Walker (In the Company of Snipers #21) - Irish Winters Page 0,127

beginning to like the hardass sitting at his right.

“Understand, people,” Stewart continued earnestly. “His presence in any courtroom, at any trial, means he’s watching, that he has a vested interest in the outcome. Every brown-nosing, weak-kneed moron will skew the truth just to look good in front of the boss.”

“Or because he was following orders,” Persia added.

“You think the Secretary of Defense is behind this?” Walker asked.

“Someone with a lot of clout certainly is,” she answered.

Stewart turned on Walker. “Your son of a bitchin’ attorney should’ve had the balls to declare a mistrial.”

“The jerk barely spoke with me. Said he was too busy, that he had other clients, and he’d already spent too much time on my case.”

“They had you right where they wanted you,” Adam added, “headed to slaughter.”

“Yes. I was…” Walker could barely go on. “Where were you guys when I needed you?”

“Looking for your dumb ass the minute you left Juarez and me standing on that fuckin’ sandbar,” Trevor growled. “What were you thinking? Swimming alone in the ocean at night? Are all SEALs as stupid as you?”

“I had no choice—”

“You swam over a hundred miles to get to shore,” Julio murmured. “I would’ve helped. I told you that you had more friends than you realized. You said only Sullivan and Charlie Brown were your friends, but when I mentioned that Chief Warrant Officer Trevor Duncan was in transit—”

“Why the hell do you think I came all the way from Kentucky, in person! Just to save your sorry ass!” Trevor thumped his chest with his fist. “I had contingencies in place, damn it. I could’ve gotten you back to the States! Hell, back to Fort Carson, and no one would’ve known.”

“I… I…” Walker couldn’t speak. Acting tough was difficult in the face of so much overwhelming loyalty. But it’d been tough asking for help back then. It would’ve put Julio and Trevor at risk, and Senator Sullivan at more risk. They’d already done so much.

“Who do you think was behind the empty gas tank in that rental the day you escaped custody?” Adam asked quietly, the light in his eyes so damned tender, it hurt to look at him. “Who do you think slipped magnesium hydroxide into those two Masters-at-arms’ sodas when they weren’t looking?”

Magnesium hydroxide was the active ingredient in OTC stool softeners.

Walker swallowed hard. “You?”

“Hell, yeah. Me. I added a touch of flavorless Ipecac to their sodas, too, just to make sure those guys weren’t going anywhere but to the head. Alex and I have been on your butt since the day that kangaroo court started. We even had a plan to break you out of the Navy brig, but I ended up following your dumbass all the way to Kansas. I was on the same flight as you and your guards. But then you disappeared into thin air—”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing as flavorless Ipecac,” Walker muttered, needing everyone to focus on something besides what an idiot he’d been. He’d sure been called dumbass a lot lately.

Adam lifted one shoulder like the big kid he was. “It worked, didn’t it?”

Walker nodded, so damned humbled.

“Senator Sullivan had a plan, too,” Stewart added quietly.

“He’s in on this, too?” Walker had to ask, fully aware of that muscular arm behind him. What’d Stewart plan to do? Knock him senseless or… knock sense into him?

“He and I have been at cross purposes a time or two, yes. Now we coordinate our operations, at least we try. Apparently, McQueen didn’t think to advise me he’d sent Kruze Sinclair to retrieve you from The Hague. By the time I found out, Persia and Izza were already in-country. They got to you first. Kruze spent two days hunting you down. By the time he located the safe house, I’d already been there and gone.”

“Senator Sullivan installed me at Fort Campbell. In plain sight. It worked for a while.”

“I know he did. But then he lost you, didn’t he?” Jesus, who was this man that he knew so many powerful people? “Kruze just landed in Dublin. He’ll be here before nightfall, and he’s not going to be pleasant when he arrives.”

Walker couldn’t believe it. “Why’s he coming here?”

“Because Senator Sullivan and I had no idea the Navy would ever let this bogus charge go to trial. But when they did…” Stewart blew out a long, deep sigh. “We had to do something. Hell, don’t ask me why, but Kruze wants in on this mess with the rest of us