STEVE'S POV
"Do you have details about the mission, sir?" Henderson asked as our plane began climbing to 10.000 feet.
All eyes focused on Joe.
"Scott Rigsby, 46 year old former SEAL, disappeared in South Africa. He was working as a private contractor for american company in Cape Town for little over a year."
"What company?" I asked.
"Palladin."
I shook my head, "Never heard of them," I looked at others.
"What are they into sir?" Cherry asked, also clueless.
"Diamond trade."
"I see," Cherry said.
I looked at others. We all realised it might not be walk in the park after all.
"He was last seen leaving Cape Town to fly to Johannesburg but never arrived there," Joe continued to fill us in. "We'll meet Hooks and Rollins in Cape Town. They are both flying from Europe. I have a friend who will lend us his house as a base camp."
"Why is not CIA working on it through the standard chain of command? Why are we involved?" I asked.
"CIA is not working at it at all Steve."
"What?!"
"Catherine is doing me a favor. I was supposed to meet Rigsby two weeks ago in London but he didn't show up. I tried to call him but his line is dead so I contacted my sources in CIA. They told me that it's not a priority for them. Military has no evidence something has even happened to him either-"
"Except he didn't show up for your meeting," I looked at Joe.
"Except he didn't show up for our meeting."
"So I asked Catherine if she could look into it." Joe looked at me quickly. "She was tracking his steps but after Cape Town he is a ghost."
"OK, nothing we haven't done before," I looked at the team. "Where do you want to start Joe?"
"Catherine found the private aviation company which was hired to fly Scott to Johannesburg. I wanna start there."
I nodded, "I agree. I also want to pay visit to Palladin. They might know something."
"Ok should be fun," Henderson joked, "How do you know Rigsby sir?" Henderson asked Joe, "did you serve with him?"
"We were on few ops together. Then he retired when his wife got pregnant. Almost 10 years ago."
"So what is he doing in RSA now?" I asked. In our field noone ever knows who is working for who. For cash even good guy can turn bad quickly. I saw it happen more than once. It saves lives to be careful.
But Joe was able to ease my thoughts, "Three years ago, Scott's wife filed for divorce. She gained sole custody of their two children. After that he needed to get back to the field and found work as contractor. He bagan working for Palladin six months ago."
"Poor guy," Henderson felt with Rigsby. I remembered Joe told me he had a newborn at home.
"How's the baby Pushman?" I asked.
Henderson smiled wildly, "5 months old and growing like a beast."
"Glad to hear brother!"
"Scott is my friend," Joe draw our attention back to Rigsby, "I'd very much like to see him again. So thank you all for your help!"
"Hooyah!"
"How did Sami take it?" Joe asked when he sat down to the seat next to me.
When he mentioned Sami I suddenly registered butterflies in my stomach. We've been apart only for two weeks but I was already dying to have her in my arms again. Tulum couldn't come soon enough.
"That I'm leaving on a mission? Fine."
"That you'll meet Catherine there."
"That!"
"That!" Joe was clearly enjoying himself. I had no idea my friend was a masochist.
"I haven't told her."
"Why not?"
I took a deep breath, "I'm not sure how she'd take it. I don't want her to get the wrong impression," I confessed my worry.
"That you still love Catherine?"
"Exactly."
"But you don't?" Joe asked.
"Nope. Me and Catherine are over."
"You should tell Sami that, she deserves to hear that from you.
There's no point in building the relationship on lies even when they come from a good intentions. They have tendency to always come out, one way or the other. Trust me, I've learned it the hard way."
"Wife one, two or three?" I smiled.
"All," Joe laughed.
"I thought I'd be easier this way," I explained, "this way she won't have to worry about something which is not there."
"I trust you that know what you are doing son," Joe smiled at me and hold my shoulder.
"So this girl, Sami, is it serious?"
"Yes. On my side definitely."
"More than with Catherine?"
"It's different," I began to explain. "When I started dating Cath we were both young, both focused on our careers in the Navy and in that we understood each other. It was always nice to meet during our leaves you know. With Cath we had a lot in common, we had lots of mutual friends and it made it all so easy and good-"
"And she was not bad on the eyes either," Joe shoveled his elbow into my ribs.
"No she was not," I laughed, slightly uncomfortable, "We were happy, or at least I thought we were, for a long time. And I think if I would have had the chance to ask her to marry me that day, we'd have been married by now," I leaned my back to the cold surface of the C-17.
"Do you regret it not happening?"
"No," I said confidently, "because when I met Sami, from the moment she sat down next to me, I felt something I haven't felt with Catherine. I didn't even know it's possible to feel like that about someone. I can't even describe it. It was total love and attraction towards her. I'd have done anything to be with her. I didn't have that with Catherine."
"So it all turned out the right way," Joe said.
"Yes, I'm sure of it."
"It's not my business but I have to ask. Are you thinking about proposing to Sami?"
"Wait a sec. Of course it is your business, you're like my second father," I looked at Joe. It felt good to know someone feels about me as my own blood, "and if I ever make it to alter I want you as my best man.
And to answer your question, yes it crossed my mind but we've known each other for just little over a month so I want to give her time before I'll ask her to be with me forever.
But if it was only on me, I'd have married her the day we met," I smiled thinking of my girl.
"So Catherine was not the one who got away-" Joe began but I finished, "no, she wasn't the one at all. Sami is."
I smiled at Joe.
"I'm happy for you, son. I hope it all works out between you two. And next time Sami comes to O'ahu I'd very much like to meet her."
"I'm counting on it," I promised and we hugged each other like father like son.
"Now I'll go catch some sleep," Joe stood up, "there's lot of hard work ahead us."
"Nothing we haven't done before," I looked up at Joe.
"No," he laughed, "but I'm older."
"We both are," I said.
Shortly after I followed Joe's example, reached into one of my bags to find my hammock, hung it to the sides of the plane and crawled in to cath some sleep.