CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #2
“We spoke to a man who was able to provide some information about the girls.” Boone turned and faced the direction of the ruins. “Some guy who keeps a bunch of sheep in the hills outside of town.”
He filled him in on everything they’d learned from Fahim, as well as the location of the ruins.
“You believe him?” Cole thanked someone, and chairs scraped across the floor.
“Khalid believes him.” That was good enough for Boone. “I’m going to have Luna see what she can find out about those ruins.” He was happy to have an excuse to talk to her again. “In the meantime, we’ll hike up there and get a feel for the area.”
“Okay. We’ve got eyes on the target. He’s heading into the open-air market,” Cole said. “Let’s meet back at the hangar at sixteen hundred hours.”
“Roger that.” Boone ended the call. “Khalid, can you take us to those ruins?”
He lifted his cuff to look at the old analog watch with a fake gold elastic wristband.
“I am sorry, but I am needed at home. But I can provide you with directions to get there.”
“That works.” Boone tugged a small spiral notebook and pencil from one of the pockets on his backpack.
“You will start at the path, over there, and take it up about three miles.” Khalid pointed toward the path, then started scribbling a map on the small piece of paper.
“Once you reach the end, you will see a large patch of wild roses right here.” He tapped the pencil to the paper.
“They have a great many thorns. You will either have to navigate through them or find a way around them. Once you have cleared them, you will see a line of large willow trees. The ruins will be just beyond those trees.”
“Did you say willow trees?” What were the chances?
“Yes, they were planted when the original tomb was built.” He handed him the notebook and pencil.
“Thank you, Khalid.” Boone tucked them back into the pocket and zipped it shut.
“I wish you luck.” Khalid shook each of their hands with a slight bow and made his way down the rocky trail leading toward town.
“I sure hope nothing happens to him.” Calliope skirted around a cluster of sheep and started walking toward the path. “He’s such a nice man. Aside from the threat to cut the throats of all Fahim’s sheep, of course.”
They all chuckled, happy for the moment of levity.
“Let’s head out.” Boone dialed the ops center number programmed into his phone, and it rang two times.
“Is everything okay?” Luna asked.
“Yeah, everything’s good. I just need you to do some research for us.” Boone told her about the ruins and updated her on everything else they’d learned. “We’re headed up there now to do some recon, but anything you can tell us about the place would be extremely helpful.”
He took the lead as they headed up the path. Calliope was behind him, and Hawk brought up the rear.
“Okay, I’ll find out what I can and will send it to the whole team.” Computer keys clicked in the background.
“Thanks.” He slipped his water bottle out of the side pocket of his backpack. “Love you. We’ll talk soon.”
“Love you, too.” She ended the call.
“How’s she doin’?” Hawk took a long chug of water. “I remember how tough it was for Charlotte the first time I went on an op after we met.”
His fiancée was a child advocate and therapist. She worked at Dulce’s foundation now, but she used to work for a big nonprofit that was charged with the welfare of children rescued from traffickers.
She accidentally uncovered some disgusting things about the heads of the NGO, the nongovernmental organization that had been providing a good chunk of the funding.
She risked her life blowing the whistle on several powerful people who were involved in a scheme to take advantage of the very children they were supposed to be helping.
“She’s doin’ pretty good, actually.” Giving her something to research would help occupy her mind.
They spent the next hour or so following the directions Khalid had given them, and just as he’d said it would, the path came to an end. They stood and stared across the small field.
“Holy shit. When he said there would be a large patch of rose bushes, he wasn’t kidding.” Calliope popped open the top of her insulated bottle and took a long swig of water. “How the hell are we going to get through that?”
Dense bushes with small greenish-yellow leaves, sprinkled with a few remaining white blossoms and riddled with a considerable number of impressive thorns, had become intertwined and tangled and were now like an impenetrable wall spread out as far they could see.
Hawk walked closer and tried to look through them, then craned his neck to look over the top. “We’ll have to go around.”
Calliope’s gaze traveled over the area and stopped on a large tree.
“Hang on a sec.” She slid her backpack off, set it on the ground, and dug out a pair of work gloves.
“Let me take a look.” She tugged them on, tightened the Velcro straps around her wrists, and jogged over to the tree.
Without hesitation, she started climbing with the ease of a squirrel.
Branches snapped and shook and leaves rustled and drifted to the ground as she made her way up.
“It looks like … if we walk north about fifty yards, there appears to be an opening carved through the bushes. Almost like someone took a machete to it.”
“That must be how Udall’s getting to the ruins.” Boone swiped his sleeve across his brow.
The sun was at its highest point in the sky, and the temps had jumped about fifteen degrees since they left the hangar this morning.
Calliope made her way down as easily as she made her way up and jogged back over to them.
All of their phones beeped simultaneously with an encrypted message.
“Details of the tomb.” Hawk glanced at his sat phone, then tucked it into his backpack.
“Perfect timing.” Calliope peeled off her gloves, shoved them in her pack, and lifted it off the ground.
“Let’s take a breather while we look over this information.” Boone led them over to sit in the shade of the tree Calliope had just climbed. They ate protein bars and drank some water while they read through what Luna sent them.
Boone’s phone pinged again. This time, it was Cole.
“Hey—”
“Where are you guys now?” He sounded like he was running.
Boone dropped a pin on the GPS map for their location and sent it to Cole. “What’s up?”
“You guys need to get the hell out of there,” he said. “We lost our target in the market. When we spotted him again, he was headed your way and at a pretty good clip, too. If I had to guess, I’d say, by now, he’s only about a mile from your location.”
“Do you think he spotted you guys?” He’d be surprised if he had.
Cole had a shit-ton of experience working in the shadows.
“Not sure, but let’s play it safe and assume he did,” he said.
“Got it.” Boone ended the call. “Udall’s on his way here.”
No other words were needed. They all hopped up and gathered their bottles, wrappers, and backpacks.
They dragged a branch over the dirt to hide their footprints as they ran across the dry, brown grass to a thick stand of trees about twenty yards away.
Calliope scrambled up a tree while Hawk and Boone unholstered their weapons and crouched down behind a couple of trees.
Several minutes later, a man’s voice could be heard in the distance.
“I should be ready to move ’em out tomorrow sometime.” Udall appeared over the hill—and he was alone. “I’ve got a guy at the airport who’s agreed to fly ’em out for me. Hang on a second.” He slowed to a stop and stared back down the trail for a few minutes.
Had he spotted Cole and Viking tailing him? Like Boone, his old teammate was specially trained to sense a threat. And now, being a fugitive with the US government hunting him, his vigilance would be heightened.
Udall turned three hundred sixty degrees, taking in the entire area. Boone held his breath when he stopped and his gaze lingered on the tree line, then he started moving again.
“What? No, nothing’s wrong.” He walked along the wall of rose bushes, in the direction of where the path had been cut through. “How’d I get a pilot? Money talks, my friend. Money talks.” His voice faded as he disappeared from view.
Calliope whistled a bird call, letting them know the coast was clear, and climbed out of the tree.
Boone’s palms itched with the need to take him out and rescue those poor girls. But Udall wasn’t alone in this enterprise, and Dark Ops wouldn’t be happy until all of the parties involved were taken down.
Boone just hoped they got to the girls in time.