Page 56 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

“Somewhere in here,” he continued, indicating a little valley below a tiny village in the Northern Shuneh. “We’re trying to get a satellite feed but the visibility’s already dropping because of the storm. Sniper team’s sending up a recon drone, so hopefully we’ll still have eyes on the target location soon.”

Adam’s entire body was strung taut as he listened to the rest of the intel briefing. In the middle of Foster explaining the layout of the village in question, DeLuca put a hand to his ear and stepped away from the table, expression tight as he listened to whatever someone was saying via his earpiece. Adam watched him closely, saw his lips moving but couldn’t get the gist of what he was saying because DeLuca was too far away.

“All right, stand by,” DeLuca said as he returned to the group. “Colebrook just reported that he’s got visual confirmation via the drone. We’ll get a live feed on screen.”

Brody Colebrook, their sniper team leader. Adam had known and worked with him ever since he’d first made the HRT. He was one of the best snipers Adam had ever met, and an all-around solid operator. It helped to know someone he trusted had eyes on the target location. If Summer and the others were in there, Colebrook and his team would find out.

Grabbing a nearby laptop, DeLuca typed in some commands, hooked up a few cables and brought the feed up. “One sec and I’ll get this on screen.” A moment later it popped onto the big flat screen.

The tiny drone’s camera showed a small group of what appeared to be dilapidated buildings in the green glow of its night vision optics. Several blurred heat signatures were visible in two of the buildings.

DeLuca tapped his earpiece and spoke to someone, presumably Colebrook. “Can you get a closer look at those heat signatures?”

In answer, seconds later the drone swooped down to a lower altitude and did a slow pass over the longer of the two buildings. Adam counted eleven faint heat signatures inside it, and one outside. The one outside seemed to be positioned next to the front entrance, as if the person was standing guard.

It had to be the right place. A burst of excitement and hope flared in his chest.

He shifted his gaze to DeLuca, who was looking at Foster. “Fits the intel we have,” their commander murmured.

Foster nodded, watching the screen closely. “Three of the heat signatures haven’t moved since the feed started, and all the others have,” he said, pointing to two stationary people positioned on either side of the south end of the building, and one alone at the north end.

Maybe because they’re bound and can’t move.Adam stared at the screen, every heartbeat ricocheting throughout his chest. Were they the hostages?

DeLuca tapped his earpiece again. “Okay, copy that.” He looked up and nodded at the team. “Colebrook confirms the coordinates match the ones we got earlier and he reads a total of eleven heat signatures as well. He’s sending four guys in for a closer look now. We should know for sure whether it’s the hostages in the next thirty minutes.”

Adam started to shake his head. That was too long to do nothing. The intel seemed to justify them heading out to investigate. With the clock ticking down and the weather front closing in they couldn’t sit here and wait, they had to set the wheels into motion.

“So are we going?”Say yes, dammit.He was going out of his mind waiting.

DeLuca set his palms on the table and shifted his gaze to Foster. “Your call, sir.”

Before Adam could interject, the director nodded. “You’ll plan the op as if it’s a go and organize a Jordanian crew to fly you up there. If Colebrook and his team report back that the hostages are there, I’ll green light the mission.”

Best fucking news Adam had had in days. An invisible weight lifted from his chest, allowing him to breathe more easily. He couldn’t wait to get in there, kick the door down and rescue Summer and the others. He imagined it happening, imagined finding and carrying her out of there, and swallowed hard.

“All right, boys,” Tuck drawled, taking center stage at the table. “Let’s get to work and be ready for wheels up in thirty minutes.”

****

Outside the building, Summer could hear the storm picking up. The wind howled along the sides of the building, shaking the thin roof. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her knees, curling into a ball to retain what body heat she could.

The hideous orange jumpsuit they’d forced her to wear provided no real warmth but she’d had no choice but to put it on. Hadad had literally stood there and watched her do it.

She’d been lucky that her rock-filled sock had remained a secret. He hadn’t made her turn around while she stripped down to her blouse and underwear, the hem of her shirt covering her to her upper thighs.

The sleep deprivation had pushed her to the point where she couldn’t think clearly. Maybe that was for the best considering the circumstances.

A shudder of revulsion ripped through her when she thought about all the ways they might be intending to kill her and the others. She’d seen enough similar videos to know what was going to happen. It felt like her stomach was full of hot bits of metal, acidic and churning.

She kept thinking about her message in the video. She’d planted it as carefully as she could with only minimal time to prepare her words. Hadad hadn’t reacted to her words at all, so she knew he didn’t suspect anything.

But maybe she hadn’t been obvious enough. Would anyone who had seen the video have been able to figure out she was trying to tell them where they were? Had Adam even seen it yet? He was her only hope because he was the only one who could figure it out.

She dropped her forehead to her upturned knees and closed her eyes.

A door opened somewhere at the opposite end. The wind gusted inside, swirling through the building. It kicked up dust and sand as it carried toward her, coating her in a fine dusting of grit.

Floodlights switched on around the building. She raised her head, squinted through the light, her attention glued to the men who entered.

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