Chapter 50

Matthew was sitting on one of the bar stools when the band emerged from their basement recording studio. Nicole had made him a sandwich and a bowl of tomato soup for him to eat while he waited. "The poor thing looked half starved. I couldn't let him go hungry", she explained when she saw the guys.

"That's okay, Nicole", David said. "He's my brother- in- law. That means he family. He can eat whatever's in the house as far as I'm concerned."

Matthew looked up from the bowl of soup he'd been inhaling when David said he was family. "I'm finally getting to meet the man taking care of my sister and my nephew." He extended his hand.

David took it and shook. "And I'm finally meeting the man who helped teach this girl how to shoot a gun." He smiled.

"And combat crawl", Matthew added with a smile.

"You do know that you have a niece and another nephew now, right?"

"So I'd heard, but I'll meet them and play with them later. Right now, I need to talk to you and the guys and you can deliver the message to whomever you work for, or I need to talk to the man himself."

"Let me talk to my brothers for a moment. Okay, Matthew?" Matthew nodded. David stepped to the side and he and the guys huddled. "Do you think this new Director would talk directly to Matthew?" Dan asked.

David shrugged. "I was thinking that we take Matthew into the other room where we make our calls to the Agency and find out." The other guys nodded. When the huddle broke, David said, "Matthew, when you're finished eating, which I suggest you do, you look malnourished, we'll take you to our conference room and see if the Director will talk to you. That way her get the information directly from the horse's mouth."

Matthew swallowed the bite of his sandwich he was chewing, and said, "Sounds like a plan to me."

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"Brie, are you okay?" David asked after pulling Brie into another room.

"He looks like hell, David. He's got the ghosts of two wars written on his face and looks like he hasn't had a decent night's sleep in nearly a month."

"I know, sweetie. But, he'll be fine. Just let him get readjusted to life."

She curled herself against his chest. "David, I'm scared. For the first time since were found out the progress of this stupid war, I'm scared." She sobbed the end of her sentence, then sobbed silently into the warmth and strength of her husband's chest and he held her while she cried and fell apart for the first time since they met.

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After about thirty minutes, David and Brie came back into the room. "Matthew, are you ready?" David asked.

Matthew nodded and slipped off of the bar stool. Silently, he followed the guys to the conference room and waited to be connected to the Director.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen, to what to I owe the honor?" the Director said when he answered his phone.

"Director, we have a man here who has insider information on the establishment", David said.

"Then by all mean, let the man speak."

"Sir, my name is Gunnery Sergeant Matthew J. Cartwright, formerly of the United States Marine Corps." Matthew said.

"At ease, Gunny. Tell me what you know".

Matthew spilled everything he knew; things that he'd learned from his stay with them. He had names of leaders, locations of strongholds and departmental buildings where the leaders were being hidden and after Matthew was done, the Director had it.

"Well done, Gunny. Tell me something, Gunnery Sergeant, what was your MOS in the Marine Corps.?"

"I was Force Recon, sir."

"How would you feel about a special under cover mission, Gunny?"

"I would be honored, sir."

"Just like a Marine. Well, Gunny, you may just be in luck".