Chapter Eleven

Nomad

The infrared light that Nomad lassoed across the night sky signaled Echo Team Bravo that Alpha had arrived on the beach, and it pinpointed their location.

Within minutes, they saw one in return—message received.

"That was surprisingly easy." Rory was positioned between Ty's knees, getting a well-deserved scritch.

Havoc looked over his shoulder. "Too easy?

"I'll take too easy," Ty responded.

"Hear that?" Havoc whispered.

They sat silently, listening to the motor approach. T-Rex tipped down the night vision apparatus, checking that it was their teammates in the boat roaring forward. He stood. "Here they come."

Jeopardy and Nitro cut the engine, and their forward momentum pushed the inflatable up on the beach. "Hey, change of plans," Jeopardy called, jumping out of the boat and reaching for a bag.

"How's that?" T-Rex headed forward.

Jeopardy pulled a tablet from the backpack and squatted as he initiated an encrypted satellite link.

T-Rex squatted next to him, reaching for the screen when the connection came through. "Colonel Watts."

"You have Poole?"

T-Rex looked over to where Jeopardy and Nitro moved over to their prisoner. "Yes, sir."

"Anything I need to know about?"

"Clean mission, sir." He walked the screen over to the sleeping Poole to show Colonel Watts.

"You have no bruising, no blood," Watts said. "You must have had an okay time of it."

"It all went to plan, sir."

"Outstanding. I'm rerouting three of your team. Ty and Rory, Nitro, and Jeopardy are heading to the sub to complete the last leg of the Poole mission. I want Nomad and Havoc to gather ‘round."

T-Rex lifted his chin. "Havoc. Nomad. We're not done here. Nitro. Jeopardy. Ty, get Poole and Rory onto the boat and get ready to launch."

Once the three had gathered around the screen, Watts said. "CIA has an MIA. Johnna Red was doing fieldwork on the Lebanese side of the Syrian and Lebanese border, southeast of your position. There was a hotel explosion."

"Yes, sir," T-Rex answered. "We were briefed on the event prior to our mission. It's in the same vicinity as our operation took place. The CIA thinks Red was caught up in that?"

"The bomb went off at the time and place where she was last in contact with her team. Langley needs to make sure she's healthy and functioning."

"Is her role important to this conversation at all? Is anyone trying to get to her or hurt her?" T-Rex asked.

"That we don't know. What I can tell you is that we got a call there's an American secret squirrel in possible danger. She's high-dollar, and they need her back in whatever condition. You need to find her or her remains and get her moved. If she's in a hospital, you need to come up with a silent exit strategy. She can't be mumbling under her breath no matter what."

The screen changed to a map. "I've sent these to your phone."

"I have your phones," Nitro called and moved back to his bag. He dug out a plastic container and handed it to Nomad. It held their three cell phones.

Nomad handed them out, then swiped to open his encrypted channel to find the map.

"So here's how this is supposed to go down. You get to this area with Pin A. You ditch the Syrian car. The owner will retrieve his vehicle at that point, so hit your mark precisely. We're indebted to the person. Next, you're going to walk to this wall. You'll know you're in the right place when you see this symbol." Watts held up a photograph of graffiti. "You're going to cough three times."

"Cough?" T-Rex asked.

"Three times." Colonel Watts repeated. "Someone will be there to help you."

"With a lozenge," Havoc said.

"They'll provide you with a car, money, and embassy-produced documents. You keep driving to the town. You'll find basic intelligence in that file I uploaded for you." He moved the cursor to a red pin. "This is the hotel that exploded." He moved the cursor slightly down the road. "This is where she was staying."

"Not in the hotel?"

"Red had two rooms that were decoys in the hotel that blew. They were rigged to see if anyone was interested in her. Don't go after the equipment. It'll call too much attention, and we don't know how stable the structure is. I'm not getting one of you hurt over a motion-activated camera. She used an alias there, so it's clean. Down the street," he circled the third pin again, "this was the place she was sleeping. No one has heard from her since the explosion."

"Johnna Red, do you have her photo?" T-Rex asked.

Colonel Watts said. "Your team will use their normal aliases. This is your cousin, T-Rex. They put a photo in your album. Her cover name and other basic information are in the intel file. You should memorize it. It's not as important for the others. You were in Lebanon to visit her. She didn't show up at her apartment. You heard about a bomb and came to check on her because she was visiting friends in this area. You don't know the friends. You know nothing more."

"Yes, sir." T-Rex swiped it open. "Sir, how are we supposed to identify this woman?" The team leaned in. It was T-Rex's picture with a photoshopped woman wearing a ball cap and turning her head to the side.

"Her fingerprints are in the app," Colonel Watts replied. "We gave you what Langley was willing to have out there."

"Serious?" Havoc asked. "We just walk down the road and ask people to stick out their hands?"

"You've got more than that," Watts replied. "Long dark brown hair. Mid-thirties. Athletic build. Those are the descriptors."

"In Lebanon," Havoc said under his breath as he looked at it. "Great."

"All right. All right. Havoc," the colonel said, "I'm giving you some leeway. I understand you're functioning on no sleep. But watch it."

"Sir."

"Now listen, her room at the hotel needs to be stripped and polished. We can't be seen as having a footprint in the area. If there's a body, we need it back. That might get challenging because you won't be going through normal channels. She's ours. You take her and get her back home."

"If she's wounded?" Nomad asked. "Is there a hospital in the area?"

"There is." Colonel Watts said. "And they're full and overwhelmed. My understanding is they're shipping people to nearby cities. She could be in pieces. She could be in hospital. Any hospital." His eyes were hard and unblinking. "If she's alive, we need her in an American hospital and under guard. What's in her head would make her extremely vulnerable – and America at the same time. If she was able, she would have reported in. Move on silent feet."

"Yes, sir," T-Rex said. "The clothes on our backs are the clothes we have with us. They were specifically developed to support the last op. We look in rough shape."

"State understands the situation. They have your sizes and are working to find something that will function for you in short order. Shops aren't open yet. Both T-Rex and Nomad will pose a challenge, but I think our people are up to it. You'll be dressed to blend. Luckily, there are a lot of contractors in the area. More importantly, State will produce your diplomatic papers and State credentials. There are no stamps. So these are replacements after yours were stolen. You picked them up at the embassy last night when you let them know your cousin hadn't come in as scheduled."

"Last night, yes, sir," T-Rex said.

"Once you're over the wall, you'll find a rental car parked directly in front of you. That's where you'll find what they were able to gather. We're putting the car in T-Rex's name."

"With added drivers? Properly insured?" Havoc raised his brows. "I don't want to do anything contrary to the laws. It's the little things that can trip us up."

"I-s will be dotted, T-s will be crossed," their commander said. "Look, I get it's been a while since the team has slept, and we'll need a little more time to get the elements together. I suggest you pull around behind a hill, take a short nap, get fed and hydrated. We're balancing a lot of variables. We want to get this woman out as soon as possible, or minimally, to assess her situation and find a solution. But going in before the village is awake is going to call attention to you. They'll have guards posted. Questions."

"Are people after her?" Nomad asked. "Could she have been taken?"

"A distinct possibility."

"Could the explosion have been focused on her?" T-Rex asked.

"I damned well hope that's not the case. Possible? Yes. Probable? I can't take anything off the table. I don't have the intel. To that end, we received a pin that indicated the exact spot where she was meeting with a man in a blue suit. If you get into the area, see what's there. Start there. Her last interaction with her team was sending that pin."

"Wilco," T-Rex said.

Watts drew his lips into a hard line. "Listen up. She's highly skilled and will be using tradecraft. She doesn't know you're coming in. She doesn't know you, so be aware. Her code this week is, ‘Did you buy Johnny new crayons for school?' The answer is, ‘Can you believe he's in first grade?' and lastly, ‘He loves to color.'"

The three repeated the phrases.

"At this point," Colonel Watts said, "with two check-ins missed, we have to assume that she's incapable of initiating comms. She has backup routes if she loses the means to use an encrypted channel. None of them were acted on, which tells me we need to be prepared for repatriation or a medical emergency. If the latter, time will be of the essence."