Page 56 of A Moment Never Forgotten
“Hey, Dr. Petersen,” she yelled. “What secret do you intend to uncover from Matthew? Or is his name Mason?”
Lambert leaned down into her face. “What do you think you know?”
“Oh, Lambert, I know lots of things that you don’t.”
He grabbed a fistful of her hair and twisted, pulling it and her body upward. “Let’s just see how smart you are, bitch. If you know so much about that Syrian mission, where’s the gold?”
“In the CIA vault on sub-level four.” Hennel’s tone was casual.
“What?” Both Logan’s and Micah’s voices sounded in her ear.
“Let go of my hair,” Berit said through clenched teeth.
“On three.” Hennel counted down.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Micah had been on dozens of raid and rescue missions over his long career, but none hit him the way this one did.
This was personal.
Doubly personal.
The warehouse was loaded with shelving units from the cement floor to the open truss ceiling. Nearly every shelf was packed. Long corridors, wide enough for two loaders to pass, stretched from one end to the other with very few breaks. A perfect killing zone.
Someone had chosen their location well, right in the center. But that could have been more by chance than defensible design. They’d set up next to the offices which they could see to both ends of the building without much movement.
Hennel had planned the mission well. His SOG team cleared and held the perimeter. Micah entered from the north and Logan from the south through the center doors. The distance to where the captives were held was much shorter but better guarded.
Micah was extremely proud of Mak’s team. They were silent and deadly.
From his hidden position fifteen feet away, he could see Berit. Her bloody wrists were tied to the sides of the sturdy metal chair. Her ankles weren’t quite as bad. For Micah, it was the rising red bruise on her face that tore at his heart.
She’d taken that beating for them.
When he first saw her, he wanted to charge in, killing every bad guy within range. But he couldn’t. He had to be smart. With a sniper hidden in the shelves, the battle took on a dome affect. Thank Christ for Casper. The man was silent as a ghost. He’d been able to sneak up on the sniper and take him out with his knife.
Lambert had been easier to subdue then Micah would have imagined. Logan had him within a minute. It was a good thing Logan got to him first. Micah would have beat the shit out of him. He would’ve left the terrorist alive, barely.
As Micah stepped into the cleared space, he was torn. The brother of his heart was sedated on a gurney with an IV dripping into him. Barrett was tied to a chair.
The choice was taken away from him. At the all-clear, Mak sprinted to his mother and carefully cut the zip strips, trying not to induce any more pain than she’d already endured.
Rock, designated SEAL three for this mission, held a gun to the head of the man wearing a white lab coat.
“Shoot me, boy, and this man may die. Or go crazy.” Dr. Sydney Petersen, Micah surmised.
“Excellent job,” Hennel announced as he walked in.
“Director Hennel, I’m so glad you’re here. Will you please tell this soldier the point that gun somewhere else? Removing a memory cap is a very delicate procedure.” He threw his hands up in the air. “I’m already working in the most awkward circumstances.”
“Dr. Petersen, who ordered you to change the memories and identity of this man?”
The doctor fidgeted with the IV line, throwing glances to Lambert.
“Use your words, doctor,” Hennel warned.
“Joseph asked me to change his identity.” He hurried on to say, “I was new to the agency and eager to show what I can do.”
