Titanium Security Series 4 - Extinguished (17 page)

Alex pulled on a pair of black Nomex gloves and looked at Blake and her. “You guys clear on everything?”

“Yeah, we’re good,” Blake answered on their behalf, sounding totally calm and sure in the face of what they had to do.

“Jordyn, what about you?” Alex pressed. Though he couldn’t see her facial expression very well even with the NVGs, she knew he was an expert at reading body language and tone. She did her best to hide her nervousness. “You good to go?”

“Yes.” It came out decisive at least. She wasn’t worried about doing her job properly. She’d spent enough time using a spotter scope to be damn good at locating targets and estimating range, windage and elevation. She’d also spent enough time on the range with Blake over the years to know that they worked well together, but she was glad to know that he and the others trusted and respected her skills enough to include her on such an important op.

They’d just never worked together in a combat situation where lives were at stake before.

Apparently satisfied by her answer, Alex nodded. “You got enough fuel to get you to the next observation point?”

“Should,” Blake answered in his typical efficient way.

“Good.” Alex unfolded a topo map and went over the routes and positions one last time. “We’ll head northeast from here to our target. Once there, Evers and I’ll take the southeast edge of the village. Hunter and Gage the northwest, and you two,” he glanced toward her and Blake, “will come around and take a position due south. Report in if you see anything.”

He tucked the refolded map into one of the many pockets in the webbing of his body armor. “All we need is one clear piece of intel putting Sand Viper there. We get in close enough to verify while Blake and Jordyn provide surveillance and overwatch. Radio silence from here on out, use your call signs only. Once we locate Sand Viper, I call in the big guns. Understood?”

Big guns.
The Black Ops team he had on standby for this operation. Everyone answered in the affirmative.

“Any questions?” When no one said anything, Alex nodded decisively. “All right, let’s move out.”

The others melted back into the concealment of the brush as she and Blake started up their bikes and headed out. The night air held a chilly bite. The flow of cold air over her as they rode made her grateful for the gloves and all the layers she had on.

They rode for another forty minutes to circle the valley and come in on the southern slope. The rugged terrain slowed their progress before Blake finally stopped again near a cluster of bushes beneath the brow of a hill. “We’ll hide them here,” he told her, his voice a whisper that barely carried to her in the crisp mountain air.

When they’d concealed the bikes, she felt even more exposed as she hefted her ruck and set out on foot after Blake. With the weight of her spotter scope and additional sniper rifle in there on top of her other supplies, her shoulders and back were aching within twenty minutes.

Blake carried extra water, batteries and ammo in his ruck, a far heavier load than hers, yet he moved with a stealth she’d never been able to match, no matter how much she practiced. Even though he outweighed her by a good sixty pounds of muscle, he was still much quieter on his feet. His boots barely made a sound as he trekked to the rise of the hill and dropped down on one knee to scan for danger, rifle at the ready.

She followed suit and waited for his tap on her shoulder to signal all clear before rising and trudging north. She wasn’t sure how long they walked but the ache in her shoulders had become a screaming protest by the time they reached their objective for the night. It had to be close to oh-three-hundred. Heading into the witching hour, the time when enemy attention would be at its lowest.

“That looks like a good spot to stop,” he whispered, pointing. She followed his outstretched finger to a natural outcropping cut into the hillside. It was big enough for them both to fit beneath, and deep enough to provide cover and concealment should anyone stumble across their position. Nodding, she headed over to check it out while he stood watch.

After ensuring there were no snakes or scorpions bunking in there already, she set her rifle down and dumped off her pack, biting her lip against a groan of mingled pain and relief. Blake came in a few minutes later as she was setting up her bedroll. He set his ruck against the rough rock wall and slung his rifle across his back, then reached for her and put his warm, strong hands on her stiff shoulders.

“Make sure you drink some water,” he reminded her as he squeezed and rubbed at her sore muscles, working around the straps of her tactical vest. “Take a couple pain relievers too. Been a while since you were on a ruck march, I bet. Stretch out as much as you can before you cool down too much.”

She felt like rolling her eyes and saying,
Yes, Dad
. Though if Senior could see her now he’d either be curious to see how she held up, or flat-out horrified at the whole situation. Could go either way, she never knew with her dad.

“Yeah, it’s been a long time,” she whispered, wincing as he hit a particularly tender spot on the top of her shoulders where the straps had dug in. God, his touch felt good.

Blake stepped closer, increased the pressure of his hands. She was already keyed up on nerves and anxiety. She could feel his heat against the backs of her legs, tempting her to throw caution aside and turn around to kiss him until there was nothing left but the blinding need he created in her.

He continued to work around the vest’s straps on her shoulders with firm, methodical strokes, though she knew his gaze was constantly trained outward, scanning for any hint of danger. It reminded her that they weren’t just hunting—they were being hunted in turn.

Having spent her two tours here in the Corps within the relatively safe confines of a fortified base in Kandahar, this was a brand new and somewhat unsettling experience for her. Whatever happened, she wouldn’t let Blake or the others down. The thought of failing them in any way scared her almost as much as losing another of their team members.

“What about you?” she asked, struggling to ignore how his touch sparked the banked embers that glowed deep in her belly. Her nipples tightened against her bra, which was annoying and ridiculous and very uncomfortable with her vest on. There wouldn’t be a repeat of what had happened in that loadout room any time soon, no matter how much she wished otherwise. Out here they had to be on constant alert and watch out for each other. Getting distracted could get them both killed. But the man was damn tempting.

“I’m fine,” he answered, then surprised her by stopping the rubdown to wrap his arms around her waist from behind. He slipped his hands beneath the front of her vest. Her stomach muscles contracted beneath those thick forearms, banded like warm steel across her midsection. “Are you?” He whispered it against the nape of her neck, stirring the sensitive nerves there.

She made herself nod, desperately trying not to notice the heavy throb in her breasts and between her legs. She couldn’t believe her body would still react to him this way under these circumstances. “I’ll be fine. I won’t let you down.”

His arms tightened more, bringing her flush up against his front. She could feel the pressure of him, a wall of solid muscle behind her, a bulwark of safety and security between her and the rest of the world. Best of all, he loved her. “I know you won’t. We’re a good team. Never thought we’d be out here together, but I’m glad you’re gonna act as my spotter.”

He was? She twisted her head around to see him in the near darkness. With her NVGs pushed up on her helmet mount, she could only make out the shape of his face. “Really?”

“Yeah, really. And you know I’ll look out for you.”

She nodded. “I’m glad I’m with you too. You make me feel safe.” Safer than any of the other team members would have. Blake’s calm, confident nature had always drawn her.

A soft growl answered her. He pressed his lips to the back of her neck in a possessive kiss. “Good.” His tone was pure, satisfied alpha male and it made her smile. Though she knew they couldn’t take things further, she was still disappointed when he released her and stepped away. “Go ahead and sleep. I’ll take first watch.”

Sleep? Ha! “You sure?”

“I’m sure. Get it while you can. Things could move fast from here on out. Don’t know when we’ll get the chance to crash like this again.”

The jetlag, the stress of everything and worry about the mission should have left her exhausted but she was still too much aware of the danger around them to think she’d just be able to hit her bedroll and crash. Still, she did as Blake said, keeping her boots on and her M4 within easy reach at her head as she lay down on her bedroll, using her ruck as a pillow.

After taking some water and a couple ibuprofen tablets she stretched out on her back and closed her eyes. The faint chirp of a few insects braving the cold sounded in the vicinity. Blake had disappeared from the shelter, no doubt having chosen a concealed position along the ridge to keep watch from.

Strangely, despite her lingering anxiety and the cold night air, fatigue pulled at her. It weighed her limbs and muddled her thoughts, sucking her down into sleep’s beckoning arms. Still aware on some subconscious level that Blake was standing guard and wouldn’t let anything happen to her, Jordyn exhaled, let the tension go and slid headlong into oblivion.

She woke sometime later to a hand on her shoulder. Jerking up onto an elbow, she peered blearily up at Blake’s shadowy face. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve gotta get moving,” he whispered back. “Alex reported seeing Hassani’s right hand man at the village a few minutes ago.”

She sat up and rubbed at her eyes, feeling suddenly wide awake. Hassani had to be close then. “What time is it?”

“Almost oh-four-hundred.”

At that she dropped her hands and stared up at him. “Why didn’t you wake me to take over the watch?” They either had to get moving, or crawl into a hide someplace.

He shrugged. “I knew you needed the sleep. It’s all good. Come on, let’s move now.”

She felt terrible that Blake hadn’t gotten any sleep, though it didn’t surprise her that he’d gone without for her sake. Even before they’d admitted their feelings for each other he’d been like that with her, watching over her and giving her extra rest when they were out on a hunting trip with her brother and father.

After packing away her stuff and grabbing a protein bar to munch on, she slung on her rifle, checked her earpiece and followed him out of the enclosure. It was still dark out but a slight lightening over the eastern horizon told her dawn was coming fast. They had to be in position and in the next hide before the sun came up to avoid enemy detection.

“Just over a klick,” Blake whispered to her over his shoulder. “We’ll get a visual on the village, get set up then wait for word from the others.”

“Okay.” She followed him as silently as she could, aware with every step that they were racing against the rising sun.

Lying flat on his belly, Blake leaned into the stock of his M40A3 sniper rifle and peered through the scope. He and Jordyn were concealed in a hide site far up on a hillside on the southern side of the village. With the rising sun peeking over the hills on their right, the angle of the bright light gave them a perfect view of the comings and goings down in the little valley.

So far he’d only seen two civilians out and about; a young boy and an old man who’d left one of the houses on the outskirts with a small herd of goats a while ago. The target building where the meeting was supposedly held the day before was set against the eastern hillside, affording any remaining occupants good protection and concealment. Where the exit led into that hill was another story. The house’s small exterior windows were covered by rugs, reducing the visibility inside to zero. Right now they had no idea who was in there. But the moment anyone emerged from that door, Blake owned them.

“Any movement?” Jordyn whispered on his left as she peered through her high powered spotter scope. They’d divided the valley in half, him taking the eastern half and her the west.

“Not yet.” A big part of him still felt responsible for her being out here. This wasn’t supposed to happen—she was supposed to have been safely tucked away back at HQ. He’d been careful to hide any feelings of guilt about it last night because he didn’t want her to pick up on it or second guess her presence here. She was absolutely qualified for this mission, and he knew she’d perform almost as well as Dunphy would have. Blake just had a hard time putting aside his protectiveness toward her, something he had to make happen in order to do his job and defend his teammates.

He lay very still and kept his eye to his scope. Jordyn was a total pro, exercising a helluva lot more discipline than most people possessed when forced to stay in one position for an extended period of time. Aside from the rare shift or slight fidget, she didn’t move beside him.

Then Hunter’s voice came through their earpieces. “Got movement two hundred yards northwest of the village. Ellis, you copy?”

“I copy,” Blake responded, shifting his sights to the area Hunter had indicated. Sure enough, two men emerged from what appeared to be an opening Blake hadn’t noticed before in the hillside. “I see them. Stand by.” He spoke to Jordyn quietly. “My angle’s not great. Can you see where they came out of?”

“No, not well.” She shifted slightly to move her scope.

He said Hunter’s call sign to alert him. “Negative on the view of the exit point.”

“Roger. Heading down to take a closer look now.”

“We’ll move in closer to the village too,” Alex added from his and Evers’s position outside the village to the east. “Report any additional movement.”

“Roger that,” Blake answered. A few minutes later a puff of dust rose into the air to the west of the village. He was just about to ask Jordyn what she saw when Alex came back on comms.

“Vehicles inbound from your ten o’clock.”

Sure enough, over the crest of a distant hill, three vehicles appeared, winding their way down the switchbacks toward the valley floor. “We’re on it,” Blake informed the others. He followed the trucks as they drove along the narrow dry stream bed that led to the village and parked. The doors of the first vehicle opened and two men stepped out. Blake tightened the focus to get a better look at the men’s features.