Julian leaned over the monitors, scanning the work Glaze had performed to trace the video call. A sense of dread spread through his limbs as he recognized the combination of patterns.
In an instant, he was back in the small room of base camp in Central Sulawesi, hunting down El Mago, tracing the location of the shadow facilitator through communications he’d intercepted. The pattern had been there, but he’d interpreted it wrong. It wasn’t until he returned to the camp to find his SEAL Team slaughtered that he realized the scripts had concealed El Mago’s men retracing the communications back to him.
“A concealer script,” Julian whispered. “ASF didn’t recognize that Tubeec was leading them in the opposite direction of where he was actually located.”
“Bingo,” Glaze said.
Julian asked, “How far is Tarbaj from here?”
“Northeast Kenya. We could get to Wajir County in ninety minutes, maybe less, but it’s an hour or so drive to Tarbaj,” Sunny said.
“What’s the plan?” Hakeem asked, grabbing one of the bullet-proof vests.
Zale came over with a tablet, placing it on the table between them. “Here’s a satellite image of the CSL. Looks like three guards on the perimeter of the four or five room structure. No way of knowing how many of Tubeec’s men are on the inside.”
“I need two men to go in with me and an explosive expert to create a diversion. That’ll provide the cover we need get inside while Sunny operates the drone to be our eyes and ears overhead,” Julian said to Sunny.
“I’m in,” Enzo said.
“Me too,” Hakeem added.
“Not you,” Sunny said, snatching the infrared goggles from Hakeem’s hand. “You have to stay behind and run the operations from here.”
“You’re joking,” Hakeem said, his voice laced with anger.
“You wanted to be my number two in command. When I’m not here, you have to be,” Sunny said.
“Then get Taye to fly us out to Wajir, and you stay behind,” Hakeem insisted.
“Don’t argue with me. You’re staying here.” Sunny turned to Julian. “Glaze will go with you and Enzo. I already have two explosive experts who can be ready to go in thirty minutes.”
“That will put us in Wajir in about three hours after we pick up the rest of the equipment from Paul DeFloria,” Enzo said.
A spike of adrenaline flooded Julian’s body. In three hours, he would be with Mena again. He needed her to stay strong and brave a little while longer. He’d have her home and in his arms where she belonged by sunrise.
Chapter Thirty
Tubeec Hirad stood in the doorway, a menacing presence as he spoke a tribal language to one of the gunmen. Mena pressed her head against the wall, sucking in a deep breath as her heart pounded against her rib cage.
Her abduction had been on purpose.
Did you think you were just an innocent victim, swept up in the kidnapping of the flower heiress?
You were the primary target.
What the hell had happened to her life? How had she gotten caught up with horrible criminals, targeted for a reason she didn’t know? How would she ever make it out of this situation alive?
She might never see her parents again, or her brothers or Regina and Omar. She might never see Julian again. Never get to tell the people she loved so dearly how much they meant to her and how sorry she was for not being a better daughter and friend to them when she could have been. She’d never get to tell Julian how much joy loving him had brought into her life.
Clutching her hands together, Mena prayed for a way out. She didn’t want her life to end like this. She didn’t want her last moments to be alone in a dirty, rundown building with a group of gunmen ready to blow her brains out at the whim of their crazed leader.
Tubeec continued to speak to the gunman, Rahim. The only one who’d shown her any semblance of kindness earlier. Tubeec spoke quickly as Rahim nodded.
After several more minutes of discussion, Tubeec exited the room, disappearing down the hallway.
Rahim stepped inside, staring at her with cold, hard eyes. The gentleness and kindness she’d seen before were gone. The man standing before her was the dutiful soldier of Tubeec Hirad, ready to carry out the wishes of his leader with swift efficiency and little regard to her feelings.
Brandishing a large knife, he came closer to her.
