hall. The buzz of conversation echoed to him from the main control room. He didn’t want to take this call. Part of the reason was he didn’t want to go home, not now, not after everything that had happened this morning, not when so much was at stake. But there was more to it than that, a lot more.
Luke remembered the day he met Don. Luke was a twenty-seven-year-old Army captain. He had made captain six months before, and he had just been accepted into Delta Force, the Army’s elite special operations and counter-terrorism unit. It was his first day, and Luke was nervous. Don was his new commanding officer. Don was giving him some instructions, as Luke stood at ease in front of Don’s desk.
“Yes sir, Colonel,” Luke said at one point.
Don sighed heavily. “Son, let’s get one thing perfectly clear. You’re not in the regular Army anymore. This is Delta Force. We’re going to live together, we’re going to fight together, and one day we might die together. So you call me Don, or you call me Morris. You can call me fuck-head. I don’t care. But two things you don’t call me are sir and Colonel. You save that for dealing with the other branches of the military. You understand?”
“Yes…” Luke caught himself before he said sir again. “Don.”
Don smiled. “Good. Fuck-head will come in time.”
Years later, when Don left Delta to form the Special Response Team, Luke was among his first employees.
“Don?” he said now.
“Luke. How are you holding up?”
“Good. I’m good. How did the briefing go?”
“It hasn’t gone yet. We just got off the chopper ten minutes ago. It looks like I’m going to be here a while before anything happens. You know how these things go. Hurry up and wait.”
“Right,” Luke said.
“I think they’re going to put me out to pasture,” Don said.
Luke nodded. “Yeah. I know.”
“The Director called me a little while ago. Ron Begley’s boss at Homeland called him. I heard all about the diplomat.”
“Don, I got a little carried away. If you lose SRT over it, I will feel badly about that. But I’m not sorry I did it.”
“Relax, son. Why do you think I called you last night? So you could come in and play by the rules? If that’s what I wanted, I would have let you sleep. We’ve got plenty of those guys in government. More than we need. No, I’m not concerned about that. I wouldn’t have expected any less from you.”
“Begley knew where I was,” Luke said. “He came waltzing in with the city cops.”
“Of course he did. We’ve had an internal leak for a while. Six months, maybe more.”
Luke ran a hand through his hair. A leak was bad news. He looked up and down the hallway. At the end of the hall, near the water foundations, a small knot of intelligence agents were gathered, murmuring quietly. One of them glanced his way, then covered what he was saying with his hand.
Luke was growing tired. He needed to find his bug-out bag. It was almost time for an eye opener.
“Who is it?” he said.
Don seemed reluctant to speak. “Luke…”
“Come on, Don. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”
“I haven’t been able to nail it down. But I have my suspicions. The writing’s been on the wall about SRT for months. We’ve got a couple of people who might be looking to jump ship before we go under.”
“Name one.”
“Trudy Wellington.”
“Don…”
Don cut him off. “Right. I know what you’re going to say. She’s our best intel officer. You’re right about that. And you were sleeping with her for a while. I know all about it. So was I. I regret that now. If Margaret ever found out, I think I would die. But it’s more than that. I told Trudy some things I shouldn’t have. Pillow talk. I assume you know how that goes. I’m afraid I might have made SRT an open book for others to read. Believe me, I feel very foolish.”
Luke didn’t respond. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“Luke, I feel
Luke remembered the day he met Don. Luke was a twenty-seven-year-old Army captain. He had made captain six months before, and he had just been accepted into Delta Force, the Army’s elite special operations and counter-terrorism unit. It was his first day, and Luke was nervous. Don was his new commanding officer. Don was giving him some instructions, as Luke stood at ease in front of Don’s desk.
“Yes sir, Colonel,” Luke said at one point.
Don sighed heavily. “Son, let’s get one thing perfectly clear. You’re not in the regular Army anymore. This is Delta Force. We’re going to live together, we’re going to fight together, and one day we might die together. So you call me Don, or you call me Morris. You can call me fuck-head. I don’t care. But two things you don’t call me are sir and Colonel. You save that for dealing with the other branches of the military. You understand?”
“Yes…” Luke caught himself before he said sir again. “Don.”
Don smiled. “Good. Fuck-head will come in time.”
Years later, when Don left Delta to form the Special Response Team, Luke was among his first employees.
“Don?” he said now.
“Luke. How are you holding up?”
“Good. I’m good. How did the briefing go?”
“It hasn’t gone yet. We just got off the chopper ten minutes ago. It looks like I’m going to be here a while before anything happens. You know how these things go. Hurry up and wait.”
“Right,” Luke said.
“I think they’re going to put me out to pasture,” Don said.
Luke nodded. “Yeah. I know.”
“The Director called me a little while ago. Ron Begley’s boss at Homeland called him. I heard all about the diplomat.”
“Don, I got a little carried away. If you lose SRT over it, I will feel badly about that. But I’m not sorry I did it.”
“Relax, son. Why do you think I called you last night? So you could come in and play by the rules? If that’s what I wanted, I would have let you sleep. We’ve got plenty of those guys in government. More than we need. No, I’m not concerned about that. I wouldn’t have expected any less from you.”
“Begley knew where I was,” Luke said. “He came waltzing in with the city cops.”
“Of course he did. We’ve had an internal leak for a while. Six months, maybe more.”
Luke ran a hand through his hair. A leak was bad news. He looked up and down the hallway. At the end of the hall, near the water foundations, a small knot of intelligence agents were gathered, murmuring quietly. One of them glanced his way, then covered what he was saying with his hand.
Luke was growing tired. He needed to find his bug-out bag. It was almost time for an eye opener.
“Who is it?” he said.
Don seemed reluctant to speak. “Luke…”
“Come on, Don. I’m a big boy. I can take it.”
“I haven’t been able to nail it down. But I have my suspicions. The writing’s been on the wall about SRT for months. We’ve got a couple of people who might be looking to jump ship before we go under.”
“Name one.”
“Trudy Wellington.”
“Don…”
Don cut him off. “Right. I know what you’re going to say. She’s our best intel officer. You’re right about that. And you were sleeping with her for a while. I know all about it. So was I. I regret that now. If Margaret ever found out, I think I would die. But it’s more than that. I told Trudy some things I shouldn’t have. Pillow talk. I assume you know how that goes. I’m afraid I might have made SRT an open book for others to read. Believe me, I feel very foolish.”
Luke didn’t respond. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say.
“Luke, I feel
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