"No," Mara admitted. "But I'm sure about what happens if we don't try. And I can't live with that."
"Neither can I," Sloane said quietly. "Which scares me. Because the right decision and the survivable decision aren't always the same thing."
"They are this time."
"You don't know that."
"No. But I believe it. And right now, that's all I have."
Sloane studied her for a long moment. Then nodded once. "Alright. Twenty-four hours. We get him out or we die trying."
"We get him out," Mara corrected. "Dying isn't on the agenda."
"It never is. Until it is."
Mara turned back to the screens showing the three possible sites. Somewhere in one of those buildings, Steele was waiting. Bleeding. Hurting. Hoping someone would come. He'd bought her time with his own blood. Had made the choice that saved Karim's life and cost him his freedom.
Now it was her turn. Her choice. Her chance to be the person who showed up when nobody else would.
Twenty-four hours. One joint operation. Two teams that shouldn't exist working together to save one man who'd sacrificed everything for a kid he'd never met.
It should've been impossible.
But then again, so was Shadow Veil. So was Delta Force. So was everything they'd built and everything they'd survived.
Impossible was just another word for Tuesday.
And they were just getting started.
FINAL PREPARATIONS
L'Abri Sûr, LouisianaEighteen Hours Later
Quinn's voice cut through the operations center at 0600, sharp with the kind of controlled excitement that came from breaking a problem that should've been unbreakable. "I've got him."
Mara was across the room in three strides, Sloane right behind her. The rest of the team materialized from various corners of the compound where they'd been running through equipment checks and contingency planning for the last twelve hours. Everyone converged on Quinn's station like moths to flame.
The main screen showed satellite imagery overlaid with communications intercepts, thermal patterns, and movement analysis. All of it pointing to a single location twelve kilometers outside Mosul. Site one. The basement structure with recent security upgrades and communications traffic that had been pinging Quinn's algorithms since they'd left Iraq.
"Confidence level?" Mara asked.
"Ninety-three percent." Quinn pulled up more data, her fingers flying across multiple keyboards simultaneously. "Heavy encrypted traffic to this location over the last eighteen hours.Medical supplies delivered six hours ago. Guard rotation changed from standard eight-hour shifts to twelve-hour shifts, which suggests they're consolidating personnel to protect something valuable. And this." She highlighted a thermal signature in the basement level. "Heat pattern consistent with a single person. Not moving much. Could be restrained or injured."
Mara stared at the screen. That thermal signature was a person. Was Steele. Was the man with the dark eyes and the calm voice who'd told her to go and then stayed behind to make sure she could. Her chest tightened.
"Nazari's there too," Quinn continued. "His vehicle's been at the site for the last fourteen hours. Pattern-of-life suggests he's personally overseeing whatever's happening in that basement."
Sloane leaned forward, studying the tactical overlay. "What about the other two sites?"
"Minimal activity. Site two has normal guard presence but no unusual communications. Site three is practically abandoned. This is it. This is where they're holding him."
Nadia was already pulling up breach plans on her tablet. "Security?"
"Eight guards visible on last thermal pass. Probably more inside. The building's three stories. Basement level is where the prisoner's being held. Ground floor looks like living quarters for the guards. Second floor is Nazari's personal space when he's there. Third floor is communications and surveillance."
Winter asked, "Exits?"
"Three confirmed. Main entrance on the north side. Service entrance on the east. Emergency exit on the south that probably leads to the basement level. There might be others we can't see from satellite."
