Chapter 26
Shadow paced the shack while Saint stayed on alert.
“She’s late,” Shadow grumbled.
“If I didn’t have to get past the small army you brought with you, I might’ve gotten here on time,” she bit out, coming from the shadows.
“I see you haven’t lost any of your talent,” Shadow snarked. “What’s with all the cloak and dagger stuff?”
“I’m on vacation. I left something behind and needed to pick it up,” Rayven said, shrugging. “I told you. I’m on bedrest.”
“If you made me lose my opportunity to nail Ford’s ass to the wall, you’ll be on bed rest,” he growled. Pulling out the rattle, he asked, “Where did you get this?”
“Funny thing. I sent someone to tell you, and you started shooting at them. You can’t find good help these days. She dropped it, and it took me forever to find it,” Rayven said, bracing herself against the wall. “Do we have a deal?”
“How do I know you didn’t stumble upon it?” he asked.
Sighing, Rayven glared at him for a moment. “Call your team in. I might need a little help. Since you took Maryam, they believe the other village has taken her. They’re planning an attack by dawn tomorrow. If we work together, we can prevent a massacre, save my mole, and no one will know I’m here.”
“Don’t you have your own team?” he challenged.
“I did until you sent your attack dog after her. She’s got a hole in her leg. The other has a bullet wound in the arm. She’s a pain in my ass, but she’ll live. Again, I’m on bed rest. Can’t a couple of girls have fun?”
Saint grunted. “You attacked us last night.”
She rolled her eyes. “Uh, I beg to differ. We tagged Maryam and her driver. You found them and destroyed them. We bribed the driver, and he fed us information in exchange for asylum in the US. Why do they always ask for that? I can think of a couple of European cities where I’d love to live.”
“Cole said you shot the driver,” Saint said, narrowing his eyes.
“Yeah. Blondie doesn’t have good aim. It’s a good thing I have him wearing a vest. It knocked a little wind out of him,” she said casually. “Do you want to help me or not?”
Shadow glanced at Saint. “Do you have Leo, and did he make it?”
Rayven gazed at Shadow. “I don’t know. I saw him get shot and ran down to stop the bleeding.
He got hit in the neck. By the time I got to him, he took one in the leg.
He’s a heavy mother. One of my…associates ran down to help me and managed to get herself shot.
Then, it left Blondie, who fell down the mountain and eventually made it to me.
My friends are talented to say the least. We managed to stem the bleeding.
Our source returned here to help her home village.
We brought her medical supplies, and she fed us information.
The suspect we came here for fled the country, and we needed to stop him.
At the time, we had no choice but to leave your man with our informant.
This fell out of his pocket. He wasn’t in the best shape.
My team carried on the mission without me when I took one in the stomach.
I left the hospital to find you. That should count for something. ”
“Why do you want Maryam?” Saint asked.
“I don’t. The government wants her, along with Ford and a few others on the base.
They’re traitors. Maryam attacked the units to cripple the projects here.
She wants these people to stay in poverty while she lives like a queen.
By killing the US Military, she got both her wishes.
Our informant helped us take down half the organization.
I need Maryam to give up the other half,” she explained.
“I promise you she’ll not live to see the inside of a prison. ”
Shadow turned to Saint. “Call the team in and let’s figure this out.” Then he turned back to her. “If you have anyone else here, I want to see them.”
Rayven smiled. “We won’t be in the system. Taking our photos will be a waste of time. Trust me, Shadow. I want the same thing as you. You know I believe an eye for an eye.”
“They’re on their way. Where are yours?” Saint asked.
“We don’t need to get into any names. They only came along because they can’t fly the plane themselves and I refused to get off,” she informed them before pressing her comms.
A few minutes later, the team filed inside the abandoned shack.
Rayven gave them a chin lift as two women entered the room.
“Oh, there’s the most adorable puppy,” the blond said, kneeling to say hello to Apollo and Striker. They maintained their positions, but Cole noticed they struggled not to entertain the woman.
“Can they have treats? I have dried bacon. Dogs always love me. Did you train them yourself? I’ve always wanted a dog,” the blonde woman babbled as if oblivious to those around her.
Rayven rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. When the blonde glanced at her, she frowned and stood up, standing next to her. The long redheaded woman narrowed her eyes and scanned the room. Her hand remained on her hip as if assessing the threat.
“The other two are nursing their wounds with the driver. I’ve shown you mine. Now you show me the prisoner,” Rayven demanded.
“She’s safe with a couple of friends of ours,” Shadow explained. “Tell me what you want.”
“I’ll give you access to the tunnel, and you can retrieve your friend.
If he’s dead, Amena will know where she buried him.
Give me Maryam and leave Ford alone. Take your brother home.
The scouts will be out tonight. The villagers seem more tense than usual and will shoot anything moving.
Tomorrow morning, my team will create a diversion.
It’ll give us time to get into the tunnel and out. ”
“If you know where to go, why can’t we leave now? You can take me there yourself,” Shadow demanded.
“Maryam’s father has an army. When the villages attack each other, he’ll gather up the boys, kill the elders, and rape the women.
They’ve already made it to the outskirts of the villages.
They mobilized before you went to the market today.
We didn’t know how many. He’ll block any communications going out to prevent the base from knowing about it until it’s too late.
He’s actively searching for his daughter,” Rayven laid out all the reasons.
“How many?” Shadow asked.
Rayven licked her lip and glanced at her friends. “He has over a thousand at each village. They’re not there because they want to be. He holds their family hostage or kills them to leave them no choice. They’re armed with our weapons. He has missiles.”
“Shit,” Saint said. “Let me guess. Our military can’t get involved.”
“You know how politics work. By tomorrow night, nobody will know the village even existed,” Rayven said sadly. “I’ll introduce you to Amena. We’ll check on your package, you get what you need, and we get the hell out of here. In exchange, you let Maryam go at a designated place. We need her.”
“Who do you work for?” Saint asked.
“Nobody you’ll know,” she said. “Do we have a deal or not?”
Shadow glanced at Saint, then the rest of his team. His eyes landed on Cole. “You lost your friend because of these people. You’ve heard Rayven. I can vouch I knew her when, and she’s damn good at her job. Can you live with this?”
“If it means we get Leo back one way or another, I will,” Cole said. “What’s the plan?”
The two women moved forward, pulling out maps and diagrams. The blonde woman leaned in, showing her ample cleavage.
“Don’t mind the girls. I didn’t have time to change before I caught this one leaving the hospital by her window.
Oh, how I’d love a sports bra right now.
She didn’t tell me I’d be dodging bullets and running down a mountain. ”
“Can you leave Lacey and Louise out of this for once?” Rayven snapped. “I told you to stay home.”
“Then how will you explain you’re at my house on the couch watching a movie with me? If I didn’t come with, you’d be in the slammer finishing your time,” she said.
Rayven winced and frowned at her words. “Go let the cute little doggie bite you. Then you won’t get bored while the grownups talk over things.”
The blonde stuck out her tongue and leaned against the wall as they discussed the mission.
When they finished, Shadow shook her hand. “We’ll release her as soon as we speak with Amena and get our package.”
“Don’t disappoint me, Shadow. I came a long way and risked it for you,” she warned.
They climbed into their vehicles and headed for the plane. Everyone needed the latest information and a plan. Tension mounted in the vehicles as the team sensed tomorrow might define their entire mission.
“What do you think?” Shadow asked Saint as he drove them back to base.
“Call Tex. See if he can find out anything about your friend, Rayven. He may not be able to say much, but we need to know what we’re walking into.”
“I’ll do it while you give Victoria and Ivan the plan. What about Jake and Joe?” Shadow asked.
“We’ll keep them away from the firefight. We’ll explain we need them to guard our escape route. Then, we’ll pick them up,” Saint said, hoping he kept them safe.
When they arrived, Hollywood and Cole prepped the K-9s.
Due to his injury, Hollywood and Apollo needed to stay with the plane.
Not trusting Rayven enough to leave Maryam unguarded, Apollo might come in handy.
Rocker, Victoria, and Ivan would stand by as backup.
Saint divided the team. He ordered Doc, Whiskey, Shadow, and Taco to enter the tunnels with Rayven and find her informant, Amena.
Saint and the rest of the team planned to guard the perimeter and give them cover.
Two hours later, Shadow found Saint. “Tex checked on Rayven. She spent time in prison for killing her sister’s rapist. One day, a man visited her. The only person to visit in three years. The next day she got transferred to another prison. Then, she disappeared.”
“If it walks like the government, talks like it…” Saint frowned.
“Exactly. Tex assumes it’s a highly specialized team.
Rayven has excellent sharpshooting skills.
She might give Knight a run for his money,” Shadow said, watching Hollywood with Apollo.
“Tex says if we run into any trouble, to call him. He contacted Ghost’s team, and they’re close by if we need backup.
It seems we’re not the only ones with a stake in this. ”
“Let’s move into position. Ivan will handle the drop-off once we’re secure,” Saint said.
“What about Sparky?” Shadow asked.
“She’s confirmed everything Rayven told you about the villages,” Saint informed him. “Sparky has done her job. Now it’s time for us to do ours.”