Shadow in the Mountain (Shadow SEALs)

by KaLyn Cooper

  “Fuck!”

  Ryker popped his head up so he could see her eyes. “What’s the matter?”

  Xena was staring at her watch. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

  He crawled up her body and looked down into her gorgeous golden eyes. “Xena, whatever it is, we’ll work it out. Just tell me, what’s the problem?”

  “I was supposed to call Serena and Ajax nearly forty minutes ago.” She rolled off the bed and ran to the bathroom. Clothes started flying through the door. “I need to find the satellite phone. I had one in my camouflage pants.”

  “Ajax, you fucking cock blocker.” Ryker swung his legs over the side of the bed and kicked something. Reaching down, he picked up a satellite phone. “Found it.”

  Her head appeared in the doorway. “You did?”

  Ryker waggled it and Xena came running. She tackled him onto the bed, kissing him all over his face.

  “Does this mean I can return to my previously scheduled activities?”

  “You can do anything you want. I’m going to call Serena.” Xena put the phone on speaker so he heard the ringing.

  “Birdman.” Ajax sounded anxious.

  “This is Xena. You guys okay?”

  “Right on track. You? Where’s Ryker?” Did Ajax think Xena had killed him? It had been a possibility that Ryker had discussed with his brother, fearing they were walking into an ambush to eliminate everyone on their SEAL squad.

  “I’m right here,” Ryker responded. “We’re on track too.” And I’m on track to give Xena another orgasm.

  He started to kiss his way down her flat stomach and ran a finger through her slit from her clit to her entrance, parting her folds. Smiling, he licked her the entire length before flicking the underside of her clitoris with his tongue.

  With a shaky breath, Xena said into the phone, “We’ll touch base again with you at the next agreed-upon time to make sure we’re both ready to strike at the same time.”

  “Got it. Be safe.” Ajax said.

  “You, too.” Xena quickly ended the call and tossed the phone on the nightstand. She glared at Ryker. “Oh, you dirty boy. Don’t you dare stop until I tell you.”

  Chapter 17

  When Xena walked into the dining room thirty minutes later, freshly showered, she hoped the completely satisfied look on her face didn’t give away the fact that she’d had multiple orgasms and it wasn’t even nine o’clock in the morning yet.

  “What the hell time does Seraw come to work?” Her father was staring at the phone lying next to his half-eaten plate of pancakes. “I’ve been trying to reach him for over an hour,” he complained to Clint, the only other person in the room. When his gaze met hers, he smiled. “Morning, princess. Ryker.”

  At the mention of his name, she glanced over her shoulder and never considered withholding her smile. After showering together, and orgasm number three, she’d sneaked into her room to change clothes.

  “Ryker, did you sleep well?” She knew she was teasing him.

  “Extremely well. And you?” With that confident swagger that made her wet, Ryker wandered to the coffee station and poured two cups. He handed her one then made his way back to the table, taking the chair he occupied the day before.

  On speaker, the phone continued to ring as her father stuffed a forkful of pancake into his mouth.

  “Neberu Mining, Ethiopia Division, this is Mekonnen Seraw. How can I help you?”

  “Good morning, Mekonnen. This is Adam Riggs and I believe I can help you.”

  “Greetings, Dr. Riggs. I’m listening.”

  “We were told one of the rebel armies has a truck belonging to your company. The kind with a big box on the back. I believe you use them for hauling material and equipment from one mine to another.” Digger glanced up as Blade and Van strode into the room. “We’re willing to help you retrieve your truck. All we need is the tracking identification number.”

  “I don’t believe I’m missing any truck,” Seraw snapped back. “And if one had been stolen last night, our corporate office in Saudi Arabia would quickly give me the GPS coordinates. I will, of course, look into that possibility immediately. Thank you for the offer. If there is nothing more, I will bid you good day.”

  The line went dead.

  Her father’s gaze met each person in the room. “He’s lying.”

  “Maybe he just doesn’t want to get in trouble with his boss. Zesaro Neberu is known to be ruthless.” Van filled his cup with coffee and sat down next to his father.

  The dark circles under Dell’s eyes were evidence of his long night as he dragged into the dining room. “Any luck with the tracking information?”

  “Unfortunately, no. I don’t believe we’ll be getting any cooperation from Neberu Mining.” Digger finished off the last of his pancakes and leaned back in his chair, sipping coffee.

  “Damn.” Dell plopped down next to Blade. “Do you know how many Mercedes-Benz vehicles are in this country? I can give you the exact number if you’re interested. About an hour ago I figured out how to discern cars from trucks. But there are hundreds of them, from small delivery trucks to eighteen-wheelers. Benz seems to be the brand of choice.”

  “The Germans have known how to make the desert-tolerant vehicles since World War II.” Her dad was about to start on another history lesson.

  “Dell, is there something we can do to help you today?” Xena asked, diverting everyone’s attention.

  “Not really, but thanks for offering.”

  “Dell, son, you need to get some sleep. I want you to rest your brain. Put down that coffee,” Digger ordered. “Nap for a few hours then hit it hard when you’re fresh.”

  Zala walked in with a tray of juice and took everyone else’s breakfast order.

  Xena was about to suggest to Ryder that after breakfast they go up on the hill to the airstrip and repack their parachutes when her satellite phone rang. Very few people had that number. She didn’t think Tracker was ready to come back yet, but whoever it was, the call was important.

  “Xena here.”

  “This is Charley.”

  Shit. I should have called her last night when we discovered the empty camp.

  “Charley, I have everybody here who will be involved in their rescue. I’m going to put you on speakerphone.” Since Charley had worked with them before, Xena knew the mysterious woman would only want to say this once. Xena laid her phone down in the middle of the table and depressed the speaker button. “Charley, I’m here with Ryker, Clint, Van, my dad, Blade, and Dell.”

  “Good. I’m glad everyone is there. I understand the rebels who were holding the SEALs moved.”

  “How the fuck do you know that?” Ryker glanced at Xena. She had no idea who was on Charley’s payroll, so she simply shrugged.

  “I have many sources everywhere, including one at the CIA. On the last satellite pass, they were able to capture several photographs. Their analysts couldn’t say for sure what these people are doing. All we know is that twenty-four hours ago they were not there, twelve hours ago it looks like the pictures I’m sending you now. Xena, you know where to retrieve the files.”

  Xena’s eyes tracked to Dell who always had a computer on him. He reached into a side pocket of his cargo pants and pulled out the tiniest computer she’d ever seen. It looked more like a tiny tablet, not much larger than a cell phone. Their resident geek unlocked the miniature device and handed it to her. She quickly logged into her former State Department email that they had never closed. She was able to retrieve highly classified documents through that system. When she pulled up the photographs, they were so tiny she couldn’t identify anything.

  “Charley, I’m going to print out these pictures so everyone can see them.” Dell grabbed the little computer and headed out of the room, fingers flying over the keyboard as he exited.

  “While Dell is printing the photographs, it looks as though Ajax and Serena are making good time.” Had Charley put some kind of tracking device on them? Xena wondered.

  �
�Yes, ma’am. We talked to them a few hours ago.” Xena wanted to blush remembering what Ryker had been doing during that call, but she remained focused.

  “I’m back.” Dell passed the photographs out as though he was dealing from a deck of cards.

  “The pictures don’t show very much due to the dense canopy of trees and the fact that people are wearing jungle camouflage, but it looks to me as though they might be setting up a camp near Jimma.” Charley grabbed a breath. “We’re not sure this is the right rebel group, but it’s worth a look. Good hunting. Charley out.”

  “I guess we have our marching orders.” Xena glanced around the table to see their reactions.

  “They really don’t show enough.” Her father picked up another photograph and examined it carefully. No one said a thing until everyone had scrutinized each picture.

  Filling his coffee cup one more time, Digger sat back down and leaned forward with his forearms on the table. “I fucking hate daytime reconnaissance. Van, I know you’re headed over to Riyadh, but I want you to make a slow pass over Jimma and send us the data right away. It won’t hurt if you return by that same route. The more information we can gather the better.”

  “Will do.” Van emptied his coffee cup and stood. “I’ll be back tonight.”

  “I want all of you to eat because it’s going to be a working lunch. When you’ve finished breakfast, let’s move this to the library so we can use the big topo maps.” Her father refilled his cup and carried it with him.

  Fifteen minutes later, Xena was fully caffeinated and followed Clint out the door, Ryker right beside her.

  When they arrived at the library, Dell already had maps pulled up everywhere.

  Clint shook his head. “I’d rather wait until night to drop in on them but that doesn’t give us enough time.”

  “A daytime approach quadruples our chance of getting caught,” Xena noted. “Dell, what do you think about using the drones again?”

  “They would be our best bet, but I don’t know how I would get close enough to the camp.”

  “We need to put him on the side of this mountain, right here.” Clint pointed to a spot on the map.”

  Dell chuckled. “I’m not one of you super soldiers. I don’t jump out of perfectly good airplanes.”

  “I’m sure they’re watching the roads so anywhere we stopped within a five-mile radius, they’d see us.” Blade interjected.

  “Once I’m close, I can set up a grid pattern and program four of the larger birds to crisscross two square miles while I send two of the little bees in to take pictures.” Dell shrugged. “I’m good, but I can only handle so many at a time.”

  “I’ve had a little experience with the drones,” Ryker offered. “I can only control one at a time. The ones we used in the SEALs were huge compared to the little bees he had last night. Ours were usually high in the sky, not dodging trees.”

  “It’s supposed to reach over one hundred degrees today. Thermal won’t do a damn bit of good and since we’re going during the day, NVG is useless.” Digger sipped his coffee.

  “Our tiny drones take video or photographs in full color.” Dell pulled up a video feed from the previous night where he’d flipped from thermal to color then back.

  “How hard is it to control one of these?” Clint pointed to the screen as the nearly silent micro-drone zipped around the empty camp. “Can you teach me in a few hours?”

  “Do you play a lot of video games?” Dell’s face looked serious.

  “Clint chuckled. “I have balls. Of course, I play video games.”

  “Hey,” Xena broke in. “I play video games too. I’m going to call my ovaries my lady balls so I have them too. Besides, I fly real airplanes and helicopters. How hard can this be?”

  “Xena, you have more balls than most of the men up on the hill.” Blade patted her on the shoulder. “I’d choose you to cover my back over anyone else…except Clint.”

  “That’s sweet of you to say.” She grinned up at him. “You can stay on my team.”

  “I had no intention of leaving.” Blade moved across the room to look at a different map.

  “Change of plans for today.” Her father stood. “Minimal insertion. No teams. Only the five of you. Dell, you’re going to conduct a drone class for these three, then you’re going to sleep while they practice. Blade, smallest chopper that meets their needs. Be in the air by one o’clock. I’ll be downstairs with the kids.”

  Her father smiled. “The earthquake was a big one. We’ve had a few deep tremors since yesterday morning. Our new volcanologist says we’re going to shake, rattle, and roll again within the next few days with an even bigger one. They’ve got a pool going downstairs if anyone wants in.”

  Xena couldn’t stop the shudder that overtook her whole body. Ryker placed his warm hand on the small of her back. Her brain heard his calming words, begging her to breathe with him, as he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Within three breaths, she had her body under control. She couldn’t do anything about the impending earthquake, only control her reaction to it. Being forewarned, she could be prepared.

  Clint’s words broke into her self-lecture. “We’ll jump onto the side of this mountain.”

  As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Xena suggested. “I think we should fast-rope down. Parachutes hang in the sky too long. Blade, you can land the chopper over here with Dell. We’ll be in a direct line for a clean feed to the computers.”

  “That’s perfect,” Dell said with a relieved smile. “I can get the larger drones running the pattern while you’re finding a place to hide yet hold a direct line of sight. The bigger birds can nail down the location and you can send the bees straight to it, saving time and battery power.”

  “I like the idea of fast-rope in, but what do you think about a SPIE extraction?” Clint referred to the Special Patrol Insertion/Extraction rigging where all three of them would clip into the same rope and be dragged through the air until it was safe for Blade to land the helicopter.

  “I like the idea, especially if we have to bug out fast,” Ryker noted. “I take it you have all the harnesses and D rings?”

  Clint chuckled. “We have everything you could imagine or want. That reminds me, Xena, are you taking your sniper rifle?”

  “I hadn’t thought about gear, yet. One of us should.” Even though they were going to be several miles away from the camp, long guns were always a good idea.

  The next several hours were filled with laughter and frustration as she, Clint, and Ryker honed their eye-hand coordination. The bees were so tiny, only an inch long, and extremely reactive to the handheld controllers. The only part that concerned Xena was the headgear necessary to see through the eyes of the drone. Their own protection would be at risk.

  Ryker must’ve had the same idea as he lifted the headset. “I know your dad said minimal insertion, but we’ll be sitting ducks on that mountainside.”

  “Yeah, I have to agree.” Clint landed his bug on the toe of his boot then whipped off his headgear to capture Xena’s gaze. “Javier is my best sniper. I trust him with my life and yours.”

  “Good choice,” she admitted. “He’s better than anyone else on my team…except me.”

  Clint pulled out his phone and made the call. “Hey, Javier, while you’re pulling gear, check the SPIE rope. We’ve used that one quite a bit in training over the last two months. It might have gotten stretched out to its limit. There’s a new one in the equipment locker.”

  “I’m ready to do this if you guys are.” Xena’s gaze was met with affirmative nods. “Let’s go grab some sandwiches from Zala. I need to change my clothes and then I’ll be ready to go.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Ryker agreed.

  “Dell should be awake by now.” Clint collected the miniature drones and placed them in the foam-lined steel case. “I’ll see if we have to change the batteries in these little buggers. Meet you at the ops center. Dell moved all the communications equipment there. Hey, sis, grab me some sandw
iches, please.”

  “Only because I love you.” She patted the side of his face. “Four? Six?”

  “Make it six. I might keep one or two for an afternoon snack.”

  Xena laughed. Her brother’s appetite was insatiable.

  “Spare sandwiches sound like a great idea,” Ryker said as he walked beside her toward the house. He glanced back over his shoulder before leaning in close and whispering in her ear, “We have time for me to put a smile on your face, again.”

  She was about to tell him that they really didn’t, then he nipped the skin on her neck. She’d make time. She, too, had an insatiable appetite…for Ryker.

  Chapter 18

  Xena led the way into the operations center where Clint was changing the batteries in the little bees and Dell worked feverishly between the three keyboards. Two of the larger drones sat on the ends of the semicircle, plugged into computers.

  “That’s the size we used in the SEALs,” Ryker announced. “We flew the drones real-time rather than programming them. Sorry, Dell, but I doubt if I could help you.”

  “I’m sure you can’t but thanks for offering. I rewrote their program to meet our needs. The drones are used to working in pairs but for some reason, the four of them keep getting confused.” Dell stared at numbers and lines of code. “Maybe if I…”

  “Okay, then. We’ll just leave you alone. How’s it going over here, big brother?” she handed Clint a bag filled with sandwiches.

  “Fine on my end.” He grabbed a sandwich off the top and took it out of the plastic bag. “I got a few more batteries to change out and these will be ready to go.” He took a huge bite, devouring almost a third.

  “Since this may be a while, we’re going to repack our parachutes from last night and adjust our harnesses. You want us to grab comm units while we’re here?”

  “Yeah. We’ll take off as soon as he’s ready.” Clint nodded to Dell as he started into his second sandwich.