He held her gaze, heating her with his intensity. Could she actually believe that he was interested in her? Maybe he was just being a friend. And what about her track record? She didn't want anything bad to happen to him. She wasn't cursed because curses weren't real, but still, she worried. Going to North Carolina to see Link wouldn't make anything bad happen, at least she hoped it wouldn’t.
Chapter 9
Link left the hospital,wishing he had more time to spend with Ansley. What was it about her that intrigued him? When she came for a visit, he would figure it out.
Once at the airfield, they loaded onto a transport that would fly them to Indonesia. He wasn’t going home for another week at least. This trip to the land of sweat and bugs was to free an elected official who’d trusted a contact he never should have.
It amazed Link that elected officials from the USA thought they could just go anywhere and demand respect without reading the room. The person the congressman went to visit was a known terrorist. Link didn’t know why the congressman had gone to visit the terrorist, but now he needed someone to rescue him who would keep it out of the news.
Of course, the congressman was a showboating, loudmouth, drama queen, and would plaster the rescue all over the internet once he was free. So Link's team was going in without any recognizable badges or markings and would deliver the guy to the Australian Embassy, not the US Embassy.
Why the Australian Embassy? To throw the man off and confuse him. He didn't need to be dropping hints about who hadsaved him, and they certainly didn't trust him to keep anything quiet. If the guy had his way, he would name and publish the home addresses of whoever rescued him. How did Link know this? Because this very same congressman had done that to two Navy SEALs who had the displeasure of meeting the jerk. He'd not only ruined the careers of the two SEALs, he'd ruined their lives.
“You ready for this?” Stanley asked.
“Yeah. What about you?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Keel and Mick took a seat across from him. He nodded, glad they’d both made it out. Both of them had been close to the first bomb and had been tossed about. They both had bruises, like him, but were okay. Not every mission was a success, and guys died. Though they’d experienced a bomb, they’d lived, so it had been a good mission.
“I’m looking forward to this mission,” Keel said.
Scott’s lips curled up in disgust. “Why?”
Keel chuckled. “I like putting pompous bastards in their place. Hopefully, this guy will be so freaked out he never does anything like this again.”
Chase grunted. "Don't hold your breath. Time for some shut-eye. We'll be moving fast as soon as we land. Sleep and eat on the plane, because we will be busy for the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours."
Chase was right. They needed to rest now. Once they landed, they wouldn’t get a break until they dropped the guy on the embassy’s doorstep in Jakarta.
The flight was long enough that he got in two long naps. Luckily, because they were riding in a military plane, they were able to refuel in the air, cutting the travel time down significantly.
Once they were on the ground, they moved fast, taking a helicopter to the area where the congressman was being held.
This was a typical mission. They did what they had to do to keep the world safe, which meant rescuing people who got themselves into trouble.
Hitting terrorists hard was their normal operational procedure. But now, terrorists were adapting and increasing their kidnapping and trafficking activities. People were easy commodities to use. Also, friends and families would pay big money to get their loved ones back. And if they didn’t pay money, there was the human trafficking market that was insatiable.
Night fell, extending the invitation to the creepy crawlies, so they knew it was safe to come out. It wasn't just the animal creeps that got him. The human ones were much worse. He had his eyes on the building where they were holding the congressman, hoping the bastards didn't do anything stupid, which was doubtful.
“Moving in thirty seconds,” Chase said over coms.
No one voiced concerns, which meant they were on. Link didn’t need to check any of his gear. He was good to go.
The seconds ticked down, and Chase gave the signal. They moved in, Link breaching the side door with Bean following him.
The resistance they experienced was about what he expected. Two men in the front room, two in the back, with the congressman tied up in a closet.
Chase grabbed the congressman, pulling him out of the closet into the hall. Link had the front protected, and Mick was at the back, making sure no one came up on their six. The rest of the guys were spread out, keeping their flanks safe. They made it to the door and outside before another shot rang out.
“Got him,” Keel said after a muffled shot sounded.
“Headed out,” Chase said.
They were about a hundred yards from the helicopter when Link saw someone on the top of a building about two hundred yards away. Two hundred yards was a hard shot to make without training, but he had no idea if the person was trained. He had to take the dude out.
“Straight ahead, guy on that building about two hundred yards,” Link said.
