Jehovah

Chapter Three

Josie packed up her bags the next morning with a lot on her mind. She had brought the previous evening to an abrupt end as soon as Connor had mentioned Riley's name. She was aware how much she had overreacted, but Josie was not ready to speak about Riley. And especially not to a man who had been flirting with her the entire weekend. These thoughts were still bouncing around her brain when Earl walked into her room to help her with her bags.

"You've got to let this go, sweetie. There's no point in dwelling on what happened last night."

"I completely overreacted to Connor's question. He had no way of knowing."

"No, he didn't, but you can still explain things to him. I am sure he would understand if you explain."

"I don't know how I feel about opening up to him, Papa. I'm not that good at that sort of thing."

"I know, but maybe you try," Earl said as they walked down the stairs together.

Josie said goodbye to her father and climbed into Connor's car for the drive back to Virginia. She spent most of it asleep or going over the file Clark had given her in the passenger side of the vehicle. Connor stopped for gas in Maryland and was coming back to the car when he noticed she was awake and staring out the window. He thought she was looking at him at first, but she was looking past him, preoccupied.

"Are you hungry?"

"Not particularly."

Connor sighed in frustration and walked into the gas station to buy himself some snacks before getting back on the road.

~~~~~~~~

When they pulled into Fort Belvoir that evening, Connor knew Josie was still upset. She had barely said anything, but two-word replies the entire day. Connor showed her to the team barracks and her dorm room.

"There's a team briefing in about twenty minutes. I'd like to introduce you to the team and have you explain about the breastplate."

"I'll be ready."

Josie turned away and started to unpack her gear without another word. Connor watched her for a moment before shrugging and leaving the room. He was not going to push her to talk to him if she had something on her mind. When Connor went back up to her room twenty minutes later, Josie was ready to go. Dressed in cargo pants, grey t-shirt and a black jacket with her hair pulled up into a ponytail, Connor thought she looked terrific. He took her to the conference room where the rest of the team waited, and they all stood when she entered. The introductions were brief and to the point. It was a seven-man team including Connor, and each man had their particular field of expertise. There was Connor's second-in-command, John Tessler, who specialized in close-quarters combat, Marcus Little was the team medic and communications expert, Cal Hobbs specialized in explosive ordinance and technical equipment, Patrick Franklin, and Sam Mason specialized in small arms fire, and Michael Thomas was the team marksman. Josie tried to keep them straight as Connor introduced her and she took her seat, but she knew that she'd probably get them mixed up at some point.

"Now gentlemen, this assignment comes from the Secretary of Defense, and we are wheels up by Wednesday morning. Considering its Sunday evening, we have a lot to prepare. Intelligence reports that ISIS is looking for a weapon to turn the war in their favor, but a weapon of legend. No one has seen this artifact, according to Dr. McDowell, in well over two thousand years. She will be our resident expert in the field, having previously worked with Mossad and Interpol on various projects. Dr. McDowell, do you want to explain the significance of the pages that have been stolen?"