Page 42 of SEAL's Spitfire
“Why did he send someone from the British Embassy and not an American?”
He quirked an eyebrow before answering. “I think you already know the answer to that. They have to report that you’re here. You wouldn’t have gotten further than the sidewalk outside of the arrival terminal.”
It made perfect sense when he said it. She was tired, stressed and a little hungry. It would have been smart if she’d bought something to eat while she was inside the airport.
“My jeep is in the side parking lot, just around the corner there. I packed some food and extra supplies since there won’t be many places to stop along the way.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“When Tex first told me that I would need to take someone to Bamyan, I didn’t expect it to be a woman. You’ve got a set of bollocks on you, I’ll give you that. Traveling all alone to a war zone to interview the Taliban. Impressive.”
“I’m not exactly alone though, am I? You’ll be with me.”
“At least as far as Bamyan. I won’t be able to stay.”
Tex must not have told him the real reason she’d come. It was fine with her and she had no plans on enlightening him either. Rafe told her she could trust Tex and she’d put her life in his hands. It didn’t mean she had to trust anyone else. There was something off about Waltham. Just standing near him raised the little hairs on the back of her neck, and her sister’s words to her niece, ‘stranger danger’ echoed in her head.
Not one bus had stopped or even driven by the front of the terminal. There were no indications that situation would change anytime soon so traveling with Waltham or hiring one of the random taxi drivers standing around were her only options. Waltham seemed like a better choice. If Tex sent him, and she had to believe he had, then he’d know where to look if something happened to her.
“Have you changed your mind? I wouldn’t blame you if you do,” Waltham said as he studied her face.
“No, I haven’t changed my mind. Let’s go.” She’d held off long enough, it was time to pull up her big girl panties and do what she’d come there to do. Whispering a prayer that she’d be able to pull this off, she followed Waltham to his car.
Chapter 13
It was go time. The semi-silent whoosh of the helicopter blades cut through the darkness. There was nothing as black as the middle of the night in the desert. The only light was from the stars in the sky and what was left of the moon, once they were out of range of Bagram.
They were all silent, each member of the team reviewed their part of the plan. Running scenarios in their mind to cover the unexpected. They were in a war zone, it was anticipated. Chances are plan A would become plan B or C before they even headed back to base. Rafe had never been on a mission where at least one thing hadn’t gone sideways in the worst way possible. It was part of the process, and because of that, they tried to imagine every possible variable.
As they neared the drop off point, the mood on the chopper changed, grew more focused, intense, battle ready. But it was really just years of training and preparation. Jake nodded at each one of his teammates and ran the com check. While on missions, they went by their team position. Jake was Master Chief and Eagle 1, he was Eagle 2, Ryan was Eagle 3, Murph was Eagle 4, and Cam was Eagle 5.
Seconds later, they were on the ground, night vision on, alert for anything out of the ordinary as they blended into the silent world around them. Like ghosts, they moved through the night.
A half hour later they’d arrived at the first checkpoint. They’d been able to move quickly over the rocky terrain and hadn’t come across anyone. Jake was talking to TOC while the team waited to hear if there had been any new intel.
Halo calmly sniffed around them while Rafe’s eyes were constantly moving, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Then his com whispered in his ear. “We have confirmation on the location of HVT. No changes.”
“Copy that, Eagle 1,” Rafe replied.
“We should make the next checkpoint in thirty mikes.” It was peaceful, too peaceful. Rafe didn’t like it. Even though it was mountainous terrain, there should have been animal sounds. There is always something, but all he heard was their boots on the ground.
“Eagle 1, it’s too quiet.”
“Agreed. Eagle 5, Halo picking up anything?” The dog usually ran at the front and was their first warning if anything was out of place.
“Nothing, Eagle 1. It’s like they knew we were coming.”
Rafe had the same feeling. It was going way too smoothly. Sad, but true. There had to be something. Jake signaled for them to stop and echoed the command in their coms.
“TOC, this is Eagle 1.”
“Go ahead, Eagle 1.”
“It’s too quiet. Are you seeing anything?”
“Copy that, Eagle 1. The drone should be in range in a few minutes. Stand by.”
“TOC, we’re on the move to checkpoint blue. Don’t want to get behind.”
