Page 55 of SEAL's Angel
Knox stood at the head of the table with a map projected onto the whiteboard behind him.
Once the teams had taken their seats, Knox nodded at Jake and said, “Okay, Tex, they’re here. The room is yours.”
“Thanks, Captain.” Tex’s deep voice spoke through the speakerphone in the center of the table. “I have a quick update based on intel I received last night. Azfaar’s old warlord, Muhammad Hekbar, is not happy to have him back in Afghanistan. He didn’t appreciate Azfaar undermining his authority the last time. I think Hekbar will work with you on this.”
“Wait,” Jake said. “Hekbar was instrumental in the school bombing in Kunduz two months ago. Twenty children died. How can we trust him?” He trusted Tex implicitly, and if he said the sky was purple, then the sky was purple.
“Two days ago, I would have agreed with you. But Hekbar’s daughter was Azfaar’s wife, and she died when we bombed the compound when you rescued the missionaries.”
Quinn whistled. “Holy fuck. So we’re going into a hot zone to grab an HVT with the help of another HVT instead of eliminating him, too?”
The conference room door opened, and Chrissy Stillwell, Ryan’s fiancé and their CIA liaison, entered the room. The woman was a force of nature and almost as deadly as any of the SEALs in the room—almost. She’d surprised them all when she’d helped eliminate the chemical warfare threat by figuring out that a cruise company was just a front.
Ryan groaned when Chrissy took her place next to Knox. Jake wouldn’t have been happy in his shoes, either. CIA operative or not, Chrissy was still his woman, and she would be in danger.
“Morning, Tex,” Chrissy said. “Thanks for calling me earlier, I verified that data, too.”
“You’re welcome, Chrissy.”
“We also pulled up new aerial shots of Azfaar’s location,” Chrissy said. “We sent out the drones yesterday. I’ve circled Azfaar in the photos.”
A surge of satisfaction filled Jake. Confirmation didn’t get much better than this.
“Command still wants you to apprehend and not eliminate Azfaar. But now there’s a secondary mission to grab Hekbar and bring both men here,” Knox added, making eye contact with Quinn and Jake.
Jake shook his head. “Double cross, huh?”
“Hekbar is also on the most wanted list. If you have the opportunity, we need him taken out of commission.”
“Copy, that,” Quinn responded.
“Questions?” Knox asked.
Jake had plenty, but he’d keep them to himself. He’d learned years ago not to question orders, no matter how screwed up they were.
“I’ll keep digging,” Tex said, “If I find anything else, you’ll get the intel when you land at Bagram. Good luck, ladies.” Tex disconnected the call.
“I don’t trust Hekbar to keep his word,” Knox said. “So be ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Jake answered for the teams.
“I’ll be monitoring communications from here,” Knox reminded the men.
“Do we really need Chrissy for this mission? She can run things from here, too,” Ryan asked as they stood to leave.
Chrissy pinned Ryan with a stare that would have made most men shake in their boots. “I’m going. But I’ll be at Bagram, feeding you the latest intel. You do your job, and I’ll do mine.” With a nod, she followed Knox out of the room.
Luca “Lucky” Rossi, second-in-command of the Red Falcons, snorted. “That’s one hard woman.”
Ryan sighed. “You have no idea. She’s going to be the death of me.”
As the men filtered out of the conference room to grab their packs, pick up their K-9s, Halo and Whiskey, and head to the transport plane, Jake put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. Ryan sat back down at the table. Jake waited until they were alone.
“You need to get your head in the game. Chrissy can take care of herself. But you will end up dead if you can’t focus.” Jake’s voice was stern, but he needed to get through Ryan’s thick head.
“I’m always focused, boss. You can count on me.”
“You didn’t look focused just now. You sounded more like a whiny boyfriend to me. I can’t imagine what it must be like having your woman on the team, but you need to figure it out.”
