Seal Team Seven #19: Field of Fire by Keith Douglass Page A

for the back door, before he stood.
    “Bang, bang, Bradford, you’re dead.”
    Bradford jumped a foot to the side and pulled up his sub gun.
    “At ease, Bradford. Those feet of yours make more noise than a team of wild horses.”
    “Scared the shit right out of me, Cap. Don’t do that when I’m packing a loaded sub gun. Damn, that was close. I been a little jumpy on this whole hike back.”
    Fernandez glided up beside them.
    “Get some sleep,” Murdock said. “We’ll need it tomorrow. Then tell Jaybird to get has ass out here. We’re doing guard duty the rest of the night.”
    Later, after he set the guards, Murdock waited up inside until Barbara and his two men came back. Lam nodded. “Both down and in the well. No problems. We didn’t even see anyone. Met one car but it was weaving all over the street. Driver must have been sloshed.”
    Barbara motioned to Murdock and he went over to where she sat on the couch with a drink in her hand. “I shot the soldier before we dropped him in the well. It’s a bad habit of mine. In cases like this I tell the person how his government had my husband killed just on the chance he might be a spy for the U.S. He wasn’t. Then I shot him.”
    “How many does that make?”
    Barbara looked up quickly, a frown painting her pretty features. “Oh, I understand. Only three. I promised my husband on his grave that I would do ten in his name.”
    “Hmmmm.” He paused. She looked up. “I understand you’re in considerable danger, that you’ve been questioned before.”
    “True, but one of the top men in the country likes me. I encourage him once a month. He’s a good lover. He helps protect me.”
    “You thinking about going home?”
    “Not until I get my ten.”
    “You have your bomb ready?”
    “No, lots of time.” She frowned. “I know I don’t have to, but a lot of the local customs have rubbed off on me. I want to ask if it’s all right with you if I have Lam with me tonight. After … after I do one of their people, I never like to sleep alone.”
    “Lam isn’t on guard duty now. What he does is up to him.”
    “Thanks. You were my first choice, but he says you’re committed to some lady in San Diego.”
    “True.” She watched him a moment, then stood and with that catlike grace walked toward her bedroom. When she opened the door, Murdock saw that there was already a light on inside.
    The next morning, Murdock watched his men eat in shifts at the small kitchen table. They wolfed down eggs, sausage, hash browns, toast and jam, and lots of coffee. They met the owners of the house, Huda and Akram. Akram worked for the power company and was just leaving for his job. There had been some problems with some of the electronics at the substation. Huda bustled around the kitchen, showing that she was glad to have a lot of mouths to feed. Each of the SEALs gave Huda fifty Syrian pounds for the hospitality. She tried to push it away, but Barbara insisted that she take it.
    “You do so much for our cause, and there’s little I can do for you. These young men think this is only play money. So take it. You deserve it. We put you in enough danger as it is.”
    Huda smiled softly. “Maybe someday we can make a difference in my homeland. We appreciate what you men are doing. There is a great evil in our land. It is difficult to do anything about it.”
    Murdock went out and checked the van. They would need both vehicles to get to the hill behind the laboratory. One of the CIA men had told them about the hill. It would give them cover until the last possible moment.
    Barbara would ride a bicycle to the military post. She was known in this small town for her bike rides. Today would be no different except she would have a backpack.
    Jaybird had been working with her for an hour to get the right components for the bomb. They at last set on four one-pound blocks of C-5. It was enough to blast the back of the building halfway to the street. She looked at the timer detonators