After a while, shit like that takes a toll on a person. For a stretch of time, Jason had almost forgotten why he’d taken this job to begin with.
I wanted to make a difference. Protect my country. Make the world a safer place.
For the past few years, he’d done all those things. But lately, he was starting to question whether or not the end really did justify the means.
It was a question for another day, because right now he had bigger things to worry about.
Jason opened the folder Betty had handed him and read the document more closely.
The uprising he’d hoped to prevent was already happening. During the last hour, there’d been reports of riots and car bombs. Vandalism and a handful of confirmed deaths.
What concerned Jason most was the group of American medical volunteers who were unknowingly in the newest faction’s path.
According to the intel in front of him, the American Medical Organization for Volunteer Aid, or AMOVA, had recently implanted a new team of volunteer doctors and nurses in Djibouti.
The same country his people had intercepted chatter about. The same government the Yemen-based extremists were threatening to overtake.
They’re not just threatening, anymore. They’ve already started.
Skimming over the list of AMOVA volunteers currently in Djibouti, Jason pulled out his cell and dialed McQueen’s number. The phone started to ring, and he was about to close the folder when one of the names jumped out at him.
Dr. Sophia Ruiz.
“No.” His stomach clenched with fear. “No fucking way is she there.”
Jason immediately ended the call to Jake and dialed a different number. When the reception desk nurse at Homeland’s private hospital answered, he asked for Dr. Ruiz.
Ignoring the reasons why he knew her schedule, Jason held his breath and waited for the nurse’s response.
“I’m sorry, Agent Ryker. Dr. Ruiz is on a volunteer mission overseas. I believe she said she was going to the country of Djibouti for the next few weeks.”
Jason closed his eyes and forced the emotion he was feeling to remain undetectable. “Thank you. Have a good night.”
Fuck. Goddamn it. Fuck!
He ran a hand over his trimmed beard and tried to control the unfamiliar panic he was feeling.
Why the hell, of all the doctors in the fucking world, hadSophievolunteered to go there? What was wrong with the work she was doing right here, in Dallas?
Jason quickly redialed McQueen, willing the former Delta Force operative to pick up. After three rings, he finally did.
“Hey, man. You still coming?”
“We have a problem,” Jason growled. He shook his head, correcting the statement with, “I have a problem.”
“Hang on. Let me go someplace where I can hear.”
Laughter and conversation that was filling the background soon became muffled as Jake left the party and went into another room.
A door snicked shut and then, “Okay talk.”
“I need your help.”
“What’s the job?”
She’s not a job. She’s...Sophie.
“There’s a group of American volunteers in Djibouti. One of the doctors that’s with them is local. I need your help to go in, extract the group, and get them back into the States safely.”
