Page 19

“Beat you,” he crowed over the comm. “Experience once again beats youth.”

“Asshole,” Landon muttered.

“On my mark,” Kostya said.

Linc looked over at Jase, who was in the passenger seat. He didn’t have a good view of the road. He looked back over his shoulder at Mateo. “You got ‘em?” he asked.

“Yep,” Mateo answered.

“Good.” Linc shoved his binoculars into his chest pack and started up the engine, and shoved it into reverse. He was ready.

“Now!” Kostya growled into the comm.

He couldn’t see the target, all he was concentrating on was backing up onto the highway so that he could blockade it without jamming into the vehicle that Jonas was driving. Linc grinned when they both stopped, mere inches between their vehicles.

He whipped his head around and grinned again. The OKA couldn’t stop in time. It veered to the right, its bumper hitting his Humvee, then pinged off it like a pinball and twirled so that the side of the car slammed into Jonas’ vehicle. The truck behind tried to stop in time, even from where he was, behind his closed window. Linc could smell the burning rubber as the truck did its best to stop. At the last minute, it took a hard right to avoid the metal barrier in front of it, aiming for the sand on the side of the highway. Linc watched as the truck started to tip. Even from where he was sitting, he could see the panic on the driver’s face. He winced when the truck crashed onto its side.

“Linc, you and your men take the truck. We’ll check out the car and then be with you,” Kostya ordered.

Linc was out of their vehicle before he knew what he was doing. Years of training kicking in. His rifle was up and ready. He heard gunshots behind him, but he didn’t react. His attention was on the truck and the driver who was fumbling for his rifle.

“Stop. Hands up.” That was Jase behind him. His Arabic was the best in his vehicle. The driver continued to go for his rifle. He started to raise it. Linc shot him in the head. The four of them didn’t even need to discuss who went right and who went left; again all their time training and working together took over. They worked like a well-oiled machine. Linc had Matteo with him on the left and Jase was taking the right side.

“Landon. Ryker. Anything from your POV?” Kostya asked the men in the turrets.

“Negative,” they both answered.

“Ours are down. We’re coming in from the right. The three of you take the left,” Kostya ordered. “You know what to do.”

There wasn’t a chance in hell they were just going to head to the end of the truck like lambs to slaughter. Linc slid his knife out of its sheath and silently cut into the tarp where it met the cab. He lifted it just enough so he could see in. It was dark, and it took a moment for his eyes to adjust.

Three men were crouched down. One had his automatic rifle pointed at what was once the ceiling.

“Rifle pointed your way,” he whispered almost silently into his mic. “Middle of truck.”

“Understood.” Kostya’s whisper was barely heard, but Linc knew he was moving his team.

One of the three men had his rifle pointed toward the mouth of the truck entrance, ready for an attack. The third man had his rifle pointed at a young woman. She had pale blonde hair. Not Leila. She and two men were tied up. Why they bothered with the men was beyond him. They were unconscious and looked like they had been beaten within an inch of their lives. The woman’s blouse was in tatters and her bra only covered one breast, but at least her slacks were still on.

The terrorists started whispering. Loud enough that Linc could hear, but not understand.

Linc tilted his head at Jase. He came over and took Linc’s place.

Jase listened for a couple of minutes, then backed up so that he could report to everyone. “They think al-Assad’s men have surrounded them. They want to trade the people in the truck for safe passage back to Al Hasakah.”

“Who do they have in the truck?” Kostya asked.

“The two men, and the blonde. I think that’s Katherine Cole’s secretary,” Jase answered.

“That would explain why we haven’t gotten any signals from Leila’s piece of shit phone.” Gideon’s voice was filled with disgust.

Gunshots filled the air.

“Go time,” Kostya bit out.

Jase fired into the truck as Linc ripped back the tarp to let in more light. He saw light coming in from the other side. Two men down.

Shit!