Page 3 of Firestorm

Sarah smiled. Her gut told her she could trust these two men. “Thank you, Jeb. Call your friend.”

“You got it, honey. I’ll get in touch with Holden. Stay tuned to this channel and be careful. Whoever fired that nuke wants to wipe these people and anyone who supported them off the face of the earth. That means you.”

???

The mountain shook all around them, dislodging rocks in the aftershocks that had been rippling through the mine for hours. The ground beneath James Cooper’s feet became unsteady, and he grabbed for the solid wall of the mountain. Air filled with ashen dust made it impossible to draw in a clean breath. Thankfully, the tunnels located in the mountainside had protected those inside from the heat of the blast, but this was all of their worst fears coming to life. A nuclear attack. Daniel Pamphili and his men were taking no chances. They wanted Strike Force out of the way.

James glanced around at the frightened faces of the men and women he considered family. “Is everyone okay?” he yelled above the noise. Rocks splintered from the ceiling of the mine. “Watch yourselves.” Several people took direct hits. The medical personnel within the team scrambled into action.

Shockwaves had been going on forever, but the eerie silence that replaced them was scarier.

Strike Force leader, Victor Douglas, gathered the rest of the team leaders around. “How protected are we from radiation here in the mine?” he asked James.

One of James’ biggest concerns. He glanced around the group of men and women who had been the core members since the beginning. “We should be safe enough.” But nothing was guaranteed. He checked his phone. “The walls of the mountain appear to be protected from theelectromagnetic pulse’s effects. I don’t have a signal, but the phone appears to be working. My guess is the bomb, and the fallout are interfering with the cell signal.”

“Which means we have no way to contact anyone except through the CB.” Victor ran a hand over his soot-covered hair, dislodging a cloud of dust into the already-polluted air. “How long do we have before they send troops into the camp to search for proof of death? It won’t take them long to search the mines when that happens.”

The idea of Pamphili and his goons using nuclear weapons on US citizens simply because they opposed their course of action was frightening. “Not long, I’m afraid. At the most twenty-four hours. Probably sooner. They could have hazmat suits equipped for this type of environment, or Pamphili might not care if he has to sacrifice troops to obtain confirmation.”

“We don’t have long to figure out our next move.” Victor’s normally authoritative voice sounded weary. “Do you have a workaround without the cell tower’s availability?”

James smiled. “Possibly. Let me pull my team together, and we’ll start working on reaching out to our people on the outside. We need an immediate evacuation and some way to protect our members from the radiation threat during the exit.”

Victor clamped James’ arm with a grateful look. “Thank you. I don’t know what we’d do without you.” He turned to the man at his side—Kaid Bennett. Let’s see if we can help the medical team with the injured.”

“You got it.” While Victor, Kaid, and several other key leaders returned to the rest of the team, James gathered his people.

“Brother, you’ve got to hear this,” Brookes Zachary called out from where he’d been checking to see if their CB radio had suffered damage. “Someone’s trying to reach you.” Brookes’ full attention zeroed in on James.

James hurried over. “Any idea who?”

“A woman. But get this. She’s using Blake Hancock’s handle.”

“You’re kidding?”

Brookes turned up the volume on the CB. The woman’s frantic voice came over the waves. “Charlie Leader, are you there? This is Desert Warrior’s sister.”

Sister. Sarah? Was it possible Sarah Hancock was trying to reach out to him? If so, it was bad. He grabbed the mic, but Brookes stopped him.

“It could be a trick,” Brookes warned.

James shook his head. “It’s not. That’s Sarah. I recognize her voice, and I can’t believe she would be working for the enemy.”

Brookes blew out a breath. “All right, brother, that’s good enough for me.”

James prayed his faith in Blake’s younger sister was justified.

“This is Charlie Leader,” he said and waited for her to respond.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Sarah pushed the words out on a relieved-sounding breath. “They have him.”

Those simple words just about knocked James to the ground. “How?”

“Armed men burst into the house and drug him off without any explanation.” Sarah paused. “They somehow found out Blake served with you.”

“Where are you?” James’ mind tried to assimilate what she’d said.

“Not far. I saw the explosion. My phone isn’t working, so I used the portable CB radio.”

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