Like a ghost, Jack appeared in front of them, calling a halt. Finn, Clint, and Dare, who had only been a few yards behind Drake, and Mason gathered around Jack.
“We have company,” he said in a subvocal whisper. “Five armed men are asleep against the trees on this side of the airstrip. I’m assuming they’re the guards.”
Mason nodded. “Time to spread out and see what we’ve got. Do a headset check,” he whispered.
After that was done, they parted ways.
Drake took the far north end of the airfield. It had to be the end where the plane would land because there was plenty of room to turn around. He found just one guard. This guy was actually awake. He reported in to the rest of the SEAL team. When Mason had them gather back at the rendezvous point, they had counted sixteen Boko Haram soldiers, and according to Dare there were three beat-to-shit jeeps on the far side of the field.
“The leader was with one of the jeeps. He was speaking in French to two other men with him, but was speaking Arabic over the radio.”
“What was he saying?” Mason asked.
“He was apologizing to whoever was on the radio. Apparently, it was his brother who overran the orphanage and leadership is pissed.”
“Anything about the weapons shipment?”
“Nothing.”
“Clint, you need to get ahold of Dex, and find out what their team found at Ekong.”
Clint nodded.
They hunkered down, finding a good spot to hide, and waited for an incoming report from Black Dawn. It took two hours, but finally it came in.
“They have nine guards on their airstrip. They also have a fuel truck. Sounds legit,” Clint reported.
“Six of one, half dozen of another,” Drake said. There was no way to call which airfield was going to be used to unload the weapons. They would both have to be on alert. According to Sheila, the delivery was going to go down in two days. Drake was itching to search for the missing girls, but Clint had already done the calcs and the Amoto Orphanage was sixty clicks from where they were. What were the chances that the forty-five girls would have travelled this way? Still, he knew they would be keeping an eye out.
“I HATE THE RAIN. I hate the rain. I hate the fucking rain.”
Drake looked at Clint, and watched as water dripped off the end of his nose. If anybody else bitched as much about the rain, he would have throat punched him, but Clint Archer had every right to complain. Drake vividly remembered the grueling five days he’d carried Lydia Hildalgo through the rainy jungle in Mexico. He wouldn’t accept anyone else’s help, step after step, mile after mile, he carried her like she was a gift from God.
Drake would never admit this to anyone, not even to Karen, but he had been sure that Lydia was going to die. Finn had done everything medically possible to save her, but Drake believed it was Clint’s will that had kept her alive.
Yep, no wonder Clint hated the rain.
“It’ll let up soon,” Drake assured his friend.
Clint peered over at Drake. “I’m out of my mind. I’m so into myself, I didn’t even think about you. How are you coping?”
Drake pretended not to understand. “I like the rain. Fuck, this is nothing compared to a Tennessee rainstorm.”
“Cut the shit, Avery. I’m talking about being away from your son. Hell, I can’t believe I’m even saying that. I would have thought you would have been the last one of us with a kid.”
“What do you mean by that? I’m the perfect guy to be a father.”
Clint snorted so hard, that water sprayed out of his nose.
“I resent that,” Drake said. “I’m the oldest brother of six girls.”
“You’ve been an insensitive jackass most of the time I’ve known you,” Clint countered.
“Doesn’t mean I wasn’t right ninety-nine percent of the time, that’s why I’m second-in-command. Which proves I’m perfect father material.”
“I’m wrong, you’re not an insensitive jackass, you’re a megalomaniac. I feel sorry for young Andrew. Thank God Mason is his namesake, he has a fighting chance.”
Drake grinned and so did Clint. Drake was happy his friend was no longer thinking about the rain and Lydia’s near-death experience.
“Did I hear y’all talking about you naming Andrew after Mason and not me?” Jack asked.
“How the hell could you hear us?” Clint asked suspiciously.
Drake wondered the same damn thing. What with the rain and the two of them whispering, they shouldn’t have been overheard.
“My stepdad always said I could hear a deer fart in the woods when we went out hunting,” Jack said.
Drake wasn’t laughing. They shouldn’t have been heard. He gave Jack a hard look.
Dare duckwalked over in the mud. Even in the dark, Drake could see he was grinning. What the fuck?
“Jack, quit messing with them. Drake’s getting pissed. Next thing you know, he’ll be throwing a punch.” Dare turned to him and Clint. “Hey, Bonehead, your mic was on. For the record, Clint’s right, you have an uncanny ability to insert your foot in your mouth at the most inopportune moments.”
Drake switched off his microphone, and turned on Dare. “That’s bullshit, I just have the balls to say the things to your women that you won’t man up and say. I call them on their shit.”
“Yeah, you did such a great job that Rylie went off the grid for months before I could find her again,” Dare said heatedly.
Drake winced. He still regretted that one.
“None of that matters anymore,” Jack said.
“What do you mean?” Clint said. “I have my own story to tell, he wasn’t a peach with Lydia either.”
Jack chuckled. “He’s a fallen man. As a matter of fact, he’s fallen further than the rest of us. He has Karen, and that little kindergarten teacher is schooling him.”
Every man surrounding Drake broke into a wide grin. He flipped them all off. That made their grins even larger.
“Okay, enough chit chat, time for another check of the airstrip, we need to make sure nothing’s changed. Tomorrow morning is when the shipment is supposed to fly in,” Drake said to his men. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mason give a nod. Damn, if anybody could hear him without his mic on, it would be his lieutenant. The man was spooky.
Finn broke away from Mason and left as well. Then Drake went to go talk to his leader.
“They’re going to be coming tomorrow morning,” Mason said.
“You sound sure.”
“I have a feeling.”
It was foolish to discount Mason’s feelings. “When the team gets back, we’ll huddle up and strategize.”
Mase nodded. “You have a plan, don’t you?” Drake asked.
“Mostly. Like Captain Hale said, it’s going to have to be fluid. They won’t land unless they see the Haram waiting for them, so we can’t take them out ahead of time.”
Drake agreed.
“The rain would definitely be to our advantage,” Mason mused.
“Damn right. So are Jack and Finn. Put them in some trees and they could take out almost everybody before they knew what hit them. I’ll go check out the North side of the airstrip again and report back.”
“Good.”
Drake left Mason, then slowly and quietly made his way through the wet jungle. Near the edge of the airstrip the vegetation was cut back. He didn’t see his guard sitting against his tree. Maybe he was sick of getting his ass wet and was up and walking around. With his night vision goggles he could see clearly, and found no sign of the guard. He did see the three guards that Clint normally reported on. Drake continued to look.
It was the coppery smell that warned him. Even with the rain and the monkey shit, the smell of blood was distinctive when you were about to step in it. He looked down and saw not one, but two bodies. He recognized his guard. The two men had been eviscerated. Cut open stem to stern. Somebody was making a point.
He made his way back to Mason. He was the last man there.
&n
bsp; “Report,” Mason said curtly.
“My guy, and another had been killed. Butchered. My guess is that somebody was trying to show the others that this could happen to them if they made him unhappy.”
“Finn ran into the same thing.”
“So how many are we down to?” Drake asked.
“Eleven.”
“Our odds just got better,” Drake said.
“Roger that.”
“Clint, find out if Black Dawn is running into the same thing.” Clint nodded and went over to his backpack. They waited in silence for him to come back.
“Nope, everything is status quo on their end.”
“We’ve got a wildcard here, instead of two on watch, I want three, while the other three sleep, then we’ll trade off,” Mason ordered.
Everyone nodded.
“Did you scope out the trees you want to shoot from?” he asked Finn and Jack, the two best sharpshooters in the team. Both men nodded. They had coordinated where they would be shooting from for maximum coverage of the airstrip.
“I don’t want anyone in close range unless we need to. But God knows what kind of weapons they’ll have on the plane that they can deploy, so we’ll need to be ready to stop them.”
“On it,” Drake said.
“Okay, get some rest. I’ll take first watch with Clint and Dare,” Mason said.
They nodded.
Chapter Six
EVERYBODY’S INSTINCTS had been right, the plane was coming into this airfield. It was the smaller Antanov cargo plane. When the plane shuddered to a stop, members of Boko Haram swarmed out of their hiding spots, rifles raised over their heads, and shouting in triumph. Two of the three jeeps were driven onto the make-shift runway. Soon the only thing heard was the sounds of the jungle and the propellers of the plane winding down.
“We’ve got a problem,” Drake heard Dare’s voice over the headset. “I’m close enough to the leader’s jeep that I can hear him. He’s on the radio, and he’s expecting a truck. We’ve got more company coming.”
“Stay in positions,” Mason said. “Dare continue to report. Jack, you’re on that side of the airstrip, let us know if you can see anything from your position in that tree.”
“Roger.”
Drake watched as the rear cargo door opened revealing two blond men holding AK-47s directed at the terrorists. He wasn’t all that surprised until a third man holding an M-16 appeared. In this part of the world, AK-47s were the gun of choice by everyone but Americans.
“Are you seeing this?” Finn asked.
“Yep,” Jack drawled. “Seems like we got us a good ole American boy.”
More Boko Haram came out of the jungle and up to the plane. One large man was holding an AK-47 as well, and he shot into the sky. It didn’t have any effect on the three men standing on the gangway of the plane. He ran up to the plane and screamed at the three white men. The man with the M-16 shot him in the head.
“Dare, report,” Mason commanded.
“The leader was watching. He doesn’t seem all that upset that his guy bought it. Hold on, he’s calling out on the radio. He’s arranging a meet for tonight. Some name I can’t pronounce. Let’s hope it’s with the girls.” It seemed like forever that Drake stood there behind his tree in the rain watching the standoff. Finally, Dare spoke again. “The truck should be here any minute. The leader’s going to go out to the plane.”
“About fucking time,” Drake muttered. Slowly the jeep made its way over the muddy ground, and then the leader deliberately rolled the wheels of the vehicle over the dead man and came to a halt in front of the open cargo bay. He called out, his English had a definite French accent.
“Who is Armstrong?”
“Who’s asking?” One of the two blond men with the AK-47s shouted.
“I am Samuel Yemisi. I lead the Boko Haram.”
The man with the M-16 shouted with laughter. Not a good move. Mounted to the top of the jeep was a machine gun. There was a big guy, who looked pretty fucking grumpy, manning the gun. “Don’t give me that shit,” the same man continued. “You’re nothing but a sect leader.”
“You’re surrounded. I won’t hesitate to have you killed,” Yemisi yelled. “Then I will take the weapons and I won’t have to pay you.”
“This plane is rigged to blow. This isn’t our first rodeo,” the American said with a shrug. “That’s our insurance policy.”
“Insurance policy?”
“This plane is set with explosives, I press the trigger on my belt, the plane blows. It takes out everything in a quarter mile radius. So you better pay or we all die.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Yemisi said.
“Try me.”
“I don’t think he’s kidding, it’s what I would do,” Finn said.
“He’s not kidding,” Mason said grimly. “It’s a Decault Group tactic. Neither you or Drake were with us on that mission. If Clint hadn’t acted so quickly a couple of months ago, we wouldn’t be here to tell the story.”
“Was this Costa Rica?” Drake asked.
“Yep,” Clint said. “You guys have been missing out on all the fun shit.”
“Jack or Finn, do you think you could take him out before he hits the trigger?”
“Nope, not from this angle.” Jack said.
“If he would come forward another step, I’ve got him,” Finn assured the team.
“So that stops the weapons deal, but how do we find the girls?” Dare asked.
There was silence on the radio. That was one of the things Drake appreciated the most about his team. It wasn’t that they were waiting for Mason to come up with the answer, they were waiting for anyone to come up with a plan.
“It was Yemisi’s brother who had them?” Clint said.
“Yep,” Dare confirmed.
“Then we have to let him get away.” Drake could hear the excitement in Clint’s voice. He was on a roll.
“On foot,” Drake quickly said. “I’m sure as hell not going to try to keep up with a jeep.”
“Remember, our real job is to stop this weapons exchange,” Mason reminded them.
“It’ll be nice to take out another one of Decault’s operations,” Dare put in. “They’re a scourge.”
“Kills me that they have an American with them,” Jack said.
“According to some sources, this is an American operation, not European,” Mason told them.
Drake knew they were all killing time, watching the stand-off out on the airfield. There wasn’t a goddamn thing they could do but see what would happen. Yemisi wanted the weapons, the men on the plane didn’t want to kill themselves, and Midnight Delta wanted the shot. Yep, nothing to do but chat and wait.
“So, you never told me, how’s life as a father?” Clint asked again.
Well this was getting ridiculous, Drake thought. Chatting about who was behind the gun running was one thing.
“Clint, why haven’t you and Lydia set a date?” Drake asked.
“Well that concludes the get-to-know-you part of our conversation,” Jack said with an uneasy laugh.
“What are you talking about, I want to know, too,” Dare said.
“Quiet,” Finn commanded. “Yemisi is saying something. Can any of you on the ground hear him?”
“I got him,” Dare said. “He’s saying that as soon as the weapons are loaded, he’ll make the transfer to their account. M-16 boy is saying half now. The rest when the weapons are loaded.”
“You’ve got your orders. No shots taken until Finn takes out the American. Then I want everyone else taken out but Yemisi, and I want the tires on the jeeps useless. Are we set?” Mason asked.
Everyone said yes. They waited. Yemisi waved his men to start the unloading process, and the man holding the M-16 stepped forward and to the right as he waved them through. Blood and bone sprayed out as Finn took a head shot. Bullets rang out, only slightly muffled by the rain.
Drake, took aim. Again, and again. Until he saw that there was not another man st
anding.
“Report!” Mason demanded.
“Fine,” Dare said. “But I’m on the move. Yemisi took off like a bat out of hell.”
“Good,” Clint’s voice was clear as a bell.
“Fine,” Jack drawled.
“I’m good,” Finn said.
“Good,” Drake reported.
“The pilot?” Clint asked.
“He and the co-pilot were in my line of sight. I got them,” Jack said.
“I want that plane and weapons destroyed. Jack, you and Drake follow Dare. We’ll catch up.”
“Roger that.”
YEMISI MIGHT HAVE STARTED out like a bat out of hell, but he sure slowed down fast. Turned out that besides the radio in the jeep the man had a satellite phone. Dare overheard him making a call to his brother.
“His brother said he didn’t have anyone to send for him. He was stuck on his own. Sounded like a power play. Now that Yemisi lost his men and the weapons, he’s low man on the totem pole.”
“Did he say how far it was to meet up with him?”
“About four days hike, if he was in good shape,”
Drake let out a low laugh. Dare’s eyes glittered with laughter in the dark. “Like I said, typical brother bullshit. Kind of like the stuff you were slinging Clint’s way.”
“I wasn’t making him schlep through the jungle for four days.”
All hint of laughter left Dare’s eyes. “Yeah, well, he was promising him a reward when he got there.” Dare’s voice dripped with despair. “We’ve got to get those girls out of there.”
Bile rose in Drake’s throat. He looked at Jack who stared off into the distance, his face a mask of thunder.
“Anyway, he’s going to sleep for the night. So the others have time to catch up,” Dare said.
Jack finally looked over at them. “And another thing that’s makin’ me sick is that it’s Americans supplying the Boko Haram with weapons.”
Drake took his meaning. He knew a little bit of Jack’s wife’s story, and these young orphan’s plight had to be hitting him especially hard. No wonder he was focusing on the weapons.
“Tell me about the Decault Group,” Drake prompted. “What happened in Costa Rica?”
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