by Holden, Abby
"And, so?" Jake asked him.
"Just be aware," Harding said with a piercing gaze. After his statement, no one spoke, but he continued to look at Jake. "Your decision?"
"Not yet." Jake shook his head.
"I need to know soon," Harding replied.
"And when I know, I'll let you know."
Harding stood and looked at Megan. "Talk to him." He walked out the door shutting it behind him.
Jake turned to Megan.
She ran a hand over her face. "That was way too close today." She held out a shaky hand in front as her.
***
The next night after curfew, Megan was standing in her office, hands on hips, pissed off. "Why now?"
"Because we have a tip that he'll be in the village during tribal quarrel disputes. Since it's so close to last time and we don't have a team operational, they won't suspect that we'll try again," Harding insisted. He sat behind the desk with an open file on top. It showed the picture of a man, the local warlord, and information about him.
"Well, they would be right; we don't have a team operational. Gunner's just barely alive."
Harding nodded with a slight smile.
"I hate it when you smile," Megan said with a quiet sigh.
Harding pulled another file from his briefcase. He pushed it across the desk.
Megan sighed out loud this time, picked up the file and sat down. Opening it, she saw immediately it was the military operational jacket of one Jacob L. McGrew. She looked up at Harding then returned to reading. After quickly skimming the report, she saw what Harding wanted her to see. "Damn."
"You leave in four hours."
"No."
"You have no choice."
"Yes, I do. You can't just buddy us up like that without spending time on the range. Damn it, Bill, we're talking lives here. I can't take a guy out without working out the bugs."
"This is easy enough that you could do it alone. I'm sending McGrew to help. You're not back up to speed, despite what the doctors say. I know you; you pushed the flight surgeon to certify ahead of time. Again. Combined with the near miss of yesterday, you're still weak. Besides, this will give him a taste of what might be expected." Harding crossed his arms as he leaned back.
Megan narrowed her eyes. "And who knows about this?"
"You, me, McGrew, and you'll have to inform Cowboy." Harding for once seemed nervous as he wiped his lips with his hand. "I've looked into your claim of a leak. I have reason to agree with you, besides the sabotage on the helicopters. My sources are checking things out. As soon as I know who it is, he'll be taken care of."
Megan shook her head as she tossed the file back on the desk. "We'll have to be dropped a distance away from the valley. That means a longer time in country."
Harding nodded. "Supplies are already being loaded on the aircraft. Gunner's pack with supplies is also on board. All that's required are personnel and your pack."
"Damn it."
"You've already said that."
"Full secrecy until we return. Make something up about our absence."
Harding agreed.
"I'll wake them in three hours," Megan said as she stood, motioning for Harding to move out from behind her desk. "Hand me the mission file."
He left the file lying on the desk.
Her heart constricted as she went over the information. She would, in less than four hours, be revealing to Jake one of the biggest secrets of her life. She didn't know how he would respond to the news. And if he responded badly, she knew her heart would break in pieces.
Because it was just at that instant she realized she loved the ex-Ranger. And now she would have to tell him something that might make him hate her. She sighed. Such was her life.
Three hours later while it was still dark, Cowboy was headed to the hanger to pre-flight Famine. Megan hesitated, then softly knocked on Jake's door. Without waiting for an answer, she entered the room to find him just waking up.
"Again?" Jake asked with a smile as he rubbed his eyes.
"Quietly. I need your help."
Jake was instantly awake and alert. He glanced at the alarm clock then looked at her with a puzzled look. "Yeah?"
"We've got a job. Meet me at the hanger in ten. Hot mission gear." She patted Jake on his naked shoulder. "Sorry to interrupt your dreams again."
Jake caught her hand and kissed it. "Don't be sorry."
"You say that now."
CHAPTER 12
Jake sat in the back of the Black Hawk watching Megan go through a pack that looked suspiciously like the one Gunner used on their last mission when he got shot. They were already airborne with Cowboy flying alone in the cockpit. He purposely fixed his face to neutral before speaking. Their helmets were plugged in, but the intercom was switched to the crew compartment only. "Do I get to know what's going on, Chief?"
Megan nodded as she dug into the duffel. Finally, she seemed to find what she needed and tossed it to Jake. "Do you know what that is?"
Jake caught the long tube. After looking at Megan for a second, he looked down at his hands. He turned the thing over, then looked back at her. "It's a Leupold spotting scope."
"Very good. I've read that you know how to use one."
Jake did the eye narrow thing again. "I've been trained."
Megan shook her head. "You worked for a while as the spotter on a team."
Jake said nothing but continued to stare into her brown eyes.
"I need a new spotter."
Jake's mouth almost dropped open but he caught it in time. "Masood's relative?"
Megan nodded.
"This last time with Gunner?"
Another nod. "We're after the same target."
"And if I refuse?"
"I'll do it on my own."
"You aren't back to full strength yet."
"True, but it should be a fairly easy mission."
Jake leaned back against the side of the helicopter. "Harding put you up to this."
"He assigned the mission, yes."
"You know it's risky, taking a team out that's not blended."
"His response was that you're along merely to help me out. An insult to me but again, I know when to pick my battles. He also said it would give you a taste of the kind of jobs that they'll expect of you."
Jake grunted. "So whether I go or not, you're still putting it on the line?"
"That's why I get paid the big bucks."
Jake looked down at the instrument in his hands. He hefted and looked through it. It was an expensive scope―one of the best. He brought it down to look at Megan. The look on her face was neutral, a look he had yet to see on her. "I would never have pictured you a sniper."
"One of the best, Cupcake, or the Agency wouldn't put me in such positions." Megan pulled a long item out of her pack and unwrapped it. It was her rifle.
Jake whistled. "Impressive. A Tango 51. Match Grade. McMillan McHale stock. Guaranteed .25 MOA. With a…" He leaned forward. "A Leupold MK4 M3 10x scope. Very expensive. Around thirty five hundred dollars." Then suddenly his mind flashed back to Iraq and the last mission he had been on there, the information and intelligence gathering trip. He narrowed his eyes at the lady sitting across from him. "Don't tell me…"
"What?"
"In Iraq. Did you kill Saddam Hussein's high official, the day before we met?"
Megan hesitated, looking Jake in the eyes.
"You did, didn't you?"
Megan still didn't speak, but her eyes told volumes.
Jake looked out the side window of the Black Hawk before returning his gaze to Megan. His blue eyes were hard. "Answer me."
"You already know the answer," Megan said. There was an odd look to her eyes. One he'd never seen before. "It's my job."
Jake stared into her eyes. He would never have suspected her of being a sniper. Worse, she was a cold blooded killer, an assassin for his government, a government that didn't do assassinations anymore, or so he had thought.
"Here. You'll h
ave to use Gunner's ghillie suit and clothes. You guys are about the same size. Leave your clothes on the aircraft. We'll dress back into them when Cowboy picks us up." Megan was already undressing.
Jake watched her peel off her flight suit to reveal another outfit, camo and black.
She sat down and looked at him. "Okay. So, I'm not the nice person you thought I was, but I'm not a monster either. I do a service for my country, a service that not many people have the stomach for or want to hear about." She looked down at her hands then back up at him, her big brown eyes staring―pleading with him to understand.
Jake finally sighed. Why can't I fall in love with a normal woman? He shook his head. "You drive me insane woman." With that, he undressed to his skivvies, then redressed in Gunner's old clothes. He tried on the ghillie suit then took it off and shoved it back into the duffle bag. He sat and smiled at her. She had kept her eyes glued to his body the entire time. She was hooked too. He knew that Megan just didn't want to admit it. Of course, neither did he, at least out loud.
***
They crawled the last hundred yards on their bellies. Both had small backpacks and were in ghillie suits, including full-face mask. The ghillies were designed with short tags of material that matched the surrounding environment so that their outlines were broken up. The pattern of their crawling was short movements followed by a minute or two of lying still, eyes panning the area. Always on alert.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, they made it to the ridge overlooking the small village. In the town were twenty-five houses made of mud, all with flat roofs. The terraced landscape made it so they were at different levels, almost on top of the other.
Across the small valley, men and boys were tending sheep. Several youngsters were playing on the hills in front of the houses as women mashed grain on the doorsteps.
A peaceful village minding it's own business.
Jake took time to concentrate on the surrounding area. During the ride to the drop off that morning, they had discussed the layout of the village via maps. All of the information collected was studied quickly. They had little time to do this. It was decided to use this ridge line because it not only provided the clearest shot at the central area of the village where the meeting was to take place, but it also allowed the farthest possible distance from the village. At six hundred and fifty yards, no one in the village would even hear the crack of the rifle.
Another thing that had been decided was to change the pick up point. Megan said she trusted no one now. So she and Jake picked a new rendezvous plus two alternatives. All new. They informed Cowboy of them as he landed. Cowboy wasn't happy, but he agreed that it was for the best.
Jake tapped Megan on the arm and pointed off to the side of their ridge. There was a sheep herd on their side. Megan frowned but nodded. They were in no danger from the herd. Megan had had sheep walk right around her before. As long as the herdsman didn't stumble upon them, they were safe in their ghillie suits. The sun was just dipping down as herds began to descend to the village.
They waited until the sun was gone before slipping off their packs to eat for the second time. Jake passed a canteen to Megan as she passed a thick slice of bread to him. They ate in silence.
"You take the first sleep," Megan whispered.
Jake scooted around making a better indent in the ground. He finished off the bread and smiled at Megan. "Pleasant dreams, Chief."
Megan snorted. "I've always hated camping."
Jake closed his eyes with a smile on his face.
***
Megan sighted through the scope attached to her rifle. She ran the village again. People were just heading out at sunrise to get sheep up the slopes where there was a little green vegetation. A tap on her shoulder caused her to look at her companion and the canteen he held out to her.
She took it with a smile. As she drank, he grabbed her pack and brought out another wrapped food. He handed it to her with a soft kiss to the cheek.
"Good morning."
"I got a cramp in my calf and a face full of dirt. Some good."
Jake smiled at her attempt to make light of the situation. He grabbed his scope and sat up. As he got comfortable in the upper position, he extended the mono-pod on the scope and settled it in place. He glanced down at the still prone Megan.
She placed the canteen back into the pack. Then gathered up the other stuff and shoved it into packs too. After the shot, they would slowly make their way off the ridge, back to their base camp to pick up what was there. They had another day in the mountains before pick up, and it would probably take them close to that long to make the new destination.
They waited another two hours before there was any important movement in the village. A group of men were working their way down the side of a sharp incline.
Megan took a breath and put the shell case into the gun. With a slow and steady movement, she got the gun ready for firing. This was done with no sound.
Jake watched the group through the scope. He also took in the wind as it blew the men's robes and the vegetation near them. "The wind's picked up a bit."
"Yeah," Megan whispered back. "Where did that second sheep herd get off to?"
Jake panned the hillside to find both herds. "One is eleven o'clock. The other is lower, around ten."
"Yeah okay, got'em," Megan said then focused her scope on the village again.
"More company," Jake informed. "Check out the trail from near the eleven o'clock herd."
"Who the hell is that?"
It was a much smaller group of four men―all heavily armed―even the one in the middle that looked elderly and thinner than the rest.
"Damn it," Megan said softly.
"What?"
"It's bin Laden. The thin guy in the middle." Megan laid her head on her gun.
"This is the chance of a life time."
"Not again. Not again," Megan whispered even softer.
"What?" Jake asked back. They were whispering, not that it mattered. They could have shouted and no one would have heard them.
"I've been in this position before, Osama bin Laden in my sights." Megan stared at him through her sights. Just a quick finger twitch and he'd be dead. So close, yet so far away.
"And?"
"It was before the Madrid bombing."
"Before?" Jake asked. "Are you saying you could've prevented it?"
"The operation probably would've been carried out anyway. But yes, I guess that is a possibility," Megan said. "Damn you, Harding. You knew this."
"What?"
"Check out the reception bin Laden's getting. This was a planned event."
"If Harding knew he was going to be here, why not tell you to strike him?"
"That's not the way this game is played, Cupcake. For some reason, Harding and the boys in Washington want the warlord dead. Not bin Laden."
"I don't get it."
"Me either but my guess is…"
Jake looked down at her. "Yeah? Go on."
Megan sighed. "We can't 'off' him. We, as in the United States. If we do, the whole Muslim world will come down on us. He's viewed, unfortunately, by most of the Islamic world as a sort of Robinhood. They don't think of him as a terrorist. If we kill him, every Muslim country will cause us problems, but if one of their own kills him, then we're not the bad guys."
Jake was silent for a moment then looked down at Megan. "That's why you made it seem that bin Ladin was responsible for the killing of Masood's tribal leader?"
"Yep."
Jake shook his head, frowning. "This is wrong."
"Yep."
"Are you still going to shoot?"
"Yep," Megan said settling in. "I'll wait until they sit down and get cozy. If my shot is blocked, I'll take it when they leave during the ceremonial goodbye."
"Damn," Jake said. He got resettled into position. "Wind's from the north. I make it about two to three knots."
Megan nodded at the information. She was actually calculating the wind too. She adjuste
d her sights up a click. As the men settled into position in the village, she wiggled one last time. Jake gave her range and windage readings. She took slow and even breaths. With the mil dot settled on the target's chest, she put everything out of her mind except the target. "Ready."
Jake slowed his breathing as he concentrated on the sight picture through his spotting scope. "Send it."
***
All day they traveled pushing themselves, first Jake leading, then Megan. As the evening approached, so did ominous storm clouds. This hadn't been on the satellite information Megan pulled up at base.
Now, they huddled under a single camouflaged tarp. The storm was ferocious. Wind and rain. Lightening. There was no way Cowboy was making the pickup tonight. The best they could hope for was the next night.
It wouldn't be that hard. Food would last until tomorrow afternoon. They could stretch it further if it looked like the storm was sticking. Water was being collected from the rainstorm and would be added to the canteen. It was just a matter of waiting it out.
Jake's arms were behind his head, eyes closed, laying, listening to rain pelt the tarp. It reminded him of a night in Fort Bening, Georgia when he was in training. Temperatures were about the same. He almost smiled at the memories until he remembered where he was. Jake opened his eyes to look at the lady sitting next to him. He studied her.
Megan was staring out at the meadow. The dappled light made it hard to get a read on her face.
"Does it ever bother you?"
Megan jumped slightly. "What?"
"The assassination thing. Does it ever bother you?"
Megan shrugged. "What about you? You've killed. Does it bother you?"
Jake looked straight up at the tarp. Did it? His gut twisted. "Yeah, it does. Sometimes. You?"
Megan merely nodded in the affirmative.
"How many?"
"What?" Megan turned to look at him.
"How many have you assassinated?"
