Bella's Watch List Saga Continues …

Undisclosed Location US Navy Special Warfare November 15, 2012/1243 Zulu

I was settling into my desk and cuddling up to a hot cup of coffee because the weather had turned cold in Texas.  Just a few days earlier, some of us guys had run the Rock and Roll Marathon for fun through the streets of downtown San Antonio; it had been almost eighty degrees that day.  The weather was like that here, unpredictable.  As I logged onto my computer, I waited for my email to download and I also opened up Facebook to check on some of the people I had been told to watch.  It was the usual list of suspects, a couple of unfriendly foreign nationals, a few people we suspected of being involved in a terrorist cell, and of course my new pain in the ass … Bella Juarez. 

I had created a bunch of fake profiles and friended all my tangos so that I could keep track of what was happening with each of them.  Bella had been making some noise about something new coming up.   Other than the pictures of the tied up guys (which scared the shit out of me), she'd been pretty quiet.  I logged on to my fake profile Mary Smith and started snooping.  This chick was making me paranoid, I never knew what to expect when I logged onto her page.  I almost cringed when I saw that she had run the half marathon on Sunday along with us.  Jeez!  Was I going to have to start looking over my shoulder now?  Really?  There had been a lady right before the cutoff who had a bunch of firemen line up for a picture.  Me and the guys had laughed about it, joking that we would offer to pose too, if she was collecting dicks in uniform.  I'll be damned if she didn't have that group of firemen on her wall!  Just as I was about to log off and start with the rest of the day, Bella made a post.  I followed the link to her web site and as I read, my heart stopped in my chest. 

Holy fuck! Is she crazy!   She can’t be talking about this! 

I jumped out of my seat and hustled on down to the captain’s office. 

“Hey!  Where’s the fire, boy?”  Master Chief called out as I blew past him. 

“I’ve got to see the captain, she’s at it again.  This one is serious, because she took aim at Badass!”

“Say what?”

“Get out of the way Master Chief!” 

We both almost ran down the hallway to the Command Suite and fought for the door when we got there. 

“What the hell?  Did something happen?”  Friday asked, he was the captain’s admin.

“I’ve got to see the Skipper, right now!”  I said.

“Come on in Dan,” the captain called out. 

I almost leaped into the office; we needed to come up with a plan and quick!  Badass was scheduled to be in today for his usual weekend Reserve duty, and he was the one who'd go ballistic when he found out what was about to happen to his world. 

“What’s up, Lieutenant, you look worried,”  the Captain said taking a drink from his cup. 

“Bella Juarez, she’s about to release another book and this one’s about Badass and his OP down in Victoria!” 

I was grateful that I wasn’t standing that close to the captain because his coffee went spraying everywhere. He choked on what had managed to make it into his throat.  I guess I should have waited to break it to him until after he had swallowed.

“What!”  Master Chief yelled. 

“Are you fucking serious!”  The captain yelled in between coughing bouts.

“Yes sir, and she’s going into detail on this one, all about his work in Virginia, the work down in Victoria and even his personal relationships. And--” I started. 

“And!”  The captain screamed. 

“And!  What the hell do you mean and?” Master Chief demanded.

“Sounds like a shit storm brewing, what’s up?” 

I turned and looked at the door and started to shake in my boots because Senior Chief Gavin “Badass” Walsh had just walked in.  Holy hell!  Can this day get any more fucked up?  Badass had one hell of a reputation in the SEAL community, and he wasn’t known as Badass because he was the diplomatic type.  Senior Chief Walsh was also one mean son of a bitch.  The Captain shook his head. 

“Sit down Badass, the shit storm is all you,”  the Captain said.

“Me?  I’ve been laying pretty low, in fact, I can’t think of anything I’ve done that would make waves,”  Badass said and quickly added, “lately.”

“No, someone’s about to bend you over and fuck up your planet, boy,”  Master Chief said. 

“Seems like someone just wrote your unauthorized biography,”  Captain said.

“Are you motherfuckers on crack?  No one knows shit about me and I don’t talk to anyone other than my baby and you guys,”  Badass said. 

I went over to the captain’s computer, called up Bella Juarez’s website, and found the page with Hostile Home Front.  Everything was there, the front cover for the new book, a summary of the story and an excerpt – an adult excerpt.  The captain started to read and when he finished, looked up at Badass with his mouth open.

“What?”  Badass asked. 

Master Chief came around the corner and read it, too. 

“Holy crap on a cracker!  I sure don’t want that damn movie in my head!”  Chief said pointing at the screen.

“Say what?  What the hell are you guys talking about?”  Badass asked as he stood.

“Come take a look,”  Captain said as he stood and Master Chief moved away. 

Badass sat behind the captain’s desk and started to read.  I shuddered with fear for Bella Juarez as I watched Badass’ face go from surprise, to shock and then pissed off. 

“Who the hell is this woman!”  Badass roared as he shoved away from the desk and pointed at the screen.  “And where the fuck did she get that information?” 

“That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out.  We’ve been working this for the last couple of weeks,”  I said. 

“We need to shut this down, Captain!  This is a threat to national security, and it’s a threat to our Ops.  How the hell did she find me out?”  Badass asked. 

I kept my mouth shut, Badass, Master Chief and the captain were all some heavy hitters in the SEAL community and didn’t get where they were today by being soft and gentle.  All three of them were Badass, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be in their way.  I briefly felt sorry for Bella Juarez.   My job was to report what I found on the Ops I was assigned to follow; that’s exactly what I did.  I didn’t dare add to the current crisis. 

“Well? How the hell are we shutting her fucking face?”  Badass demanded.

“Rock, I think we oughta wait and see where this goes,” Master Chief said. 

“Are you crazy?”  Badass whispered turning white as sheet.

I had never seen Badass so … scared.  I also couldn't believe that the Captain would seriously consider Master Chief’s suggestion but much to my surprise he was thinking about it.

“We really won’t know what’s in the book until it comes out.  Based on this excerpt we really don’t know if there is something that’s related to national security or an ongoing Op,”  the Captain said taking his seat.

“What!”  Badass yelled. 

“We can’t go around shutting people down just because they take aim at us Badass, you know that better than anyone,“  the captain said.

“This damn woman just laid open my life!  You can’t seriously be considering this.  Shut down the fucking publisher!  Crash the servers!  Do something!”  Badass demanded. 

“Aw, come on boy. It ain’t that bad, maybe it’s just all bullshit,"  Master Chief said. 

“That looked pretty real to me!”  Badass said. 

“Really?  Do you really go at it like that, damn what are you on?  You’re fucking like a bunny!”  Master Chief said. 

We started laughing; well, all of us except for Badass who didn’t see the humor in any of it.  He turned around and walked out. 

“Keep me posted, Dan,” the captain said chuckling. 

“It should be going up for pre-order pretty quick here, let us know when,” Master Chief said. 

“Pre-order?  You know the system, do you, JJ?”  The captain asked.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I do, Rock.  Is there a problem?”  Master Chief said with his don't fuck with me look. 

The Captain laughed all over again.  It was hell keeping a straight face, but I managed.  Thank God for my training.  It was the only thing that kept me from dropping and rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.

“No problem, just wondering who your favorite author is up there,” Captain said.

“None of your fucking business!”  Master Chief snapped as he stomped out. 

There were a lot of tempers flaring today, and Bella Juarez was causing quite a stir here in our  Black Ops world.  We were supposed to be hidden and Bella was exposing us to the light of day.  I was wondering who was next on her hit list.  At this point we had to wait and see what Bella had coming for Badass.  Based on the excerpt, it wasn’t going to be pleasant for him.  There were some serious details in that glimpse we got today.  More to follow; the book was coming in December.

I wonder, can I breech Master Chief’s account up at Bookstrand and find out who his favorite author is?  Or, should I start digging deeper and see if I can get into Bella’s computer and dig around for an advance copy of her upcoming books?  What should I do?

I pondered these questions as I walked back to my office.  Where should I start?