Page 45 of SEAL's Spitfire
She squinted and looked over at the three men leaning against the table. They were dead but their faces hadn’t been destroyed. The leader was still yelling at Jake.
“I don’t think so. He was different than them.”
“Different, how?” Cam asked as his dog rubbed his head against her leg. It was about the only place not dripping blood.
Rafe tapped his com. “Murph, we need you.” Time wasn’t on their side and having to disarm the bomb before they could get her out of there made things more complicated. The odds of making their EXFIL were dwindling with every heartbeat.
Moments later, Murph knelt next to Miranda and examined the explosives. If there was a way to get it off her without it detonating, he’d find it. If they were lucky, the big guy shouting Pashto would tell them how to disarm it or at least the triggers. He was about to ask Jake when a gunshot echoed around the chamber. He turned in time to see the man tip back in his chair and hit the floor with a bullet through his forehead. It didn’t look they’d get any assistance after all.
“What do you think, Murph?”
“It’s not the worst I’ve seen but it’s not going to be easy. And it’s going to take a bit.”
It wasn’t what they wanted to hear, but you’d never know from the looks on their faces. They needed to keep Miranda calm until they could get her loose. Jake joined them as Murph announced the good news.
“Miranda. I’m Jake, this is Rafe, Ryan is over there, Murph is working on getting you free so we can get out of here, and the guy with the dog is Cam.”
“Thank you so much. I am so glad you’re here. I thought they were going to kill me.”
“That’s not going to happen. We’ll get you back home as soon as we can.”
“What about the rest of my group? There were ten of us…”
“We know and we’re working on a plan to rescue them too.” They were? Last he knew their mission was to rescue Miranda and get her back to Bagram Air Force Base. Maybe Jake had spoken to TOC or he was just trying to keep her calm.
“Thank goodness. I was so worried something had happened to them.”
“The information we have is that they are all together and okay. You were the only one separated. Do you know how they found out who you were?”
“I can’t say for sure, but if I had to guess it was Richard. He was terrified when we were taken. He would have done just about anything to stay safe, and I can’t blame him for that if he was the one.”
“That’s very understanding of you,” Jake replied. Rafe and he exchanged looks and he nodded and stepped away from them to call command. They needed as much information on Richard as possible. He might have been a plant, or it could have been as Miranda said, that he’d just been scared to death.
“TOC, this is Eagle 2.”
“Go ahead, Eagle 2.”
“We have HVT. Murph is diffusing the explosive belt before we can move her.”
“Copy that. We also need more info on one of the missionary group. First name Richard.”
“What are we looking for?”
“Not sure. Miranda thinks he might have been the one to share her identity with their captors.”
“Copy that. We’ll go through the list again.”
“It doesn’t look like we’ll make it to the EXFIL point on time. We need a new plan.”
“You’re going to have to stay hidden until nightfall.”
“Copy that. I’ll advise Eagle 1.” It’s what they’d expected. It was too risky to try to fly the chopper in during daylight hours. If Jake had found out where the other hostages were being held, then maybe they could recover them all by sundown.
Chapter 14
Meghan was losing her mind listening to the endless ramblings of James Waltham. Until this trip, she’d been under the misconception that men didn’t like small talk. Oh, how wrong she was. For the last hour and a half, she’d been cooped up in the jeep gazing at mile after mile of sand and listening to the world gold medal winner of chat. She didn’t need to say a word, he managed to keep the conversation going with only an occasional comment from her.
So far, he’d discussed the sand, seasons, wildlife, and more than anyone in the world should know about tea. She hated tea. Despised it. It was practically sacrilegious being from the south and refusing to drink sweet tea. It was considered a birthright. But even if it had been a beverage she’d enjoyed, she’d never have drunk it again after this trip. The more he yammered the more her head pounded. She’d already popped an Advil, but it hadn’t done much to relieve the pain.
