“I don’t want anything from you. But Priscilla Dumay does.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
“No movement in the hangar. Gulfstream still inside, engines off. No sign of anyone inside or outside,” the report from the ASF Agent in the team on the south side of the property crackled in Julian’s ear. Julian and Reggie remained still, eyes focused on the open door to the hangar, waiting for further updates. Two agents were snaking their way toward the back of the Irungu’s private hangar next to the greenhouse construction project.
Julian and Reggie had driven to the site from the west, parking the jeep behind the furthest greenhouse from the hangar, next to a series of irrigation ditches dug to provide much-needed water to the area. Satisfied that they were obscured from view, they’d been waiting for the other three ASF teams to arrive. Two showed up shortly after they had. One team was positioned along the south of the property behind the hangar while the other had headed around to the east side. The third team had yet to arrive.
“Found the Irungu security team. Three men dead, dumped on the southeast side halfway between the hangar and the security lookout tower. They were shot multiple times in the back with a high-powered assault rifle,” another agent reported.
Lifting the binoculars to his eyes, Julian leaned forward past the corner of one of the greenhouses and focused the lenses. He could barely make out the outline of tables and chairs lining the wall of the hangar, but no sign of any people inside. The sun was at an apex as noon approached. The roof of the hangar cast a looming, dark shadow across the interior of the structure.Trailing the binoculars along the front of the hangar, the edge of a bloody body came into view. Twisting the lenses to zoom in closer, Julian recognized the dead man bleeding out on the tarmac. He lowered the binoculars and turned to Reggie.
“Tubeec was stabbed. He’s dying over there,” Julian said, handing Reggie the binoculars.
“What? Are you sure?” Reggie asked.
“See for yourself,” Julian said. He ignored the pain roaring through his muscles and the sharp stabbing in his lungs with each breath he took. On the ride toward El Wak, Julian had availed himself of the medical supplies in Reggie’s jeep, wrapping his chest tightly to reduce the pressure from what the ASF had confirmed were a couple of cracked ribs.
Squinting into the distance, Julian could barely make out another body lying listless on the ground, not too far from Tubeec.
If Tubeec Hirad had gotten himself and his team killed, did that mean Hakeem had been successful in exacting his revenge? Had Sunny’s brother rescued Mena in the process? Was that why there was no activity in the hangar?
“Good riddance to one of Africa’s most wanted,” Reggie lowered the binoculars and handed them back to Julian. A smug smile of satisfaction spread across his face.
“We need to get into the hangar,” Julian said.
“Hold on. Team three is approaching in the next couple of minutes. When they arrive, we’ll join them and drive into the hangar. Just because Tubeec may be dead doesn’t mean there isn’t an ambush waiting inside,” Reggie warned.
Julian wished like hell he had a way to communicate to the TIDES team. Glaze and Hakeem had likely arrived at the hangar long before he had with Reggie and the other ASF agents, but there was no sign of them anywhere.
Pressing the button on the comms, Julian spoke, “Any sign of TIDES?”
Waiting for a response, Julian wasn’t surprised when two negatives were returned.
“Team three is here,” Reggie said, pointing behind him.
Julian turned to see a military vehicle, machine guns mounted on its roof, approaching slowly, the rust color blending in with the terrain of northeast Kenya.
Reggie turned and walked toward the vehicle as it approached, waving a hand in the air. Lowering the binoculars, Julian followed.
“What took you so long?” Reggie demanded as he approached the driver’s door.
“Picked up an extra passenger,” the agent replied. The back door swung open and Sunny Tate emerged, dressed in full tactical gear toting an AR-15.
“What are you doing here?” Reggie asked, walking over to Sunny.
“We don’t have much time. Taye got Enzo to a hospital in Wajir, he’s going to be fine. Hakeem and Glaze made their way to the military airstrip in El Wak and they are safe,” Sunny said, then turned to Julian. “But somebody else wants Mena. They let Glaze go, but tied Mena up and took her and put her on the plane.”
Julian thought Tubeec wanted Mena as his mistress, not because someone else wanted her.
“Do you know anyone who has a grudge against Mena or would want her kidnapped?” Sunny asked.
“No,” Julian said, grappling with this unexpected turn of events.
“Well, somebody wants her. We’re lucky that we got here in time before the Gulfstream took off, but who knows what they’re waiting on and how much time we have to get in there and rescue her,” Sunny explained.
“Did Hakeem and Glaze tell you how many men are with this other group? What are we up against?” Julian asked.
“They didn’t know how many were still in the hangar, but every rebel that came out of there was heavily armed and looked local, possibly trained by Tubeec or part of al-Harakat,” Sunny said.
