CHAPTER 87
“Come on, man—we’re in a hurry!” I yelled at the pilot, knowing that every second we weren’t attacking, they were inflicting more pain on Meg.
I couldn’t let my mind go there. All I knew was that people were going to die violently in the very near future.
Oliver and I were out of our seats and standing at the galley door.
“I’m sorry, sir, but I have to hold here ’til this other plane gets around us. He’s almost done.”
A minute later we were parked at the base ops and sprinting to the parking lot.
I told Oliver to find us a ride while I ducked into the shadows to call the rest of the team.
Stu answered on the first ring and I gave him the shitty news about Meg’s abduction.
We have a THUNDER mission, I told him, and I need your team to meet us on the target.
The plan was as simple as we could make it on the fly, I explained: no intel, almost no situational awareness—nothing at all but guesswork.
I could feel his anger rising. “Fuck, Nat—we’re still about fifteen minutes out.”
“That’s okay, Stu. We just got here. Oliver is getting us a ride—we’ll be on the north side of the gate along the road.
Si is staying put at his place in case Jimmy and Rudy show up.
You and JP will go with Oliver. Wolf will be with me, and we will launch as soon as you get here.
We are all cleared hot. Want to keep it as quiet as we can, but understand that I need someone alive. ”
“Roger that, Nat. We will leave one.” He hung up just as Oliver rolled up to my position in our new assault vehicle.
“Nice ride,” I said, as I closed the door to the 4Runner.
“It was either this or the Bentley.”
“I’d have gone with the Bentley, but that’s just me.” I screwed the suppressor on my Sig as Oliver put the SUV in gear.
“Hey, man,” he fired back, “have you ever seen desperadoes in a $350,000 car? I haven’t. We’re fucking desperadoes, and this is what we are driving to do our desperado shit.”
Oliver was as calm and casual going to a gunfight as he would be heading to a Waffle House for midnight chow. It helped. We’d done this a thousand times, but never in either of our careers had we planned a rescue mission for one of our own. And of course it being Meg was a kick in the nuts.
Oliver must have sensed my emotion, because he told me to cool it.
Yes, Sensei.
We reviewed the plan. Wolf and I would breach the Egorovs’ door and flow into the first floor. Oliver and his team would pass through and clear the upstairs. We’d meet in the garage. Too easy—but we’d have to pray we had enough ammo to get it all done.