“Fuck, what do you think this is about?” Stanley asked.
Link shrugged. “No clue, but I think we’re about to be on call for something.”
Chase led them to a conference room and shut the door. “I was just contacted. There is an incident at the ambassador’s house. We need to get to Berlin. A bird will be in the air in ten minutes. It’s go time.”
Link’s wish of having a mission was granted, but this was a totally different mission than they’d expected. They would be briefed on the way, and instead of a hot meal, they grabbed MREs to hold them over.
Ansley woke in the morning,ready to conquer the day. She taught her classes, feeling really good about everything.
After her final class, hunger clawed at her stomach. Doing extra workouts, one in the morning and one in the evening, was making her hungry. She decided to go with the leftover seafood.
Because it was so quiet in the house, she flipped on the TV but didn’t have time to set up something to watch when the microwave dinged. She rushed into the kitchen to stir her food when she caught a snippet from one of the news casters. She rolled her eyes at how they were dramatizing something that happened at a shopping center.
Usually, she didn’t like listening to talking heads. Modern news programs annoyed the heck out of her. They sensationalized information all too often, but ignored actual important news. She marched over to the den and grabbed the remote, ready to change the channel just as the woman reporter said something about the abduction of the US ambassador in Germany.
She froze and watched the screen. Was Link in Germany? Her heart rate picked up, and she clutched her hands together in front of her body.
In the kitchen, the microwave dinged again. She turned from the TV and took one step toward the kitchen, but she couldn't stop watching the news program.
She grabbed her laptop and opened it as she moved into the kitchen, pulling up a feed in a browser window with the news playing. She turned the volume down on the TV and up on the laptop as she finished heating the seafood and pasta.
The screen on the laptop was small, and she couldn't see well enough to make out movement. The talking heads were saying that the military was working with the German police.
She wondered what that meant. Was Link and his team really there? Were they working with the police, or was that just information given to the media to keep them satisfied?
Being on a mission upped the pressure. Having a mission televised would be a heck of a lot of pressure. Did Link even know the TV cameras were on?
They had to know. Maybe it wasn’t them. Maybe another group was in Berlin about to run into the ambassador’s house to rescue him.
The microwave sounded again, reminding her that her food was ready. She stepped over and pushed the button to open the door while her eyes were still on the screen. She reached in to grab the bowl, then realized the ceramic would be hot, so she grabbed a hot pad before picking up her food.
Normally, she would sit at the table, but this was a weird circumstance, and she wanted to see the video on the big screen. She placed her food on the coffee table before she sank to the floor and turned up the TV.
The screen was bigger, so she could see movement. It was weird watching the action on a TV. When the doorbell rang, sheglanced up, seeing a FedEx truck out front and grunted as she rose. She was expecting a letter from work, so she had to get the door.
When she unlocked and pulled open the door, the alarm started to beep. Frustrated, she reached for the letter but then moved to punching in the code.
“Sorry. Sorry. I’ll sign for it. I have like twenty seconds.”
“No, get the alarm. It’s fine. Don’t want to have the police thinking there is a break-in.”
She snorted a laugh as she punched in the code. "Yeah, that wouldn't go over well." With the alarm off, she signed for the document. "Thank you."
“You’re welcome. Have a good day.”
“You, too,” Ansley said as she shut the door. She glanced up and saw the camera zoom in on the action on the TV.
Worry filled her, and she moved to the couch, watching as smoke billowed out of one of the upper windows. When had that happened?
She clenched her fists, digging her fingernails into her palms. Was this really happening? Link and his team didn't wear fire gear. Their uniforms were flame-retardant, but they didn't have anything to put the fire out. They could fight the toughest of men, but fire didn't care how tough Link was. Fire took what it wanted.
Chapter 39
Link feltthe heat from the fire, and his fear response kicked in. Anger swirled in his guts. The bastard hadn’t needed to set a fire. Shit like this just pissed him off. If he got his hands on the jerk, he would probably go too far.
They were snaking their way through the huge house, searching for the ambassador, as he thought that no one needed this much space. No luck so far, but they were only about halfway through the house.
He felt the doorknob in front of him, finding it cool. The fire hadn't spread to this area yet. He kicked the door in, and Bean was right behind him, rifle up, ready to kill the man who’d taken the ambassador hostage if needed.
