Free Wayward Son by Heath Stallcup Page A

number was out of service and suggesting that she try her call later…she wanted to scream. Now she was just bored as she alternated between fingers to keep them from blistering. When she heard a ringing tone, she feared she had accidentally dialed a wrong number. She sat upright and cradled the phone closer against her ear.
    “Duty officer,” the voice announced.
    “Holy…who is this?” she asked.
    “Please announce yourself.”
    “This is Laura Youngblood. I’m trying to reach Colonel Mitchell.”
    “Oh, Ms. Youngblood. This is Lieutenant Daniels. I apologize, ma’am. The colonel is in the OPCOM preparing for a mission.” She could hear the phone rustle as the duty officer shifted it. “Can I take a message?”
    “Negative, Lieutenant. It’s imperative that I speak with him. Is the XO available?”
    She noted a longer than normal pause and dread swept through her. “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but…Major Tufo was attacked. He’s in really bad shape. I’m not even sure if I’m supposed to be telling you this or not.”
    “Oh, my God…what happened?” She shifted in her seat and listened carefully, hoping to pick up any hints the man might give her.
    “We were…uh…there were multiple assailants. They pinned most of the personnel below decks. Communications were down for quite some time. They were eventually repelled but…we did lose some. Quite a few were wounded as well.”
    “How bad is the XO?” She couldn’t hide the anxiety in her voice as she asked.
    “Ma’am, I honestly don’t know. Doc’s got field medics and a couple of the nurses watching him around the clock.”
    “Doc?” Laura’s mind raced as she considered the numerous possibilities of why Evan would be in charge of Mark’s recovery. She could only come to one conclusion. “Lieutenant, were the assailants…” she tried to think of a way to ask her question over what she knew was an unsecure line at best. “Were they what we normally send the squads out against?”
    She noted the long pause on the other end of the line then heard him clear his throat. “Ma’am, you know I can’t say. But I can say that sometimes you should ‘trust your gut’.” Laura’s hand went to her mouth as she realized that the squads had been attacked by something and not someone.
    “Understood. Can you patch me through to Doctor Evans?”
    “Ma’am, as I understand, he’s down for the day. He was in surgery for a long time, but I know he’d be happy to hear from you. If you want to leave your number, I can send somebody to try to wake him and have him return your call.”
    Laura smiled at that and nodded, “Yes, please. I’m at the Brazilian base with Pablo and his team. Do you have a pen?”
     
    *****
     
    Paul Foster sat beside his brother in the quiet of the empty warehouse. Waning sunlight seeped through cracks in the walls or through old exterior doorways, but the pair were deep in the shadows of the building, stuffed back into the abandoned offices in the rear. Desks had been pushed together and an old mattress placed on top for Rufus to lie on while Marco was out hunting down more ‘donors’.
    Rufus had greedily drained the first two and was beginning to look closer to normal, but still he slept, his body attempting to heal itself from the massive burns and multiple crushed and broken bones. Paul could only guess at the internal injuries he had suffered absorbing the brunt of the blast.
    Paul had only suffered minor burns from the explosion. Finishing Rufus’ scraps had easily healed him and given him the strength to break through the concrete floor to rid them of the bodies. He barely lifted his eyes as the overhead doors opened once more and Marco drove the SUV inside again. The sunlight pouring into the warehouse told him that it was still unsafe to be outside.
    The truck slowed to a stop near the office and Marco opened the door then walked around and opened the door for a petite blonde who stepped out and looked around the