their source was good.
Brian walked up wearing the white robes Will had bought and sat to read a newspaper at the table next to them. He nodded at Sarah before opening his paper.
His meeting with the newly arrived mercenaries called in to assist in their rescue of Vince must have gone well. He smiled as he read an Arabic newspaper and watched Sarah from the corner of his eye.
Buffy slid an eight by ten photo across the table to Sarah. "As you can see from the satellite image, Nikolai’s compound is surrounded by wide open desert. There is a small village to the northeast, about two clicks away.”
Buffy may have traded in her battle dress uniform for designer labels, but she still talked like a military cop.
“Every morning, mother and daughter Al Han'ah," she pointed to the back gate, "enter through this gate and go inside to do the cooking and cleaning for the day. They leave every evening just after sundown.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice even more. “Now this is your operation and I haven't been tactical since my military police days, but I see some definite possibilities here."
Sarah knew exactly what she meant and nodded. If they could get the women to cooperate, Sarah could go in as one of them to recon the compound and make sure Vince was still there.
Buffy passed Sarah a manila envelope. "Here is the dossier we have on the Al Han'ahs ."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sarah lounged on the long semicircular couch facing the fireplace and watched Chris as he worked. Vince had been missing five days now. They’d come a long way toward getting him back, but they still had much more to do.
Chris sat cross-legged on the floor and made more notes on the satellite photo mosaic of Nikolai's compound, the surrounding area, and the nearby village. He'd made notes of all the GPS coordinates of every structure, door, and well. He'd even noted the current moon phase, which was due to be new in two days. A dark moon would be the perfect opportunity for a night attack.
Sarah and Jason waited quietly as Will wrote on his notepad, Chris made notes on the makeshift map, and Brian made phone calls downstairs.
Guinea walked in with a fresh carafe of coffee and set it down on the only uncluttered spot on the coffee table. "Damn, Chris, you may suck at history but you are totally obsessive when it comes to all that science and math stuff. I'm impressed."
"Thanks, Guinea . Good to know I have one or two redeeming qualities."
Will copied the coordinates onto his notepad from the photo Buffy had given Sarah and then passed them to Chris so he could compare them to the ones they'd taken.
Sarah wasn’t used to sitting still, and she hadn’t caught up on all her lost sleep. She nodded off but jolted from her doze when she heard Brian bounding up the stairs in what must have been three at a time. He appeared at the basement door after only three stomps.
He was smiling wide. "We're all set!"
"Send it, brother!" Will had a hopeful look on his face. "Whatcha got?"
Brian sat on the couch and grinned. "Jason's source was right on. Nikolai hasn't made any friends out there. The ladies are distant cousins, very distant , but I used to play soccer with the old lady's son. It seems Nikolai's man hasn't been treating the ladies so well, and Hamza would be happy to find any excuse to have Nikolai either run through or run out of town." Brian looked at Sarah. "I'm not suggesting this as a plan of action, but if we wanted to have one of the women take a day or two off, they wouldn't be averse to it. Just sayin '."
Sarah nodded and sat up straight on the couch. "I was thinking the same thing. Will, you know we need interior reconnaissance. We shouldn't go in blind. Nobody will be the wiser when I'm wearing an abaya and a niqab to cover my hair and face. Let's do it!"
Will gave Sarah a questioning look. "Are you sure?"
"Do you even have to
Brian walked up wearing the white robes Will had bought and sat to read a newspaper at the table next to them. He nodded at Sarah before opening his paper.
His meeting with the newly arrived mercenaries called in to assist in their rescue of Vince must have gone well. He smiled as he read an Arabic newspaper and watched Sarah from the corner of his eye.
Buffy slid an eight by ten photo across the table to Sarah. "As you can see from the satellite image, Nikolai’s compound is surrounded by wide open desert. There is a small village to the northeast, about two clicks away.”
Buffy may have traded in her battle dress uniform for designer labels, but she still talked like a military cop.
“Every morning, mother and daughter Al Han'ah," she pointed to the back gate, "enter through this gate and go inside to do the cooking and cleaning for the day. They leave every evening just after sundown.” She leaned forward and lowered her voice even more. “Now this is your operation and I haven't been tactical since my military police days, but I see some definite possibilities here."
Sarah knew exactly what she meant and nodded. If they could get the women to cooperate, Sarah could go in as one of them to recon the compound and make sure Vince was still there.
Buffy passed Sarah a manila envelope. "Here is the dossier we have on the Al Han'ahs ."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Sarah lounged on the long semicircular couch facing the fireplace and watched Chris as he worked. Vince had been missing five days now. They’d come a long way toward getting him back, but they still had much more to do.
Chris sat cross-legged on the floor and made more notes on the satellite photo mosaic of Nikolai's compound, the surrounding area, and the nearby village. He'd made notes of all the GPS coordinates of every structure, door, and well. He'd even noted the current moon phase, which was due to be new in two days. A dark moon would be the perfect opportunity for a night attack.
Sarah and Jason waited quietly as Will wrote on his notepad, Chris made notes on the makeshift map, and Brian made phone calls downstairs.
Guinea walked in with a fresh carafe of coffee and set it down on the only uncluttered spot on the coffee table. "Damn, Chris, you may suck at history but you are totally obsessive when it comes to all that science and math stuff. I'm impressed."
"Thanks, Guinea . Good to know I have one or two redeeming qualities."
Will copied the coordinates onto his notepad from the photo Buffy had given Sarah and then passed them to Chris so he could compare them to the ones they'd taken.
Sarah wasn’t used to sitting still, and she hadn’t caught up on all her lost sleep. She nodded off but jolted from her doze when she heard Brian bounding up the stairs in what must have been three at a time. He appeared at the basement door after only three stomps.
He was smiling wide. "We're all set!"
"Send it, brother!" Will had a hopeful look on his face. "Whatcha got?"
Brian sat on the couch and grinned. "Jason's source was right on. Nikolai hasn't made any friends out there. The ladies are distant cousins, very distant , but I used to play soccer with the old lady's son. It seems Nikolai's man hasn't been treating the ladies so well, and Hamza would be happy to find any excuse to have Nikolai either run through or run out of town." Brian looked at Sarah. "I'm not suggesting this as a plan of action, but if we wanted to have one of the women take a day or two off, they wouldn't be averse to it. Just sayin '."
Sarah nodded and sat up straight on the couch. "I was thinking the same thing. Will, you know we need interior reconnaissance. We shouldn't go in blind. Nobody will be the wiser when I'm wearing an abaya and a niqab to cover my hair and face. Let's do it!"
Will gave Sarah a questioning look. "Are you sure?"
"Do you even have to
Similar Books
