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Carolina
    Dekker jackhammered them to a bloody pulp and was still pounding away thirty minutes later. Roger clenched his jaw and weathered the assault, knowing he, Jack and Beck deserved the brutal beating. Just as he also knew they’d do it all over again. A fact that shed some light in the dark hole his decision in Lebanon had left in his mind, heart and soul.
    The TV screen just past General Dekker’s shoulder showed the chaotic protesters outside the Butner access-control point as he listened to what his superior had to say with a sinking stomach. It didn’t matter that the CIA infiltrated Menendez’s compound no more than fifteen minutes after they had. He and his men were the fall guys, likely because they had majorly pissed off one of the head assholes on Menendez’s case.
    Still, the situation in the world political arena was worse than Roger had known and Dekker was spelling it out at the top of his lungs. “This is the kind of FUBAR that happens when men step out of line. You three went half-cocked into Peru WHERE WE HAD NO JURISDICTION OR APPROVAL TO ACT. It doesn’t matter that you went to rescue Lauren Collins’s kids, their babysitter and Rico. THERE WAS NO OFFICIAL PLAN of any sort put in place. SO THERE ARE NO OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS or COMMUNICATIONS to prove our story of Menendez’s arrest. And if they decide to try him for terrorism in a civilian court rather than a military, the entire case is in jeopardy because YOU DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO DO WHAT YOU DID ON FOREIGN SOIL. The result of THAT is the worldwide uproar and what is happening outside the gates right now. IF THE PRESIDENT wasn’t intervening for your asses there’s not much I would be able to do to save your careers and that comes from the brass at the top. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME, MEN?”
    Roger caught something on the TV screen out of the corner of his eye and the room immediately faded into a surreal scene in which he was no longer in the same universe. Mari, with no headscarf, was in the middle of the protesters outside the base. She ran as if terrified for her life. Tears poured from her golden eyes as she desperately looked for help. Something was very wrong.
    “YES, SIR,” DT and Beck shouted.
    “Yes, sir. Permission to leave, sir,” Roger said. It practically killed him to stay in control. “I must go now, sir. Mari’s out there and in trouble!” He pointed at the TV screen then turned on his heel and left General Dekker’s office at a dead run. He’d barely hung onto the protocol that had been engrained into his soul.
    The last and final reason Roger hadn’t slept well in weeks had him by the throat—nightmares of Mari dying in his arms and him unable to do a damn thing about it.
    Roger ran from the building, set on reaching Mari ASAP. He slammed into his truck and barely remembered to look behind him as he shot out of the parking space. After getting his SUV’s window repaired from Dugar’s bullets, Roger had begun to use his old truck to keep Dugar off his trail whenever he left the base.
    Little did he realize Dugar was going to be the least of his worries with Mari.
    Before he could shift into gear, he saw DT and Beck run up. Then, holy hell, a third man too. General Dekker himself. The truck dipped as the three of them climbed into the back.
    Roger didn’t waste time, but hit the gas and headed for the access-control point. A million things ran through his mind and all of them centered on Mari and what she must be going through in that crowd. Why in God’s name had she left the post? Where in the world was Holly?
    Fear had him by the shorthairs. Dugar was a threat but an angry mob was worse. Roger thought back to what he’d seen on the television and held on to his sanity. He hadn’t actually seen anyone attacking her. She hadn’t appeared injured, just terrified. She looked as if she were in the middle of a war zone being bombarded from all sides.
    As he hurried, he passed snippets of normal life on the