3. Lucas
LUCAS
Somewhere Near the Iranian Border
The desert came alive after midnight.
Not with people.
With shadows.
I lay prone on a rocky ridge, watching the warehouse compound through my night-vision scope. The green glow painted everything in ghostly shades while armed guards patrolled the outer fence.
Predictable was good.
Predictable got bad men killed.
A soft crunch of gravel announced someone’s approach.
Adam Stoker.
Commander of the Brave.
He settled beside me, his binoculars trained on the compound.
“What do you think?”
I didn’t look away from my scope.
“They’re nervous.”
“You can tell from here?”
“The patrol pattern has changed twice in the last hour.”
Adam watched them for another minute before nodding.
“I see it.”
“They’re expecting somebody.”
“Or they’re getting ready to move the prisoners.”
My jaw tightened.
“Either way…”
“We don’t have much time.”
A quiet voice came over the encrypted radio.
“Hawk in position.”
Another followed.
“Boone set.”
Then another.
“Russ ready.”
One by one, the rest of the Brave checked in until every operator was exactly where he needed to be.
Adam keyed his microphone.
“Radio silence unless necessary.”
A chorus of double-clicks answered.
No unnecessary chatter.
Just professionals.
Adam glanced toward me.
“You’ve worked this region longer than anyone.”
I nodded once.
“If this goes bad?” he asked.
“It’ll go bad fast.”
He smiled faintly.
“You’re a real ray of sunshine.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“I imagine you have.”
Silence settled between us.
Comfortable.
Neither of us needed to fill it.
I studied the compound again.
Something still bothered me.
A lone pickup rolled through the front gate.
Not military.
Dust-covered.
Civilian.
Two armed men climbed out, each taking one end of a small wooden crate. A third unlocked the warehouse door, and they carried it inside.
I frowned.
“Ammunition.”
Adam lowered his binoculars.
“You sure?”
“That crate was small enough for one man to carry, but it took two.”
“Heavy.”
“And compact.”
“Ammunition,” Adam agreed.
“They’re preparing for a fight.”
My instincts screamed louder.
No.
Not preparing.
Leaving.
I focused on the warehouse entrance.
The guards weren’t relaxed anymore. They kept looking toward the eastern road.
Waiting.
“They’re moving tonight.”
Adam didn’t ask how I knew.
He simply trusted me.
“When?”
I glanced at the moon.
“Within the hour.”
“You can feel it?”
“I can.”
He smiled.
“That’s why you’re here.”
I didn’t answer.
I wasn’t here because of experience.
I was here because innocent people needed someone willing to walk into hell.
Everything else was secondary.
A burst of static interrupted my thoughts.
“Movement inside,” Russ reported. “Thermal shows multiple heat signatures approaching the main floor.”
I shifted my scope.
I couldn’t see through the walls, but shadows moved past the broken windows.
Dozens of them.
“They’re gathering the prisoners.”
Adam’s expression hardened.
“That’s our clock.”
I checked my watch.
01:17.
Once those trucks rolled out, finding the hostages in the mountains would become nearly impossible.
Adam checked the helmet-camera feeds.
“Hawk.”
“Ready.”
“Boone.”
“Ready.”
“Russ.”
“Ready.”
Each answer came back calm.
Steady.
Confident.
Adam finally looked at me.
“You ready?”
I checked the magazine in my rifle and seated it again.
The metallic click sounded unnaturally loud in the stillness.
“I was ready yesterday.”
Adam grinned.
“I figured.”
He raised a closed fist.
Across the darkness, tiny infrared lights answered the signal.
The Brave started moving.
Like ghosts.
Silent.
Invisible.
Deadly.
I slipped through the rocks without making a sound, years of special operations training taking over.
Every breath was measured.
Every step deliberate.
The outer sentry never saw me coming.
One hand clamped over his mouth while my other arm locked around his throat. Seconds later, his body went limp.
I eased the unconscious guard to the ground.
No unnecessary killing.
Not unless there wasn’t another choice.
I looked toward the warehouse.
Less than a hundred yards away.
Behind those rusted steel walls, dozens of innocent people waited.
One of them was about to turn my entire world upside down.
I just didn’t know it yet.