SEALed Forever Read online

  She’d made plans to have dinner with Dorie tonight and headed there after work. Before her best friend could open the door, Brandy heard Jessica’s wailing.

  “She’s gotten hold of a red pen and marked all over our white leather furniture in the living room. Thank God Brawley is gone,” said Dorie as she held the squirming child.

  Jessica’s arms were covered with long lines of red, and several also appeared on her cheeks. As soon as she was set down, the toddler began running full tilt. Brandy was worried she’d hit a wall and hurt herself. Her shrieking was ear-piercing. Brandy’s words of sympathy were completely drowned out.

  “Can’t leave her unsupervised for a second. This all happened while I was in the bathroom, for Chrissakes,” said Dorie breathlessly.

  Brandy helped box Jessica off so her mother could pick her up. The toddler immediately wiggled and tried to pry herself loose.

  “I don’t even know what to use to get this off. It’s permanent marker,” said Dorie.

  Brandy looked at the white couch Jessica had customized. “I’m not sure that will come out. But it will eventually wear off of her. Go put her in the tub. If you have nail polish remover, I can try that on the furniture.”

  “Oh, I’m not going to bother. I’ll just get some slipcovers.” Dorie brought the screaming toddler to the bathroom and drew the bath water, disrobing her.

  Brandy watched as Jessica stomped her feet and tried every way she could not to cooperate. She fought Dorie as her mother tried to remove her clothes. Even after being placed in the tub, she splashed water and kicked her feet in protest.

  “Is she like this all the time?” Brandy asked.

  “No. She just gets stubborn. And she has so much energy, Brandy. I blame it on Brawley’s side of the family. She’s just like him. Her switch is either on or off. Doesn’t do anything half-way.”

  Brandy leaned over the tub and made funny faces. “Jessica, what’s gotten into you, sweetheart? You’re supposed to help your mama now. Don’t you want to be a good girl?”

  Jessica pounded the water with a resounding, “No!” which made Brandy laugh.

  “Just wait, Brandy. You’ll see.”

  “I’ve been to a few gatherings. Dorie, hate to say it, but a lot of SEAL kids are that way. Tucker calls them little action figures in diapers. I’m sure you’ve heard the stories too.”

  “Unfortunately, yes. I’m hoping it’s just a phase. And I think kids can sense stress.”

  Brandy thought the same.

  They got Jessica into her sleeper and set her up in a high chair in the kitchen while the two friends prepared dinner. Dorie poured some red wine as they ate their pasta and salad, sharing some of the plain pasta with Jessica.

  Having a conversation was impossible as every sentence was truncated and interrupted by Jessica’s demands. But as they finished, the toddler got tired and went down to sleep without further incident.

  “At last!” said Dorie when she came back to the living room.

  “Hope you didn’t mind. Borrowed one of your brown towels to sit on.”

  “No worries.”

  Brandy didn’t want to intrude on their personal life so asked a safe question. “Did you get the call from Christy?”

  “Yes, I did. Already got a call from Luci Begay too. Did you know they have a couple of Navajo boys on the mission?”

  “No.”

  “Danny’s a peach. Met him at some parties in the past. Danny’s cousin, Wilson, is with our guys. He’s a SWCC boat guy. Their families are from Arizona, the Navajo reservation.”

  “Swick?” Brandy hadn’t heard the term.

  “Those are the guys they use for quick extraction or insertion by water. Wilson’s new to the team, but Danny’s been with Kyle and Brawley now for over four years.”

  “I’ll make some calls when I get back. That’s nice. So they live on the reservation there?”

  “Used to. She was a teacher. Works part time now for a charter school here in San Diego. They have two kids.”

  “I’m guessing she’ll be great help to you with Jessica. Wish I could be better support, Dorie.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re my best friend.” She took another sip of wine. “Did you know they’re related to one of the original Code Talkers? Their grandfather, I think. A real war hero.”

  “No, didn’t know that. Don’t think Tucker’s met them yet.”

  “You learn lots of things. These guys, and sometimes their wives, come from all over. We had a gal from Germany married to one of the SEALs who got injured last time out. Man, did that woman like to go partying!”

  “Do we get together as a group?”

  “Christy is going to arrange something. When I first started dating Brawley, we all went out shooting! And we’ll set up a babysitting pool so we kind of share the load. You don’t have to participate unless you want to. She’s talking about things like Karaoke too.”

  “Oh man. Rule me out. I can’t carry a tune.”

  “Safety in numbers, Brandy,” she said, holding out her wine glass. “No one can hear any one person when you do it in a group.”

  “I want to learn all I can. I want to do everything you do. But singing? That’s not my thing.”

  “We got ourselves our very own Cowboy SEAL—Jameson. Used to be a country western star in Nashville. You’ll love him. He likes teaching the older kids how to play guitar too.”

  After a long pause, Dorie asked her how the good-bye went.

  Brandy decided to face it head-on. “Broke my heart. I vowed I wasn’t going to cry, but I did. Just not made that way. He was so nice. He’s been through it before, you know.”

  “Yeah. Shayla. I never liked her.”

  “How did you meet?” A ripple of concern crossed her mind. Tucker had told her he’d been divorced over ten years. Had she come back to see him? Her earlier fears returned concerning Brawley’s wandering behavior rubbing off on Tucker, though he’d denied it. She was sure she could trust him.

  “Shayla came to one of the parties with one of the newbies about three years ago. Even tried to put a spell on Brawley, but he was wary of her. I don’t think he ever forgave her for what she did to Tucker.”

  The information soothed Brandy’s nerves but only slightly.

  “She likes them young. I think she’s a gold-digger. I don’t think she stays with anyone very long. Tucker was fortunate he got out in time.”

  “Well, hopefully, he doesn’t compare me too much to Shayla. He was so attentive. Very sweet.”

  “You’re nothing like Shayla. I’m glad.”

  Dorie poured them more wine and then continued.

  “We didn’t get that nice, loving send-off. And that happens sometimes. Last time, I was big as a house and very uncomfortable. This time, Jessica wouldn’t leave him alone. Almost like she knew he was leaving. Every two hours, it was something. We brought her into bed with us in the end, but neither one of us got much sleep.”

  “The boys probably got caught up on the plane,” said Brandy.

  “Hope so. They get pretty keyed up, though. They usually sleep when they get home. I’ve heard that a lot from other wives. Makes it hard on them sometimes when they need to catch up and crash, but everyone wants them. Just part of what causes the stress of being on the teams, I think.”

  “Tucker said Brawley looked good. He’s expecting him to do fine.”

  “No comment.”

  “Dorie, he’ll be fine. You gotta believe that.”

  “No offense, but you haven’t walked in my shoes, Brandy. I was worried he wouldn’t make it out of rehab.” She sighed. “I’m waiting. Just waiting. I’ve done all I can. Now, it’s up to him.”

  A cold chill descended on the room. Brandy was frightened for the first time in months. Perhaps she hadn’t fully understood everything she was getting into. So much could happen to them and to the families at home. Brandy had been confident she had what it took. Yet Dorie had been one of the strongest women she knew and n
ow was struggling.

  The talk of Tucker’s ex made her feel uneasy. He’d shared his intimate life with someone else, and that someone else could pop back into the brotherhood unexpectantly. She shouldn’t feel jealousy, but that’s what it was.

  Maybe she should have asked more questions. Maybe Tucker had shielded her from some realities that would have made a difference in her decision. Because, if this could affect Dorie and Brawley, it could affect her relationship with Tucker too.

  She didn’t want to have the worries and thoughts she was having right now. She would have to deal with this because it would eat her alive.

  Somehow, she’d have to find the answer.

  Chapter 7

  “Listen up, gang,” Kyle began. “We got a couple new members, so I’m going to make examples of them and give them a bit of shit, if you don’t mind.”

  The group was assembled in the large suite Kyle shared with three others of his senior staff. Three platters of local foods and fruits had been spread out on the dining table, which they devoured in mere minutes. A pallet of bottled water sat on the floor nearby.

  “First off, we got SO Tucker Hudson, trained medic, one of our boys from ten years ago. This is his first trip back, and I’m damned glad I could pick him back up. He put in ten as combat medic, and a hell of a good one, too. Now we’re going for another ten.”

  Tucker was embarrassed at the hooyahs and water toasts.

  “I intend to get even for those who I didn’t catch the last time,” Tucker barked. “I know who you are, so be ready,” he said, aiming at Fredo, Cooper, Armando, Brawley, and Kyle.

  “He rooms with Brawley, so take your complaints up with him,” added Kyle.

  The team chuckled.

  “Okay, now we got some real newbies. DeWayne Huggles is a language specialist, spent a year at school in Monterey, and knows about ten African dialects. He’ll help with some of our communications. His French is real sexy too.”

  A quiet, lanky black kid stood up and gave a shy wave. “I still can’t get rid of my Mississippi accent in spite of all the training, but it’s a real honor to be part of ya’ll’s team.”

  The group greeting him as warmly as they had Tucker.

  “He rooms with Ollie,” added Kyle. “Next, we got our two SWCC boat crew guys, itching to get you guys transported, if we go that way. Carson Philo here is from California, and he’s been deployed with SEAL Team 5 several times and came highly recommended.”

  Carson gave the hang loose signal without standing up and didn’t say a word.

  “His roommate is Wilson Nez, who just happens to be Danny Begay’s cousin, so don’t fuck with him or you’ll get a knife between your shoulder blades.”

  Tucker recognized his Dine features and shook Wilson’s hand since they sat next to each other. Wilson got a proper greeting as well from the group.

  “And, Wilson, you’re in charge of the porn. That’s a newbie thing.”

  Tucker could see the young boat crew guy was blushing. He’d forgotten that it was the job of the most junior member to haul the trunk with all the dirty magazines and CDs, in addition to their own gear. The crowd shouted “Hooyah!”, putting him further in the spotlight.

  “This isn’t the Scouts, so we don’t go around a circle and introduce ourselves and reveal our hobbies. So you get to know your brothers and their specialty on your own. We got the good to go this afternoon from the Headshed, so tomorrow at O-Eight hundred we convoy out, crossing the border into our base camp in Nigeria.”

  Kyle unrolled a map of both Benin and Nigeria and secured it with tape on the wall. “Our cover is that we’re working for international aid—the French, in this case. The contractor is Areva Afrique, a mythical company based out of Paris with offices in Benin. You’ll see the logos on our trucks. We’ll be working on assessing and strengthening the electrical grid here in both countries, part of the aid package coming from the U.S. and Europe. We’ll also help with some humanitarian aid distribution. Some of you medics will be working with the African Doctors’ Corps at their various clinics along the way. Some of them are part of our intelligence network.”

  “Our French liaison is Jean Douchet, a former French Special Forces guy who grew up in Benin and knows many of the tribal leaders here and in Nigeria as well. He also knows those others that we need to stay away from too. He’ll be by in the morning to hitch a ride with us. He has a highly skilled and specialized security crew with him at all times.”

  “Where is our gear, Kyle?” asked T.J. Talbot.

  “Got it locked and loaded in the trucks, stored in the parking garage below. Jean has a couple of his private security detail guarding things to make sure they stay that way. We inventoried everything yesterday, and we’re looking good.”

  Tucker was more than ready to start moving. It made him nervous if he had to sit in one place too long. He’d learned from previous deployments it increased the odds of being noticed by the bad guys.

  “One other thing about using your cell phones. As I told all of you, we can’t use them until we get to the compound. Good news is that we can make video calls by computer there, so some of you can touch base with your families. We’ll keep those calls short and then have signups after that when everyone is back in camp. Very important you follow that protocol, so we don’t get traced by hostiles.

  “In case you didn’t notice, you don’t exactly fit in as locals, so everyone will be watched. We got lots of nationalities, races, and cultures. Most of the population is Roman Catholic, but those Baptists and Anglicans have been working missions all over the place here and have established mission schools. We got some stubborn Dutch, French, and Brits descended from old families during the colonial period. Even got a few Portuguese and Brazilians, if you can believe it. Jean says they can’t always be trusted, so don’t. Be cordial, but just be aware. Not everyone who looks American or European can be trusted, okay? You’re fair game for petty theft if you’re not from here. Some people don’t consider it a crime, including some of the police.”

  Kyle scanned the group, grabbed another water bottle, and continued. “Stay hydrated.”

  Laughter broke out.

  “Okay for the bad news,” Kyle said, lowering his voice. The room fell completely silent. “I know some of you won’t like this, but we’re going to work together here. We may send some of you home earlier than others. We may switch off. But we’re probably going to maintain a presence here for a bit, unless something changes, and it always changes.”

  Tucker heard sighs. Everyone knew not to ask questions at this point. He just hoped he would be one of the ones to come home early.

  “On the coastal region, the bad guys are mostly smugglers, and we’re here to learn about their human trafficking. There aren’t as many religious zealots as there are in Central and Eastern Africa. Our bad dudes are your garden variety basic criminals dealing in human flesh, and they’re very dangerous. Local corruption is rampant, especially among the police. The military here are loyal to their particular jurisdiction, and they’re well-trained—some of them even by us, but many by French and Brit teams—so watch out for them.”

  Kyle continued. “We got African Union troops that will stay out of your way. A lot of U.N. aid goes to training and maintaining those peacekeepers, with some limited success. We got Chinese and Russians trying to curry favor with the traders, as well as the duly-elected politicians who make side deals benefitting themselves and their families. They also interfere with our humanitarian distribution, sometimes steering it toward the smugglers. The Chinese especially would like to get involved in setting up infrastructure partnerships in Nigeria in exchange for oil. There’s talk about a huge Chinese port going in next door sometime in the near future. We’d like to find out more about that, too, if we can. As you can see, we got minestrone.”

  Several people chuckled, and it seemed to ease the tension.

  “Drugs aren’t as lucrative as the human sex trafficking. They go after mainly young g
irls, but lately, we’ve heard young children and older women have gone missing from several villages in the interior. Many of these bands also work out of the Congo or DRC to the south, as well as places farther north. These mini militia groups of bad guys hold up the highways and then sell their pirated goods closer to the ships docked at Porto-Novo and other places along the Nigerian coast. They use the rugged interior jungle region as cover for all their camps and operations, and they’re extremely mobile. There’s also some gun running going on.”

  “Make sure you don’t look like anything but engineers and electrical contractors or medics. You will be allowed to wear your sidearms starting tomorrow, but keep them hidden and don’t take them out unless you’re gonna kill someone. Wearing a weapon is commonplace in this part of the world. Even the priests know how to shoot.”

  He turned to speak to Wilson and Carson. “You two are going to take a team upriver once we get to Nigeria, to explore a couple sites we’re curious about. I’m gonna let Jean fill you in on that. We want to get those boats in the water ASAP and make sure everything is set for an emergency extraction should we need it. We need to check out the viability of a water operation.”

  The boat guys nodded.

  “Questions?” Kyle asked.

  “We working with any other U.S. operatives or CIA?” Trace Bennett asked.

  “Not as of yet. That could change. I’ll be in daily contact with State, as well as our ambassadors, as needed. They know we’re here, and they’ve got their ears to the ground. It’s very important to both State and our partners that we not escalate the tensions already existing. We get in, get the information about the operation, and then wait for further instructions. It would be great if we could get back to the U.S. without having to fire a shot. That’s the goal. But as all of you know, these things change. And we’d like to make it so a few guys can stay behind to continue to collect information on the sex traffickers.”