CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Luna tried to keep her mind occupied during this communication blackout period.
She’d already checked with Khalid, and he’d assured her things were in place and ready for when the team arrived.
After that, she’d organized her workbench—though it hadn’t needed it—emptied her garbage and took her gun apart and cleaned it.
She tried to eat something, but it had tasted like cardboard, so she’d ditched the idea.
She checked her watch again. By now, the team was about ten minutes out from Gilgit Airport and would be checking in.
Her gaze continued to travel back to the drawer where she’d put his letter.
She was anxious and on edge, and they hadn’t even gotten to the most difficult part of the op yet.
“Pace yourself, Luna.” Her voice carried over the low hum of electronics. “This is no different than any other operation, and there’s still a long way to go.”
But it wasn’t the same, not really. This time, the monster they were after wanted to kill the man she loved.
“Gah, don’t think about that.” Chocolate milk, that was what she needed.
She always kept some for those days when she couldn’t make it out of the ops center.
Luna checked the screens, then dashed to the break room. She reached into the cabinet to grab a glass.
“Hey.” Caleb stepped into the room behind her.
“ACK!” She flinched, fumbled the glass in her hands, and it crashed to the floor. “Shoot.” She squatted down and was about to start picking up the pieces.
“Wait! Here, let me.” Caleb rushed over to her and put his hands over hers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“It’s fine.” She needed to get a grip—her nerves were wound tight as a guitar string. “I’m just jumpy this morning.”
She opened the small closet, grabbed the broom and dustpan, and started sweeping up the shards of glass spread across the floor. Caleb held the dustpan, then dumped the pieces in the garbage.
“Your jumpiness wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain cowboy, would it?” Caleb relieved her of the broom and put everything away in the closet.
“I know he’s highly capable and very good at his job, but I can’t seem to help myself.” She washed her hands, reached into the cabinet, and held up a glass. “Want some chocolate milk?”
“Sure, if you have enough. And you’re not being silly.
” He flipped on the faucet, washed his hands, and tore some paper towels from the roll.
“I don’t know if Dawn ever told you this, but part of the reason she broke things off with me was because my job scared the crap out of her.
” At that time, Caleb had been a K9 handler with the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team.
“That and she was afraid of getting hurt. But I’m pretty sure that last part had nothing to do with me and everything to do with your parents. ”
“I’m sure you’re right about that.” Luna filled two glasses and handed him one.
“I never knew that was the reason she broke up with you. I just remember being so mad at her when she told me she’d ended things.
Then again, I was mad at her about pretty much everything back then. Even stuff that wasn’t her fault.”
She put the carton of milk in the fridge and checked her watch again.
“Come on, let’s go back to the ops center.” He swept his arm out, and she preceded him out of the break room and down the hall.
“I hate blackout periods.” Luna headed to the main control panel and checked all of the monitors. “All of the technology I have available, and I still haven’t figured out a way to communicate with them one hundred percent of the time.”
Caleb rolled the extra chair over and sat next to her.
“With the way your mind works and your gift with electronics, I’m sure you’ll figure out a solution before too long.
Cheers.” He clinked his glass to hers, lifted it to his lips, and drank half the contents.
“Do I have a milk mustache?” He stuck his face out and turned it side to side.
“Cade always asks me that. ‘Daddy, do I have a mick moosache?’”
“Yeah, it’s pretty impressive.” Luna laughed at Caleb’s impression of his little boy, knowing that was his intention.
“Here, take my picture so I can send it to Dawn to show him.” He pulled out his cellphone, opened the camera, and handed it to her.
She took a few pics and handed his phone back to him.
He looked at the photos and nodded.
“Pretty sure that’s the record milk mustache right there.” He tapped out a text and sent the picture to Dawn.
“Thanks, Caleb.”
“For what?” He smiled at the text he received back, then set his phone on the desk.
“For distracting me from my crazy thoughts.” For the much-needed, albeit temporary, reprieve from worry.
“You’re welcome, kid.” He winked and finished the last of his milk.
Ping. Ping. Ping. A light on the console blinked in rhythm with the sound.
Finally!
“I’ll put them on speaker.” She hurriedly slipped on her headset and tapped a few keys on the keyboard. “Ops center.”
“We’re at our final destination. The helo is stowed, and we’re getting set up.” Cole wasted very few words bringing her up to date. “Sat phones are powered on. You should start receiving requests for confirmation.”
“Okay.” She looked up at the wall of monitors and checked the one in the upper left corner. Number one appeared, followed by two, three, four, five, six, and finally seven, Boone’s phone.
“All seven confirmed operational,” Luna said. “Have you connected with our contact yet?”
She was pretty damn confident their lines were secure and encrypted, but they’d agreed not to use Khalid’s name, just in case. If by some miracle Udall managed to tap into their communications, it would confirm what he already suspected—that Khalid was helping them.
“Yes, he met us when we arrived. Hold for a sec.” Cole’s voice was muffled, like he was holding his hand over the phone. “Sorry. We don’t want to risk our target seeing our team member around town, so our contact is taking him, Calliope and Hawk out to do some reconnaissance.”
Keeping Boone out of sight for as long as possible made sense.
And Hawk and Calliope were both gifted trackers.
He’d learned from his grandfather in the mountains on the reservation he grew up on.
Calliope’s dad and granddad taught her everything she knew about tracking in the swamp where they lived.
Having them on their team gave them a massive advantage.
“There’s a small restaurant in the hotel where our target is staying.
Eddie and I are heading there now. Viking and Lucas are going to get into position and will check in with you once they’re in place.
” They were going to be on the rooftops of two strategic locations in town.
“We want to get eyes on our target and his errand boy.” Hamsa Sherzai.
“Hopefully, they’ll lead us to what we’re looking for. ”
The poor girls Udall planned to use to build his new enterprise.
Caleb slipped on the extra headset. “Cole, this is Caleb. Do you have a confirmation on the number and whether or not they’re all from the local area?”
“Negative on both,” Cole said. “Once we know how many there are, we’ll figure out a way to get them home or to Every Last Child’s care center about fifty miles from here.”
“I’ll start working that from here.” Luna welcomed the distraction.
What better way to keep her mind occupied than planning a way to help a group of scared innocent girls? Her past gave her a bit of an insight into what they might be going through and how terrified they must be.
“Any issues with the threat you received?” Cole asked.
“Nothing, but I’ve been holed-up on the compound.” She’d made sure to bring clean clothes and already had some toiletries in her locker at the workout facility.
“Good,” Cole said. “I’ll pass that on to a certain concerned party.
“Thanks,” Luna smiled.
“I’ll check in as soon as I have any more intel.” Cole ended the call.
She blew out a breath.
“You’re doing great.” Caleb set his hand on her shoulder and gave it a little shake. “When will the satellite be over the area?”
Luna checked the time on the monitor clock.
“Should be able to get a visual in about forty minutes.” She glanced up at the monitor with their biometric data, and everything looked good.
They were all in such great shape, any anomalies would stand out.
“Have you eaten anything?” Caleb stood.
“I had some eggs this morning.” Luna hadn’t been able to finish them. She didn’t bother to tell him about the slice of pizza she almost threw up.
“How ’bout I run out to a drive-through and grab us something.” He tugged a key fob from his pocket. “You need to keep your energy up.”
“Drive-through works for me.” She gave him her order, stood and walked over to her desk. She pulled her wallet from her bag, dug out some cash, and held it out to him. “Here ya go.”
Maybe she could choke down a burger.
“Put that away.” He made a shooing motion. “I’ll be right back.”
He used his ID card and the retinal scanner to open the door, stepped into the hallway, and waited until the door closed behind him.
Luna shoved her wallet back in her bag and heard a pinging sound. She swung around and checked the monitor to see whose number it was and recognized it immediately. She rushed over to the console, sat down and tapped the button to accept the call.
“Hi!” She knew better than to get her hopes up that he’d be able to contact her, but hope was a funny thing—sometimes it just wouldn’t quit.
“Hey, baby.” God, she loved him so much. “I only have a minute, but I needed to hear your voice.”
“How are you?” Luna had a million questions, but she shelved them for now.
“I’m good, knowing you’re safe.” Someone with an accent spoke in the background. “Our contact is here with us, and we’re checking out the surrounding area.”
“I just spoke to Cole, and he told me they’re headed to the hotel.” She was hoping to spot Udall when the satellite passed over the area, but that could be like finding a needle in a haystack.
“Yeah, we’re hoping he’ll show his face soon.” Boone, as usual, sounded calm and unfazed by what they were up against.
“Is there anything I can do for you guys from here?” They were all incredibly self-sufficient, but she needed to do something.
“What you’re already doing—watching over us—is more than enough.” There were urgent-sounding voices in the background. “I’ve gotta go. We’ve found someone who might know something about the girls.”
“Okay. Be careful,” Luna said. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” The line went dead.
Luna tapped a key to break the connection, sat back, and huffed out a breath. Boone sounded like he was running when he hung up.
Running toward danger, not away from it.