hear my voice. Then you come out and put your pistol on them. You good?”
Luke nodded, “I would never fail you, Jack. You know I calm down fast after a fight. I’ve got your back.”
A n uncharacteristic wave of emotion stopped Jack in his tracks for a second—he suddenly felt especially protective of the teen. “And don’t forget that I’ve got yours,” he promised.
The two fighters continued their walk toward the SUV in silence, relieved to see that nobody there had been alerted by the sounds of the confrontation at their forward post. After the high drama with the guard at the wrecked car, the capture of the three people huddled around the fire was anti-climactic. Jack stepped into the wan light with NVGs off and ordered the enemy guards to put their hands up as he covered them with his AR. Luke then popped out as ordered and quickly secured the captives’ hands with zip-ties before turning on his radio and calling for Carter.
“Whatcha want, wonder-boy?” t he Kentucky native teased.
“We have the three men in custody behind the SUV,” Luke answered in a serious tone that indicated to Carter that he wasn’t in the mood for any joking around. “We also had to kill a guard hiding near a car about a hundred meters in front of the roadblock. What’s your situation?”
“My radio’s on so ya know we got the two guys at the Blackhawk,” Carter reported. “We’ve been scannin’ the area with our NVGs but haven’t seen any other folks. I’m purty sure we just bagged the whole crew. Y’all sit tight and we’ll join ya up there in a few minutes.”
While that conversation was taking place, Jack radioed David and Marcus and told them to bring the boats down to the bridge and rej oin the rest of the team. As they waited for the rafts to arrive, Bobby suggested that they separate the captives so they couldn’t communicate with one another before questioning. Luke had been with the former Ranger when they’d captured the helicopter pilots at the Fort Wayne Airport, and he was glad to see Jack follow the suggestion and order the prisoners tied to the bridge about thirty meters apart. Bobby showed every one of the captured soldiers his combat knife as they were secured to the railing, quietly warning each of them that they would lose a finger if they tried to speak with their fellow prisoners. Everyone on the team assumed he was bluffing, but Luke knew that the cold-eyed warrior wouldn’t hesitate to chop off the tip of a pinky if he felt the need to convince the captives of his seriousness during the interrogation; he’d seen Marcus and Bobby use the tactic once before.
Finally, David and Marcus reached the bridge where they solemnly looked over the dead soldier before they approached their waiting friends. Everyone had been discussing the best way to proceed with the interrogation of the prisoners, and there was some general disagreement between Jack and Bobby. Jack wasn’t happy to discover that his old Army friend wasn’t joking about the finger-business. Bobby assured him that he could remove the end of the little finger without hitting bone or causing much more than a painful flesh wound, and that nothing sped up an interrogation more than a prisoner screaming about his missing finger and blood spraying all over the place.
Luke knew that Bobby wasn’t a sadist; he’d watched the ex-Ranger nearly vomit after stepping outside following an operation similar to the one he was describing now. He quietly reminded Jack of that fact, even though everyone had learned of the airport interrogation in the days after the Battle of Fort Wayne. Still, Luke didn’t want to hear the screams or see the blood again, so he supported Jack’s decision to conduct the interrogations without torture for the time being. Even Bobby seemed relieved when he heard that he wouldn’t have to use his knife unless nothing else worked. Marcus hadn’t said one word the entire time, and Luke was certain that the
Luke nodded, “I would never fail you, Jack. You know I calm down fast after a fight. I’ve got your back.”
A n uncharacteristic wave of emotion stopped Jack in his tracks for a second—he suddenly felt especially protective of the teen. “And don’t forget that I’ve got yours,” he promised.
The two fighters continued their walk toward the SUV in silence, relieved to see that nobody there had been alerted by the sounds of the confrontation at their forward post. After the high drama with the guard at the wrecked car, the capture of the three people huddled around the fire was anti-climactic. Jack stepped into the wan light with NVGs off and ordered the enemy guards to put their hands up as he covered them with his AR. Luke then popped out as ordered and quickly secured the captives’ hands with zip-ties before turning on his radio and calling for Carter.
“Whatcha want, wonder-boy?” t he Kentucky native teased.
“We have the three men in custody behind the SUV,” Luke answered in a serious tone that indicated to Carter that he wasn’t in the mood for any joking around. “We also had to kill a guard hiding near a car about a hundred meters in front of the roadblock. What’s your situation?”
“My radio’s on so ya know we got the two guys at the Blackhawk,” Carter reported. “We’ve been scannin’ the area with our NVGs but haven’t seen any other folks. I’m purty sure we just bagged the whole crew. Y’all sit tight and we’ll join ya up there in a few minutes.”
While that conversation was taking place, Jack radioed David and Marcus and told them to bring the boats down to the bridge and rej oin the rest of the team. As they waited for the rafts to arrive, Bobby suggested that they separate the captives so they couldn’t communicate with one another before questioning. Luke had been with the former Ranger when they’d captured the helicopter pilots at the Fort Wayne Airport, and he was glad to see Jack follow the suggestion and order the prisoners tied to the bridge about thirty meters apart. Bobby showed every one of the captured soldiers his combat knife as they were secured to the railing, quietly warning each of them that they would lose a finger if they tried to speak with their fellow prisoners. Everyone on the team assumed he was bluffing, but Luke knew that the cold-eyed warrior wouldn’t hesitate to chop off the tip of a pinky if he felt the need to convince the captives of his seriousness during the interrogation; he’d seen Marcus and Bobby use the tactic once before.
Finally, David and Marcus reached the bridge where they solemnly looked over the dead soldier before they approached their waiting friends. Everyone had been discussing the best way to proceed with the interrogation of the prisoners, and there was some general disagreement between Jack and Bobby. Jack wasn’t happy to discover that his old Army friend wasn’t joking about the finger-business. Bobby assured him that he could remove the end of the little finger without hitting bone or causing much more than a painful flesh wound, and that nothing sped up an interrogation more than a prisoner screaming about his missing finger and blood spraying all over the place.
Luke knew that Bobby wasn’t a sadist; he’d watched the ex-Ranger nearly vomit after stepping outside following an operation similar to the one he was describing now. He quietly reminded Jack of that fact, even though everyone had learned of the airport interrogation in the days after the Battle of Fort Wayne. Still, Luke didn’t want to hear the screams or see the blood again, so he supported Jack’s decision to conduct the interrogations without torture for the time being. Even Bobby seemed relieved when he heard that he wouldn’t have to use his knife unless nothing else worked. Marcus hadn’t said one word the entire time, and Luke was certain that the
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