Page 56 of SEAL's Spitfire
“Then she’s alive in there somewhere and I intend to find her with or without permission.”
Before Jake could answer the other’s voiced their agreement. “I already told the captain the same thing. No worries, Rafe. We will find Meghan and extract her with the other hostages.”
Rafe nodded, relieved that he wouldn’t have to go against orders to save his woman. “Do we have any idea where she is?”
Jake averted his eyes, and the momentary relief he’d felt evaporated. “We know where she was a short time ago. There is a video circulating on the internet. She’s the only captive visible and was savagely beaten.”
Groaning inside, it made him more resigned than ever to get in there and take out everyone he came across.
“Beaten but not executed. Correct?” Ryan asked the words Rafe couldn’t bring himself to utter.
Jake nodded. “No, not executed. She was alive when the recording cut off.”
“When do we breach?”
“We go in with the initial bomb drop which should happen in the next few minutes. I know you’re more than ready to finish this but remember, we don’t know the condition of any of the captives, this may be a huge clusterfuck,” Jake said as he checked his pack.
“Copy that.”
“Ryan, watch for stragglers. TOC has the medical team at Bagram on alert for Miranda. Keep her alive until we can get her there. Once the bombs stop, make your way to the EXFIL point with Miranda and we’ll rendezvous there with the other hostages.”
“Copy that, Boss.” He tilted his chin in Rafe’s direction. It was all they needed to say to each other, and Rafe repeated the action.
As they set off, Rafe murmured under his breath, “Spitfire, just hold on a little longer. I’m coming, sweetheart.”
* * *
The first bombdropped as they made it to the rear entrance. Rafe and Murph went over the wall and set the secondary explosives. They finished as the second bomb rocked the compound. From their location, they observed the chaos that ensued. Not all of the Taliban soldiers were well-trained, most were conscripts taken from the surrounding villages and hamlets and barely old enough to shave. But it didn’t mean they weren’t dangerous.
The third bomb exploded, and they blew their charges and took off toward the main building. Halo led the way and would warn them about any tangos still lurking. Just past the rear guard shack, Rafe and Halo saw movement at the same time. Halo attacked with Rafe at his heels. Two men were hiding, but when Halo pounced on one of them, the other screamed and threw down his gun. They were quickly secured with zip ties and the SEALs moved on to their primary objective.
It wouldn’t take long for the Taliban to return once the bombing stopped. The hostages were too valuable to abandon. But if he stayed true to form, Azfaar would be long gone and leave his peons to bring the captives to a new location and clean up the mess. The only variable was if he’d found out they already rescued the senator’s daughter, then it could go either way. There was still the chance that he could have discovered that his brother, Hibatullah, had been taken out, and he might decide to cut his losses.
The bombing worked as they’d hoped, and most of the soldiers had been taken out by the explosions or deserted their posts. They met with little resistance until they entered the second floor wing where they expected to find the hostages. Halo alerted them to the Taliban soldiers who’d stayed behind.
Jake’s voice whispered in their ears. “We’re looking at ten tangos. Eagle 5 go in low. Eagle 2 will follow. The stability of the building is questionable. No explosives until we get the hostages out.”
“Copy that.”
“Eagle 4 and I will be watching your six.”
Rafe tapped Cam on the shoulder signaling he was ready, and they moved toward the doorway. Machine gun fire riddled the walls around them. Once they made it through the doorway Rafe picked off two, and Cam and Halo took out a third.
“Three tangos down,” Rafe reported, as they turned the corner. The hallway was dark, no lights, no windows. Signaling to Cam to put on their night vision devices.
“Eagle 1, NVDs needed.”
“Copy that, Eagle 2.” The night vision gave them an edge as they continued down the corridor. Halo took out another tango before Rafe and Cam even saw him. The soldier’s shriek as the dog attacked alerted the others to their presence but not where they were. Rafe took out number four with a quick slice through his carotid artery. More gunfire echoed behind them, but Jake and Murph had that handled.
Continuing down the hall they came across the first of the cells. The door was open and empty. Rafe sure as hell hoped their intel wasn’t FUBAR and that the hostages hadn’t been moved before the breach. There was always the chance there were tunnels under the building, and they’d gotten them out of there.
The second cell door was closed, and they couldn’t tell from looking through the small door if there was anyone in there injured and not able to respond.
“We need to blow this door. Unless you can figure out the code?”
Jake responded, “Copy that. Murph, go ahead. Blow the door but keep it small we don’t want the building coming down on our heads.”
Murph and Jake had caught up to them as they’d cleared the open cell. They needed to get the fuck out of there and make it to the EXFIL point. Time was getting sparse and they hadn’t found any of the hostages.
