“Sir,” Sam began.
Ryland shot him a warning glance. “That isn’t necessary, sir. Sam was wounded in the battle with the men trying to grab the Yoshiie family. He’s in no shape to go on a mission.”
The general sat back in his seat, both hands flat on the table. “You didn’t think this was information I would have wanted to know?”
“I’ve been concerned that your office may be . . .” Ryland hesitated. “Compromised,” he settled for. “Certainly someone is watching you. We didn’t want it known that Sam was injured. Had he not responded to surgery, we would certainly have sent for you.”
“Azami saved his life, sir,” Kadan added.
“The next time my boy receives so much as a scratch, you send for me,” the general hissed.
Azami found herself smiling. He couldn’t fake that. He was genuinely angry.
“So what are we going to do about this, Rye?” General Ranier asked.
“We follow orders, sir. We go to the Congo,” Ryland said.
“It’s a damned ambush,” Ranier declared. “There’s no doubt in my mind. Take a look at Ken Norton and see what those rebels do to prisoners.”
“I guess the trick will be not to get caught,” Ryland said.
The general looked as if he might argue for a moment, but instead, he turned his glare to Sam, his bushy eyebrows drawn together in a frown. “So what’s this nonsense about marriage?”
Sam grinned at his foster father, his face brightening. “I’m going to marry her fast, before she has time to think about how crazy it is to marry a soldier, sir.”
“You don’t even know the girl.”
“I know her better than most men know the woman they’ve been with for twenty years.”
Azami knew it was true. He’d been in her mind, saw her character, just as she’d seen his. It wasn’t always comfortable because as they became closer, sharing minds more, they slipped in and out without the other knowing. But, once they’d shared minds, it was impossible not to be lonely without him.
The general made a noise. “Do you have any idea how wealthy that woman is? You’re a soldier.”
Sam just smiled at him.
The general pushed himself away from the table. “I can see I’m not going to do any good trying to stop you. In any case, you need to bring her around to see your mother.” His voice was very gruff. “And you’re not to move from this compound while your team is in the Congo.” He turned to Ryland. “I want you to take your team and follow this directive to the letter. Take that rebel band down. Remove their leaders, pick up the package, take away their vehicles and their guns, and bring back every single one of your men. That’s a direct order from me. Are we understood?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryland agreed, saluting.
CHAPTER 16
“With respect, sir,” Sam said, standing, “I would like to talk to you and Ryland about this.”
Azami’s heart sank. She had known all along Sam wouldn’t stay home quietly while his fellow soldiers took his risk for him.
“We’re done here, son,” the general said and pushed back his chair.
“You would never allow a fellow teammate to go in your place and put his life on the line, possibly blow a mission. You just wouldn’t, sir. Are you really expecting me to do less? I’m a soldier first and always. These men are mine, my family, my friends, my team. You know exactly what that means.” Sam shook his head. “You know I can’t live with myself if someone takes my place and dies.”
The general suddenly looked old. “You’re all we have, Sam,” he said quietly.
“Tucker Addison is not a sacrificial lamb just because he’s not your son,” Sam pointed out. “He’s every bit as valuable to this team as I am. This one is mine. You know I have to go.”
Did he have to be so eloquent? A part of Azami was bursting with pride. She would have done exactly the same thing. He wasn’t about to allow Tucker Addison to take his place and put his life in jeopardy. Sam was a soldier. He wouldn’t hide behind a powerful foster father. She had to be honest with herself. She couldn’t have respected Sam if he hadn’t acted with honor, at least trying to state his case. She loved him all the more for his insistence, even though she was frightened for him. She had no qualms about death; it was merely a part of life. But now she had Sam to lose, and that wasn’t quite so easy to live with.
“You’re wounded, Sam. I can’t, in good conscience, send you out in the field.”
She knew the general was going to capitulate. He wouldn’t have even discussed the issue with Sam, he simply would have given the order firmly and left. No, he was listening and admiring Sam, understanding who and what he was, just as she was—and both of them might lose him.
“I had a couple of second-generation Zenith patches slapped on my wounds immediately and I’m nearly completely healed,” Sam continued in that same low, persuasive tone. “I’m in no way impaired and certain Lily will approve me for work. I know you received the report on the second-generation drug and have read the miracle reports on it.”
Azami’s heart jumped. That was it, the link to Whitney. All along she’d suspected Whitney had tapped into Lily’s private computer, but there was no other evidence of it other than that study on second-generation Zenith. It wasn’t Lily’s compound or computers compromised, it was the general’s. Her mind instantly connected the dots. General Ranier had gone to school with the senior Freeman, Scheffield, and Whitney. He’d been friends with all of them.
She wanted to reach out to Sam with her revelation, but she needed to wait. Ranier had gone into the military and served with distinction, moving him up the ranks fast. He was a brilliant strategist. Whitney would admire him and count on his support. Scheffield had become an advocate of diplomacy. She’d been so wrong about Whitney’s reasons for choosing Sam. Completely, utterly wrong. She’d thought it had something to do with her—with pairing them in some way, but Whitney hadn’t thought about her after he dumped her. She was garbage to him and he’d gotten rid of her. She was the one obsessed with Whitney. Whitney truly didn’t even know—or care—if she lived. As far as he was concerned, she was dead. Useless and therefore not worth thinking about.
She let her breath out slowly. There was another reason he chose Sam and that reason was in the war room. General Ranier had remained loyal to the president and his chief of staff. He hadn’t cooperated with Whitney. He hadn’t fed him information nor done his bidding to try to work behind the scenes to forward Whitney’s agenda. Peter Whitney would consider Ranier’s conduct the worst betrayal of all. The general was in charge of a team of GhostWalkers. They were highly skilled, elite men and women with special psychic gifts the rest of the world knew nothing about.