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of making anyone see reason was driving him to a murderous rage. He was tired of
talking to people intent on stonewalling him. Politics wasn t his strong suit. Never had
been. Now he was trying to wade through a political minefield to find out what
happened to his men. They weren t going to end up being  collateral damage , no
matter what people more used to the conference table than the battlefield had to say.
That wasn t the way he was made.
At least he d taken care of Joey Latrobe. No one would be able to get near him now.
Or even find him, if things went according to plan. And that, at the moment, was his
only hope. Joey s new medical caregiver would call Gregorio the minute the young
soldier regained consciousness and could give them any information at all. He prayed
hourly for Latrobe s recovery.
He was so focused on his anger he didn t notice the tall man who quietly entered
his office.
 Answers? I wish I had them for you, John.
Gregorio looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. Frank Ryan stood in the
doorway to the office of the Delta Force commander carrying his flight bag, fatigue and
worry etched deeply on his face.
 God, you re a sight for sore eyes. Gregorio stood and saluted.
Ryan waved him off and held out his hand.  I think for the moment we can
dispense with military formalities.
 I didn t know you were coming or I d have met you at the flight line.
Ryan dropped his bag on the floor and took a seat.  I hitched a ride on a flight with
a friend. I thought it best to keep a low profile for this visit.
Gregorio frowned.  Oh-oh. Bad news?
Ryan shook his head.  I didn t like what I heard in your voice last time we talked.
You re not given to uncontrolled anger or rash actions and that s what came through to
me. You re the Special Ops Forces commander here, with a lot of units on your plate.
All these men and women of the Seventh Special Forces need your full attention. I m
here to see if I can move some mountains for you, so you can give them what they
need.
 I m sure not about to turn down any help. You can bet on that. Gregorio rubbed
his hand over his face.  But Jesus, Frank. This is an impossible situation. And don t
forget, we have to protect our source at all costs.
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Ryan nodded toward the telephone.  I gather you ve been doing some head-
pounding trying to get the orders changed. He gave the other man a tired smile.  Been
there, done that.
 I m not trying to go around you, just keep you from getting your shoes dirty with
my mud.
Ryan let his eyes wander to the tiny window. The afternoon sun was slanting into
the small room, bringing the heat of the day with it. Outside, on the largest and busiest
base in the country, boots pounded on macadam, voices called to each other and
engines roared as people went about their business. A peaceful scene for a far from
peaceful business. He sighed and turned back to Gregorio.
 You called Latrobe s brother? Told him of our concerns?
Gregorio nodded his head.  He got on it right away. I ll guarantee you that by now
they ve gotten someone sitting on the kid to keep unwanted visitors away and they re
getting ready to snatch him.
 You know, neither Halloran nor his men are novices at this. Ryan stood with his
hands in his pockets, still staring out the window.  They ve gone through the hard
training and successfully executed some very difficult and sensitive missions. They
were critical to our success in the drug battles along the Andean Ridge. How sure are
you they aren t just holed up somewhere until they can make contact?
 Positive. Joey Latrobe would never have been left alone like that, as wounded as
he was. If there was danger they d have figured out a way to hide with him and set up a
different rendezvous point. Losing a team like that means someone deliberately leaked
the mission. It s the only way they could have been ambushed.
 I ll ask you one more time. You re sure that s what happened?
Gregorio pounded his fist on the desk.  Yes, damn it. I ve been doing this a long
time. You know that. Would Joey Latrobe, one of the best snipers in the world, be lying
almost dead at Walter Reed if the mission had been successful? Wouldn t his unit have
made the rendezvous point and been extracted with him?
Ryan held up a hand, palm outward.  All right. I m going to see what I can do. Off
the cuff, he added.  And I didn t want to do it from HQ. You never know whose ears
are listening around corners.
Gregorio shook his head.  I appreciate it but I m not sure it s such a good idea for
you to stick your neck out this way.
Ryan smiled again.  I guess it s my neck to stick out.
 By the way. I made arrangements to secure Latrobe. He s the only one who made
it out and he s still unconscious. You can bet, if what I suspect is true, there are people
out there who d like to get their hands on him, try to wring information out of him then
dispose of the body. So I had to get ahead of the game here. He proceeded to outline
the steps he d taken.  At least I got that done, before the buzzards could get hold of
him.
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