Meant to Be (19 page)

McDunna shrugged. “She’s getting her
orders from somewhere upstairs, and the fact is the powers that be
in Washington want eyes on the ground to confirm the location of
the target and the overall dynamics that night.”

“
Screw Washington!” Rad
uncharacteristically exploded, pounding the desk with his fist and
causing his team members to look at him curiously, and then at each
other with questioning eyes.

“
Calm down,” McDunna said.
“Believe me, I’m with you. But the White House has been stalling us
on this operation for months as it is. It’s an election year and
they can’t afford to have anything go wrong.”

“
They
can’t afford it? How about my
guys?”

Rad was tired of having to fight with
one hand tied behind his back due to politics and limited rules of
engagement. Protecting the lives of innocent civilians was one
thing, but here the lines of “innocent civilian” and “guerrilla
fighter” were indistinguishable.

Even though they were going into
Pakistan, this was an al-Qaida stronghold, a village used to ferry
men and supplies across the border, both of which were used to kill
American soldiers. There likely wasn’t an adult in the village—make
that a person over ten years old—who wasn’t a potential
threat.

If America continued to respond in
small increments instead of shocking the enemy with adequate fire
power, they could soon be outnumbered. If that happened, the
military would have to rely on bigger guns and larger bombs,
causing even more damage and casualties. Rad believed in the creed
that battles fought quickly and with all-out force saved lives in
the long run. Kill one to save many. The administration, on the
other hand, ran the war in such a way that protected the insurgents
and required troops to defend the choices they made even in the
midst of performing their duties.

He brought his thoughts back to the
conversation at hand. “What about the informant? What’s the plan
for her?”

“
She’s been there more
than year. She’s basically a part of the landscape.”

“
So she won’t be
implicated?”

“
Not if everything goes as
planned.”

McDunna clicked through a couple of
images until an aerial view of the compound came up on the screen.
“This is the compound,” he said. “It’s located at the very edge of
the village and sits up away from everything, except this
building.” He pointed to a dilapidated three-story building along a
dirt road with his laser. “Our informant lives and works here as
the lady health visitor for the town.”

“
So there’ll be civilians
there?” one of the men asked.

“
Not at the hour you’ll be
moving. In any event, it’s a convenient location. That’s how she
got the shots.” He nodded toward the photos lying in front of
Rad.

“
The building’s close
enough to have collateral damage if things go to shit,” Rad said to
no one in particular. “She’s comfortable with that?”

“
From what I understand,
it’s all part of the plan, so I assume so,” McDunna
said.

“
It’s not a plan, it’s a
freaking fantasy,” Rad mumbled under his breath.

Either McDunna didn’t hear him or
chose to ignore him. “We have some urgency here because the spooks
think Ahmed is up to something. We need to get this thing done
within the week.”

“
What about close air
support?” Tork asked.

“
There’ll be no CAS. You
guys need to get in there, get the job done, and get out.
Washington is counting on things not going to shit.”

Rad shook his head, but remained
silent. He wasn’t concerned about his own safety or even that of
his men. It was the welfare of the informant that worried
him.

McDunna clicked back to the photo of
the terrorist. “Here’s what we know. Langley’s been eavesdropping
on telephone calls and pouring over satellite images of the
compound now that positive ID has been made. That information,
combined with HUMINT has given us a pretty good ‘pattern of life’
picture.”

Rad leaned his chair back on two legs
again, trying to appear relaxed as he stared at the face of the
terrorist target on the projection screen. The photos were clear,
many of them quite close. He suddenly remembered his phone call to
Lauren, and out of curiosity, leaned forward to study the stamp at
the top of the page on the handout. His chair hit the floor with a
loud thunk, and his jaw tensed when he saw the date.

She’d had been taking those pictures
while talking to him calmly on the phone. A Tier One, violent,
American-hating terrorist, and she had bluffed her way right
through, telling him she was shooting a pod of fucking
dolphins.

Rad squeezed the pencil in his hand so
hard it snapped in half with a loud crack, but the hum of a
helicopter coming in for a landing drowned out the
sound.

“
That must be our
informant now. This is a highly classified mission that requires
absolute precision and accuracy so the head shed took the extra
steps of bringing her in for a briefing. Obviously I don’t need to
remind you of the necessity of secrecy.”

Rad stared absently out the window as
a light wave of dust floated in from the chopper landing. “Isn’t
that dangerous?”

McDunna didn’t seem worried. “She’s
apparently got a good cover story, and she’ll be in and out in an
hour or two. Hopefully she won’t be missed.”

“
Yeah. Hopefully,” Rad
said under his breath.

One side of him wished it wouldn’t be
her, while the other side hoped to God it would. He felt like his
heart was preparing for take-off when the trim, athletic figure of
Lauren Cantrell came into his view. With a military escort by her
side, she nodded her head in conversation while stuffing what
appeared to be traditional Pakistani clothes into a bag. She was
now dressed in a brown tee shirt, desert fatigues, and combat
boots—with a SIG-Sauer 9 mm holstered at her side. Just watching
her walk was entrancing. She was beyond a doubt the sexiest, most
tantalizingly attractive woman he had ever laid eyes on.

Chapter 16

There were fifteen men in
the room—most of them with at least two weeks of scraggly facial
hair—so Rad did not expect Lauren to notice him right away. She
wasn’t smiling when she walked in but moved with a poised,
confident stride to the front where she shook hands with McDunna.
In another moment the memory stick she handed him was attached to
the computer and new images of the compound appeared on the
screen.

“
Gentleman, these are the
latest pictures we have of the compound and surrounding area from
the ground level,” McDunna said, not bothering to introduce her.
“You’ve already seen the aerials from the drones and have trained
in a similar compound, but there may be something new here. Feel
free to ask questions.”

Lauren nodded and was all business as
she took the laser McDunna handed her and ran it across the screen,
pointing out different aspects of the buildings, the height of the
walls, approximate number of steps from the street to the gate, and
entry points of possible concern.

Since Lauren remained oblivious to his
presence, Rad had the opportunity to stare at her in wistful
silence. Although she appeared calm and self-assured, the tragedy
of her past and the weight of her responsibilities were etched
clearly on her face.

His gaze remained riveted, even though
he knew he should look away. She wore her hair pulled back and
wound in a bun, just the way he had pictured it when he thought of
her. Only in his mind she had always been wearing a short skirt and
heels, and was addressing a conference table full of well-dressed
men at a board meeting—not giving intel to dirty, unshaven soldiers
in a special ops briefing.

Rad slid his gaze over to
Bipp and Reese and Pops, but they were busy taking notes and didn’t
seem to recognize her. Who in their right mind would expect a woman
they had played beach volleyball with a few weeks ago to be
here
? Anyway, she wasn’t
quite the same person. She was professional, methodical, and
businesslike—her eyes even more alert and her mannerisms more
deliberate. Even her voice was different from the soft, affable one
at the beach. It sounded clipped, clean, and disciplined
now.

“
How many guards?” one of
the men asked.

“
I’ve documented activity
with times and dates, so that should be in your briefing packet,”
Lauren answered. “But the area of heaviest activity is here.” She
drew a circle with the pointer. “And here.” She pointed to a second
building that sat off to the side.

She continued her briefing, giving the
approximate number of men, women, and children, and focusing for a
few moments on details about an elderly man who likely lived on the
third floor with the target. The man was Ahmed’s father and was
considered equally as dangerous.

“
What about the inside of
the house? Any intel on layout?”

“
Good question.” Lauren
clicked back through the photos. “I visited the house yesterday on
the pretense of a health check. I did get past the gate, but they
were not very accommodating at the house. I can tell you the stairs
are located on the right, immediately past a small entry foyer.
That’s all I could see.”

She walked up in broad
daylight and tried to make entry into the house
? It bothered Rad she didn’t seem to think the conditions she
worked under were unreasonable or dangerous, or that the raid from
her end would be a difficult challenge. Yet she resided in one of
the most lawless places on earth and would be within a stone’s
throw of a barrage of automatic weapon fire, rocket-propelled
grenades, and most likely, sniper fire from the rooftops. Danger
would be everywhere.

“
Weapons?” another
asked.

“
All I’ve seen are your
standard AKs, but no doubt they have a mother-load of RPGs stored
somewhere in there.”

Some of the men laughed at her
frankness, but she didn’t crack a smile. As she glanced around the
room seeking any other questions, Rad saw her gaze fall on Pops,
then slide over and rest for a moment on Bipp. In another moment
her searching eyes were locked on his, but it lasted only a moment.
Calm resolve shielded any sign of surprise. Obviously an expert at
hiding emotions and thoughts, she looked away, showing no outward
sign of recognition.

“
Any other
questions?”

“
Yeah,” Rad said in a loud
voice. “What’s stopping you from getting out before we go
in?”

Lauren opened her mouth to speak, but
McDunna stood and took the question. “I told you Radcliff, the
White House wants eyes on the ground.”

“
Come on. The White House
doesn’t know anything about fighting,” Rad argued. “We’ve got the
intelligence we need. The mission is not going to be successful if
we end up having to do a high-risk extraction of an informant after
the fact.”

Lauren blinked repeatedly as if
fending off some sort of unseen attack. But after giving Rad a
defiant glance, she recovered, squaring her shoulders and
presenting an image of strength that compelled admiration. Turning
her head away, she calmly scanned the rest of the room. “Any other
questions?”

“
We’ve got to think about
weather conditions and the illumination cycle, among other things
that are completely out of our control,” McDunna said. “Do we have
a definite timeframe?”

“
The timeframe is the
sooner the better.” Lauren sounded authoritative and convincing.
“You probably have more intel from different sources than I do, but
the fact that Ahmed left the compound for the first time in a year
means he’s probably up to something.”

“
Then our window of
opportunity to launch is short.” McDunna walked over to a calendar
and flipped through the pages. “The illumination cycle will start
increasing next week. We won’t have optimal conditions again for a
month.”

“
The longer it’s delayed,
the greater concern for mission leak,” Lauren added.

Wynn’s voice then rang out from the
back of the room. “To Rad’s point, your building appears close
enough to take some collateral damage or even become a hideout for
squirters trying to escape the target compound.”

Lauren never let him finish. “I have
contingencies in place for my own wellbeing. Anyone
else?”

Rad listened half-heartedly to the
steady stream of questions while tapping what remained of his
pencil on the table. Lauren avoided looking in his direction
completely. When he turned to glance over his shoulder at the other
men, he saw they were whispering among themselves—all except Wynn.
He was leaning against the back wall with a cup of coffee in his
hand, staring at Rad with a look of condemnation and
disbelief.

Rad shrugged and turned back
around.

“
No more questions?”
McDunna’s voice broke through the silence. “I don’t need to tell
you guys how dangerous this one is. You’ll be walking into a
hornet’s nest, past all the sleeping hornets to get to the queen.
In the process, you’re probably going to be giving the nest a good
kick and will be surrounded and swarmed with angry hornets by the
time you try to get out.”