“They may be from Minnesota like you, but I doubt they’ll do very well this year. Their quarterback was injured last week, and with him gone, your team is doomed,” said Spencer, as she shot Mitchell an enticing smile. “Now, Captain, enough chit-chat. General O’Reilly is in his office, and he’s waiting for you, so please go in.”
Mitchell winked at Spencer and turned away from her desk. For as long as Mitchell had worked for O’Reilly, he had innocently flirted with Tammy. It was just for fun; she was getting married in the New Year to a New York City police officer whom she had met while they were both on active duty in Basra, Iraq. Straightening out his ruffled appearance, Mitchell headed the last few feet down the carpeted hall to O’Reilly’s office.
The door was open; Mitchell respectfully stopped at the entrance and knocked.
Major-General Jack O’Reilly looked away from his laptop and saw Mitchell standing there. Although retired, O’Reilly kept himself in superb shape and still looked as if he could throw on his college uniform and play football with men more than half his age. His head was smooth-shaven and the only concession to growing older that he allowed himself were the silver-rimmed glasses that he wore to read.
On seeing Mitchell, a smile broke on his broad face. “Come on in, Ryan, come on in,” boomed O’Reilly’s deep voice.
A thirty-five-year veteran with the US Army, O’Reilly had spent most of that time in the US Special Operations Command and had been the first African-American to command the first Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, an elite and highly secretive Tier One Special Forces organization that spearheaded America’s global counter-terrorism fight. A few years back, he had been offered a more senior operations position in the Pentagon, but when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, he decided it was time to stay home more often and established Polaris.
Mitchell stepped inside the office and was met by a smiling O’Reilly, who eagerly shook his hand.
“It’s damn good to see you, Ryan. Come in and have a seat,” said O’Reilly with a wave of his hand. “Take off your jacket and stay awhile.”
Mitchell took off his winter jacket, revealing a well-worn army issue green fleece sweater underneath.
“Take the boy out of the army, but you can’t take the army out of the boy,” kidded O’Reilly, as he looked over Mitchell’s mix of military and civilian attire.
Both men sat down. O’Reilly reached over and poured them both a steaming hot cup of coffee from a carafe on his desk.
“How is Diane doing, sir?” asked Mitchell, inquiring after O’Reilly’s wife.
“She has good days and bad days, but thankfully, there are far more good ones than bad.”
Both men sat silently for a moment.
O’Reilly smiled and handed Mitchell a coffee. “Ryan, you and your people did really great work in the Philippines.”
“Thanks, general. Honestly, it was purely by happenstance that we stumbled upon those thugs. It was also a plus that the Philippine Counter-Terrorist unit that we had been training was as ready to go as it was. A lot of the credit really belongs to them,” said Mitchell humbly.
“You’re being too modest again, my boy.”
“Just calling it as I see it, sir.”
“Well, some people don’t see it that way, and that’s why I asked you to come by today,” said O’Reilly, as he leaned forward and yelled down the hallway. “Tammy, could you please get Mister Samuel Kim on the line? Thanks.”
Curiosity got the better of him. Mitchell raised an eyebrow.
“Do you remember a young Asian-American girl named Alanis Kim among the students at the dig site?” asked O’Reilly.
Mitchell scrunched up his face and shook his head. It had all happened so fast. The only name and face he truly remembered was Jen’s.
“Well, don’t feel bad if you can’t remember her, but she remembers you and her really rich father wants to thank you personally,” said O’Reilly, as he waited for the call to be put through.
Mitchell felt embarrassed. He cleared his throat and said, “General, there’s really no need for this. I just did what I was trained and what you pay me quite well to do.”
“I knew you would say that, but a billionaire client with many rich friends is always good thing to have on our side. Consider this a little PR work for the firm.”
O’Reilly’s phone rang. He picked it up and spoke for a few seconds before placing the speakerphone on. “Please go ahead, Mister Kim. I have Captain Ryan Mitchell in my office with me.”
“Thanks, General,” said a voice with a slight Hawaiian accent over the speaker. “General, my wife and I would like to personally thank your organization and especially Captain Mitchell for the outstanding work that he did in rescuing our Alanis from those savages.”
Mitchell leaned towards the speaker. “Sir, thanks for that. It means a whole lot to the team; I’ll make sure that everyone involved knows of your gratitude.”
“You’re far too modest, Captain. My wife and I were horrified when we heard what had happened,” said Kim.
“Sir, I was just doing my job,” said Mitchell as he winked at O’Reilly.
“You had best watch out, General, or I just might steal him away from you,” said Kim teasingly through the speaker.
“Don’t you dare,” said O’Reilly with a chuckle. “I haven’t gotten my substantial investment in him back yet.”
“Once again, gentlemen, please accept our heartfelt gratitude for all you have done. I know that I’ve kept you all far too long at this time of the year,” said Kim.
“Thanks, sir,” said Mitchell and O’Reilly in unison.
“Oh, one last thing before I go, and I don’t want to hear either of you say that isn’t necessary. I have had my accountant wire a half-million dollars into your company account. I would like to see it distributed as a bonus to the men and women on the ground who risked their lives for my Alanis,” said Kim, choking up over the line.
“Thank you for that, sir. I’ll personally see that it gets distributed fairly before I go home today,” said O’Reilly.
“Goodbye, and all the best to you and your folks,” said Kim before hanging up.
O’Reilly terminated the call and with a bear-like grin, he looked over at Mitchell. “So, Ryan, what are you going to do with your 100K?”
Mitchell was speechless for a minute. “General, I doubt I deserve that much.”
O’Reilly raised his hand to cut off the conversation. “Don’t be foolish. You and all your people will get 100K each. It’s only fair,” said O’Reilly.
“Thanks, sir, I really don’t know what else to say.”
“Ryan, for the next month you and your team will be moved into reserve status,” said O’Reilly. “Take some time to relax and spend time with your family.”
“Well, with that much time off and a spare 100K in my pocket, I think I’ll see about having a date tonight with a beautiful woman whom I met in the Philippines.”
O’Reilly turned curious. “Is she here in New York?”
“No; actually, she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, so I had best book a flight and get my ass in gear if I am to attend a charity fundraiser event with her tonight.”
O’Reilly chuckled. “A charity event in North Carolina? You do realize that this will undoubtedly be a black-tie event, so you’ll need to dress up for once in your life.”
“Black tie,” repeated Mitchell. His mind raced, wondering if he would be able to rent a tuxedo before heading to the airport.
Seeing the look on his face, O’Reilly asked Tammy to book Mitchell’s flight and to find him a tuxedo rental shop on the way to the airport.