Lisa fought the smile tugging at her mouth. “Just lift the damned thing, will ya?”
Karachi, Pakistan
THE TWO VEHICLE convoy worked its way through town and encountered no less than three police or military road blocks. Just as Jeff had promised, they were waved through all of them.
As the Humvees turned into the access gate for the airport, Deric lowered himself from the machine gun turret. “Fuck it’s hot out there.” He pulled the BDU shirt off and tossed it aside.
“Everybody grab your gear and get the jet loaded pronto. I don’t know if they have eyes on the airport or not, but I don’t want to risk being stopped before we can get in the air.”
Viktor chuckled. “I doubt even your CIA could determine the true owners of our aircraft.” He paused and tapped at his chin. “To be honest, I’m fairly certain we don’t even know who owns them.”
“No sense in risking it.” Gregg pushed open the door as soon as the shade from the hangar darkened his window. “Head em up, move em out!” He snatched his laptop bag from the floor of the truck and trotted to the plane and its much needed wifi.
Bridger appeared from the other vehicle, al-Abadi in tow. “What do we do with him?”
Jay glanced to Steve, who shrugged. “He is a material witness.”
“Is he now?” Jay turned and gave the man the once over. “I figured we’d dump him here and let him fend for himself.”
Bridger picked the man up by the back of his robes and carried him toward the plane. “If he can help clear our names, he’s coming.”
Steve grinned at Jay. “I guess he’s coming.”
Jay frowned. “I really wanted to fuck with him first.”
Jim and Deric loaded the containers into the belly of the plane while Viktor attempted to remove the machine gun turrets. Deric paused and turned to the mad Russian. “What are you doing?”
“Do you have any idea how much these are worth on the black market?”
Ryan dumped his aluminum case onto the ramp then turned to Marcus. “I think he’s serious. Want to give him a hand?”
Marcus groaned then climbed atop the Humvee. “I’m gonna need some tools.”
Viktor reached into his pocket and pulled out a socket set. “Never leave home without it.” He grinned as he handed the tools over.
Jay popped his head out of the door. “Are they stealing the machine guns?”
Ryan nodded. “Pretty sure. Yeah.”
He groaned then stuck his head back into the cabin. “Gregg, while you’re hacking the agency, mock us up some property tags for those machine guns. Just in case we get stopped stateside.”
“On it.” Gregg continued tapping on his keyboard then sat back and smiled. “Let the games begin.”
“Are you pinging their security systems?” Bridger leaned close and stared at the screen.
“We’ll get a pretty good average for how long those roof sensors stay down.” He shrugged. “Maybe we can wear down the system and buy you an extra second or two.”
“Joy.” Bridger stood and pushed his way to the back of the plane. He pulled the phone that Jay had given him and dialed Roger. As soon as the man picked up, Bobby asked, “Is everything in place?”
“Barely. We had to scramble to clear out just as the sun came up.” Bobby heard the phone shift then Roger complained, “Do you have any idea how hard it is to be inconspicuous in an old airport shuttle bus?”
“I can only imagine.” Bobby fought the grin. “Stay safe. We’re about to be airborne.”
“I’ll put on a pot of coffee.”
Bobby closed the phone and shoved it back into his pocket. He could hear the engines slowly increase in speed and expected the plane to take off at any given moment.
Jay approached and fell into the chair next to him. “Looks like we’re now oil execs just headed home.” He leaned back and crossed his legs. “Makes me wish I had a big fat stogie to celebrate.”
“There’s nothing to celebrate yet.” Bobby dropped into the chair across from him. “This is only step one.”
Jay nodded. “But if they still think we’re in-country and we’re not, then they’re looking in all the wrong places.”
Bobby grinned at him. “You reckon Jeff could maybe throw them a false bone once in a while? Keep them thinking we’re still there?”
Jay smiled back. “I bet that can be arranged.” He pulled his phone and called Jeff’s private number.
Bobby leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes. He tuned out all of the background noise and tried to relax. They still had a lot of work ahead of them and even then, he wasn’t sure what they were going to do with the information if they survived this op.
Langley, VA
“ARE YOU CERTAIN?” Darren Chesterfield fought the smile that crossed his face and resisted the urge to let loose a woo-hoo! when the call came in. “Double check the information and take action. Do NOT let them escape the safe house. I need them taken alive, if you can.”
He wanted to tell them to shoot on sight, but that would contradict his corrective actions proclaiming the group wanted for questioning. It’s hard to question someone if they’re shot dead first. Maybe the agency should hire psychic mediums for just that occasion?
He hung up the phone and blew out a heavy breath, more weight lifting from his shoulders. His phone buzzed and he picked it up again. “Chesterfield.”
“Come to my office.”
Darren stiffened at the voice. What time is it?
He glanced at the wall clock and groaned. The next day had already begun. “Yes, Colonel. I’m on my way.”
He stood on shaky legs and ran a hand across his unshaven jaw. He glanced in the mirror and paled; he definitely looked like something the cat had dragged in.
He pulled his suit coat from the hook and slipped it on, praying it not only covered the sweat and coffee stains but that it
