Page 14 of Firestorm

Shields closed the door and moved into the room. “Yes, sir.”

“I am replacing General Jackson effective immediately. He’s bungled the capture of the traitors in Idaho, and now they’ve gotten away. The world is looking to us to make sure they are safe. I can’t have such incompetence in my leadership team.”

Daniel pinned the SEAL with a look. He could almost feel Shields yielding his will to him.

“What do you need me to do?”

Daniel smiled. The right answer. “You’ve showed a loyalty I’ve admired since you’ve come to work for me, and I’d like to reward that loyalty, but you will have to do something you might find. . .distasteful.”

“I will do whatever you wish, sir.”

“Good, I need you to fly to Idaho and kill General Jackson.”

???

“We’re approaching the landing strip,” Lincoln announced to the people in the plane. All onboard were battle-weary. These past few weeks had been a test for everyone.

James roused himself from the message he’d read from Dustin who believed they had the location of the compound where Blake was being held, but there was a problem. They were holding Blake in a heavily guarded location at an abandoned building near Cheyenne.

Hold tight. Keep the location under surveillance. I’ll be in touch soon.

The plane touched down on an overgrown landing strip and bumped its way down the runway that hadn’t seen a plane in years. Lincoln gripped the yoke tight and fought the rough terrain until the plane came to a stop using up all the runway.

James glanced around at the people inside the cabin. “Everyone okay?”

The troubled faces of those onboard confirmed how hard the air battle had been.

“We’re okay,” Ben confirmed. “It’s obviously been a while since anyone used this strip.”

“We have planes stacking up behind us. They’ll need the entire runway for landing. Is there somewhere to store these birds?” Lincoln asked Ben.

Ben rose from his seat and stood next to Lincoln. “There used to be a couple of hangars here. A lot of the staff flew in. But again, that’s been a few years. I’m not sure what condition they’ll be in now.” He pointed to the encroaching woods where a couple of less-than-reassuring metal buildings appeared to be intact.

Lincoln taxied the plane to the closest one.

“Let’s move everyone off the plane,” James said. “Ben, since you’ve been here before, why don’t you and Sidney make sure everyone reaches the camp okay. Hopefully, the living conditions won’t be too bad.”

Once the plane emptied and the rest of the team landed safely, James gathered those who had left the planes around. “Listen up. We’re all going to head through the woods to the camp that’s about a quarter of a mile through there.” He pointed to an overgrown entrance that could barely be called that.

James would leave the pilots to deal with the planes. Setting up communications quickly was imperative.

After the equipment they’d brought along was unloaded, James grabbed several key pieces. He spotted Sarah and went over and told her what he’d learned on the plane. “Once we’re set up here, I’ll put together an extraction team.”

“I’m coming with you,” she said before he finished.

James understood her wishes but didn’t like the idea of further risking her life. “Sarah, we’re going to have to raid a heavily guarded location. It will be dangerous.”

“I’m going,” she insisted. “Blake is my only family. He needs me. I’m coming with you.”

As much as he didn’t want to put her in danger, he understood the need to protect family. His men—the people of Strike Force—they were his family and he’d do everything in his power to protect them from what was coming.

“All right.” He glanced past her to where the team was heading through the trees. “What do you know about computers?”

She stared at him for a long moment. “Some, I guess.”

“Good, I’ll put you to use on my team. We need all the help we can get to bring our communications up. I just hope the camp isn’t in too bad of shape.”

She grabbed some of the equipment and followed him into the woods.

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