soldier will be at their designated station. No one shall leave this dwelling until I return. Should a conflict occur, fight to the death if that’s what it takes to secure our base.
“Yes, Sarock,” came the unanimous chant.
Barzani looked at Memu and found his chief of security already holding the keys to their vehicle. As he left through garage door entrance, he saw his crew already focusing on their tasks. Barzani could not be any prouder of their loyalty. They did not deserve their fate. But Barzani would not let anything or anyone jeopardize his plan for success.
Not even his own flesh and blood.
Chapter 24
They were driving down a residential street where thick rows of pines lined the road, making everything appear similar. The cabins were all set back into the darkness, barely visible, but for an occasional porch light. Many of the residents were already gone, heeding Temir Barzani’s threats to destroy homes until he’d achieved his goal. Matt crawled barely over walking speed. Eddie Lister was in the back seat between Stevie and Jennifer, craning his neck for something familiar. Tommy was stuck in the far back row of the SUV.
“Anything?” Nick said from the passenger seat.
Eddie moved side to side, his head on a swivel. “It’s hard to say. Everything looks different at night.”
They were quiet while Eddie continued his search.
“I think it’s a block over,” Eddie said.
Matt took a long, disgusted breath. “Are you sure you know where this place is?” he asked.
“Yeah, yeah,” Eddie said. “I know. Maybe we could come back during the day?”
“That’s a good idea,” Tommy said. “Let’s call it a night and go get some ice cream.”
Nick scrutinized each cabin, searching for something, anything he could consider suspicious. The Humvees remained in a holding pattern, idling in a vacant cul-de-sac, waiting for Nick to give them the signal. They’d been joined by a caravan of FBI SWAT agents from Phoenix who were sitting with the soldiers awaiting their turn as well. Nick wanted to scout the area and give them a quality target before the fireworks started.
“Stevie,” Nick said. “You bring the parabolic with you?”
Stevie reached down into a duffle bag at his feet and pulled out a metal, cone-shaped dish about a foot in diameter. He handed the dish to Nick along with a pair of headphones. Nick put the headphones on, opened up his window and stuck the parabolic out the window. He pointed it at the first home they passed on the right and found nothing but static and some lonely crickets.
Jennifer Steele leaned over, pulling a pair of night vision glasses and a flashlight out of the bag.
“I’m going to go on foot,” she said, opening the door.
“No,” Matt barked, but Steele had already closed the door behind her and stuck her head back in the open window.
“Relax,” she said. “I’m staying within viewing distance.”
Matt kept rolling down the street. He turned his lights off to aid Steele with her infrared canvass of the neighborhood.
“Keep an eye on her, will you Tommy?” Matt called out over his shoulder.
“You kidding? I’m already fogging up the window back here,” Tommy said.
Nick caught Matt staring in his rear view mirror. “Stay focused,” he said.
Matt glanced over at him and frowned, but said nothing.
Methodically they moved through the neighborhood with the windows down, eyes and ears wide open. They were all beginning to lose their patience.
“Eddie?” Nick said. They hadn’t heard a word from the kid in several minutes.
“I think we passed it,” he said. “I don’t recognize this.”
“Stop,” Tommy said.
Matt hit the brakes.
“I see Jennifer back there waving her arms,” Tommy said.
They all turned to see exactly what Tommy was talking about. Once Jennifer saw the SUV stop, she lowered her arms and headed toward the car in a sprint, glancing over her shoulder at the house as she ran.
By the time she reached Nick’s window she was out breath, panting while holding something in her hand. Nick had to wait for her to shine the flashlight on it before he knew what it was. A cigarette butt.
Nick’s heart raced as he realized the significance. He handed the butt and flashlight to Stevie.
“There’s a bunch of them under this tree,” Jennifer said, catching her breath. “It looked like a perfect spot for a lookout.”
They waited while Stevie inspected the butt, smelling it, then rolling it in his hand. Finally he looked through a magnifying glass for confirmation.
After a minute, Stevie looked up at Nick with a smile. “It’s the same one,” he said. “No doubt about it.”
“Okay.” Nick jammed a thumb over his shoulder. “Get in, Jen.”
Steele hopped in the car.
“Get to the end of the block and turn the corner,” Nick instructed Matt. He got his cell and called the SWAT team. He sensed adrenalin surge through his veins with a massive force. He hadn’t slept more than an hour in days, yet he felt as if he could run a marathon.
Matt pulled over and everyone got out and waited. Even in the chill of the fall night, Nick pulled off his jacket and tossed it in the front seat. Less than two minutes later, the posse rolled in from a different direction as instructed. They parked all in a row and immediately flowed from their vehicles to circle Nick.
Between the SWAT team, FBI agents and Special Forces, there were more than thirty of them. Everyone was already black-faced but Tommy and Jennifer who used the SUV’s side view mirrors to rub on the black wax.
“Okay,” Nick said in a low voice. “Let’s be careful here. I don’t want to take any chances. These guys are notorious for leaving booby traps, so be careful. If it takes an extra few minutes to get where you want to be-take the time. This probably won’t turn into a fleeing situation. They’ll dig in and fight until their last bullet has been used.”
Nick looked directly at the soldiers now. “Anyone with some IED training?”
One of the young men in the back raised his hand. “I do, sir.”
“Good,” Nick said. He pointed to Stevie. “Take him with you and examine the perimeter. I don’t want any surprises.”
“Done,” the soldier said, while watching Stevie unload his duffle bag from the SUV.
Nick handed the parabolic to Stevie. “And make sure you take the metal detector as well.”
“Got it,” Stevie said, then headed toward the KSF safe house with the soldier. Nick pointed to the leader of the FBI’s SWAT team and held up three fingers in the dark. Moments later, three SWAT agents fell in behind Stevie and the soldier.
Nick’s face dripped with sweat. His body was betraying him while he resisted the urge to hand the lead over to Matt. The PTSD was kicking in as he fought to hold it together.
Matt already had his sniper rifle out and strapped over his shoulder. Nick pointed to him. “You have a shot at Barzani, you take him out, whether or not I’ve given the signal yet. Okay?”
Matt patted his weapon. He was ready.
Nick looked at Tommy. “Stay here with Eddie and make sure no one enters this street.”
Tommy gave his cousin a thumbs up.
“Okay,” Nick said addressing the group, “Unless they’ve hired some new personnel, I suspect we’re looking at a number less than ten. Their scouts have already taken cover, which means they know we’re here. They will have explosives waiting for us. I don’t know where, or when.”
Nick pointed to Steele. “Call an ambulance. Have them come without emergency signals and tell them to wait outside the community entrance.”
Steele left the circle with her phone out.
Nick looked in the direction of the safe house and pulled his pistol out from his holster. The cabins on either
