Page 14 of Over the Edge

Cal was speaking. “…this is a CIA operation and they only authorized Trevor to go under their auspices. The military has already classed Ken Singleton as presumed dead. It’s touchy politically for them to launch a rescue mission for a dead man. If they do it for one guy, they have to do it for everybody.”

That made everyone around the table scowl. They got the logic, but they didn’t have to like it.

“I would need a cover story, of course,” she said, blasting past Cal’s CIA excuse. “I have a big, extended family over there. I can call my grandmother and ask if there are any major family events coming up. She keeps up with that stuff.”

Cal frowned, hesitating.

“Trevor’s going to need a cover, too,” she said persuasively. “Why not let that be me? The CIA doesn’t need to know I’m an active operator, too. Let them think I’m just some part-Zagistani woman you recruited to get him into the region.”

“Risky,” he murmured. “They’ll be pissed if they find out I slipped an extra SEAL past them.”

She replied, “Isn’t this precisely the reason you brought women onto the team in the first place? For us to slide under the radar and get into places the guys can’t?”

Cal sighed heavily. “This isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Lily leaned forward. “Then what exactly did you have in mind? Anna’s right. This is what you trained us for. Are you afraid we can’t do the job? You have to turn us loose eventually.”

God bless her. Anna smiled at her sister-in-arms across the table.

Trevor scowled. “I don’t want to take you out on your rookie indoctrination during a dangerous mission.”

Anna stared at him evenly. “Since when do SEALs do any missions that aren’t dangerous?”

He glared in her general direction but still refused to make eye contact with her.Jerk. “I don’t like it,” he mumbled in Cal’s direction.

Lily leaned forward, “Well, I do like it. Two operators for the price of one. Makes total sense.”

Axe piped up reluctantly, “The ladies have a point, boss.”

Cal huffed. “We don’t even know if Anna could set up a cover story using her family.”

“Only one way to find out,” she retorted.

Cal sighed. Hesitated. Finally pushed a secure telephone across the table to her. “Fine. Have at it.”

Anna pulled out her cell phone, looked up the stored number for her grandmother, Hania Malik, and dialed it on the secure phone in front of her. Speaking in Zagari she said, “Hello, Grandmother Malik. This is Anna, your son, Taral’s, daughter.”

She endured the exclamations and chatter from the elderly woman. Finally, Hania asked, “Why have you called? Is something wrong? Who died? Your mother? I liked her.”

She answered, “No, grandmother. Nobody has died. I was thinking about coming to visit, but it’s hard to get travel documents. Are there any big family gatherings soon? A wedding or a funeral, maybe? I can get a visa to come to something like that—“

That was all she got out before Hania commenced exclaiming over the prospect of her coming home. Anna certainly wouldn’t characterize Zagistan as her home. She was American through and through.

She tuned back in to the excitement at the other end of the phone call. Hania had gone off on a tangent about seeing her long-lost granddaughter before she died. Anna hoped the woman was talking about her own death and not Anna’s, but the Zagari language made Hania’s meaning unclear.

She interrupted gently. “Grandmother. A wedding or big gathering. Is there one happening soon?”

“Your cousin, Babar, the son of your father’s half-brother, is getting married in a week. The festivities have already started. But that’s too soon for you to make travel arrangements—“

“No, no, that’s not too soon at all.” A week would be tight, but she and Trevor could get all the arrangements made and get over there if they hustled. “Do you suppose I could get an invitation to the wedding, grandmother?”

“Yes, yes. Come. I’ll speak with your uncle, Omar.”

She wasn’t entirely sure who Omar was, possibly her father’s half-brother and maybe the father of the groom. “I’ll travel with a chaperone, of course. Can he come to the wedding, too?”

“Yes, of course. Good girl. I’m glad to see your mother raised you right. Bring your brother.”

Gulp. Brother. Right.

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