“Everyone ready up,” Clint shouted over the roar of the engine as they taxied down the runway. “We just got word from the Delta Force unit that both the weapons and the woman have been confirmed to be in the area.”
Clint paced the open floor through the middle of the plane, already in full gear and looking like he did on every mission, ready to hand the next person their ass.
“Williamson has money and connections, so he isn’t going to be easy to nail down, but we’ll show him just how resourceful SEALs can be. We’re going to find this piece of shit, and at all costs, bring him in so he can be tried for his crimes.”
Johnny strapped on his helmet and gathered the rest of his equipment as the back hatch opened. Hot air rushed in, and he grimaced.
He had been wrong before. Being back home wasn’t as bad. At least there he’d been able to wear cooler clothes. With all the gear they had on, it was like stepping onto the surface of the sun.
He squinted as he stepped out and immediately found their ride, a column of three Humvees.
Two men in Army uniforms stepped out of the leading Humvee. Just like when he had been stationed there, they sported bushy beards.
It wasn’t surprising considering how much the Delta Force worked with the civilians in the area. The men were from the team sent in to deal with any potential hostage situations and were always damn good at their jobs.
Clint walked over to one of the men. It was actually the first time Johnny had personally seen a Delta Force operator in a uniform. Most wore street clothes so they blended in better and nearly all kept their rank and insignia a secret.
They were a tight knit bunch and often given leeway to do what they needed to in order to get the job done.
Having two of them there only indicated to him just how worried the government was about these weapons being passed around. His role in the whole thing had just been one piece of the puzzle, and it seemed like all those parts were now coming together.
“Thanks for getting things together early,” Clint said.
The man he spoke with had light brown hair and seemed to be the one in charge.
“We’re still working on a few kinks, but we’ve been able to get a hold of Kadin thanks to your man’s information. He’s spooked by the whole thing and will only meet with him.”
Clint waved for Johnny to come over.
“Davis here is your man,” he said and looked over to Johnny. “Colton and Blake are going to be our chances of getting Maddy back and getting the intel we need from Kadin.”
Johnny nodded. They were there to negotiate if need be and kick ass if negotiations didn’t go well.
Clint nodded to the other man. He was a big guy with a dark, imposing beard. “Blake has some experience with disarming bombs, but Trent is still the expert in this. We’ll have him on call when the time comes.”
Johnny nodded.
The men opened the doors to the Humvees and waved inside.
“Let’s get out of here while we still have some light. The streets aren’t dangerous, but we’re leaving nothing to chance,” Colton shouted to the men.
Clint stepped to the passenger side of the vehicle, and Johnny slid in the back with several other guys. They loaded up and headed to the local forward operating base for further briefing.
* * *
Maddy groaned and placed her hand gingerly on the top of her head. It hurt like hell, and the act of sitting up made her a little nauseous. She forced herself to sit.
She looked down and was surprised to see she had been placed on an actual bed. The room spun a little as she looked around, but it wasn’t in bad shape like she might have expected for someone who had just been kidnapped by some strange, creepy guy.
There was a small window just above the bed. If she could get up there, maybe she would have a better idea of where she was.
She stood on the bed, taking her time. The frame groaned as she did so, but Maddy ignored it. As gently as she could, she stood on the two twin size posts to lift herself up just enough to grab a hold of the window frame.
With all the strength she could muster, Maddy pulled herself up.
Her eyes peeked just over the edge, but it wasn’t enough to help. Only a blinding sunset greeted her.
She pulled herself even further up and let her mouth fall in shock.
Sand. She definitely wasn’t anywhere in her town, or her state, for that matter.
Dust and sand dominated the area. Sure, there was a tree here and there, a bit of scrub in the distance and some mountains, but that was really beside the point. Somehow she was in the fucking desert.
Arizona, maybe? Nevada? California?
She heard sounds from outside the room and lowered herself quickly. No point in them knowing she had been looking out the window. The less they knew about her plans to get the hell out of there, the better. If she could just get into town or a road somewhere, maybe she could flag down a cop.
Just as she sank onto the bed, the door clicked opened, and the tall scary man walked in, followed by another far less scary man. He reeked of money. Every part of him just looked like he’d been fed a healthy diet of money his whole life.
She glared at the rich blond man.
“Oh, good, she’s awake,” he said with a smile. His voice was accented, but she couldn’t quite place it.
He waved to someone in the hall. They carried in a tray of food. Despite herself, her stomach rumbled loudly.
“I dare say you must be hungry after a flight like that,” he said and nodded for the man to place the tray on the bed.
Maddy stared at the food and then to the man. His accent sounded like an odd mix of an English accent with something else vaguely northern European.
“Where am I?” she asked, ignoring the hunger pains that were now clearly there.
The tall man stepped forward and glowered down at her. “Eat your food.”
The blond man held up his hand to stop the big guy.
“Now, let’s not be rude to our guest, Hans,” the blond man said and took another step forward.
Maddy could tell Hans didn’t much like his boss getting so close to her. He wasn’t wrong really.
She might not be a Navy SEAL or a cop, but she sure as hell grew up with them, and over the years had learned a thing or two. From the looks of the blond man, it didn’t seem like he’d been trained in much besides how to spend money.
“Please,” the rich guy said and waved to the food. “Eat. It doesn’t hurt me for you not to eat, but it’ll definitely hurt you.”
Unable to resist whatever was in the bowl and the fresh bread, Maddy picked it up and shoved a mouthful in.
It was different. It was good but had spices she’d never tasted before. She tore off a piece of bread and shoved that in as well.
“Right now, we’re just outside of Chotastan,” the blond man said.
Maddy frowned. She’d never heard of the place.
“Chotastan? Is that in Arizona, Nevada, California, maybe…?” She furrowed her brow.
The man laughed. “Ah, I do so love American geographical ignorance. We’re not in your sad, arrogant country. We’re in the Republic of Chotastan in the Middle East. It’s the newest independent country in this tumultous region.”
Her eyes widened. The Middle East? They’d taken her half-way across the world.
“You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie about something like that?”
She was almost too surprised to be scared.
“You see,” he said, holding up a finger, “we’re actually waiting on your boyfriend to come here. We have some unfinished business.”
Maddy snorted. She didn’t care where they had taken her. If they had let Johnny know where she was, they had pain coming.”
“Good,” she said and gave him a sweet smile. “I hope you two have a good chat.”
The man smiled back at her. His eyes had an evil little twinkle that killed her appetite.
“Oh, I won’t be here waiting, but you will. I detest violence, you see.”
A chill ran down her spine. This man might be polite, but he was evil. She could see it clearly down to his soul.
Maddy jumped up, but Hans was faster. His fist slammed hard into her stomach, and she struggled to keep down the few bites she’d just eaten.
She crumpled to the ground, gasping. After a few seconds she recovered her wind. “Thought you said you didn’t like violence.”
The blond man leaned down to look her in the face as he spoke. “I do, but Hans here has no problem with it. It makes him a very valuable employee.”
She slumped back onto the bed, not sure if she was going to pass out again.
“Now you just be a good girl and wait right here,” the man said. “You’re going to play a very special role later.”
Chapter Twenty
When they reached the forward operating base, the men moved quickly into a large, rigid tent. Inside Johnny found his friend and contact, Kadin, sitting at a table.
The black-haired, tanned-skin man had lost weight since the last time he’d seen him. He’d shaved off his beard, and in most ways, looked like a different person.
Johnny assumed that some of that had been done to conceal his identity from the dangerous men looking to kill him, whether locals or working for Williamson.
He stepped up to Kadin and pulled him in for a quick hug.
“I’m really glad to see you, man,” Johnny said.
Kadin, a bit stiff, pulled back a little and looked around the room. “Your large friend came and said there wasn’t much point in trying to run.”
Shame stabbed at Johnny at dragging the poor man back into all this shit, especially knowing that Emir had died doing the exact thing.
He opened his mouth to say something, but it was Colton who actually spoke first.
“The US Government knows how difficult this must be for you.”
Kadin sat back in his seat at the table and scoffed. “Difficult? Maybe they should tell that to Emir.”
Johnny winced. They had signed up for this. Kadin was just a man who wanted to protect the people of his homeland.
Colton placed a piece of paper on the table.
“You help us get those weapons, and you’ll be saving not just the people here but yourself. This is bad shit, Kadin. Those weapons are meant to stir up trouble here, kill your people. You get to help them, and you get to save your own ass.” He tapped on the paper.
Johnny leaned forward to get a look at just what that paper said.
He raised a brow and caught the eye of Clint to confirm it. He nodded to Johnny.
“That’s full protection and safe passage for you out of this country when this is over.”
Kadin looked up to the man. His face was far more pale now with something so important sitting in front of him.
“Where would I go?”
Colton crossed his arms and stood with his feet apart. “We have bases not far from here that you’d be a welcome addition to. Or you could hop the next flight out to the States. Up to you. We can even set you up with a translation job stateside.”
His jaw nearly came unhinged as the Delta Forces operator spoke. They were all aware of how much wiggle room they had, but this was almost unheard of. Most local operatives had to wait months, sometimes years for a chance like that.
Kadin sighed and ran a hand through his dark shaggy hair.
“This is my home,” he said. “I’d like to stay close.”
Colton nodded. “Understood. Now what can you tell us that might help?”
He looked over to Johnny as he spoke now. It was just like all those other times they had chatted before.
“Emir spoke to me before he was killed. He heard there was going to be a big shipment of weapons being moved.”
Johnny nodded. This was all stuff they had heard before.
“There had been some strange movement in the area, and a few times, the men he spoke to would talk about how foreign men where behind it.” Kadin leaned in. “We always thought that it must be Americans or Russians behind it. That was what really made sense, but when one of the men was pressed, they said the foreigners were from the south. It seemed strange at first.”
Johnny took a seat at the table with the Delta Forces operators and Clint.
“Did Emir know why?” Blake asked.
Kadin shook his head. “He was close to figuring it all out, but then he was killed. It wasn’t until I went to visit my cousin that all the pieces started to fit together. Did you know there is a need for people to work the mines?”
Johnny looked over to Colton, who seemed just as surprised. The area had some decent coltan and rare earth mineral deposits, but exploiting them was proving difficult, given the instability in the area.
“I thought they had slowed their mining here. Wasn’t there some land struggle between some of the wealthy land owners and the government?”
Kadin nodded. “Yes, but it was never really resolved. Just put on hold as they government dealt with the recent weapons being brought in the area.”
“So those wealthy land owners just decided to start mining again?” Johnny asked. “That seems a little risky, considering the fines that would be thrown at them, or even the risk of the government taking the mines.”
Clint shook his head. “Not if they didn’t plan on being hit with any fines, and they believed the government wouldn’t be an issue in general.”
All eyes turned to him and then back to Kadin.
He nodded his agreement. “Those land owners just needed the manpower and weapons to take down the government. Our independence is raw and new. Most people don’t respect the central government. The land owners only need to drop guns into the hands of some of the neighboring tribes, along with some bribes, and they would be free and clear to start mining again.”
Johnny’s frown deepened. “But that would plunge Chotastan into civil war. How the hell are they supposed to mine with a war going on?”
Kadin stared back at him, sorrow in his eyes. “Most trouble would be concentrated in the cities, where the government has the most power. My cousin is far enough outside the city. There are few people there, and nothing of much importance. It would be easy for them to avoid the hell of the city. The wealthy always come out ahead. Whatever is going to happen will be soon. They’ve had people working around the clock all weekend.”