Chapter 21
Apple was ready for action. They’d landed early today and had transferred to an aircraft carrier, and they were on their way to take down a cell of terrorists. They were hitting the island shortly after the sun dipped below the horizon.
“You ready?” Griz asked.
Apple nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Good.” Griz checked his equipment, and Apple followed suit, checking his stuff.
He was ready. They all were. This would be an easy operation. In and out fast. They’d take the bastard down and then head home.
That Amelia was waiting for him made him feel great.
He had a family. He wanted everything to work out with her.
They needed to take it slow. If they went too fast, he could ruin it.
He knew he had done things that were questionable in the past. He'd never really committed to anyone before, but with Amelia, he would go all in.
Sharp came in, a serious look on his face. “We just got word that an earthquake hit, and the island has a tsunami warning.”
Griz huffed out a breath. “Well, shit.”
“Yeah. We’ve been called off for at least another day. They have satellite pointed at the island, so we’ll see if our guy makes it out or not.”
“What elevation is his compound?” Apple asked.
“It’s not high. If a big enough wave crashes over the island, they’ll die.
” Sharp moved to the screen at the front of the room.
A map of the island was displayed. This wasn’t an island with a huge mountain peak, and it didn’t have a huge natural barrier.
Most of the island could be swamped if a big enough tsunami washed ashore.
The group had set up here on purpose because few people lived there.
It wasn’t the best place because of the low elevation.
Stuff got washed away every fifty to eighty years.
“What are we going to do?” Squat asked.
“Wait. It depends on the ship's mission. We're too big to port around here, so any humanitarian aid given will be minimal.”
“How long do they think this will delay us?” Jay asked.
“It depends,” Sharp said. “For now, the carrier is going to even deeper waters.”
“I’m going to catch some sleep,” Shine said.
Griz stood and started removing equipment. “Same.”
Apple agreed with them. They might as well catch some sleep.
They could end up being awake for a while, depending on how much damage happened to the island and, more importantly, to the ship they were on.
Theoretically, damage could happen to any ship, but it was more difficult for a carrier to have damage because of its size.
But some of the waters near these islands were shallow, and he knew the captain wouldn't want to be caught in a dangerous flow.
There were probably other naval ships in the area.
He hoped they were moving to safety. The carrier they were on wasn’t close to Diego Garcia, the joint naval support base in the Indian Ocean, so at least the base wasn’t at risk.
His mind was running too fast, moving from one thought to another.
He drew in a slow breath and focused on blanking his mind and quieting his thoughts.
When he woke, Sharp and Jay were already up and moving. He wondered if they’d received extra orders.
Maybe they were headed out. He headed to the nearest head and brushed his teeth while he was in there. After he washed his face, he headed back to the room they’d occupied.
“What’s our status?” Apple asked.
“The tsunami wasn’t big, and the target didn’t evacuate his place. We’ll go in at midnight. It means we’ll have to take care of the bastard faster.”
“Okay, I’ll get ready.” He’d slept for three hours, which was a luxury on a mission.
He started checking his things as the other guys woke.
They were all ready to go in and take down this guy.
Moving forward put him one day closer to going home to Amelia, and that was something to look forward to.
He couldn’t wait to get her in his arms again.
He hoped everything worked out between them because losing her again would really suck.