Prologue

Jasper watched as Elizabeth and Masters walked out, holding hands. Jasper was happy for them, he was. Neither of them had had any expectation of finding a partner in this lifetime, but it seemed that sometimes things happened, even when it was least expected. Jasper was happy for his friend. As he sat, contemplating whether Gideon was the next person to call or not, his phone rang. He smiled to see Gideon's name on the screen. "How did you know I was just gonna call you?"

"Because, when shit hits the fan, it's usually me you guys call," he replied succinctly. "How bad do you need me? On the red eye, or will tomorrow do?"

"How about yesterday?"

"Shit, I figured you would say that. You want to get me caught up?"

"I'll send you some details. Where are you flying in from?"

"Don't worry about it," he replied. "I promise I'll be ready, in working order, when I get there."

"You'll need to be. We just found our navy investigator, the one we thought was dead and gone. Meanwhile he'd been held and tortured for the last four months."

"One of our own?" Gideon asked in a shocked tone.

"Yeah. One who had been here as part of the military's investigation team, yet was more or less written off."

"Crap. Will he make it?"

"He'll live, but it'll be a long, slow road to recovery."

"Jeez. I'm there. I'm there. That shit never goes down well in my world."

"No, it sure doesn't for us either," Jasper noted, "but we still have a few good people here to find out what the hell's going on."

"Yeah, well, I'm worried about Mason."

"You and me both," Jasper said. "He's holding his own in the hospital, but we're getting jack shit trying to get an investigation going."

"That's all right. I got that nailed."

"Yeah, you say that," Jasper replied, "and you're joking about it, but nobody here is joking. So keep that in mind when you get here. So far, we haven't found anything. No sign of the sniper, no sign of anything, and this other shit keeps happening."

"And you don't know that this other deal, that whatever else is going on , had nothing to do with it?"

"I suspect it did, but we're still turning over rocks, trying to get answers."

"That's good to hear," Gideon said. "You know me. I'm one of the best rock-turners in the business. I'll see you in the morning." And, with that, he disconnected.