Page 79 of Fade (Fighting Fate)

The look on Alex’s face was comical. “You’re talking about a brothel, Amy. You think I should hire a prostitute?”

I laughed, but my face heated too. “Oh my God! It’s not a brothel. Okay, I admit the way I explained it may have made it sound that way, but it’s really not. It’s for high-profile gentlemen such as yourself who need a classy date and don’t have time for complications.”

He gave me another withering look.

“I swear!”

Laughing, he shook his head. He still didn’t believe me. I actually had no idea if it was a brothel or not. Seth didn’t seem to think so. At the time he’d told me, I didn’t actually care.

“Whatever. I’m going to get the details for you anyway.”

Pushing myself to stand, I gave him a smug grin and strutted from the room to start my day.

Chapter 40

Daniel

Deployed time: 6 weeks

Standing in the comms tent, Nelson grinned and slapped me on the back. “Shit’s about to get real. You ready to do this, Stephenson?”

Exhaling steadily, I nodded. We’d just been given the green light to advance to Raqqa to gather as much intel as we could in relation to the reported bombing of Kobane. Satellites had already given us an idea of where their weapons store was, but civilian fatalities needed to be avoided at all costs, so ground confirmation was imperative.

I didn’t need to be told it was going to be a dangerous mission. Raqqa was one of the enemy’s biggest strongholds in Syria. And if I didn’t already know that, the air inside the briefing room would’ve been enough to tell me. It was so thick with tension I thought I might need to cut my way out.

Safe passage was not guaranteed. Regir, our Kurdish guide and translator, was riding with us again, but there was only so much he could do. The road to Raqqa was exposed and doubtful. The enemy itself was constantly changing, not to mention easily blending in with the populace. They had been pushed out of some of the areas outside the city, but Raqqa was definitely still their stronghold, and they had supporters everywhere.

But that was what I was here for. Straightening my shoulders, I gave Nelson a hard stare. “Let’s do it.”

Filing out of the tent, I piled into a Humvee with Nelson and McAdams, Mann at the wheel again, and prepared myself for the journey ahead.

Our first port of call was back at Tal Tamr with Adar Nahai’s armed forces. If anyone knew what lay ahead for us on the road to Raqqa, it was them.

From the rear Humvee, I watched Sergeant Cooper talking to the rebel fighters. It was hard to gauge what was being said from the body language. There were a lot of hand gestures, pointing to the west, and head shaking. It didn’t give the impression of anything good.

From the briefing we’d received before we left camp, Lieutenant Colonel Hammond was hoping for our safe arrival on the northern outskirts of Raqqa just before sunset. With the new moon forecast for the night after tomorrow, it was hoped we would then be able to infiltrate the city under the cover of darkness. It was our best chance at success.

Shifting in my seat, I watched Sergeant Cooper move toward us, his pace fast and sure on the dry dirt. “Heads up, fellas,” he said, leaning in through the open window.

My gaze narrowed on the hard lines of his face. I was starting to get used to the subtle meanings of the creases. This one was serious.

“There’s been word of Assad’s forces taking a compound north of Fatisah. If those reports are correct, we may have trouble.”

Nelson groaned. “I thought we pushed those fuckers out last month.”

Sergeant Cooper threw him a side glare and continued. “But once we get through Fatisah, the Kurds have a stronghold in a compound to the northwest of Raqqa, where we can set up base and proceed. We need to get to Fatisah by nineteen hundred.”

With that, he tapped the window frame and marched back to the front.

“All right,” McAdams said, nudging Mann to crank the engine. “Let’s get this shit done.”

With Sergeant Cooper’s Humvee finally in motion again, we moved out of town to the hopeful stares of the Kurdish fighters.

The road to Raqqa was a hard one to stay focused on. It was like watching footage on a never-ending, continuous loop. Dry, hot sand disappearing into a hazy horizon. It would be easy to lose concentration if we weren’t traveling at such high speeds, watching every civilian compound we passed for signs of activity and hostility.

Even though I’d seen enough footage of the war-torn areas in the Middle East to last me two lifetimes, I still had a hard time processing it in real time. If entire towns weren’t reduced to multiple piles of rubble, parts of them definitely were.

It was difficult to comprehend that these were once homes and places of peace for the people of Syria. Seeing children foraging in the ruins, searching for lost comforts or food, was heartbreaking. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like trying to raise a family amidst this kind of conflict.

---