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“You knew already?”
Ava nodded. “Not for very long, though. Tabon needed my help with Alegria. Her recovery is slow, and with Dutch deploying, she needs support from somewhere—somebody—else. He believes she’ll resist.”
“What kind of help?”
“Dutch has been forcing her to do her physical therapy, but he’s worried that without his insistence, she’ll give up.”
“Pen is a physicians’ assistant.”
Ava nodded. “You’re catching on.”
“It wasn’t a coincidence that they showed up.”
“No, but helping Alegria wasn’t the original intent.”
“What was?”
“Tabon asked them to come because he thought it might help cheer you up.”
Aine wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Should she be pissed at him or grateful? “Did you know?”
Ava shook her head. “No clue. I was as surprised as you were.”
“Razor is a good man.”
“The best,” agreed Ava. “So is Striker.”
“What can I do to help with Alegria?”
“What you always do, Aine. Be her friend and let her know you empathize in a way no one else can right now.”
—:—
Striker stayed low, doing his best to see whether the pirates were preparing to move, and if so, how many of them would leave the encampment. He didn’t see signs of mobilization, though, which puzzled him.
The biggest issue he had right now was that Mantis had taken their only vehicle. If the Somalis did move, he’d have to steal one of theirs in order to follow them.
He prayed his teammate had been successful in contacting Doc or someone else from K19 to give them the Somalians’ coordinates. If the kidnappers moved, he’d have to as well. He wouldn’t be able to wait for Mantis to return.
Chapter 13
Mantis, Alegria, and Dutch
For the last three weeks, Dutch’s relationship with Alegria had been strained to the point of snapping. They hardly spoke except to argue, and the limitations she had to accept as part of her recovery made her beyond irritable.
Dutch knew that wasn’t the only thing contributing to her overall cantankerous mood; no one had heard from Mantis in over a week. Neither she nor Dutch had heard from him since he walked out of Razor’s house on Thanksgiving.
“We’re cleared to go in,” Doc said when Dutch answered his call.
‘‘I want to be the lead.”
“Done.”
“With Alegria grounded, Onyx is our only option to fly your team to Africa. I’ll have to contract a co-pilot.”
“Let me talk to him and see if he has anyone he’d recommend,” Dutch offered.
“I’d appreciate it.”
