Page 33 of The Lazarus Protocol

She twisted in the seat and saw them gathered at the back of the truck.

Her three—no, there were four now—rescuers. Looking at a tablet on the bed of the truck, all of them peering at the same thing. Too far away for her to see the screen.

Nix looked up and saw her watching him. He broke away from the others and came around to open the driver’s door. “Sorry, we had to take a detour.” He held out a bottle of water with the cap already off.

She took a few greedy sips. “What’s going on?”

“There’s been a change of plans. It’ll be a little longer before we get you on a plane back to safety.”

She lowered the bottle and glanced around. “Please tell me we’re not in Syria.”

“I’m not the guy who lies to you to spare your feelings.”

Great. “What happened?”

“Some friends of ours are in trouble.”

“And you weren’t there. You were rescuing me.”

A short nod was all he gave her to indicate she was right. He glanced aside. “Med kit!” Then back at her. “Show me the soles of your feet.”

Steph bent her knees and laid her legs along the bench seat.

He hissed out a breath. “I’ll give you something for the pain.”

“I don’t need meds. I just need a phone.”

He shook his head. “No can do right now. First priority is the mission.”

TWELVE

Undisclosed Location, Northern Syria

Two trucks with guys spilling out of the windows and crammed in the back—all of them carrying weapons—raced down the main drag of what probably used to be a town. Dust kicked up in clouds under the wide night sky, obscuring their passage. But the squeal of brakes was followed by shouts. Slamming doors and orders given in a language Ash didn’t speak.

“More of them?” Kai sat with his back to the wall, jiggling his left foot from side to side relentlessly. For hours.

Ash lowered down under the window and ignored Kai’s boot, shifting so his buddy didn’t kick him. “Yes, more reinforcements just arrived.”

Ash glanced around again at the crumbling structure they’d taken refuge in when the situation turned deadly. After yet another patrol passed by them, searching for where they’d gone, they had spotted a gunner on the roof of a building down the street. That’s when they realized Jay couldn’t land anywhere near here without getting shot out of the sky. Thankfully, they’d been able to make contact with the plane and told him to redirect to meet up with Adam and the others instead.

But then they’d been discovered, and had to navigate a mad dash to hide and not get shot.

Ash had seen enough out the window. “The first crew has been holding the perimeter since they spotted us.”

“I don’t like being pinned down,” Kai muttered.

“Does anyone?” Ash fired back, annoyed that Kai was annoyed, but also wondering what had the guy in this mood. “Shame we can’t call for air support, take them all out in a blaze of glory while we make a run for it.”

“Yeah. Shame.”

Ash rolled his eyes. “Adam said stealth, remember?”

“He said ‘any means necessary’ as well.” Kai shot him a glance. “I can’t believe he found the asset before we retrieved the drone.” The left foot quit jiggling, and the right one started up.

Ash said, “It’s not a competition.”

Kai made a pfft sound. “Says you.”