Page 80 of Over the Edge

“If we follow the valley north to wherever the poisoned water starts, that’s where Abu Haddad was during the ambush. And that will be the likeliest spot for us to pick up Kenny’s trail. If there’s anyone left to talk to.”

Trevor actually looked impressed. “In the morning, let’s hike back down to the Range Rover and drive up the valley until we find signs of life.”

“Do you have a cover story for going into villages to ask around about Kenny?” she asked.

“I have a bunch of camera gear. My legend is that I’m a photographer. You got added to this op too last minute for the CIA to gin up a legend for you.

She nodded. “How about I pose as a freelance writer? Maybe I’m doing a story for a big nature magazine.”

“I like it. Good excuse for you to get chatty with the local women. And hopefully, they’ll get chatty with you.”

“What about when we actually find Kenny?” she asked. “You didn’t fare too well in the warehouse when we ran simulations of you rescuing him.”

“I wasn’t worried about that before, since my plan was to die. But now, it could be a problem.”

“Three things we have going for us: 1) there are two of us, 2) nobody will expect a woman operator, and 3) we won’t be going up against SEALs when we free Kenny and pull him out.”

“Ever the optimist, aren’t you?”

“Aren’t you?” She was surprised at his comment. Didn’t all SEALs believe they would succeed on every mission? Her understanding was they died still believing they would win.

“Here’s the thing, Anna. There are two ways to leave this job. By walking away or by dying. I just don’t see myself as the kind to walk away from the life.”

“Why ever not?” she exclaimed.

“What else is there for me? You don’t understand it yet, but the job—it’s an addiction. It gets in your blood. Nothing else compares to it. Civilian life is flat, colorless, and tasteless after this.”

“Let me get this straight. Because you think you’d beboredafter life as a SEAL, you prefer to die?”

He frowned.

“Does that sound as stupid to you when I say it aloud as it sounds to me?” she challenged.

“You don’t get it—“

“I do get it. I’m twenty-eight years old, Trevor. I have had to raise my fitness far beyond what any female body is naturally capable of. Do you seriously think I’ll be able to maintain this level of fitness more than a few years? I give myself five, maybe eight, years on the teams. Then I’ll be done. But I also understand there will be plenty of life after that.”

“Like what?”

“I’d like to settle down. Maybe get married. Have a few kids. Finish out my career. Retire from the military. I can go back to intelligence analysis as a civilian, or maybe by then, I’ll have the tactical knowledge to do some sort of operational planning or security work. I don’t know. But the point it, I have options. And so do you.”

He shrugged.

“Don’t you want to have a personal life, someday?” she asked.

“Never really thought about it.”

“Well, maybe you should.”

“Spoken like a woman.”

“Spoken like a human being,” she retorted. “Sure, we do a vital mission for our countries. But when all the glory and excitement is finished, we’re still people. And the things that really matter, the things people ultimately live for, remain.”

“Yeah? What are those?”

“Family. Friends. Love. Laughter. And faith, if that’s how you roll.”

He went quiet. Really quiet.

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