Chapter 8
Garnet still had hold of the guy’s pack. He was talking to someone else, but she couldn’t hear them. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to clear away the fear.
Focusing on her breathing helped. Normally, she was very level-headed.
But this wasn’t a normal situation. Everything was wrong, and based on the layer of smoke on the ceiling, something was on fire.
It wasn’t a huge fire, and the smoke might be from the earlier explosion. Still, there was fire somewhere close.
Coming to Beirut had been a mistake. She’d taken the request in stride, thinking it normal for her to be called in even when there were people on site who could take care of the issue. Nothing about her being called to help had been normal.
“I think there is a double agent in the embassy,” Garnet said.
The man helping her turned to face her. “What?”
“I shouldn’t have been requested to come to Beirut. Their usual tech employee could have done the job. Sure, it was intricate, and the level of difficulty was high, but I think they sabotaged the system.”
He nodded. “We’ll go over that in the chopper, before we land in Beirut. For now, we just have to focus on getting out.”
“If I don’t make it, I-I—” her voice cracked, and she felt tears building again as she talked about not making it out. “I need someone to know to look at the tech guy stationed in the Beirut embassy.”
The man pulled her close for a hug. She was surprised, but his arms around her felt good. She clung to him, hoping she had the chance to thank him.
“You’re going to make it out of here, Garnet. We’ll make sure you make it home.”
Her throat closed with emotions, and a strangled sob erupted from her lips. She had never been in a situation like this, and she didn’t like it. She was a computer nerd, not a fighter.
Gunfire erupted outside, and the man let go and turned to the door. She had to believe they could keep her safe, but all the gunfire scared the crap out of her, and she feared this would be how her life ended.
Bean was amazed that Garnet was thinking of others while they were in the middle of heavy action.
She understood the risks and the possibilities.
They could be shot. The risk wasn’t zero, and she wasn’t wearing body armor.
He kept himself between her and the door, but a stray bullet could pierce the walls.
Stanley kept them updated about everything happening outside. They’d taken down three of the four people approaching the building. It seemed like they were about to take down the fourth, then they could move out.
The other person who had been inside this building hadn’t been found. The rest of the team had cleared every room. It bugged him that they’d only found three people. That left one person still out there.
He hoped Garnet had gotten a good look because they would need them to be described in depth.
Two more shots sounded, and then Stanley gave them the all clear. Bean glanced over his shoulder. “We’re heading out. Hold on and keep up.”
He felt her hand on him and trusted her to keep moving. His team would make sure she didn’t fall behind. They needed to escape before anyone else arrived.
Garnet kept up, running behind the man who’d saved her.
They were covered in darkness, but that meant anyone else outside was hidden, too.
What was up with the dark glasses the men were wearing?
Maybe those glasses allowed them to see into the darkness, because she sure as heck couldn’t see more than ten feet away.
She had to keep her mind focused only on following the man in front of her. They were moving fast, but not at an all-out run. There were multiple guys behind her, and she could see another two guys up ahead. Her hope started to rise.
The men slowed, then the guy in front of her stopped. He reached back, touching her arm. She guessed he was making sure she still had her hand on his pack.
“The helicopter is about two clicks away. Can you jog two K?”
She nodded. “Not well. I’m not athletic, but I don’t have asthma. I should be able to jog that far.”
“If you have problems, I’ll carry you.”
She wanted to laugh, but she knew he would. These guys were the type to leave no one behind. Was he a Marine? She didn’t think so. Maybe he was Navy, but they had no markings on their clothes. They could be a private security force. She had no clue.
“I don’t think you’ll need to carry me. I don’t weigh too much, though. Only sixty-two kilograms, or one hundred and thirty-six pounds.”
His chuckle warmed her. She wished he would remove his goggles, then she could see his eyes. But he needed his equipment, she guessed.
He straightened and then took her hand. “We’re moving out. My team will keep you safe.”
She jogged beside him, glad he wasn’t moving any faster. They all had on packs, and they probably had at least thirty pounds of body armor. That would slow them down, then again, maybe not. They didn’t even seem like they were winded. She wasn’t gasping for breath, but she was winded.
After about twelve minutes, she heard a helicopter, and relief flooded her.
She had kept up, or they had slowed enough for her to keep up, but she didn’t know how much longer she could run.
Her legs were ready to give out, and she was huffing and puffing as they ran up a rise.
This was probably the longest she’d run in a long time, and the incline was beginning to get to her.
She should take up running at home. Being a computer nerd wasn’t great for her cardio.
The guys helped her into the helicopter, and someone strapped her in, then gave her a headset. She needed to catch her breath before she told them her theory about the tech person being the double agent. Maybe she was wrong on that, but it had to be someone who could have sabotaged the system.
The helicopter lifted, and he squeezed her hands into fists. She’d been in a helicopter before, but it had been a long time.
The big guy who’d rescued her tapped her shoulder, then switched her headset on so she could hear his voice.
“You okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be okay.”
“Good. I was worried about you.”
His words were warm, almost like he knew her. She narrowed her gaze, but he still had on his goggles. There was no way he knew her. She had met military members, but not many of them knew her.
Then the man pulled off his goggles and tugged down the cloth covering his face. Shock pulsed through her. It was Brady. How had he found her?
Bean chuckled at the shock on her face. “Surprise.”
“How did you find me?”
“My team was sent in to rescue you. I didn’t know it was you until we landed in Beirut.”
“Oh.”
“It’s my job.”
Her mouth still hung open, and he was glad he’d moved her to a different channel on her headset so his team couldn’t hear them talk. She’d said something about who she thought was responsible, so he would need to move her back to the other channel before they started that part of the conversation.
“I’m glad you’re safe. I’m going to flip us back to another channel so you can tell the rest of my team what you told me inside. About how you think it’s the tech person who is involved with the terrorists.”
She nodded. “I can’t believe it’s you.”
“I know. Now I’m going to change the channels.”
He changed them to be on the same channel as the rest of his team, and he butted into their conversation. “Garnet told me who she thinks set this up. Tell them who you think it is.”
“Oh, um, yeah.” She wiped her forehead, then closed her eyes before opening them to look at the men in the helicopter with her.
“So the problem I was sent over here to fix wasn’t something that would naturally occur.
It was sabotage. At least I think it was.
When I first arrived, I was just fixing stuff, but then I realized the issues had to have been set up by someone.
So I think a person working at the embassy purposely went through the system and broke things so they couldn’t fix it easily. ”
“Who could have done that?” one of the guys asked.
She shrugged. “It had to be someone knowledgeable. They broke the system but didn’t make it so obvious that other people could see what they’d done.
It was only after I dug in and found the issues.
If I hadn’t been exhausted, I probably would have figured it out faster, and I would have been able to alert someone else to the issue.
But I needed sleep, and I went to the hotel to think about everything. ”
“That’s when you were abducted?”
She nodded. “Yes. Now I know I should have just slept on a couch at the embassy, but I wanted real sleep.”
“Totally understandable,” Brady said.
She shook her head. “I just feel like a fool.”
Brady squeezed her knee. “Don’t beat yourself up. You needed sleep and that’s why you went to a hotel. Next time, you shouldn’t, though, unless you have security.”
Her work was behind the scenes. She wasn’t someone who terrorists targeted. Most people didn’t even think far enough to know she existed.
“Those guys wanted me to program a missile on a US base to target DC.”
Silence from the guys hung in the air as they took in what she’d said. She could see the shock on their faces and in their eyes.
“That’s not possible, right?” one of the guys asked.
She swallowed, unsure if she really wanted to answer truthfully.
It wasn’t information that she felt good about spreading around.
“Not like what they wanted.” She could fudge the truth a little.
“I’d have to be on the base and probably in the room.
” She didn’t want to say it would be impossible, because if she had the right equipment and time, it would be absolutely possible.
“It’s nearly impossible, especially targeting a US city. ”
The guys shook their heads, and a few of them narrowed their gazes, like they could see through her words.
“Dang, that’s insane,” Brady said.
She nodded. “Someone wants to destroy DC.”
The helicopter slowed, and she glanced out the window. Brady squeezed her leg, and she turned back to him.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said.
She believed him. He would make sure the right person knew what had happened. If she went back to the embassy, she would have protection.
The thought of being in Beirut alone scared her. But her work still had to be done. Sleeping on couches was uncomfortable, but there was no way she would leave the safety of the embassy after what had happened.