“So what now?” Moss asked no one in particular.
“We need to get someone into Oneida and destroy that jamming equipment as soon as possible,” Marshall told them. “If the army shows up, the town is sure to surrender without a fight.”
“I’ll go,” John offered.
Moss didn’t look at all convinced. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea. We know what happened the first time John went in on his own.”
John clenched his fist. Moss seemed to forget how John had saved him and Sullivan from a summary execution on a lonely stretch of road. But long ago he’d learned not to stoop to another man’s level.
“The three of you will go,” Marshall said, motioning to John, Moss and Rodriguez. “Get your gear, we leave in ten minutes.”
“We?” John asked.
“The rest of us will launch a probing attack from the north and east to draw their attention away from your insertion point. Once you get Rodriguez to that jammer, we’ll use their own radio to call in the 278th.”
Chapter 38
“There’s something you aren’t telling me,” John said to Rodriguez. The others were filing out of the command tent in order to prepare their men for the coming assault.
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Come on,” John snapped, clenching his fists until the muscles in his forearms pushed against the sleeves of his shirt. “I saw that funny look on your face during the briefing.”
“Listen, we have a mission to do,” Rodriguez began. “It’s best if neither of us are distracted…”
“Distracted by what? Did you hear something about Diane or the kids?”
John’s voice was starting to carry and the people around paused what they were doing to listen. Among them was Brandon, who had been loading John’s AR magazines.
Rodriguez sighed and the breath wavered as it came out of him. He was nervous, which could only mean John’s gut had been right.
“Please tell me none of them are dead.”
“Not yet,” Rodriguez replied, shaking his head.
“All right, you’ve got fifteen seconds to spill it because after that I won’t be responsible for what I—”
“She was recruited by our man in Oneida, Edward.”
“Recruited? What are you talking about? I thought she was sitting in a prison cell.”
“Well, the Chairman took a liking to her. I told you that much. I’m sure you remember.”
“How could I forget?”
“I guess Edward saw an opportunity and brought her on board.”
The muscles in John’s face went lax. “You brought her into the plot to assassinate the Chairman?”
Rodriguez’s hands flew in the air. “I didn’t do a thing. Edward was acting on his own. But yes, he approached Diane with the plan and she accepted.”
John’s head fell into his open hands.
“But then we scrapped Operation Hammer Fist, remember? You said killing the Chairman might be a bad idea until we knew who we were dealing with.”
“Yes, I did say that.”
“So we took your advice and informed Edward to retrieve the presidential commission instead.”
“Except Edward wasn’t prepared to do that himself.” John’s voice was rising again.
“He was, but Diane could get so much closer and without arousing suspicion. They agreed to spike his drink and…”
“Spike his drink? How on earth was she going to do that?”
“During dinner.”
“Oh, this keeps getting worse by the second.”
“Yeah, well, she tried and apparently was only partially successful. She got the papers to Edward, but your wife was captured in the process.”
“And why on earth are you only telling me now?”
“I only discovered it myself. Besides, what would you have done if you knew? Forbidden her from doing her patriotic duty?”
“I would have gone in there and done it myself,” John shouted.
“Yes, and gotten yourself killed. You’re a practical man, John, but when it comes to your own affairs you can’t see ten feet in front of you. Under the circumstances, there wasn’t any other choice. Edward took an asset under his wing and they did the best they could. You can’t protect them at every turn, John. I know that’s killing you right now. It’s a father’s and a husband’s job, I know, but guess what? This is real life. You aren’t Superman.”
The anger and sense of impending loss was surging through John. “Before he was yanked offline,” John said. “Edward mentioned the asset had been compromised. That they were going to be executed.”
Rodriguez’s eyes fell. “It’s supposed to happen sometime tomorrow. But we’ve got a mission to fulfill. If those Bradleys leave the area and roll into position along the Mississippi we may not get another chance to call the army in to help clear the Chairman out of Oneida.”
John glared at him with determination. “Then we’ll just have to find a way to do both.”
Chapter 39
When John arrived at the Blazer, Brandon was already wearing a small tactical vest. But that wasn’t the part that confused him the most. It was the fact that the boy was reaching into the truck to remove George’s cage.
“What are you doing?” John asked him.
“You told me a while back that becoming a man meant making choices. You said kids want to eat their cake and have it too. That adulthood was about compromising the things we want for the things we need.”
“I did.”
With great effort Brandon lifted the cage off the tailgate and set it on the soft grass. Inside, a rather sedate George stared up at the boy, seeking food with the tip of his beak.
“I remember how you ran for your life that first day George came chasing after you,” John told him. “I think you were less afraid when Cain and his men showed up.”
“Maybe I was,” Brandon replied, unlatching the cage. He reached in with both hands and closed them around George’s neck.
“What are you doing?”
“I think I finally understood what you meant,” Brandon said. “I might be able to shoot someone who’s coming to kill us or peg a squirrel off with a BB gun, but neither of those are as difficult as they seem. I mean, there’s always this part of you that takes over and does most of the hard work, doesn’t it? Training, fear. Not sure which, but there isn’t a whole lot of choice involved when someone’s got a gun pointing your way or when you’re starving and looking for something to eat.”
George was starting to thrash around in his cage and Brandon tightened his grip.
“But letting go of those childish things. Facing the hard facts of life and making the kind of choice a kid hopes he never has to. That’s the last bit that I’ve been holding onto.”
Brandon looked down at George, fixing him in his gaze. He was about to break the bird’s neck and part of John wanted to reach out and stop him. Not because the thing had a name and not to prove a point, but sacrificing the creature’s life as a rite of passage just somehow seemed wrong. For a moment, he thought of Abraham on Mount Moriah about to slit his son’s throat to prove his obedience to God.
A strangled whine rose up from the bird as Brandon squeezed him ever tighter.
John laid a hand on the young man’s shoulder. “Ease up, son. Part of becoming a man is also recognizing when you’ve arrived.”
Brandon’s fingers relaxed. John pushed the lid closed.
“I’m coming with you,” Brandon said.
John smiled. “Of course you are.”
A few minutes later Moss showed up with what looked like armored vests. He handed one to John and one to Brandon.