Ignited (Titanium Security Series) (11 page)

 “Our soldiers are ready to enforce Allah’s will. If it is His wish, you will hear of their brave sacrifice in the coming days. I’ll be in contact if we need anything more from you.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to ask what they had planned, but he thought better of it. The less he knew the better and if anything did happen up in Swat on Tuesday morning, he’d hear about it soon enough. “I understand. Peace be upon you.”

“And upon you. Be sure to dispose of the phone right away.”

“I will.” Hanging up, Youssef fought back the wave of guilt that assaulted him. The image of Khalia’s face was burned into his brain, and he didn’t like it.

He rose and took the phone across his apartment to the galley kitchen to dismantle it, wiped the dampness from his palms and chided himself for his cowardly attack of conscience. The woman had it coming. She and others like her had to be stopped. It wasn’t like he was responsible for what the Taliban did to her after tonight. It wasn’t like
he
was the one harming her. He was merely standing up for what he believed in. For what was right in the eyes of Allah.

Such a model Muslim you are
, his conscience sneered.

Annoyed, Youssef started a fresh pot of coffee and took the phone apart. Going from sunrise to sundown without any food or drink for an entire month was hard but a small and necessary sacrifice. He intended to enjoy another hot beverage while he could.

****

After a restless night without much sleep, Ray answered Khalia’s door for her when someone knocked at seven a.m. She glanced up from the desk where she and Ray had their laptops running and piles of papers spread between them to find Hunter standing between the jambs.

Her welcoming smile faded and her heart tripped when she saw his tight expression. Even though she’d only known him two days, she already knew that look meant trouble. “What’s wrong?”

Striding to the desk, he pulled a copy of the morning paper out of his back pocket, unfolded it and set it in front of her to see. “This isn’t exactly the low profile we’re looking for,” he said, keeping his tone even despite his obvious irritation.

Khalia peered down at the article. It showed a picture of her with the Education Minister, and the article was based on an interview he’d apparently given after she’d left yesterday. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes widened in denial before she looked back up at Hunter. “I didn’t authorize this! I didn’t know they were going to print it. Oh, shit.”

She slumped back in her chair, feeling sick to her stomach. “I had to attend the meeting, it’s part of my duties and it would’ve been rude for me to decline the invitation because they wanted to offer condolences about my father in person. But I was careful not to give any specific details about timelines or anything like that. ”

Not that it mattered, since it was mostly there in front of her in black and white anyway
.
She rubbed a hand over her forehead. Wouldn’t be too hard for a motivated radical to figure everything else out if they saw the article. Damn, why did things like this keep happening to her?

Hunter was silent for a beat, as though choosing his next words with care. Maybe he was afraid she would have some sort of meltdown under this additional strain, she thought in irritation.

“This changes things, especially after last night,” he said.

She ran a hand over her face and laid her head against the chair’s backrest with a weary sigh. Ray stood next to her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. She appreciated the gesture but it didn’t make her feel any better. “Yeah, okay. What do you need me to do?”

“Nothing.” When she blinked at him in surprise, Hunter continued. “We’ll go with the amended itinerary and you’ll still leave with the others early tomorrow morning. For today, you’ll stay here in the hotel. I think you could use the downtime anyhow.”

Yeah, she could, because she was beat. Hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours after that bombshell the State Department rep had dropped on her last night. It still horrified her, knowing her father had been set up that way. That his life and his work to improve girls’ lives here had been worth less than the ransom his insurance company had paid out to the kidnappers to save his life.

And then they’d butchered him on film anyway despite the money. Just to make a statement.

She swallowed a lump of emotion lodged in her throat. The situation with the Pakistani official and the owner of the contracting company was twisted beyond comprehension. The amount of corruption over here was staggering.

“You both good with that?” Hunter finished, setting his hands on his hips. He looked intimidating as hell like that, the tightly leashed power radiating from him like heat from a furnace. It simmered in those light brown eyes, along with a hint of heated interest as he searched her face.

When she and Ray both nodded, Hunter reached out one muscular arm to pick up the paper. “I’m briefing both teams in a few minutes. We’ll be going over details about tomorrow and I’ll bring them up to speed on everything else. I’ll be on my cell if I leave the hotel, but if either of you need to go anywhere today, call me and I’ll arrange an escort first.” He gave her a moment to absorb all that before lifting both brows. “Any questions?”

“Not about that.” She was still pissed as hell about the article. How far did this corruption extend, anyway? Were they trying to set her up for the Taliban now too? “Did you hear anything else from Tom this morning? About what the State Department said last night? He told me he’d look into it and see if he could find out more.” Because they’d told her jack other than they were following up on the investigation. Until she found out the real story, until she learned who was involved and those responsible were brought to justice, it would eat her alive.

Hunter slid his hands into his cargo pant pockets, his whole demeanor softening. She didn’t want his pity, but his concern felt nice. “Nothing further that I’ve heard, but he’ll be conferencing with the rest of us during the briefing. And if he heard anything, either you or I would be the first to know. Tom’s good that way. He’s got lots of connections to call on so he’ll be digging right now along with the State Department, don’t worry about that.”

Why shouldn’t she? She was already worrying about another thousand things anyway. What was one more? She forced herself to nod.

“Briefing’s about to start,” he said, assertive and self-assured. “I’ll check back in later.”

“Okay,” she answered dully.

He started for the door, waving at Ray to stay where he was. “I’ll let myself out.” His gaze cut to her again and she couldn’t help but respond to the kindness she saw there. “Try to get some rest if you can. I promise you we’re on top of everything. You’ve already come this far, right? You can make it through the rest.”

Touched by his words, she forced a small smile. “Thank you.” Her eyes followed him all the way to the door, and when it closed behind him and left her alone with Ray, she already felt less safe.

Ray lowered himself into the chair opposite hers. “You all right? I can leave so you get some more sleep. We can go over all this later.”

“No,” she said, straightening her spine and grabbing the list of staff members’ names. It was hard to focus when all she wanted to do was investigate further into her father’s murder. If the State Department had any idea who was behind it, they were keeping it to themselves for now. “I’d rather have something to do to distract myself for the time being.”

Hunter was right. She was going to see this through all the way, and do it right. Fuck the Taliban and whoever had helped them capture her father. She wasn’t leaving until the job was done. And once this school opening was behind her, she was going to do whatever she could to help nail the bastards involved with her father’s murder.

Back in his room down the hall from Khalia’s, Hunter found the others all gathered around the small circular table where Gage had laid out all the necessary maps and documents. The two remaining members of his team glanced up when he entered. Hunter hadn’t worked with either of them before and normally that would have made him edgy as hell, but so far he had only the highest respect for their conduct. Tom had promised to send Hunter his best, and he had.

Blake Ellis was an ex Marine Scout/Sniper. Standing around six feet tall, he had medium toned brown skin and a quiet lethality about him. His hazel eyes met Hunter’s, relaying a calm professionalism he appreciated. He’d worked with Scout/Snipers in the field before and had found them to be some of the best in the world. Ellis’s expertise allowed them much more operational latitude and flexibility, which Hunter considered invaluable.

Beside Ellis stood Sean Dunphy, his spotter in various missions since coming to work for Titanium. Black haired, black eyed and tattooed, the ex Force Recon Marine was hell on wheels with a computer, among other things. With nothing more than a laptop and an Internet link, he could do things Hunter could never dream of.  His technological skills were rivaled only by his field craft and shooting. Hunter looked forward to exploiting that entire skill set on the upcoming operation.

On the far side of the table stood the other team leader in charge of Ray’s protective detail, thirty-six year old Neil Braithwaite, a former Army captain. He straightened next to his three guys and nodded at Hunter. “Mornin’.”

“Morning,” he answered, and pulled out his phone to dial up Tom on speaker. “We’re all ready here,” he said when his boss picked up.

“Okay, go ahead,” Tom said.

“All right, then let’s get down to business.” Hunter looked around the table, meeting each man’s eyes. “We had a few developments overnight that need to be addressed. First off, Khalia got a call from a State Department official confirming that the owner of the illegitimate contracting company her father hired and an unknown Pakistani official were working with the TTP to capitalize on John Patterson’s capture and subsequent ransom.” Gage already knew all this, but the hard set of his jaw made it clear how disgusted he was about it. Hunter shared the sentiment. The whole Patterson debacle and subsequent riots had wound up costing Scottie’s life, and Hunter wasn’t going to get over that any time soon.

One of the men from the other team let out a low whistle. “For real?”

“For real,” Tom answered for Hunter, his voice carrying through the phone. “I’m checking with my sources and haven’t been able to uncover anything else yet. As far as we know there’s no new chatter yet about credible threats against Khalia, but that could change in light of the second development this morning. Hunt?”

All eyes turned to him once more. “On top of all that,” he began, “a local paper published an interview with the Minister of Education and printed Khalia’s picture along with certain details about why she’s here. The school’s grand opening was mentioned and we have to assume the people interested in targeting Khalia and Ray know where it is. Won’t take an advanced degree for them to figure out when Fair Start’s people are going to visit the school. So basically the element of surprise is gone. The Taliban are going to want to act on this if they can pull an operation together in time. Only thing in our favor right now is there’s been no chatter picked up about her or Ray yet.”

“Which means less than a handful of shit,” Ellis remarked dryly, and the others muttered in agreement.

“Exactly,” Hunter said with a nod. “Given these new developments, both Khalia and Ray are on lockdown until we leave for the valley. In the meantime, let’s make sure we eliminate any potential threats for tomorrow.” With that, he and Gage got busy teaching the others about the lay of the land around the school. Topography of the region and location. Blueprints of the building itself. Entry and exit points. Layout. Staff. Emergency evacuation plans. Counter sniper positions.

“Ellis, this is your and Dunphy’s responsibility,” he continued, tapping a spot on the topo map he’d dragged onto the cluttered table top. “Neil, members of your team will set up positions here.” He indicated another point he and Gage had marked the night before.

The other team leader nodded, rubbing the side of his jaw. “What about this trail leading off to the northeast?” He indicated a path on the satellite image beside the map.