“I’m not…” Her voice cracked.Damn it.She straightened. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Roe nodded, respecting that. He turned to the team. “Someone get her water. And a chair. If she passes out on my patient, I’ll operate on her next.”
As Roe scrubbed in at a folding basin, Ford pulled out his phone. “Chase Command, this is Cox. Roe is onsite. Surgery imminent. We need Shannon off active roster before sunrise, or her CO will drag her back into a bird.”
Ian’s voice came through, sharp and awake despite the hour. “We’re already on it. Shannon is on emergency family leave as of five minutes ago.”
Ford exhaled in relief.
“And, Ford?” Ian added.
“Yeah?”
“Bring him home alive. That’s an order.”
Ford looked back toward the tent where Roe’s shoulders were squared like he was walking into a war he intended to win.
“We will,” Ford said.
FORTY-SIX
ABANDONED MINING OUTPOST
The outpost wasn’t much, with cracked concrete, rusted generators, and a ceiling fan turning on a dying motor. But Krueger lounged as though it were a penthouse suite, boots propped on a crate painted with Cyrillic stencils.
A runner entered, breathless, dust streaked across his face.
Krueger didn’t look up. “Well?” he asked, bored.
The runner swallowed. “The American… the one taken from the villa.”
Krueger’s head turned lazily, eyes sharp as razors. “The pretty one—Olivetti.”
The runner nodded. “He’s alive.”
The words hung in the musty air. Krueger’s smile crawled slowly across his face. “Amazing.” He leaned back. “I thought I’d cooked him from the inside out before they dragged him away.”
“They flew a surgeon in from London,” the runner added. “We intercepted chatter.”
Krueger’s jaw flexed, then he laughed. “Oh, that’s perfect.”
He rose, pacing with serpentine ease. “Olivetti surviving means three things. One, he’s suffering. And two…” He lifted a finger, turning to the runner with a wolfish grin. “…so is she. And three, he will wake up.”
The runner didn’t understand. Krueger liked that.
“And when he does,” Krueger continued, “he will remember everything I did to him. Every cut. Every shock.” He leaned in. “Every scream.”
The runner flinched.
“But here is the part your little mind is missing.” Krueger tapped his temple. “He will want revenge.” He spread his arms. “Revenge makes people reckless.”
He sat back down, steepling his fingers. “And when he comes for me… he will bring the girl.”
A flicker of something lit in his eyes. “Tell Khalil we move in seventy-two hours. The third device sale is on schedule.”
The runner bowed and fled.
Krueger leaned back, smiling. “Olivetti lived.” He savored it. “Good.”
