Seated at the Situation Room conference table, Jack Ryan stared at the phone.
The call had been put on speaker for the benefit of the others in the room. Most of the National Security Council were present. Everyone was staring at him.
The President set down the handset without a word, a stunned look on his face.
“She said she would get right back to us,” Arnie van Damm said. Because somebody had to say something.
“That girl does have a willful streak,” Ryan responded.
“Wonder where she got that?” mused Mary Pat.
On another day, Ryan might have smiled.
All eyes went back to the monitor. There, with a slight time lag, they saw a mirror image of the map Katie and Kyle were using to guide the fight. The scene was troubling.
Task Force 99 was surrounded.
Tangier, Morocco
The comm net crackled to life. Katie’s voice was sharp and clear. “New rally point, Foxtrot. Area clear of threats now, but One, you’ve got multiple inbounds between you and rally point. Suggest you arc south, next left turn.”
“One copies,” Clark replied as he and Ding hustled Klaus toward the next corner.
During their downtime in the safe house, Clark had identified seven alternate points for exfiltration. Foxtrot was Nations Square, roughly a third of a mile west of their position.
He transmitted orders on the fly. “Three, proceed to Foxtrot and secure the area.”
“Three copies.”
“Zero, say ETA.”
Charlie replied, “I can reach Fox in six mikes.”
Clark made the turn, but before his group were halfway to the next street Katie came online again.
“One, I’ve got a new pop-up threat. Three individuals to the left of the next cross street. Suggest you divert.”
“Divert? Divert where?”
A pause, then, “Immediately to your left is a grocery store. There’s a service alley in back, so there must be a door.”
Clark saw the store, veered left, and went inside. Klaus looked frightened, but he was keeping pace and following instructions. The store was small, four aisles of worn tile and peeling paint. Shelves were stocked from floor to ceiling with prepackaged food and bins held produce and spices. The scents of saffron and cinnamon saturated the air. A young woman behind a distant counter tapped distractedly on her phone, oblivious to the five foreigners who’d just entered her store. Clark led the way down a central aisle that put them out of sight of the cashier. Thankfully there were no customers. Halfway to the back he glanced over his shoulder and saw two forms rush past on the street outside. Katie’s instinct had been a good one. They were in the green.
But for how long?
Clark easily found a passageway leading to the back. A tatteredcurtain served as a divider, and he hurried through to find a jumbled storeroom. A worn mop sat in a bucket and boxes of inventory were stacked haphazardly against the walls. As Katie had surmised, there was a door connecting to the back alley. It didn’t appear to be locked—he could actually see a gap of daylight where it was cracked open.
He was just beginning to feel better about the situation when Katie delivered more bad news.
“Not working. Threats have merged and are now doubling back. They know you ditched them. Three men heading back up the street and two are turning into the alley. If they can figure out the right store, you’re trapped. I also have a new pair closing in from the north—roughly five minutes out.”
“We’ve still got good numbers, boss,” said Hyori, reinforcing what Clark was thinking. “We can break out.”
“Probably. But no telling how many more are inbound. The priority is to get Klaus safe, and for that we need to change the dynamics.”
“Dynamics?”
Clark scoped out the room. He saw a handcart and empty crates. Then, near the door, he saw something that spurred an idea: a light green windbreaker.
