“Consider it done,” Alexander answered without a moment’s hesitation. If he could pay for medical care for every woman who found herself in this position, he would.
“There’s more,” Landon continued, an uncertainty in his tone. He paused briefly and drew in a breath. “We can help Fatima get the medical care she needs, but what happens when she’s released from the hospital? What about the rest of the girls who are in danger of meeting the same fate? What if we can prevent this from happening to other women?”
“I’m listening.” Alexander crossed his arms over his chest.
“We can open up a shelter for women here.”
“We?”
“Well, technically, your company would. I know you already have several security contracts over here, so it won’t be like you’re going into a completely new region.”
“Yes, but…” Alexander ran his hand over his face, thinking of the logistics of getting involved in a humanitarian project of this scale. Yes, his company had provided security for government-run shelters and camps, even orchestrating the occasional food drop, but he’d never tried to do something like this on his own before.
“I’ll run it for you,” Landon interrupted. “I’ll take care of hiring the local medical staff, coordinating with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and ensure the safety of everyone who comes through that door. All you have to do is pay for it.”
“Oh, is that all?” Alexander chuckled, wondering how much something like this was going to cost.
“Come on, Alex. This is serious. I’m ready to walk away from the only life I’ve ever really known to start something completely new. I just…” He let out a long breath, glancing down at Fatima, then back at Alexander. “Haven’t you ever thought about whether all the sacrifices you’ve made have been worth it?” he asked in a soft voice.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know.” Landon shrugged, running his hands through his hair, which could use a good trim. “I always thought I’d feel proud of myself for risking my life and being dropped into these random places in the middle of the night to carry out covert assignments. The number of dangerous men we’ve captured or killed in the name of freedom… You’d think I’d feel a sense of pride in that, and I guess I do…to a certain extent.”
“But…”
He gave Alexander a hard stare. “Haven’t you ever felt like there was something missing? That no matter how much you love your friends and family, it’s just not enough?”
“Maybe.” Alexander broke his eyes from Landon’s. It was as if his friend could read his mind. Lately, he’d certainly felt dissatisfied with his own career, like he was just a glorified secretary, sitting behind a desk and meeting clients. He wanted something more. “I’ve been a civilian for over a decade now, so maybe I’m too far removed from it to give you a good answer.”
“You’ve been a civilian, but you’ve still been in the game.” Landon raised his brow. “You may not wear the uniform anymore, but you’ve trained private military forces all over the world. What would make you sleep better at night? Knowing you’re sending some of your teams in to do a random extraction the U.S. government refuses to give you details about, or relocating a woman so she no longer has to live in fear that her abusive husband will find her and her children?”
“They’re both part of my job, so—”
“What do you want Melanie to remember you for?”
The question punched Alexander in the gut. He was more than aware the security company had been involved in some more questionable operations. Was Alexander proud of everything he had done in his past? Of course not, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a good man.
“Don’t you want her to be able to tell all her friends how her daddy stood up for something he disagreed with and used his vast resources to prevent it?”
Pulling his lip between his teeth, Alexander shook his head. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. What was his legacy? What would he tell Melanie when she asked why he had gone to “that desert country”, as she had grown to call any of the Middle Eastern countries? Would he be able to look her in the eye and tell her it was nothing important? Could he lie to her, then go on as if he didn’t just make a conscious decision to send a young girl, as well as many others who could be in her same position within the next week, to her death? What if that were Melanie? Wouldn’t he want someone to help her?
If it were five years ago, he’d insist on a business plan, needing to know the precise dollar amount he’d be investing before making a rash decision. Melanie changed all that.
“I’ll do it,” he murmured.
A brilliant smile crossed Landon’s face. He pulled Alexander in for a quick hug, his stature relaxing, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “I’ll submit my resignation papers today.”
“Welcome to the company, Landon,” Alexander replied, pulling away from him.
“And all it took to get me to finally agree is what will probably be a multi-million dollar investment in a women’s shelter in Afghanistan. I’d call that a bargain.”
Alexander rolled his eyes. “You would,” he shot back sarcastically.
On its face, opening a women’s shelter in Afghanistan sounded relatively innocuous, but he spent time here during deployment, then in conjunction with various contracts his company had secured with the U.S. government. He knew all too well that many Afghan people saw the presence of westerners as an assault on their own culture. They would not take kindly to any establishment where the sole purpose, according to them, was to interfere with age-old customs, no matter how gruesome and barbaric they were.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Landon cut through Alexander’s thoughts, noticing the troubled expression on his face. “Trust me. I’m fully aware of what I’m getting myself into here. I know it could be dangerous for all involved, but I already have a plan. One of my buddies who works for NCIS made a few phone calls and put me in contact with a case worker at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs. She and I have already discussed at length the effectiveness of the shelters currently open in combatting this. Generally, it’s the ministry’s goal to reunite the family unit after mandated counseling. Unfortunately, she fears some of these women are forced out of the shelter too soon.”
“So what makes you think our shelter will be any different?”
Landon’s lips slowly curled into a mischievous smile. “Because, for all intents and purposes, it will be exactly what you thought. On paper and from the outside, it will operate as a state-of-the-art medical clinic. No one will know it’s actually a women’s shelter. My contact at the ministry will refer cases to us that she believes to be in greatest need of our intervention. Women the ministry’s pushing to be reunited with their families. Women who, if they return home, are at risk of meeting the same fate they’re trying to escape.”