Search and Destroy by JT Sawyer (top non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

paid their final respects, Cal gave Sara a few minutes alone at the casket. Afterwards, she hugged him, weeping into his shoulder, their anguish keeping pace with the growing intensity of the rain.

Sara leaned back, placing her hand on his cheek.

“She loved you so much, Cal.”

He nodded. “You too, Sara. You were her best friend in the world. I’m so sorry.”

They hugged again, then he watched Sara rejoin her family as they headed to the vehicles, which were slowly thinning out. Cal stood silently in the rain, frozen in place, staring down at the resting place of his wife and unborn daughter.

No beach to walk on. At least not in this world. But I will see you both soon enough. I promise.

He held his hands up to his face, the grief washing over him as he sobbed, his tears merging with the torrent of rain cascading down onto the grave.

Cal didn’t know how long he stood there, barely noticing himself shivering from the cold and dampness. It was only a familiar but out-of-context voice behind him that snapped him from his daze.

“Cassie was an amazing lady. I’m sorry for your loss, Cal.”

He turned to see Colonel Ryan Foley standing in a tan trench coat and brimmed hat. Foley and Patterson were the co-founders of the SD units, and the man had been his commanding officer since Patterson was medically retired from field agent status. Foley had been a legend in the Special Forces community for over twenty years, getting recruited by the agency for the Special Activities Division in his early forties over fifteen years ago. A few years later, he and Patterson formed the two search and destroy units, recruiting Shepard as one of the earliest members.

“Colonel, I didn’t know you were back in the States.”

“I just got in actually.” He moved closer, giving Cal a firm handshake then patting him on the shoulder. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been going through, son.”

“Thank you, Colonel.” Though none of the upper command elements in SAD used terms of formality, Shepard and the other operators still referred to Foley as “colonel” out of respect.

He looked at Shepard, whose lips were trembling from the cold. “I saw you standing here for a while. If you need more time I can…”

“No, I’m fine, thanks. I appreciate you coming.” He pried himself from the side of the grave, feeling like a part of his soul had been shorn away and had tumbled into the ground next to Cassie.

Cal walked towards the large oak tree for a respite from the deluge. He looked past Foley towards the nearly vacant curb.

“Patterson had to leave, so I told him I’d drive you back home or wherever you want to go.”

“Go?” His head was still in a fog. Where was there to go now but back to his empty home to stare at the walls?

“I remember there being a good diner a few miles from here.”

He realized, once again, that he had skipped another bout of meals and his stomach was rebelling. “Yes, something to eat… That, uhm, would work for me.”

Cal pushed his empty plate aside then sipped on his black coffee, staring out the window of the nearly empty diner at the gray skies, wondering if the sun would ever rear its head again.

“So, what brings you back to Langley?” Cal said, looking at Foley, who had just finished his last forkful of pancakes.

“Our two SD units are in between missions right now, and I have something brewing on the horizon that required my attention back here.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“Hardly. I just can’t go into details right now. I’ll know more in a few days when things get hashed out, but I will say that it’ll be a step above and beyond anything we’ve been doing with the SD units.”

Cal flared his eyebrow. “Really? And here I thought we were your pet project.”

“And you and the teams always will be. We’ve done great things, but it’s time for me to pass the torch of leadership on to someone else. With this new task force, I will have a lot more, shall we say, leeway with operational protocols.”

Cal stroked the side of his coffee cup. “Damn, now I’m really curious.”

“Good. You were at the top of my list of recruits, but I was also going to wait until the time was right to approach you.”

A black-ops unit under Foley that appears to be without much, or any, oversight… Who the hell is he working for?

“Is this a private contracting firm?”

He smirked. “Hell, no. It’s ours, but I can’t tell you more than that just yet, and unless you’re in, so think it over and get back to me when you’re ready.”

Cal nodded. At any other time in his life, he would be signing on without hesitation, but he felt like a rudderless ship, uncertain where the shoreline was even located.

“Thanks, Colonel. I’m honored, and I will let you know one way or the other.”

They paused their conversation when the waitress returned to replenish their coffee cups and place the bill down. After she left, Foley leaned forward, resting his meaty forearms on the table. “Patterson filled me in on what happened at the Burke place and the few breadcrumbs the Feds have on what unfolded. I just want you to know that if you need anything, day or night, you call me, you hear. Even if it’s just to talk. And when you find out who was behind this and don’t want anything to be traced back to you, then you call me about that too.”

“I will keep that in mind. Thank you.”

The thought of Foley stepping beyond the law wasn’t anything new, but generally it wasn’t something that was applied to his presence on U.S. soil. Where Patterson was the more subdued aristocratic figure who adhered to protocols before getting his hands bloodied, Foley was never one to conceal the wolf lurking beneath the surface and was always eager to kick in some doors to