Bare Nerve by Katherine Garbera Page B

he had enjoyed it. He had liked the feel of her in his arms through the night and had watched her sleep.
    Her face had relaxed into something he’d never seen in the short time he’d known her. She was an intense woman who kept her guard up all the time.
    But she hadn’t last night.
    And he felt honored that she’d relaxed herself with him for those few short hours. He put on his camo pants and black T-shirt just as his cell phone rang.
    “Savage.”
    “Hey, boss. I’m on my way to Andreev’s base camp in the Aaggar Mountains. I had to delay a day to make it seem like I wasn’t already in country.”
    “What does he want you to do?” Jack asked. He was already mentally reviewing the landscape. Simply driving into the mountains wasn’t going to be good enough. They’d never surprise Andreev, or even find his base, in the maze of the mountains. There were caves and valleys all through the Aaggar Mountains, and sound would carry.
    “I’m going to demonstrate some weapons for his clients—same as before.”
    “Good. Keep me posted when you’re in camp. We’re working our way to the area—probably have three more days of travel before we get to Tamanrasset. We have a Tuareg guide with us, so once we enter the mountains on foot, we should be able to move quickly.”
    “Good. Do you just want me to take Andreev out?”
    “No. We want to capture him with the weapons.”
    “I know. I don’t know that he stores them in the mountains.”
    “We’ll figure that out.”
    “Anything else going on?” Kirk asked.
    For a minute Jack was tempted to tell his friend about Anna, but he knew he couldn’t. His role on the Savage Seven was leader. And showing any hesitation or doubt wasn’t acceptable. Besides, Kirk thought women were a distraction the team didn’t need.
    “Nothing much, just an overnight stay in an area hostile to foreigners. It helps that Anna speaks their language, and Tommy has been doing a good job of passing for an Arab.”
    Kirk laughed. “Sounds as though you have everything under control.”
    “Except time. I don’t want to let Andreev fall through our fingers again.”
    “We won’t,” Kirk said. “If the op seems like it’s going south, I’ll take him out.”
    “Affirmative. Make sure you confirm with me before you do.”
    “I will. When are you guys moving out?”
    “We should be hitting the road in an hour or so. I’ll have Tommy hang back if you think you’ll need backup.”
    “Nah, I’m good. I’ve never brought anyone with me before. I think that would spook Andreev.”
    “Do you need anything?” Jack asked. Kirk worked for him, but in many ways the other man was like a brother. He knew it was clichéd to think of Kirk as his brother in arms, but the two of them had come close to dying too many times for Jack to think of Kirk any other way.
    “Nah. Just make sure you stay focused on the mission.”
    “Kirk, you’re pissing me off.”
    “Good. You pissed off is what we need. You can’t lose when you’re pissed.”
    Jack smiled. “Damn straight.”
    He hung up the phone, grabbed his pack, and walked out the door. His men were gathered in the lower room. Tommy stood when Jack walked into the room. From one glance, Jack could tell the other man was agitated.
    “What’s up?” Jack asked.
    “They don’t use the same system we use for wireless communication. I talked to Charity yesterday about it, but I don’t think I can get their system to us in time to use when we infiltrate Andreev’s camp. We aren’t going to be able to get good satellite communication in the mountains. Unless Liberty Investigations has access to some government satellites.”
    Jack knew snags like this would come up. But they should have handled this before they’d left the country. “Why is this just now coming up?”
    Tommy shrugged. “I think the mission specs changed the equipment they were using. In a city like Paris or even Algiers we could have used two-way cell-phone functions