I replayed the mission briefing in my head as we huddled against the back of the garage. Going in, we were most vulnerable to sniper attack when looping around the garage and running along the cinderblock wall toward the elder’s presumed living quarters. Pentz would have at least twenty seconds for a clear shot at us assuming he was on the tower or in the village. For a sniper of his skill at that range, nailing us would be even easier than hacking credit card info from Home Supplies Warehouse. Although Gray had assured us we probably wouldn’t be targeted going in, we weren’t taking any chances.
I closed my eyes. Even if Pentz didn’t go after us on the sprint to the house, the doorway in would be a perfect spot for him to pick us off one by one. We couldn’t congregate there. Instead, we’d run past the door, around the corner of the house to a little niche created by the corner of the building, protecting us from the line of sight to the tower. We’d have some protection there from Pentz, if he were indeed on the water tower.
We had a lot riding on Hands’s and the analysts’ guesses of Pentz’s location. If they were right, they each had a nice dinner in their future, assuming I got back to take them out. For now, I knew Bravo Team was planning a distraction to support our sprint to the house. I hoped it lasted long enough to make the subsequent run from the corner through the door. I just hoped to hell there weren’t armed men inside waiting to ambush us.
Right now I was breathing so hard, I was sure Wills or Hands would motion for me to shut up. But they were completely in the zone, focused, coiled and ready for action. I squeezed my hands together as tightly as I could and tried to stay calm.
The radio cackled in my helmet. “Alpha Team we have a visual. Confirmed MAM on the tower.”
I leaned over to Wills. “What’s a MAM?” I whispered.
“Military-aged male,” he whispered back.
“Pentz?”
Wills shrugged.
I leaned back against the wall. Oh, God. It was game on.
Right freaking now.
“Stand by Alpha Team.”
It seemed like we waited forever behind the garage, but it was probably no more than two minutes tops.
“Alpha Team, you are a go in three, two, one.”
Hands suddenly sprinted from behind the garage. We followed him in formation. As I rounded the garage along the cinder block wall, I saw silent plumes of smoke going up around the water tower. Smoke grenades, I presumed, probably dropped by the drone. Silent, but hopefully effective in obscuring the sniper’s view of us. I might have marveled more at the ingenuity if I hadn’t been so damn scared.
Go, go, go, the voice in my helmet urged.
No one had to tell me twice. I ran like I’d never run before—well at least since the last time I was wearing combat boots, a two-pound helmet with night vision goggles and full body armor. We raced to the small house, past the entryway door, and dashed around the corner. They jammed me into the corner with all three SEALs pressing against me. I couldn’t see a thing except for the stone wall. As far as I could tell no one had been shot and we were all still alive.
So far.
My heart was pounding so hard I thought I might keel over.
“Alpha Team in position,” Hands said softly.
“Stand by, Alpha Team.”
Seconds ticked past.
“Alpha Team, MAM is on the move. Go.”
The SEALs instantly acted. Hulk moved into an outer protective stance while Hands gave me a signal to stay put. He went around the corner, got down on his knees and reached up for the door handle. It was unlocked. He held up three gloved fingers and began to countdown silently.
Three, two, one.
He went in low, followed by Wills. Hulk stayed out with me. I realized why they’d moved now. If the sniper was on the move for a reposition, he couldn’t shoot us. That made us temporarily safe, relatively speaking. I strained to listen, but heard only faint sounds from inside the house. Adrenaline coursed through my body and it seemed like each of my senses strained and stretched on overload. After about a minute and a half I heard a noise and the radio cackled.
“House clear. Target acquired. Do we have a location on the MAM?”
“MAM is still moving.”
“Alpha Star, enter the house.”
Hulk moved in front of me as I rounded the corner and pushed open the door. I slipped inside while Hulk remained outside and disappeared back around the corner.
Wills took my arm. We stood in a lit room partitioned by sheets. I caught the faint scent of onions and garlic. Hands had pulled aside all of the curtains and left them open. A glance to my right showed a young woman and two small children, probably no more than three or four years old huddled together on a mattress. To the right of me, a man, perhaps the father of the children, sat backward on a chair, his hands bound behind him. Hands had his weapon trained on a gray-haired, bearded man wearing a long gray gown, probably his nightclothes. He stood in what looked like the kitchen. Hands motioned to him with his rifle and the man moved toward me.
“I am Abdou Ngobogo. Who are you?”
I pulled off my helmet. My ponytail was plastered to my head. “I’m Lexi Carmichael. Do you speak English?”
“Yes.”
“Are you the village elder?”
“Yes. I am expecting you. You look like your picture.”
“That’s a miracle. I’ve looked a lot better.”
He smiled a bit at that. “However, I must confirm it is you.”
“How do you propose to do that?”
“I have a device. You will press your index finger to it and it will confirm your identity.”
Hands listened to something and I assumed there was chatter on the radio. I no longer wore my helmet, so I couldn’t hear it.
“Where is this device?” I asked.
“In that top drawer.” He pointed to a dresser.
“Get the woman in here,” Hands said to Wills. “Have her retrieve it.”
Wills came back with the woman. She was clearly terrified. I wanted to tell her it would be all right, but I didn’t know if that were true. I said nothing.
Abdou murmured something to her, then she walked to the dresser on trembling legs. The kids stood nearby crying for her. If it were possible, I hated Broodryk even more for dragging children into this. He would have known the elder’s family lived with him and that children would be put in danger.
The woman carefully reached into the drawer while Wills kept his gun trained on her. She pulled out a small device about the size of my palm. She tried to hand it to Wills, but he motioned to me with his gun, so she walked back to me and handed it over. Tears were pooled in her big brown eyes. I took the device gently. She ran back to the children and hugged them to her breast. I flipped the device opened.
“It’s a biometric reader,” I said, examining it.
“Are you sure?” Hands asked. “Can you work it?”
“Probably. Give me a minute.”
It was easier to figure out than I’d expected. “Got it. I press my finger here. Confirmation of my identity should be instantaneous. Broodryk’s probably already got my fingerprint in here, so it will just be a matter of confirming the match.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
“I think so. That’s the best answer I can give you.”
“Do it,” Hands said. “The clock is ticking.”
I pressed my finger to the spot and waited. Two seconds later a green outline appeared around my finger with a word in French. I angled it at Wills, who read it. “Accepted. You’re confirmed, Lexi Carmichael.”
I took the device over to Abdou and showed him. “I’m me, so let’s deal.”
“Not yet. There is one more test.”
“Test?”
“Yes. Here.”
He started to reach into his pocket, then paused when Hands pressed the gun against his neck.
“Take it slow, buddy.”
Abdou carefully pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. He handed it to me.
I took it and unfolded it.
“What does it say?” Hands asked.
“I don’t know yet. It’s in code.”
“We don’t have time to play games.”
I looked up from the paper. “It’s not a game. It’s a test, just like he said.”
Abdou nodded. “You must solve it, Lexi Carmichael. If you do not, than I am unable to provide the information you seek. He said you would be able to solve it.”
“I will.”
His hands shook. “Please. If you do not, he will return and kill my family.”
I met his gaze. “I will provide the answer. I promise. Just give me a minute.”
“We don’t have much more than a minute,” Hands warned. “So make it snappy.”
I dug in my cargo pants for a pen. I found it and moved over to the table, starting the calculations.
It was a standard ASCII code, which was good because I was really nervous and that made it hard to think straight. Plus my fingers were sweaty. They kept sliding off the pen, making it hard to form the numbers I needed to make. Regardless, it only took me about three minutes to break the code.
“I did it,” I said.
“Great,” said Wills. “Tell him the answer and let’s go.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Hands sighed. “I had a feeling you were going to say that.”
“I broke the code, but it’s a riddle.”
“A what?” Hands let out a stream of curse words. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I’m not. This is what it says. ‘I exist for the young, but the old can use me, too. I’m a thief, but I’m a welcome guest to those who don’t wish to pay. I capture sound, although I make none. What am I?’”
Hands lifted a hand. “What the hell does that mean?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Well, you’d better a get an idea soon or we’re going to need a new plan of action.”
I closed my eyes to think. But instead of trying to solve the riddle, I thought about its purpose. Broodryk had used a biometric scanner to ensure my presence. But biometric readers could be fooled, if we had come prepared and considered that possibility. So, just in case, he’d want to have a backup plan, another way to ensure I’d truly come on the mission and not sent someone else in my place. Therefore, it was logical to assume a code and subsequent riddle would be one only I could solve. The code was the initial layer, but the answer to the riddle would have to prove to him I was indeed Lexi Carmichael.
That was actually a positive development because that meant by necessity, the riddle would have to be born of our shared experience. That narrowed the field of possibility and variables considerably. Now would be the time to put my photographic memory into play.
I started reviewing our contact from the moment I’d first seen Broodryk’s face on the computer screen at the high school. The riddle answer came to me faster than I expected.
I opened my eyes. “I have it.”
“Hallelujah,” Hands said with enthusiasm. “Tell him and let’s get a move on.”
Abdou shook his head. “No. She does not tell me. She has to enter the letters on a box. It is the code to open it and retrieve the information you seek.”
Hands frowned. “Where’s this box?”
“No. I will not tell you yet. You must first give me the information on the Kwabano. It was the deal.”
Hands looked like he was about to argue, but I held up a hand. “Fine. I’ll go first. I’ll pull up the information on the Kwabano on my laptop and show it to you, so you can be assured I have it. You’ll then give me the box. When I’m convinced I have what I need, I’ll write down the coordinates for you, so you don’t have to rely on your memory, which can become impaired under extreme duress. When we are both satisfied we have the information we need, we will leave so you can resume your regularly scheduled life. Okay?”
Abdou thought for a moment and then nodded. “That is fair. I will not trick you.”
“Right back at you. We don’t have a beef with you.”
I’m not sure he got the colloquial phrase, but he didn’t protest when I unzipped my backpack, pulled out the laptop and sat on the floor as I booted it up. I pulled up the information he had requested and turned the screen toward him.
“Here you go. These are the most recent coordinates we could find on the militia leader who kidnapped the members of your village.” I tapped the keyboard, pulling up a satellite image of the first coordinate. “I think you should start here. The leader of the Kwabano was spotted in this village just over twenty-four hours ago. Satellite images also indicate a large number of children in this location, too.”
I swallowed, sickened by the thought that young boys and girls had been kidnapped and used as pawns in some kind of local power struggle.
“I sincerely hope you find them and get them back. This kind of thing, kidnapping and hurting children, makes me sick. I wish you the very best.”
He looked surprised, then nodded. “Thank you. We were desperate, which is why I agreed to do this.”
“I understand completely. It’s okay. Good luck, and I mean that. Now it’s your turn. Where’s the box?”
“I must retrieve it from under my bed.”
Hands moved closer, pressing his gun against Abdou’s neck. “Nice and easy.”
Abdou and Hands shuffled to his bed and reached underneath. He felt around and pulled out a small rectangular box. He held it up and I took it from him.
I put the box on the table and examined it. The top had a small screen and a keypad. It was live and blinking, so it was probably working off of a battery.
“You must not try and take the box from my house.” Abdou spoke softly. “He says it will explode. You must open it while in the house in order to deactivate it and obtain the information inside.”
“What if I plug in a wrong answer?”
“I do not know.”
I glanced over at Hands. “What do you want me to do?”
“You know the answer to that riddle?”
“I think so.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. I’m going with a 96.4 percentage rate of certainty that the answer is Phantomonics.”
“What the hell is that?”
“It’s a music pirating software used mostly by teens that Elvis planted in the school’s computer system during Broodryk’s terrorist operation. It didn’t stop him, but it pissed him off. He needed a student to shut it down, so I volunteered. By doing that, it permitted me a front row seat at the show and the opportunity to put a crimp in his plan.”
“Which you did.”
“Yes.”
“Well, stop him again. Do it.”
Nodding, I leaned over the keypad and typed in the letters. My finger trembled as it hovered over the enter button. “Okay, here we go.”
I held my breath as I pressed the button. There was a beep and the box popped open. A flash drive was nestled inside.
I grabbed the flash drive. “It worked.”
“Good.” I could hear the relief in Hands’s voice. “Bravo One, package secure.”
I quickly plugged the flash drive in to the laptop and data scrolled across my screen. I downloaded the information and then pulled the flash drive out, giving it to Hands. After that I asked Abdou to get me a piece of paper. He handed me an old piece of newspaper on which I jotted the coordinates he needed.
I handed it to him. “We’re good now. Thank you.”
I knelt and returned m
y laptop to the pack, hoisting it on my back. I retrieved my helmet and secured it under my arm.
“Time for this party to be over,” Hands said. “Alpha Three, how are things out there?”
“Quiet,” Hulk replied. “Cobra 1 has been notified and has begun the tactical descent on schedule.”
“Bravo Team, any sight of the MAM?”
“Negative. We lost him.”
“Shit.”
“I bet it was part of the plan,” I offered. “Broodryk gave me a simple, but time-consuming code and riddle to stretch out our operation. He had to make it easy enough for me to solve fairly quickly, but long enough to give him precious minutes to do whatever he is planning to complicate our exit strategy. I would venture a supposition that Broodryk did that so Pentz could have time to reposition if we were able to interfere with his initial line of fire, which we were. Seeing as how our planned escape via an exit within this hut is no longer viable, we’re going to have to go back out the front door, where I believe Pentz is all lined up and ready to play target practice.”
The room fell silent with all the men staring at me, including Abdou.
Hands spoke into his helmet. “Bravo Team, we have a problem.”
“Alpha Team, report.”
“Time to move to Plan B. Intended egress is a no go. Our assumption that this structure has an interior door to the meeting house is incorrect. We have to go back out through the door we came in. We’re going to be sitting ducks. Check those two-story buildings for him. He’d want the height.”
“Already checked, Alpha One. No visual and no thermal signatures sighted there.”
“Damn. We don’t have time to wait. Drop the smoke grenades near all of the tall buildings and we’ll move.”
“Negative. We’re out of smoke. Flash grenades only.”
Hands shifted the gun and grimaced. “Great. When they go off, everyone within ten miles of the village will wake up and all hell will break loose. Time until Cobra 1 arrives?”
No Woman Left Behind: A Lexi Carmichael Mystery, Book Six Page 18
