August sighed briefly and held up a relenting hand. “I hear you, and you’re right. Over a beer later sounds good, and I’ll consider disclosing a few things, but not today, Gil. It’s a long story, and we’re running late as it is. Let’s get back to business. This operation has to be completed before sundown.”
“Make it scotch and you got yourself a deal.”
“Scotch it is, then.”
Gil backed away and tossed a salute above a toothy grin. “Yes, sir. Give me a couple to pass along word to both teams, and we’ll get this party started.”
Chapter 5
Short Mountain
Edinburg, Virginia
Friday, January 7th
Prone and deeply concealed beneath thick, decaying layers of woodland brush and piles of snow that made up her makeshift observation post, Megan Mason pulled her NVD away from her eyes and glanced at the dawning sky. Daylight hours were finally approaching, and that meant another frigid, tiring, nerve-racking night of reconnaissance would soon be over; that is, unless her dad had developed other plans in his time away.
The search for her brothers, Chad and Mark, had been going on for weeks with nothing to show for it. For Fred, it had begun as a mission, one that had swiftly become an obsession. Finding his sons had become his only objective, the only matter about which he gave the slightest volume of a damn, and Megan hated seeing him so distraught. Her dad had returned home in early December a broken man, only to learn that his family had become jeopardized in his time away. Having been ruthlessly brutalized by his captors, Fred’s injuries were still on the mend; lacerations were well on their way to becoming scars and his bruises were healing, but the psychological damage inflicted upon him remained far from repair. The torture he’d endured would, in many ways, affect him the remainder of his life, though Megan assumed he’d never confess it as such. And she knew this for the simple fact that she knew her dad—the man he’d been prior to his departure, though she was still getting to know the one he’d become since his return.
Fred hadn’t allowed himself any time whatsoever to fully recuperate. Upon learning that both his sons had gone missing and not a soul in the valley knew what had become of them, his quest had begun without delay. Willfully disregarding his pain and with no regard for his body’s need to convalesce, he’d initially decided to go it alone despite pleas for the opposite on behalf of his wife and daughter. Realizing her stalwart father would never bend, Megan had made an offer in compromise, asking to at least allow her to accompany him. Despite his refusal to admit them as being so, his injuries were substantial and debilitating. If something bad happened to him, she could help him, find a way to help him, or seek aid.
Fred had rejected Megan’s proposal right off the bat. His sons were already up shit creek. It was too damned cold outside, and he hadn’t wanted Kim left by her lonesome. He hadn’t sought for his wife nor Megan to be anyplace other than home or anywhere even remotely close to danger. Fred had been his traditional retired Army Ranger self—unwilling to yield even to the slightest degree, but after his daughter’s persuasive argument, he’d eventually caved.
Wearing enough insulating layers to swelter in a blizzard and enfolded by the ghillie suit she’d constructed at her father’s direction, Megan scanned the environment below when she began to detect barely audible footfalls. They moved at a lumbering cadence matching that of her father’s, but she went on alert anyway. She returned the night-vision monocular to her eye and rotated slowly, mindful to remain unnoticeable by use of natural, fluid movements.
The pair had followed every rule in the book to prevent being tracked or discovered. Fred possessed considerable expertise with the tactics they were putting to use, and Megan was soaking up his knowledge like a sponge. Despite the precariousness of their undertaking, she was delighted to have this time alone with him and couldn’t remember spending so many consecutive hours with her father before. She only wished that it wasn’t due to something so tragic.
Few explanations remained for where her brothers were or what their fate might have been. Deep inside, Megan knew they were still alive, but, as well, knew the likelihood of them being captured. Her mother did, too, and both had tried to convince Fred, only to have him vehemently refuse the notion. After everything he’d taught them, he did not want to believe for a second that Chad and Mark would’ve been stupid enough to allow themselves to be captured. There had to have been another explanation.
Nearly every effort put forth in finding them to date had been of no consequence until the evening prior. Fred and Megan had staged at Edinburg Gap near the national forest’s edge at nightfall. After securing an FOB of sorts, they’d gone on foot in similar fashion as previous nights. Under cover of darkness and with NVDs guiding them, they’d patrolled the abandoned roads until coming upon a rural subdivision of larger homes, most of which appeared ransacked, plundered, and in many cases, destroyed by fire.
As they’d veered onto the main drag, Megan had caught sight of an artificial object protruding from a drainage ditch not far from the main intersection. Fred investigated while she’d stood guard, and after brushing away the snow and removing a mound of brush and debris, he had unearthed three motorcycles. They’d been stripped clean of gear, abandoned, camouflaged, and
