Sometimes the people Beckett and his team rescued were clients of Travel Assurance Corporation—the privately ownedtravel protection insurance agency also owned by Owens—and sometimes Tac-Ops was sent around the globe by none other than Uncle Sam himself.
Every job the team had been tasked with, so far, had been nothing short of mission success. But Beckett and the others knew it didn’t take much to fuck up an op, and there wasn’t a single man on the team looking to fail.
“And we’re just now hearing about this change of plans because…” The trailing question came from Digger, their team leader.
As a former Navy SEAL, Digger—whose real name was Slade Garrison—should be used to rolling with the punches by now. But Beckett had worked with the stoic man long enough to know the guy hated surprises. Especially when those unexpected moments threatened the success of their mission.
And even more so when innocent lives—especiallychildren’slives—were involved.
“Hey, now, don’t shoot the messenger.” Shadow went with her go-to response. “Besides, this is the U.S. government we’re talking about. Nothing ever goes as quickly as it should, and it rarely happens as planned. But you don’t need me to tell you that, do you, Dig?”
Pushing aside his own frustration at the unexpected turn of events, Beckett felt his lips twitching with the urge to smile. Shadow wasn’t just the team’s sassy tech goddess, she also served as their overwatch.
Despite never having met the woman, every man on the team trusted her. Not only with their lives, but also those they’d been charged with saving.
Hell, they didn’t even know Shadow’s real name. Yet, the amazingly mysterious woman was as vital to their success as anyone else on the team.
Beckett included.
He looked to his right, where Digger was currently lying belly-flat in the dry and rocky dirt. Like Beckett and the rest of their elite hostage rescue team, the man was dressed in head-to-toe desert camo. The man’s M110A1 automatic sniper rifle was resting steady against the weapon’s bipod, and though Digger was actively involved in the conversation, his sights were locked on what he was seeing through the Geissele optic mount.
“The good news is, twelve members of the Taliban faction you’re currently observing left the area about twenty minutes before your team arrived,” Shadow spoke up again. “Not sure where they went or what’s on their terrorist agenda for the day, but as long as they stay away, you should be golden.”
“Copy that,” Digger grumbled. “I’ve counted seven tangos moving in and around the target, but there’s an unknown number inside, which means?—”
“You could be gravely outnumbered,” Shadow finished the sobering thought. “Trust me, I know. I’ve been watching things closely from here for the past several hours, and our current satellite footage supports the intel of no more than ten tangos currently on site.”
“If only that satellite of yours could see through mountain walls,” Falcon mused.
Positioned at an elevated spot several yards behind where Beckett and the rest of the team waited, the former Army Ranger was the best shot Beckett had ever seen.
“Look, guys,” Shadow spoke up again. “I get that this isn’t ideal, but it’s our current reality. And the bottom line is, our marks are running out of time, and that means?—”
“We need to quit our bitchin’ and start making an alternate plan,” Beckett wrapped up the woman’s thought for her.
Because Shadow was right. It didn’t matter that their backup team got pulled onto another op or that there was an unknown number of tangos inside the cave. The fact was, an Americanschoolteacher and four young Afghan girls had been taken hostage days ago, and it was up to him and his team to rescue them from hell.
We’re here, darlin’. Just a little while longer and your world will be right as rain.
Okay, so perhaps that was a bit optimistic. Especially since they had no way of knowing what the woman or those poor little girls had been through. Beatings, rape, and humiliation were just a few of the horrific possibilities someone in their situation could possibly face.
Beckett just prayed this group of extremists were like most they’d dealt with in the recent past, and they’d merely kept their hostages locked up somewhere, bypassing the unnecessary abuse.
His gut tightened as a familiar image filled his mind. Big smile. Adorable dimples. Long, brown curls his fingers itched to touch.
Evelynn Mitchell.
That was the name of the thirty-one-year-old teacher currently being held against her will by a group of militants. Assholes who hid behind their so-called ideology that believed females shouldn’t be afforded the same education as men.
If you asked him, it was a total bullshit excuse for them to act like misogynistic pigs, and Beckett and the others were looking forward to teaching those assholes their own kind of lesson very,verysoon.
“Okay, so new plan.” Digger’s deep voice rumbled through the comms. “We wait until dark. Once the sun goes down, we’ll make our approach. Falcon, you’ll remain in position while Bones, Apollo, and I move in.”
“Don’t forget the drone,” Shadow reminded them. “It won’t do much after you breach the cave, but she can offer another set of eyes in the meantime.”
Beckett had almost forgotten about the drone. Designed specifically for the team, Shadow had created the tiny flying machine to do exactly as the woman had just described. It didn’t shoot bullets or launch explosives, but it could give them a bird’s eye view of the enemy to ensure no tango went unnoticed.
“Once Falcon activates it, I’ll take over the controls. That way, I can alert him of any threats he may not otherwise be able to see.”