Her Sensual Protector: A Navy SEAL Romance (Night Storm Book 5), Caitlyn O'Leary [uplifting book club books TXT] 📗

“Go call Tom Ludlum, make sure that the daughter is being watched immediately. We don’t need any problems on this side, we’ll have enough to deal with on the mission.”

Leo nodded and stepped out of the cramped office. He didn’t have Tom Ludlum’s number, but he wasn’t worried. He pulled out his cell phone and waited. It took less than a minute and a text message from Kane came through with the man’s number. Yep, their computer/communications guy sure could multitask.

He placed the call and got Tom’s voicemail.

“Tom, this is Leo Perez, I’m with the Night Storm team, under Max Hogan. We’ve met before in Virginia and I was in the ambassador’s office today during the poorly handled interview of Daisy Squires. I went to lunch with her this afternoon, I’m worried she’s going to try to get involved. We don’t need that. Can you make sure you have someone sit on her, to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble? Call me if you need details.”

He hung up and went back into the conference room.

“—been reports of activity here.” Kane was using his pointer at a specific spot on a close-up shot on the mountain range. He flipped to another slide which showed some drone footage. “This is what the camp looked like two weeks ago. Three men and two dogs. Now, look at it two days ago.”

Leo did. There were two covered trucks and a jeep with netting over it, but it was easy to surmise that it had an anti-aircraft gun on the top of it. Leo also counted ten men, four dogs, and God knew how many were in the cave. They were taking their security seriously. Yep, something big was going on.

“We’re going to set down here,” Kane pointed to a spot a lot closer than any of the terrorists would ever expect.

Gotta love a Blackhawk helicopter.

“We don’t have any diversion or specific timetable, so we’re going to go in as soon as we can,” Max explained.

“We’re not going to make a play for Siraj?” Cullen asked. “Why not?”

“There’s a reliable source close to him that says he’ll be coming with an entourage of at least twenty. Yeah, it would be nice to take him out, but our number one mission is to get the doctor, and hopefully the reporter.”

“Does the reliable source say if the reporter is with the doctor?” Leo asked.

Max shook his head. “All we got is the fact that Siraj is coming with a group of people. The higher-ups are not giving me anything as to who the source is, which is fine by me. So it could be coming from someone unrelated to the Haqqani Network in Pakistan, who just observed Siraj moving out, or it could be someone embedded in Siraj’s organization. Either way, the brass is sure of the info.”

Everybody nodded.

“Tonight?” Asher asked.

“Nope,” Kane said. “The Blackhawks aren’t available tonight, it’s going to be tomorrow night. Raiden’s sorted out where we’re eating and sleeping, so get with him.”

5

“I’ve been waiting for your call for hours,” Daisy complained into the phone.

“Calm down, Sweetheart. It took me a little while to get you the information you asked for. Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

Daisy felt herself relax at the sound of her stepdad’s voice. “Nothing’s wrong, Dad, just a little tired.”

“How about trying to pull the other leg, and tell me everything. I can’t be of help if I don’t know what’s really going on.”

Daisy sighed. The man was right. “I don’t know where to start.”

“You told me about the meeting with the ambassador and his men on the drive back to the hotel. You didn’t sound so upset then, you sounded riled. Now you’re sounding desperate. What has changed?”

“Remember the military man I told you about in the room?” Daisy asked. “He followed me to the hotel. He’s special forces. I’ll give you his info and I’d like you to get his details. In the meantime, he gave me enough broad strokes to let me know it’s pretty grim for Ethan. I’d say they’re setting him up for an execution.”

“You can’t know that for sure, Daisy.”

“This guy is special forces. My gut is telling me that he and his team have been sent here to rescue him. You and the rest of the family are doing the right thing in the States by causing such a big stir, there is no way they would have sent in a team unless you were. They don’t like to have their record blemished. Plus it’s an election year. Can’t have problems during an election year.”

Daisy knew she was sounding bitter, but she couldn’t help it.

“Provide me with the information on this man, and I’ll tell you the source I have in Afghanistan for you. I believe he will be able to tell you what you need to know. Rayi is one of the few journalists who is still brave enough to send out reporting from inside Afghanistan. He would be killed if he were caught. He has agreed to meet you at a set time and place tonight. You only have one chance to meet him. He is very good and will know if you are followed, and if you are, he will leave the rendezvous.”

“I am being followed, but it was amateur hour. It won’t be a problem to get rid of them.”

“Are you sure? They might have changed things up a bit after you’ve met with your special operations man.”

Daisy thought about that. She pushed at the to-go container on her nightstand. “Okay, I’ll do a trial run with my driver and see if anything’s changed. Where and when am I supposed to meet this