will have surrendered and that it would have nothing to do with your skills. Her cunning is unmatched.”
Brent returned a lopsided grin. “Thank you for the vote of confidence, sir.”
Dennison told Brent to stand by while she spoke off camera with the colonel. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, and after a moment, Dennison returned while the colonel was escorted out of the cell by two armed guards.
“Major, you really think that old man can help us?” Brent asked. “What if he’s lying?”
“He’s not. At least not entirely. He’s already helped with a number of items and issues.”
“It’s my understanding that he had a relationship with the Snow Maiden. What makes you think he’s not still working with her?”
Dennison smiled. “You’re sharp, Captain, no matter what they say about you.”
Brent grinned himself. “Are you setting him up?”
“Of course. We’ll give him enough bait… see if he tries to contact her. That’ll give us her location as well — and I know the Voecklers will continue questioning Warda. She still doesn’t trust us, but if she’d just give in, we could end this quickly and set up that ambush.”
“Can I ask you something? Once we capture the Snow Maiden, do you really think she’ll talk?”
“I don’t know. But it’s clear she poses a major threat to the JSF and the Euros. She’s even working against her own government — and that’s what really scares me. Now Captain, I need for you to capture her in London. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Brent shrugged. “Yeah.”
He remembered the five-minute meeting he’d had with her, just before they’d taken off. Her words were off the record, and they had stung:
“You’ve done some exceptional work in Special Forces and earned your recruitment into Ghost Recon. There’s no denying that. You did a fine job up in Canada during the Russian invasion, but since then it’s been downhill. I’m just saying that this operation has to go by the numbers — for both of us. I can’t promise you what’ll happen if you lose her in London. I just can’t.”
“Ma’am, what’re you saying?”
“I’m saying there’s no room for mistakes like failing to check that taxi. She slipped away once. That can’t happen again.”
“Otherwise, I’m gone.”
“They were thinking about removing you from Ghost Recon before I brought you on board for this.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No. I’m taking a risk on you because I need someone who’s got more at stake than just a mission. I’ll be honest. I figure that if your whole career depends on capturing the Snow Maiden, you’ll probably get the job done. Some of your colleagues have less to lose — but you’ve got it all.”
“I don’t believe this…”
“I’m sorry, Captain. They could even bust you down to the regular Army. I can make recommendations, but ultimately it’ll be their call.”
“So, if we don’t get her in London, I’m done.”
“Don’t think of it that way. Think of it as your chance to bring in the world’s most dangerous woman and earn a reputation for yourself as one of Ghost Recon’s top operators.”
“So it’s all or nothing.”
Brent tensed as Dennison now nodded and said, “I’ll be in touch once you’re on the ground.”
He returned the nod, and she abruptly broke the link.
All he could do was sit there, the seat straps feeling as though they were tightening like a boa curled around his shoulders and back, ready to suffocate him.
He’d dedicated his entire life to service. He’d tried his best to be a good soldier, a good man, and to atone for his sins. He’d tried to set the world right by taking another man’s place. And now they were presenting the ultimatum, as though they’d seen through him, knew that his heart hadn’t truly been in it from the beginning, that he’d joined the Army out of guilt, and that he wasn’t destined to retire as a Ghost Recon operator. He couldn’t fool them anymore. And now they were giving him enough rope to hang himself.
All right. You didn’t get into Ghost Recon without rising to the top of SF, he told himself. He needed a stronger bond with his people. He needed them more than ever now, and he wondered how forthright he should be.
They needed to hear something. Once they landed, the operational tempo would pick up, and there’d be no time for idle chatter. He unbuckled and rose from his seat, turning back to face the group, seated in pairs down the long aisle.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began.
They, like him, also wore headphones and microphones and were patched into the intercom, so they could hear each other over the tremendous booming of the Sphinx’s engines.
“I just finished my briefing with Major Dennison. Although we had some complications in the Seychelles, she’s confident we can get the Snow Maiden in London — and so am I.”
Lakota raised her hand. “Sir, honestly, I think it’ll be more difficult to get her now. Big city. So many places to hide. We haven’t even dusted her. And we need to worry about Haussler’s people on our back. I’m just thinking this whole op belongs to the NSA and not us.”
“We’re unconventional fighters. That means one minute we’re spies, the next we’re stand-up warriors. We think, move, shoot, communicate, adapt, and drink beer.” He winked at the group and got a few quick chuckles.
Then he added, “I know you’re worried about this. We need a win. But I want to tell you that I couldn’t have been more impressed with your performance on Mahe.”
Noboru lifted a finger and said, “Captain, I know we did a good job — based on the limited information we had — but the mission failed. Not sure how impressive that is.”
Brent stared a moment into the Japanese man’s frown, then quickly responded: “I wrote it up as, ‘Due to circumstances beyond our control and limited intelligence, we arrived at the target location too late to run either an ambush or an effective blocking operation.’ We couldn’t control that. And I’m not focusing on losing the target. I’m talking about what we did do…”
“I thought we rocked the house,” said Riggs, wriggling her brows at the others, even turning around so those behind her could see. “We took out nearly half that Spetsnaz team — and not a single one of us took a hit.”
“Hoo-ah!” cried Heston.
“You’re damned right we did good,” said Brent. “Now we’re going to drop into London and do it again. It’s not the misses that count; it’s the hits.”
“So we’re back to wearing civilian clothes, packing very light, and running tight surveillance,” said Heston with his Texas drawl.
“I know you’d all prefer a stand-up fight. But you’ve been around long enough to know how it goes. I’m counting on every one of you to give one hundred and ten percent here.” Brent lifted his voice. “Are you with me?”
They all cried in unison, “Sir, yes, sir!”
Brent held up a fist, shook it, then returned to his seat and closed his eyes. He was trembling.
About fifteen minutes before they were set to land, Lakota took the chair beside Brent. She motioned for him to turn on his intercom to channel three so they could talk privately.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“I’ll help you.”
“That’s nice,” he said, unable to disguise his sarcasm. “I was kind of hoping for that.”
“You know what I mean.”
He gave her a look. “Uh, I don’t.”
“Rumors get around, and I’m sure your briefing with Dennison didn’t go so well. Here’s what I think. I think she told you if we fail in London, it’s all over for us. They’ll break up the team again, and as for you… I don’t know… but she gave you the ultimatum, right?”
