I kept seeing that blank stare on Ramirez’s face.
And I kept wondering what I looked like. What expression had he seen on my face? I couldn’t remember how I’d reacted.
And then I began playing over his rationale, hearing him tell me again and again that he’d killed for me and that he’d saved our careers. The more I thought about that, the more the paranoia filled my chest cavity like blood. I knew Ramirez was worried sick about me taking what he’d done to higher. Yes, I’d lied in my report. But that still didn’t mean I wouldn’t bring it up, fall on my own sword with him, and end both of our careers because it was the morally correct thing to do. My own sense of guilt would fuel his paranoia.
And because that doubt had to be in his head, I wondered if maybe, just maybe, I might be a target. I was the only witness to what he’d done, and if I “died in combat” the same way the kid had, then no one would be the wiser.
After all, he’d told me he had nothing else in his life.
In the middle of the desert, in one-hundred-degreeplus heat, an intense chill ran up my spine. What if Joey did find some way to off me? No one would know.
I couldn’t bear that thought.
EIGHTEEN
It took another thirty minutes to finally get Gordon on the line, and we switched to a video call, which was a little grainy, with some boxy dropouts, but I still could note the old colonel’s deep concern.
“You know I’m caught in the middle here, Scott. I didn’t want to send Warris. Keating’s taking a lot of heat, and he’s got no choice but to pass the buck. You know how this works. I’m getting ready to tell them all where to go.”
“Me, too. Well, there’s no media here, so unless Zahed and his people get on Al Jazeera, we’ll be okay. I don’t know about his contacts in that department, but suffice it to say we haven’t got much time.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Obviously, you want me to rescue Warris.”
“Not exactly.”
I sighed deeply. That phrase was becoming a knife in my back. Then again, maybe they were writing off the young captain? No way. They couldn’t be. “Sir?”
“We might be able to use Warris’s capture to justify a big offensive in the area. It’s what that place really needs anyway. Some big units moving through and sweeping out the cockroaches. It’s too damned corrupt to send you guys in there to take out one man. The guy’s laying low, and if he does move, they’ve got him disguised. We even thought they might’ve moved him in a body bag from one part of the village to another. I’ve got nothing actionable to hand you at this point.”
“So you’re giving up on my mission?”
“No, you’ve still got time to do what you can. It’ll take another two weeks for the logistics to be worked out. They’ll need to pull some people out of Helmand. But once that happens, Zahed won’t know what hit him. However, the Ghosts can save face by pulling Zahed out of there before the hammer drops.”
“So you want me to get Zahed and rescue Warris, but you want me to take my time on the rescue op.”
“Obviously this call is not being recorded and the transmission is fully encrypted,” he said with a wink. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t confirm that. But hell yes, son, you need to begin some negotiations, but buy us the time on our end.”
“What if they torture him? What if he spills his guts to those bastards?”
“We’ll have to take the hit, because higher believes that securing Kandahar and the outlying areas—”
“You don’t need to finish,” I told him while sighing in disgust.
I leaned back from the cubicle and glanced around the comm center. I was wearing headphones and the screen had glare protection, so no one could peer over my shoulders.
And at that moment, I stopped calling him “sir.” I’d known Buzz Gordon for a very long time, and that was the most tense few moments I’ve ever had with a CO. “Buzz, I need your advice on something.”
“Glad I’m still good for something.”
“I, uh, I can’t tell you everything.”
“Scott, it’s me.”
“I know, I know.” I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “I’ve got a problem with Ramirez. I want you to know that if something happens to me, you’ll need to confine and question him. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Whoa, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m just saying I got a problem.”
“Scott, what’s going on out there?”
“If it comes down to it, I just want you to question Ramirez, all right?”
“I’m shocked. He’s one of the top five operators we have, and you’re telling me you think he’s going to frag you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would he want to do that, Scott?”
“Like I said, I’m not in a position to tell you everything.”
“You don’t need to protect me.”
“I know. I’m trying to save my own ass here.”
“So let me give you the company line here: You’re the on-scene commander, and I expect and trust you to resolve the situation in a professional and expeditious manner. You have been and will continue to be put in situations where you have two competing obligations.”
“I understand.”
“And now as a friend and fellow soldier, I’ll tell you this: If Ramirez is a problem — in the way that you suggest — then, for the good of the Ghosts, for the good of all operators, you need to address that problem.”
“In any way I can?”
“That’s right.”
“Would you consider that an order?”
“You know I can’t.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “Yeah…”
“Scott, I wasn’t aware it’s gotten that bad.”
I couldn’t meet his gaze. “Well, Harruck’s babysitting the governor on our base, the spook is working on something that involves the Chinese smuggling in HERF guns, and the local police and Army are nonexistent. So yeah, it’s pretty bad.”
Gordon shook his head. “Two weeks, Scott. Get Zahed. If you wind up rescuing Warris early, then do it if you have to, but if you can sit on your hands, then do that, too.”
“All right.”
I couldn’t help but rejoice over his order to delay rescuing Warris. And I couldn’t believe the irony of that, either. Warris’s capture was giving them an excuse to break out the big guns and finally put some steel on terrorist targets. Maybe they were realizing that COIN operations needed some teeth behind them.
Then again, I wondered how effective even a major offensive might be. Word would get back to Zahed that forces were moving toward Sangsar, and he would just skip town until the fireworks were over. Then he’d come back and set up shop once more. Just a vicious circle. We had to get him before he left. They needed to cordon off that entire village.
When I left the comm center, I got word from the main gate that someone had come to see me: Shilmani. I went out there and had a seat on the tailgate of his water truck. “What are you doing here?”
“I want to help you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Do you trust me?”
I shouldn’t have hesitated. But I did. “Okay, I trust you.”
