 
Our timetable just got bumped up, ladies.”

"
I got movement down the street,
" warned Sparky from the front room.
 
"
Looks like enemy foot mobiles—two of ‘em—working up the street checkin’ houses
…"

"
It landed,
" said Jax with a sigh.

Cooper stared at the ceiling.
 
"Of course it did.”
 

"Look, Coop, just go on—"

“No," said Cooper as he spun to face Charlie.
 
"You will
not
go AWOL on my watch, Marshal.
 
That’s bullshit and you know it.”

"I can't leave them!"
 
Charlie exploded.
 
"Not now—I won't!"

The two men stared at each other.
 
Cooper's trigger finger tapped the edge of the holster on his leg.
 
There was no easy solution—they were running out of time.
 

"
Make that
six
foot mobiles,
” warned Sparky.
 
"
The two in the street are just standing guard while the other four go into every house.
 
This ain't looking good for the home team…
"

Juice and Swede moved into the living room.
 
Only Jax remained in the kitchen, hands on his hips.

"Look, we’ll leave the sat phone here.
 
Give her instructions on how to use it—let her know that you were here."

Charlie considered.
 
"And then what?
 
When we’re back in Colorado and we suddenly get a phone call…"
 
His voice tightened: "And we get a phone call from her, then what?
 
You gonna tell me that mission comes first?"
 
Charlie shook his head.
 
"I can't go through that again.
 
I just
can't."

Cooper stepped forward and put his right hand on Charlie's shoulder.
 
"I swear to you, we get a signal on that sat phone from Aliana and I will personally shoot the first son of a bitch that says ‘no’ to us."

"
They're getting closer…
" warned Swede.
 
"
Looks like four houses down the street.
”

"Charlie, we gotta go…"

Finally, Charlie nodded.
 
Cooper could see the muscles working on his face.
 
He looked down, and after a moment tucked the picture of Aliana into his suit.
 
“Okay, let’s go.”

"Good," said Cooper.
 
He snatched the satellite phone from Jax and began to program it to call HQ.
 
"I didn't think Jax was strong enough to carry your ass back to base anyway…”

Charlie arched an eyebrow.

Cooper looked up from the phone.
 
"What?
 
You don't seriously think I'd let you stay here, do you?"

“You think you can take me?" asked Charlie, a crooked smile on his face.

"Of course I can," said Cooper.
 
He looked down at the phone and continued to program numbers.
 
"But, I'm an officer now—I was gonna order Swede to do it."

"
Happy to help LT!
" said Swede from the front of the house.

"
If you two are done making up, I got NKor foot mobiles two houses down now,
" said Sparky's voice.
 
“
If you want me to do something about it, it’s now or never, Coop
."

Cooper tossed the phone to Charlie.
 
"Hide that in a spot that Aliana would check regularly.
 
Don't make it easy for the NKors to find."
 
He turned to the other SEALs.
 
"Let's go!
 
Everybody to the pool deck.
 
Sparky, make sure that front door stays locked," he said as he put on his helmet.