Bobby nodded. “Yes.”
“Get there as quickly as you can.”
Bridger stood and picked up his coffee cup. He dumped it into the sink as he spoke. “How will I find you?”
“You won’t,” Mauk quietly said. “I’ll find you.”
“Should I ask what this is about?”
There was an awkward silence on the line before Mauk’s voice returned. “Somebody’s hunting down Bravo team. All of the crew from White Rock. You may be next.”
Bridger stiffened and stared through the front windows of his new home. He nodded slowly. “I’ll be there first thing in the morning.”
“Pack warm,” Mauk said, his tone changing.
“No worries. I’ll bring plenty of heat.”
Dallas, TX
Bridger pushed open the doors to the hangar that housed Baba Yaga. He marched past Viktor Teplov as he polished the brass work near the entrance. “Good morning to you as well, comrade Bridger.”
“Even the Russians don’t call each other comrade any more, Viktor,” Bobby muttered as he went in.
“They do if they are from my era.” Viktor smiled and gave him a mock salute.
Bobby strode into the bullpen and stepped around Steve Gibbons. “Where’s Slippy?”
Steve pointed to the weapons locker. “New stock came in. He’s alphabetizing or some shit.” He stared at the paper in his hand and tapped a pen to his front tooth. “What’s a five letter word for ‘stinging pain’?”
“Prick,” Bobby yelled as he marched through the bullpen.
“Yeah? Well you’re an asshat…oh, wait.” He chuckled. “Thanks, man.”
Bobby pushed open the heavy steel door to the weapons locker. “I need you.”
Gregg looked up and smiled. “I knew you’d finally succumb to my charms.” He shot him a wink and dropped the box of ammunition he held. “You gonna do me here?”
Bobby ignored him as he reached over Gregg and pulled a duffle from a hook in the wall. “Load up. We got a drive to make.”
“Oh.” Gregg grabbed the bag and began to shove survival gear into it. “How heavy are we loading?”
“Heavy enough to do the job.”
Gregg hefted the bag to the workbench then paused. “Wait. What’s the job? The boards are quiet for a change.”
Bobby inhaled deeply then turned and gave him a knowing look. “Somebody is hunting our old Bravo team. Remember White Rock?”
Gregg stared at him for a moment while his mind searched ancient archives. “White Rock?” He shook his head. “Damn, Bridger. That was a hundred years ago.”
Bobby nodded and pulled a .338 Lapua Magnum rifle from the wall. “That was Mauk that you piped in to my cell.”
Gregg paused and turned on him. “The big, Lurch looking motherfucker?”
Bobby nodded. “He sounded scared, Slip.” He paused and dropped another box of ammunition into the bag. “Mauk doesn’t scare.”
Gregg swallowed hard and glanced to the door. “Should we tell the guys? I’m sure they’d help.”
Bobby shook his head. “The fewer of us involved in this the better.”
Gregg nodded slowly. “I still think we should tell them where we’re going. That way if they don’t hear from us, they can come and…where are we going?”
Bobby pulled the twin 10MM Glocks from the wall and dropped them into the bag. “Beaver’s Bend State Park.”
Gregg smiled and gave him a thumb’s up. “Awesome.” He shoved extra power supplies into the bag then zipped it shut. He turned and faced Bobby. “Where the hell is that?”
Southeastern Oklahoma
“I thought we were going somewhere cool. I am seeing zero beavers.” Gregg crossed his arms and nearly pouted. “Oklahoma? Really? Why couldn’t Mauk have hid out someplace nice like the Astoria or the Four Seasons? Hell, I’d settle for a nice little bed and breakfast in Paris, but no, he has to go to the great outdoors and get in touch with nature.”
Bobby gave him a sideways stare. “Why are you bitching? You were a spec op warrior and you’re bitching about a trek to the woods?”
Gregg raised a brow at him. “I’m retired from that crap, sir, no disrespect intended. Now I rely almost entirely on technology, and have you tried to get Wi-Fi in the woods? Smokey the Bear don’t give out his WEP key to just anybody, you know.”
“Relax. I’ve been there before and I had cell signal.”
“Joy. Probably 3G.” Gregg pouted as the pair pulled off of the highway and followed the huge brown sign toward the state park. He glanced to his phone and shot Bridger a dubious look. “You said you had signal.”
Bobby shrugged. “So maybe Verizon doesn’t cover the great outdoors.” He fished in his pocket and pulled out the rugged flip phone. “Try this.”
Gregg stared at the device then at Bobby. “What the hell? Are you a caveman?”
Bobby shot him a toothy grin. “You may actually have to recall some of your survival training, tech-boy.”
Gregg reached behind him and pulled the duffel to the front seat of the Tahoe. “Fine. Maybe I’ll just do that.” He pulled out a pair of pistols and tucked them into his jacket. “But I’m too old to interrogate, if you capture somebody.” He wiggled his fingers at him. “Arthritis you know.”
“If they tracked him here, I don’t plan to take prisoners.” Bobby slowed the SUV and turned into the park. In the dead of winter, there were few visitors to the lake park and the few who lodged there were shut inside as the snow gently fell. “It looks dead out here.”
“Not my favorite choice of words, bud.” Gregg stared out of the window as Bobby drove the curving roads. “Did he say where he’d be?”
Bobby shook his head. “Nope. He said he’d find me.”
“But he knows we’re coming, right?”
Bobby nodded, his eyes cutting through the gloom of the woods. He rounded a sharp curve and slammed on the brakes, the tires skidding somewhat in the light snow.
Gregg braced himself against the dash and nearly came up with a weapon in his hand as the brown and green “bush” stepped out onto the road.
“I’m guessing that’s him,” Bobby said as
