Page 36 of Silk Shadow

The phone rang. Viper dived for it. "Hello, Ray?"

"Good news," the geologist said. "I've found your ship."

Viper caught his breath.

Thank God.

He put him on speakerphone. "Go ahead."

"Well, thanks to your coordinates, I picked her up twenty-five miles off the coast of San Diego. She traveled directly south to Guadalupe Island, and then continued further down to the Revillagigedo Islands. Currently, she's roughly a hundred and fifty miles off the coast of Baja California."

"Mexico?" blurted Phoenix.

"Hey, is that you, Phoenix? I didn't know you were there too."

"Yeah, man. Got shipped in to get the girl back. You know how it is."

Viper didn't know they knew each other.

Ray chuckled. "No rest for the wicked. Anyway, I hope that helps."

"It sure does," said Viper. "Let us know if anything changes."

"Will do, although she hasn't shifted from that position for the last four hours."

"Thanks, man," echoed Phoenix.

They ended the call and looked at each other.

"How's your high-seas rescue game?" Phoenix asked.

Viper grinned. "Like riding a bike."

"It's madness without backup," said Blade on the phone from D.C., after Phoenix had told him what they planned to do.

"There's no time to get an amphibious task force out there," Phoenix argued. "It'll be hard enough with just the two of us."

"That's what I'm afraid of," replied Blade. "We haven't got resources in that part of the world. You know what it's like out there. Finding a chopper will be almost impossible."

"We're infiltrating by boat," said Phoenix. There wasn't any time to network and build up local contacts, so they'd have to just steal one if they couldn't hire one.

Viper listened to the conversation from across the room. He'd already packed his rucksack.

"I'll have a CIA jet waiting for you at the airport," said Blade. "They'll fly you out to Baja and supply you with weapons and kit, but apart from that, my hands are tied. I can't sanction a CIA-assisted rescue. Their boys aren't trained for this, and we don't know how many we're dealing with. You're going in blind. No intel."

"It's not a container ship," cut in Viper. "It's a fishing trawler. There were four guys who attacked us and they'll probably have one or two more on board. Worst case scenario, we're looking at six tangos." It was remarkable how easily he'd slipped back into the SEAL lingo.

"Six to two, that's a big ask, especially without support."

"Nothing we haven't faced before," said Phoenix grimly.

"Besides, they won't be expecting us," Viper cut in. The element of surprise gave them an advantage.

There was a pause.

"All right, guys. I can see you're set on this. Good luck. Bring her home."

"Roger that," they chorused.

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