Page 6 of SEAL's Sunshine
Activating the camera on Halo’s collar was the last thing Cam did as they exited the plane. The clock was down to three hours. Dressed like the locals, they did their best to blend in. They separated as they entered the airline terminal and arranged to meet up at the first rendezvous point.
Navigating through the airport with Halo took Cam longer than expected. The children wanted to pet him, and to maintain his cover he let them. A few asked about the camera on Halo’s collar and he told them it was a charm. Finally, he met up with the team at the Taxi Stand in front of the airport.
Lynch’s contact had arranged for a van to take them to a local coffee shop for the meetup. So far, so good. The vehicle was waiting as expected. It was almost too easy. Usually, there was at least one issue they’d have had to deal with. They didn’t know Lynch’s contact, and he hadn’t figured out who the mole was yet, so they could be walking into a trap. Time would tell. Jake’s voice came through his earpiece, “radio silence until we know this isn’t a setup.”
“Copy that,” the team replied. Cam’s gut screamed at him that something wasn’t right, but nothing looked out of place as the van navigated the streets of Riyadh. Ten minutes later they stopped in front of the Camel Step Coffee Roasters on Abi Bakr As Siddiq Road.
“Watch your six,” Jake murmured, and they nodded. The streets were packed with people and the coffee shop was no exception. Grabbing a table outside since they had Halo, Jake sent Murph in with the driver to get the coffee.
A few minutes later, they returned. Lynch and another man was with them. How he’d gotten there so quickly none of them knew, but it so far everything was on target. Splitting up so they didn’t draw attention to themselves, they sat on opposite sides of the coffee shop doorway. With their coms, they’d hear everything.
“This is Naif, he’s been my contact here for about five years. You can trust him,” Lynch advised as they sat down with the coffee. Jake shook the man’s hand, then they sat down.
“Naif, tell them what you told me,” Lynch said, then took a sip of coffee and looked around. Halo sat at Cam’s side, his ears twitching as he stayed alert. Cam bent down to rub his ears and reported two men he’d seen across the street taking photos.
If he hadn’t been watching, Cam wouldn’t have noticed the almost imperceptible nods from Jake and the team. Murph picked up another two on the other side of the street. That meant there were at least four men surveilling them, but how had they known they were going to be at the coffee shop. There wasn’t a member of their team who believed in coincidences.
“Just a minute. Lynch, you said this guy was trustworthy.”
“Yeah, why?”
“Then why are there four tangos tracking us?”
“What the fuck? Are you sure? Naif? What the fuck is going on?”
“Nothing. I made some inquiries as you asked. That is all. I did not mention the Americans. Or about your president.”
“Who did you talk to?” Jake wasn’t as laid back as Lynch. They didn’t have time for this shit, they only had two hours and twelve minutes left.
“It was after morning prayers. I asked a few of the men in my Mosque. Then I sent my driver to the airport to pick up your men.”
“We need the names of everyone you spoke to at the Mosque. Write them down and give them to Lynch. Rafe, you and Murph go take out our company. Then meet us at the van.”
“Copy that, Boss.”
Cam kept watch as Rafe and Murph took out the tangos one at a time.
“Now, Naif, I want to know everything you learned and don’t leave out any details. If we find out you turned, you’ll never see daylight again,” Lynch said. If his asset had gone bad he could say goodbye to his career, especially if they lost POTUS.
After Naif told them everything, Jake questioned him on some of the details. Making sure nothing changed when he asked him several times. Then they left him and Lynch to do whatever and went back to the van. They needed to get out of there. It wouldn’t be long until the dead men were discovered, and they wanted to be long gone.
Naif got behind the wheel with the instructions to drive them back to the airport. It was obvious that Jake didn’t trust him and wanted to make sure he didn’t know any more about their plan than necessary.
“What’s the plan, Boss,” Cam asked. They were huddled in the back of the van. Unless they were bugged, no one could hear what they discussed.
“We’re going to split up. I don’t like it but we’re running out of time. Rafe, you take Murph and Ryan and check out the Mosque. Naif mentioned a guest house that’s had a lot of activity lately. I think our buddy Azfaar might be holed up there.”
“Copy that.”
“Cam and I will search the Royal Terminal for any sign of explosives. I’ll report back to TOC. Set your watches, rendezvous behind the terminal in forty-five mikes.” When the van stopped at the next traffic light, they opened the door and blended in with the crowd.
By the time they got back to the airport, they’d burned another twenty minutes due to traffic. He and Jake walked through the main terminal doors and split up. They’d meet up at the rear of the Royal Terminal and start searching for the bombs.
As he and Halo moved through the airport, he watched for any sign they were being followed. They made it all the way to the entrance of the Royal terminal wing before picking up a tail. Cam wasn’t sure if it was the Royal Secret Service or the new ISIS Al-Qaeda team trying to take him out. Ducking out of sight, he picked the lock on a door marked “employees only,” Cam and Halo slipped inside, and it was sheer luck that it was filled with janitorial uniforms and carts.
Changing into one of the uniforms, he tipped the cart for Halo to jump inside the garbage can and grabbed a second uniform for Jake. Not the best plan but it should give them access without standing out.
“Eagle 1, this is Eagle 5. I got us a couple of janitor uniforms.”
