a deal with the army in order to get back into Iraq. Only a few knew locating Ibrahim and his family wasn’t my sole purpose. It wasn’t in my nature to leave matters unfinished. All the while I was recuperating I thought about what I could do to complete my mission. The answer boiled down to one simple fact; I had to return.
My going back was too much for Jo Marie to handle. She would rather sever the relationship than go through what she had this last year of not knowing if I was dead or alive. I wondered if she’d be more willing to release me to my obligation if it wasn’t for this other guy. I knew this joker was standing on the sidelines, willing and eager to take my place in her life.
Perfect, just perfect.
While mulling over the decision, the door to the hospital room opened and Lieutenant Colonel Milford came inside. He must have insider information to know when Jo Marie wasn’t visiting me at the hospital. That was the only explanation that made sense. The only times he’d shown up was when she wasn’t at my bedside.
I’d only met the man recently, and that was due to the fact that Jo Marie had contacted him in a desperate attempt to get information about me. I knew she considered him Paul’s mentor and her friend. I strongly suspected her feelings had changed and she didn’t trust him the same as she once had, for the simple reason he was encouraging me to complete the mission.
After Jo Marie’s inquiry about me, the military had brought Milford into the picture, but to what extent I didn’t know. I speculated they relied on him and his relationship with Jo Marie to persuade me to follow through with my commitment.
“Morning,” Milford said, coming to stand at the foot of my hospital bed.
“Sir.”
“I heard you’re about to be released.”
Undoubtedly he knew more than I did. “That’s the word.”
He nodded and held my look. “You intend to finish recuperating at the Rose Harbor Inn?”
I nodded, although I wondered if Jo Marie had second thoughts about having me stay with her.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I arched my brows. “Really? And why not?”
He hesitated as if carefully considering his words. “It’s my understanding that Jo Marie has strong feelings about you completing this mission. That being the case, it might be wise to have you recuperate at a neutral location.”
“I’m my own man, sir. I make my own decisions.”
He smiled. “You’ve never been married, have you?”
“No sir.” I wondered at the question and what he was implying. Wife or no wife, I made my own decisions, just as I’d told him.
“That’s what I thought.”
“You’re concerned Jo Marie will sway me?”
The lieutenant colonel grinned knowingly. “You’re no longer a member of the armed services. We can’t order you into enemy territory, and at the same time there’s no one else capable of seeing this through. You’ve gained the trust and the confidence of this resistance group, especially since you were willing to risk your life to help one of them.”
Milford wasn’t making this decision any easier.
“Every available resource will be yours,” he continued. “As you’re well aware, time is of the essence.” He paused and seemed to wait for me to give him an answer right at that moment. He asked the impossible. No way did I have the strength or the stamina for such an ordeal. I’d used up eight of my nine lives on my last venture.
“I’m too weak…”
“True, for now. What we need from you is the commitment in order to put the logistics in motion. Once you’re physically able, we can set this mission into action. All the resources of the United States army will be at your disposal.”
I knew the importance of what I’d been asked. I was to make contact with the resistance fighters and give them the ANCD codes, vital information that had the potential to sway the fight against ISIS. For security reasons, the group wasn’t connected to the Internet, so getting updates, intel, and any other information to them by normal means was impossible. It was complicated by the fact that the resistance fighters had lost trust in the United States army. After what had happened when my own unit had shipped out, I didn’t blame them. Fortunately, their group leader knew me and trusted me, and to further cement the deal, he was related to Ibrahim.
Milford continued to hold my look as if