After the meeting ended, Harper and Rafe were walking toward the exit when Rami intercepted them. “Khalil has new intelligence,” Rami said. “He wants you to hear it before the next step.”
Harper’s face stayed neutral. “We’re listening.”
Rami walked them deeper into the annex. A map was pinned to a table with circles marked in charcoal, paths connecting them like veins.
Khalil stood behind it, arms folded. “Our American,” he said without preamble, “is nearby.”
Harper didn’t move. “Which one?”
Khalil smiled slightly. “The one who… dislikes your people.”
Rafe felt the cold click in his bones.Krueger.
“How close?” Harper asked.
Khalil tapped a point on the map, one that made Rafe’s stomach tighten. “That ridge line is twenty kilometers from here,” he said. “He traveled light. He is impatient.”
Harper kept his tone bored. “He’s a child in a warzone.”
Khalil’s gaze sharpened. “He is useful, but unpredictable.”
Rafe leaned forward, voice low, accent thickening into Moretti’s street bite. “Unpredictable gets people killed.”
Khalil acknowledged him. “He may become irrelevant soon. My concern is that you both understand, if he interferes, he will be… removed.”
Harper nodded. “Good policy.”
Rafe nodded too, but Dante wondered,How did Krueger get this close without warning?
NORTHERN NIGER– SAFEHOUSE
Ford counted out bundles of marked dinars. Dante checked the magazines on a weapon he wasn’t supposed to own under this cover.
A faint vibration made Dante’s wrist tremble—an encrypted pulse. He glanced at Ford. “Bravo’s moving.”
Ford didn’t look up. “How close?”
“Forty klicks east.”
Ford exhaled a humorless breath. “Sean doesn’t like being this close to the lion’s den unless something’s accelerating.”
“It is,” Dante said. “You heard Khalil; Krueger’s in-country.”
Ford set the cash down slowly. “I heard him. This just went from a negotiation to a powder keg.”
Dante nodded. “Bravo will set up a shadow perimeter. We’re going to have boots in every direction by dawn.”
Ford rubbed his jaw. “We need to move the timeline with Khalil. Fast.”
Dante looked out the broken window toward distant lights flickering on a horizon of sand. “Yeah. Before Krueger decides to move it for us.”
AIR BASE 201 – TACTICAL OPS TENT
The briefing tent was packed with pilots, medics, intel analysts, and flight engineers, shoulder to shoulder, the dull whir of fans barely cutting the heat.
Captain Lawson, her new commanding officer, stood at the front. She was a tall woman with desert lines around her eyes and a voice like gravel. “Listen up,” she barked. “We’ve got three active hotspots. Bandit activity is increasing along the supply trails. Today we lost a convoy outside Inabag. We expect more.”
She gestured toward Shannon. “This is Lt. Shannon Johnson. New rotorhead joining the 33rd. Clear for flight and SAR. You’ll meet your crew chief next.”
