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“Nope. We’ve got to move, he has a lead.”

Ryker watched his taciturn friend smile big. “Well, let’s go. And I’m driving.”

They were on the Diyarbakir Batman Highway when they got the call on their secure satellite phone from Gideon.

“Jase came through, or should I say Damla Akbas? You’re on the right track. Mehmet and Hamza might do their weapons deals in Mirzabey, but they do their drug deals in Bismil. She also has a contact name in Bismil, and I’m working to track him down so that I can give you a location.”

“Kostya and the others?” Linc asked as he maneuvered the car around another pothole.

“Kraken wasn’t at their house. The brother swears he knows nothing. He was scared to death that Kostya and his team would do something to his wife and kids, so Kostya’s sure that if he had known something, he would have told.”

“So Bismil it is,” Ryker said.

“Yep. Kostya, Landon and Nolan are headed that way too. They’re thirty minutes behind you.”

“Got it.”

“No, we don’t stand out,” Linc said as he drove past the same mosque for the second time. Theirs was the only vehicle that was this new, with tinted windows and that cost more than five thousand dollars.

“You’re worrying too much. The lieutenant and the others will be here soon, then there will be two of us, so we’ll blend in.”

“You do realize you’re not as funny as you think you are, right?”

Ryker pointed to an empty alley behind a crumbling building. “Pull in there. You’re right, driving around the neighborhood is stupid.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

Ryker looked down at his watch. The Princeton boys now had less than twenty hours. Which in some ways was a lot of time, but in others, it was nothing.

“Would you quit looking at your watch? I don’t need you to report on the doomsday clock.”

“I’m not,” Ryker said. “I’m trying to figure out how soon Jase can leave the meeting to take a piss.”

“Do you think Leila can amuse the guard so he doesn’t go into the bathroom with Jase?”

“Damn, Linc, you should have seen her last night. I wanted to puke when I saw what those Kraken motherfuckers had done, but she kept it together and soothed that woman and managed to get intel from her.”

“I wonder how old she is,” Linc said thoughtfully.

“She looks mid-twenties, but she acts like she’s seen it all. So she’s probably older.”

“I wonder why she’s living in Turkey with her grandparents. I mean, I can see being over here for an archeology degree, but geology? That would be better at an American university.”

Ryker shifted in his seat to get a better look at Linc. “That’s a whole hell of a lot of wondering, my friend. I wonder why you’re so interested in the Turkish beauty.”

“I think she’s impressive. You don’t meet too many impressive women like her out in the world. Someone who can work side-by-side with you, like Lark and Jada.”

Ryker thought about that. He thought about his mom and his sisters Carmen and Julie.

“What? You disagree?” Linc asked.

“No, you’re right. Lark and Jada and maybe Leila are in a different league. They’ll take up the torch and fight right along with you, but…”

“But what?”

“Nothing against any of them, I adore Lark and Jada. They’re perfect for Kostya and Gideon. But when I look at the women my brothers have married, and when I look at my mom and sisters, I know that I like a woman who I can take care of. A woman I can protect. That’s important to me.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Linc countered. “Lark and Jada both needed rescuing.”