Chapter 30
CHAPTER THIRTY
ZERO DARK THIRTY
“The four horsemen need to be handled before our super stealth birds are within visible range for the rest of the guys to drop in,” Harper calmly explained as Julia peered over her shoulder with a tight knot of worry in her stomach. “We need to maintain the element of surprise.”
Julia was glad Finn wasn’t handling one of the horsemen. What if he froze up like he had done at the stables? She didn’t need him hesitating and losing his life because he was haunted by a dream, and really, his past.
“Liam and Wyatt are two of the best snipers in the world. They’ll take out the guards on the north and south sides,” Knox added from where he sat in the swivel chair between Jessica and Harper, and it seemed he looked more on edge than Julia felt.
It couldn’t be easy for him to be in that room instead of out with his teammates.
“And Roman and one of Carter’s guys will handle the other two men. ”
“Then Finn and the others will drop in by rope from the helicopter?” How many times had she heard this? How many times had she played the scene out in her head to mentally prep for when it would happen? It’s happening now. Right freaking now.
Finn was only thirty minutes away, but it felt like he was on the other side of the world.
“You sure you don’t want to sit?” Knox gripped the black chair arms and turned to the side to look at her. “You look anxious.”
Julia frowned. “So do you and you’re sitting.
Doesn’t seem to be helping.” She steadied her attention back on the laptop screen where they were observing the drone feed, or whatever that was called.
The three helicopters weren’t in view yet, but she could see the compound where the prick Amin was holed up.
Knox cracked his knuckles and grabbed the chair arms again as if he might break them off. “I can’t stand being here while they’re out there.”
Jessica reached for his forearm and squeezed. “We can’t have the son of the President of the United States killing a Saudi royal in Sudan.”
“Bad optics, I know,” Knox replied, and Julia spied a surprising grin sweep across his mouth before he returned his focus to her.
“I can’t imagine how you make this work given who your father is. It can’t be easy being the son of one of the most powerful men in the world,” she found herself saying.
Knox shrugged. “No easier than spending half of my life having people mistake dear ol’ dad for Denzel Washington, and women twice my age, when I was twenty, trying to give me their phone numbers because of it.”
Knox was trying to help soothe her nerves, God bless him. But she was pretty sure nothing could distract her from thinking about Finn and the danger he was facing tonight.
And it was still hard to wrap her head around the fact that Oliver had been framed by the very man the President had sent Finn and his team to take down. They were brought together for a reason. Fate, she supposed.
“Your dad is a good man from what my brother says,” Julia finally said, hoping to hear the sound of Finn’s voice soon. That would put her at ease. A little, at least. Being able to throw her arms around him after this op ended was the only thing keeping her from throwing up right now.
“He has his moments.” Knox winked and returned his focus to the laptop as Harper tapped at a few buttons.
“Two more minutes to go-time,” Harper announced. “They should be online soon.”
“You didn’t have them on comms in Aswan for that other op, but I’m relieved you do tonight.” She wouldn’t be able to handle the silence and the waiting if that were the case for this mission.
But what about the next mission? She wouldn’t be in their “TOC,” tactical operation center as they’d called it, the next time.
She would be back home making excel spreadsheets and holding meetings while her stomach was a shaky mess and she nervously eyed her phone, waiting for Finn to call and let her know he was safe.
How in the world did military wives handle deployments?
“It gets easier,” Jessica said, shifting her chair to the side as if Julia had spoken her distressing thoughts out loud. “I mean, a little. But you have to remember that what they’re doing out there is to protect those they love. To make the world a little safer.”
“Sometimes it feels like we’re using a toothpick to fight a dragon,” Knox added, his tone solemn, “but better to fight with a toothpick than not fight at all. Can’t let the bad guys win.”
Julia closed her eyes and processed his words, hoping she might absorb some of his strength and be as fearless and powerful as the three warriors before her.
“Finn’s worth it,” Harper said softly without turning, knowing exactly what was on Julia’s mind, just as Jessica had.
Knox peered at Julia. “More than worth it. That man will be your ride or die. He’ll do anything for you.”
“I know he would,” Julia returned in a soft voice, her heart starting to race when she heard static pop over the line.
“This is Echo One. Zeroing in on the targets in three, two, one . . .”
Silence filled the line for a moment as she knew Wyatt, Liam, Roman, and Carter’s guy were simultaneously sniping their targets.
Sniping? It’s called sniping, right? She needed to get used to the lingo, and .
. . to this. She had to get used to it because what was the alternative?
Saying goodbye to Finn? He was right. If he was going to die, he was going to die whether they were together or not.
She thought about Tucker’s ID tags Oliver had removed from her neck five years ago.
That’d been young love with Tucker, and what she felt already for Finn just after a few weeks felt like it’d become the forever kind of love.
The ride-or-die kind, as Knox had said. But that was the root of her problem.
She couldn’t have that man die on her. And—
“H1 down.” Wyatt’s British voice popped over the radio.
H1? Horseman one, she assumed.
“This is Bravo Four. H2 is down.” Liam?
“Echo Four here. H3 down.” Roman?
“This is, well, hell, I don’t have a fucking call sign . . . but H4 is down.” And that had to be Carter’s guy. Kind of funny, too. Southern drawl from the sounds of it.
“Moving over the target location now.” Finn, and she’d swear the voice of her inner child screamed with relief simply hearing him speak.
“This is TOC,” Jessica said. “We have you in our sights now.”
“Roger that,” Finn responded.
Julia moved closer and set her hand on the back of Harper’s chair so she could get a better view of what was happening.
She had no clue how Carter had pulled off the drone, the SATCOMs, or any of this on such short notice, but according to Finn, were it not for Carter, Amin would remain a free man.
Amin wasn’t technically an American problem, which meant he was off-limits for Bravo and Echo.
And Harper had said if anything went sideways tonight, the U.S. government wouldn’t be able to help.
That wasn’t exactly comforting. What kind of bullshit was that? Abandon the very people serving and protecting their country, as well as the world, because of optics?
“They’re fast-roping into the compound now.” Knox pointed to the screen and walked Julia through what was going on. “The birds are now leaving, and the boys will meet them at the HLZ extraction site.”
Helo landing zone, she deduced.
Knox clenched his hand into a fist and rested his elbow on the table, then leaned in closer to the screen. “I really, really hate being on this side of an op. Not sure how you two handle it,” he said, glancing over at Jessica and Harper.
Jessica swatted Knox on the back. “You’re supposed to be comforting her, remember?”
“Right, right.” He swung around in his chair and smiled at Julia. “I’m totally chill right now. Nothing to worry about.”
Julia rolled her eyes, but for a second, she’d been distracted. Only for a second, though. “I wish we could hear them while they’re inside the compound.”
“If we can hear them in there, then the baddies will hear them, too,” Knox pointed out. “So, it’s radio silent until all targets are down.” He set his finger on the screen. “But you can see the muzzle flashes a little. Just barely. People are getting shot. So, you know, progress.”
Julia’s stomach tightened. “Not our people, right?
“Nah.” Knox eyed the screen. “Our people are doing the shooting, don’t worry.”
“You sound really convincing there,” Julia replied sarcastically, sweat starting to drip down her back and not because of the heat.
“He’s not so great at sitting behind a desk,” Jessica said. “As you can see.”
“I’m a shooter. A door kicker. A medic. A lot of things. Desk jockey sure as hell—” Knox let go of his words at the sound of static coming over the radio.
“Our HVT is down. I repeat, our HVT is down. I took the kill shot,” Carter announced.
“Thank God,” Jessica said under her breath as she wiped a hand across her forehead.
“That was fast,” Julia whispered.
“Because our people are damn good.” Knox semi-smiled.
“This is Bravo One,” Luke said. “Compound is now secure. Tangos are all down. Preparing to destroy these damn zombie drugs.”
“Yeah, these fuckers were so hopped up on that shit they may as well have been zombies.” Julia immediately recognized the Southern drawl as belonging to A.J. “One guy took five shots in the chest and one in the head before he went down.”
“At least some guy didn’t bite you,” Chris said. “Am I gonna have to get a rabies shot?”
“More like a tetanus shot, genius. How the hell did you manage to let someone bite you?” Finn asked, and the sound of his voice had Julia releasing a quiet sob of relief as she hugged her arms around her torso.
“Boys,” Jessica chided, sounding like a mom about to hand out a lecture. “Finish before Hamas actually shows up and sees the fireworks show.”
“Pretty dusty out here tonight. I doubt anyone can see us.” And based on the Aussie accent, that was Liam.
“Amin is really dead?” Julia wanted to hold on to that feeling of relief, but a nagging voice told her that it wasn’t quite over yet. You’re overthinking. Over worrying. Over-everything-er. Not a word.
“Yes. And see, we’re all good.” Knox settled back into his chair, appearing a hell of a lot more relaxed, so Julia would take that as a good sign and lose her worries.
Or try to. “Now they just need to finish rigging the place to blow and make it look like it was Hamas’s handiwork.
Let the Saudis go after one of our enemies for us.
‘Two birds. One stone’ thing. You know, Hamas thinks drugs are evil, so they had to . . . yada yada yada.”
“Drugs are evil.” Jessica playfully swatted Knox again, and he laughed.
Okay, this is good. They’re totally chill. Everything is okay. More than anything, Julia wanted to follow their lead and chill out, but her palms had become as sweaty as her back.
A few minutes later, an explosion lit up the screen.
“Heading to the extraction site,” Luke said, a little breathless as if he and his men were running. “It’s windy out here. We need to get these helos off the ground and fast. Kind of feels like a storm is coming.”
“A storm?” Julia’s stomach squeezed, and she backed away from where everyone sat.
“If it’s a sandstorm, it’s early enough. They need to get out before it turns into a solid wall of dust,” Jessica said, her playful tone gone.
“How big of a wall are we talking? Like, a real wall?” Julia asked, dread taking over.
“Sometimes up to a thousand feet high. A mile or more wide,” Harper answered, looking at Knox, a concerned expression on her face.
“What is it?” Julia stepped forward again.
“Bravo Two, I mean Owen, is flying Bravo Team. He’s a skilled pilot. He can handle some sand,” Jessica told her in a calm voice.
“And who is flying Echo Team? And the other chopper?” But she knew the answer, damn it.
“Carter’s men.” Knox faced the screen, and Harper made a few adjustments, zooming out a bit for a better look at what kind of storm they were up against.
“And what do we know about Carter’s men?” Nothing, right? They knew nothing. Finn’s life was more than likely in the hands of a stranger.
“You see that?” Harper pointed to the screen and quickly hit a few more buttons.
“Fuck,” Knox hissed and grabbed the radio. “You have incoming two klicks from your location. My guess is you have some terrorists from that Hamas cell on your six.”
“We’re one mike away from the HLZ. We’ll get out of here before they arrive,” Wyatt said and began coughing. “They won’t see us in all of this dust, anyway. We have coverage.”
“You sure you can take off?” There was a rattle to Knox’s voice as he stood tall.
“Not much of a choice, brother,” Wyatt returned and coughed again as if he were swallowing sand.
And was he?
Now she was going to be sick.
The room was spinning. Shit, shit, shit.
A hand on her back had her slowly turning to see Jessica trying to console her. “They’ll be okay. They do this all of the time. I . . .”
She was going to promise they’d be fine, so why’d she stop?
“I have faith in them,” Jessica said instead, and she nodded as if trying to convince herself of that.
“Yeah.” Julia lightly nodded, but . . . what if Finn’s dream was prophetic?
A freaking terrorist group was closing in, and a sandstorm was upon them from the looks of it. Maybe Jaden had appeared in Finn’s dream as a warning?
“Osiris. Fucking Osiris and the Underworld,” she mumbled like a crazy person and squeezed her eyes closed.
“We’re on the birds,” Wyatt said. “Taking off now. Do you have eyes on the tangos?”
Julia’s gaze flew to the screen.
“No, we’ve lost sight of the tangos. And we can’t see you either,” Harper responded, a hand going to her abdomen as her own fears of losing the father of her child were most likely settling in.
“Heading to you now.” It was Finn.
“Be safe,” Julia said, unsure if Finn could hear her.
The line cut back over, the noise of the helicopter chopping the dusty air almost overwhelming, but she heard Finn say, “Roger that, Jewels.”
The radio went quiet for a few minutes, and every second of silence felt like her life was flashing before her eyes in slow motion.
From the first photo she’d taken with her Polaroid down to the last one before Tucker died.
To the moment she’d locked eyes with Finn at the karate studio in January all the way to their goodbye kiss tonight.
Freeze frame by freeze frame.
“We’re . . .” Static. Who was that? “Repeat . . .”
Julia stood alongside Jessica and grabbed hold of her arm while Knox held on to the radio. “This is TOC. Repeat,” Knox said.
“Engine fail . . . failure. Echo Team is crash . . . crash-landing.”