Crossfire

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  “A message came down a few minutes ago. That CIA guy, Ellison, is supposed to be arriving in a few hours for another set of debriefings.”

  “All right.” Seth turned back to Brent and asked, “Any more news about Kel?”

  “Not yet.” Brent shook his head.

  Seth dropped into a chair and ran a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Brent. I should have taken Akil Ramir out instead of going with him.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Brent asked now, curiosity in his voice rather than accusation.

  “I was afraid that his plans would go forward whether he was alive or not,” Seth told him before admitting his deeper fear. “I was also worried Vanessa would be hit. Halim already had his gun drawn when he came into the boathouse.”

  “Both of which were good reasons to go undercover instead,” Brent stated matter-of-factly.

  Seth shook his head, not convinced. “I never should have had you come in after us. I could have kept sending messages out instead.”

  “Yeah, but for how long?” Brent asked. He shook his head and continued. “Seth, this isn’t your fault. If we hadn’t gotten you out when we did, there’s no way to be sure you could have given us all of the information you gathered. Not to mention that you were never prepped to go undercover at the fortress in the first place.”

  “Still, this never should have happened.”

  Amy pushed back from her computer station and crossed the room to face the two men. She folded her arms across her chest and stared at Seth. “Are you finished beating yourself up yet?”

  Seth turned to look at her and recognized the defiant look in her eyes. He knew Amy well enough to know how to avoid a confrontation with her, but he stepped into the line of fire anyway. “Amy, it’s my fault that Kel was shot,” Seth told her. “There was a reason we didn’t go in after Fahid Ramir at the fortress three years ago. The risks were too high.”

  “And Kel knew the risks. Now it’s time to get over it,” Amy stated. “Besides, this is one of the risks you all took when you signed up to be SEALs.”

  “Yeah, but you know that we tend to avoid missions where we’re sure to have people shooting at us.”

  “Did you pray before you sent that message out?”

  “What?”

  “You heard me,” Amy insisted. “When you sent out the message giving us the time to be at the extraction point—did you pray before you sent it?”

  “Yeah.” Seth shook his head, bewildered. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “We prayed before they left to meet you too,” Amy told him. “And we trusted the Lord to watch over everyone during this mission, even knowing the risks.”

  Her posture changed from confrontational to understanding. She laid a hand on Seth’s arm and continued. “Kel put his life in the Lord’s hands, and this is what happened. For some reason, this is a challenge he has to go through. One way or another though, he’s going to be all right.”

  “I hope so,” Tristan muttered under his breath.

  “And you.” Amy wagged a finger at Tristan, sounding much more like his mother than a coworker.

  “What? I didn’t do anything.”

  “No, but you’re going to.” Amy pointed at the door. “Go find a phone and call your wife. Chances are the news will leak out about a sailor getting injured. You don’t want Riley to think it’s you.”

  “Why would she think that the injured sailor is me?”

  “Men.” Amy sighed heavily. “Just trust me on this.”

  Quinn walked into the boardroom and effectively interrupted Amy’s lecture. “I think we caught a break.”

  “What?” Seth asked anxiously.

  “We got something from that cell phone you lifted off the man in your room. They confirmed that he was one of Morenta’s men,” Quinn told him, riffling through the file he held. “Intel tracked all of the calls for the phone numbers that were in his address book. We definitely found some interesting conversations.”

  “What did you find out?”

  Quinn finally found the paper he was looking for and handed it to Seth. “Look at this one.”

  Brent moved closer so he could read it as well. The descriptive line on the top of the page annotated that it was a dialogue between two men.

  Voice 1: You said your security was infallible. I lost three men last night.

  Voice 2: What happened last night had nothing to do with my security and everything to do with you. Who were those men?

  Voice 1: I could ask you the same thing.

  Voice 2: Tell me where Lina is.

  Voice 1: Ahhh. You think I sent some of my men in so that I would have some extra insurance.

  Voice 2: The thought crossed my mind. One of your men was found unconscious in her room.

  Voice 1: A minor casualty in a much larger picture. It is time for us to look to the future. Get your people in place. I want everything to stay on schedule.

  Voice 2: Return my niece to me, or nothing will happen. On schedule or otherwise.

  Voice 1: Perhaps you don’t understand. We will go forward with the plan or you can be certain you will never see your niece again. I will talk to you again in three days after you finish your work.

  Seth read through the text twice before looking up at the rest of his squad and handing the paper back to Quinn, who then passed it to Amy. “This had to be Akil and Morenta talking.”

  “Morenta actually took credit for taking Lina,” Brent said with a shake of his head. “You’ve got to love the nerve of this guy.”

  “You know what this means?” Amy asked after reading through the text as well. “Ramir doesn’t have a clue that the SEALs were at the fortress last night. Other than the men he lost during your skirmish, he is likely to go forward on schedule.”

  “Yeah, but Morenta knows we were there. He might not know it was U.S. Navy SEALs, but he has to know that someone else came in and took Lina,” Brent reminded her.

  “Morenta may not care who was at the fortress last night,” Seth said now. “He’s ruthless enough to push past anything that gets in his way. If he wants this border surveillance system destroyed, I don’t think he’s going to let on that he knows there may be some unexpected obstacles, especially if he’s having Ramir do the dirty work.”

  “And letting Ramir think that he has Lina not only hides the fact that there may be some opposition to their plans—it also gives him some added influence to get the job done,” Tristan surmised.

  “Exactly,” Brent agreed.

  “We’ve got to figure out where they’re planning to attack from,” Seth said, stating the obvious.

  Brent nodded. “And soon.”

  29

  Vanessa stepped into the conference room on the ship and looked around. A television in the corner was on, but no one seemed to be watching it, and several people were scattered around the room. To her surprise, Seth wasn’t one of them. She had expected him to get her for this debriefing, but instead a civilian named Amy had come to escort her here. Amy motioned to the long table situated in the middle of the room. “Go ahead and sit down. The rest of my squad should be here shortly.”

  “Thanks,” Vanessa said as Amy moved to the head of the table, where an officer was speaking with an enlisted man. She thought that both of them had been among those who had rescued her from Akil Ramir, but she couldn’t be sure. Even after all of the training she had gone through, she was having trouble distinguishing exactly what had happened in the early morning hours, especially after the first shots were fired.

  As Vanessa reached for a chair, a man in civilian clothes stood and offered a hand. “Vanessa, I’m Rick Ellison. CIA.”

  She shook his hand, trying to remember where she had heard his name before. “You’re the one who sent Seth in to find me.”

  “That’s right.” Rick waited for her to sit down and then took the seat beside her. “I don’t know if you are aware, but we did find a leak at the field office in Santo Domingo.”

  “N
o, I hadn’t heard.” Vanessa shook her head. “That’s good news.”

  Before Rick could say anything else, Seth walked in with another man in uniform. Seth’s eyes met hers briefly before he and the other man sat down across the table from her and Rick Ellison.

  “Let’s get started,” the man at the head of the table said. He stood long enough to flip off the television, effectively silencing the broadcast about a trial in Phoenix for a drug smuggler. He then introduced himself as Lieutenant Brent Miller before proceeding to introduce everyone at the table, including Seth, his teammates, and their intelligence officer, Amy Miller.

  As soon as the introductions were made, Amy asked Brent, “Where do we stand on locating the Z-10s?”

  “The other SEAL squad did succeed in placing locators on two of the Z-10s at the fortress. They weren’t able to tag the third one because of the activity during our escape,” Brent informed them. “The other Z-10 was shot during the encounter.”

  “There were other SEALs there last night?” Vanessa looked at them wide-eyed.

  Brent nodded. “A two-man team went in through the jungle to infiltrate the airfield. One of our main objectives was to be able to track these helicopters so that we could determine where Ramir is planning to strike from.”

  “Where are the helicopters now?” Ellison asked.

  “They’re both still at the fortress,” Brent Miller informed him.

  “I’ll need the frequency of the tracking devices so that the CIA can keep tabs on these helicopters as well,” Ellison said as he jotted down some notes.

  “Negative,” Brent said, his voice commanding. “This information is need-to-know.”

  Ellison looked up, clearly surprised that he was being denied access. “But now that the mole has been identified, surely we need to give the intelligence community the means to battle this potential terrorist threat.”

  Seth spoke now. “You only identified one mole. Our impression was that Halim had more than one source.”

  “Your impression,” Ellison repeated. “You don’t have any facts to support this theory. It’s hard enough to believe that Ramir managed to trick one woman into leaking information. Having a second source is highly unlikely.”

  “The mole you identified was a woman?” Vanessa asked. “When Halim spoke to me about his sources, he definitely indicated that one was a man who could be trusted. He never spoke of a woman.”

  “Halim might have been referring to Roberto, the woman’s boyfriend. Besides, how can we be sure he trusted you?”

  “He didn’t trust me,” Vanessa said bluntly. “But he believed I was Lina Ramir, and he didn’t have a reason to lie to me.”

  “I agree with Vanessa,” Seth said now. “I overheard Halim and Akil talking, and they talked about their sources—plural.”

  “With the intensive background searches and routine polygraphs we do at the CIA, I really have a hard time believing that two people got past the system.”

  “Halim never said the mole was CIA,” Vanessa told him. “For all we know, it’s someone working at Fort Huachuca. It could even be some senator’s aide on Capital Hill.”

  “That’s true,” Amy agreed. “I can try to get a list of everyone who has access to this information.”

  “We need more than the names on a piece of paper.” Vanessa’s eyebrows lifted. “This strike is supposed to happen within a couple of days.”

  Seth nodded in agreement. “Vanessa’s right. We need to get out to Fort Huachuca and meet the people involved.”

  The door opened, and the executive officer walked in. “Excuse me, Lieutenant, but we have a problem.”

  “What’s wrong?” Brent took the piece of paper that was handed to him. He quickly skimmed through it, his mouth tightening into a hard line as he looked back up at Ellison. “How many people in your agency know about this impending terrorist threat?”

  “Only a handful,” Ellison told him. “Why?”

  “Those helicopters aren’t at the fortress anymore.”

  “But you just said—”

  “The tracking devices are still at the fortress, but the last set of satellite photos revealed that the helicopters are no longer there.”

  “What?”

  “It seems that someone tipped Ramir off that we tagged them.”

  “I don’t know how that could have happened.” Ellison shook his head in disbelief. “I didn’t know anything about the SEALs planning to track the helicopters until just now.”

  “If someone didn’t tip him off, how else could Ramir have known to look for the tracking devices?”

  “I hate to say it, but it’s possible Halim was just being paranoid.” Vanessa shook her head. “After that firefight last night, it’s likely he had the helicopters checked out before they lifted off.”

  Quinn spoke now. “It doesn’t matter how they found the trackers.”

  “But it does matter if Ramir knows that we’re on to him,” Ellison insisted.

  “Maybe it was Morenta who located the trackers,” Seth said, considering. “He obviously knows that someone was at the fortress last night, and we think that he bought two of the helicopters from Ramir.”

  “That’s true,” Vanessa agreed. “And since it appears that Morenta wants their plans to move forward no matter what, we know he wouldn’t tell Akil if he did find them.”

  “And if Ramir is the one who found them?” Ellison asked.

  “Morenta would probably take credit for it, just like he took credit for kidnapping Lina,” Seth told him.

  Impatiently Quinn spoke once more. “Regardless of who found them, we need to figure out where the Z-10s are now.”

  “He’s right,” Brent agreed. “Tristan, get us some transportation to Arizona.”

  Tristan gave a brief nod and pushed back from the table. As he left the room, Ellison stood up. “I can’t stress enough that I need constant updates on what you find.”

  “In that case, I suggest you set up an office for Amy at CIA headquarters. She can act as our liaison,” Brent told him. If he noticed the surprised look on Amy’s face, he didn’t show it. “If our information is correct, whatever Ramir is planning is going down the day after tomorrow. We need every satellite image specialist you’ve got looking for those Z-10s. Finding those helicopters is our best chance to stop this strike before it starts.”

  “Fine.” Ellison nodded. “There’s a military transport scheduled to take me and Vanessa back to Virginia in an hour. I’m sure there’s an extra seat for Amy.”

  Vanessa turned to face Ellison. “I’m going with them.”

  “What? What do you mean you’re going with them?” Ellison shook his head. “I came here to escort you back so you could bring everyone in our agency up to speed on the situation.”

  “Right now I’ll be more valuable trying to stop Akil,” Vanessa told him. “And the best place to do that is by going out to Arizona with the Saint Squad.” She turned to look at Brent for confirmation of her decision. He gave her a subtle nod, but when she looked at Seth, she could tell he clearly didn’t agree with her decision.

  Brent stood up, effectively ending the meeting. “Everyone go get your gear together. Plan on leaving in one hour.”

  Vanessa stayed where she was, unsure of what to do next. She didn’t have any belongings to gather, nor did she have any quarters assigned to her. She watched the room empty as Amy pulled Brent aside and Seth approached her.

  Vanessa didn’t have to wait for Seth to say the words. She already knew from the expression on his face that he didn’t want her to come to Arizona. “Seth, I’m coming.”

  “I don’t want you there,” Seth insisted. “This strike is expected to happen within forty-eight hours. I don’t want you anywhere near the target area.”

  “So you want me to sit around and worry about you instead.” Vanessa crossed her arms across her chest. “Sorry. Not going to happen.”

  “There’s no reason for you to come.”

  “Yes, there is,” Va
nessa insisted. “I’ve spent the past year watching Ramir’s associates come and go through La Playa. I have a better chance of spotting a plant than anyone, and you know it. Besides, if Amy is going back with Ellison, your squad will already have someone working the CIA angle of things.”

  “The fact that Brent is sending Amy to Langley proves that this situation is too high risk.” Seth nodded to where Amy was clearly questioning Brent’s decision.

  “I don’t get what Amy going to headquarters has to do with anything.”

  “Amy is Brent’s wife. He must be really worried if he’s willing to risk Amy’s wrath to keep her out of the action.”

  “We’re all worried.” Vanessa lowered her voice. “But we didn’t risk leaving the fortress to back down now. We can win this battle, but you have to trust me to help.” She put her hand on his arm and added, “Seth, this is my job too.”

  Seth let out a sigh—the one that Vanessa recognized as his “I don’t agree with you, but I know I’m going to lose this argument” sigh. Resigned, he motioned to the door. “Come on. You can wait in our boardroom while I get my gear together.”

  30

  “What do we have so far?” Brent asked the moment he boarded the military airplane that would take them to Fort Huachuca.

  Quinn looked up from one of the aisle seats. “It looks like Morenta is back in Colombia, but we have no idea if Ramir is still at his fortress.”

  Seth stowed his gear, shoving it into place a bit harder than necessary. He still couldn’t believe that Vanessa was coming with them into what might very well turn into a war zone within the next forty-eight hours. He took a steadying breath and looked over at Brent. “I think Ramir’s still there. That’s where he feels the safest.”

  “Regardless of where he is, we still don’t have anything conclusive on where those Z-10s are parked,” Tristan said as he continued to flip through the stack of satellite photos he held.

  “I have to believe those antiaircraft guns were headed for Mexico,” Vanessa said, looking down at her own set of photos. She had taken the window seat behind Tristan as though inviting Seth to sit beside her, but her focus was clearly on finding the Z-10s. “And it would make sense; the antiaircraft guns would be needed to protect the helicopters’ new home base.”