Page 106 of Over the Edge

“If I encrypt the message, all they’ll hear is nonsense.”

She lowered her binoculars to look at him. “If Haddad’s people hear an encrypted message, they’ll know military units are nearby. And they’ll most certainly suspect a military strike is imminent. You can’t give away the ambush. As much as we want to get back Kenny, we can’t kill a bunch of other soldiers in the process. Even Kenny wouldn’t want that.”

He huffed and plastered his binoculars to his face without answering her.

Dammit, he was still planning on sending that message. She suggested, “What if you call your brother on the satellite phone and give him our position? If he’s on a military base, he’ll be able to put the call on speaker or even record the call. There will be multiple witnesses and our government won’t be able to cover it up.”

He murmured back, “Haddad’s people will pick up the transmission signal from a sat phone as easily as they’ll pick up a radio signal. You’re right about one thing. The act of catching any signal not of their making could tip them off.”

“It’s going to take us hours to make our way down there and get into position. And once we’re sitting on top of Haddad, we’re most certainly not going to be able to make radio broadcasts or phone calls. I’m telling you, Trevor. You can’t make an outbound call without giving away the attack.”

“You’re not going down there with me. You’ll stay up here and make the call once I’m inside the compound, at the last possible moment before you bug out of the valley.”

If he thought he was going down there alone to sacrifice himself on the altar of saving Kenny, he had another think coming.

One time in six. That was how often he’d succeeded in rescuing the Kenny doll in their simulations back home. He knew as well as she did that her going with him would cut that failure rate by at least half, if not more.

She clenched her jaw, unwilling to argue the point with him. He was her swim buddy, and she would, by God, watch his back and keep him safe to the best of her ability, even if it killed her.

Not to mention, she loved him.

Exactly whenthathad happened, she couldn’t be sure. Maybe months ago in North Carolina. Maybe the night he’d washed the blood off her hands so tenderly. Or maybe when they’d made love under the stars…before he’d been an ass and refused to admit he had feelings for her.

It had crept up on her slowly, friendship and admiration that gradually grew into so much more. It didn’t hurt that their entire relationship was founded on the idea of them being willing to die to protect each other. That was a pretty powerful foundation of trust to build upon, as it turned out.

The hell of it was that Trevor was determined to use that trust against himself, and against them, to hide behind it and refuse to admit he loved her back. As least she hoped he returned the feelings. Even if he didn’t consciously know it.

Trevor muttered, “One armed male exiting building five.”

She zeroed in on this guy. He was the first one they’d seen carrying a weapon. The man disappeared into building twelve—one of the two small structures. She glanced at her watch to time how long the guy was inside. The building wasn’t much more than twelve feet by twelve feet and one-story tall.

Three minutes ticked by.

Ten minutes.

“What the heck is he doing in there?” she murmured. “It’s not that big a building.

“Unless he’s feeding Kenny, or maybe roughing him up for fun,” Trevor replied grimly.

She threw his own words back at him. “Have a little faith. If Ken’s still alive, they got sick of beating him up a long time ago. And his intel is so outdated, nothing he knows would be of any use to them at all. He’s only useful as a human shield at this point. Which means they’ll probably keep him barely alive and otherwise ignore him.”

“Maybe,” he replied doubtfully.

“One female exiting building one.” A few seconds later, she reported, “Same female entering building five. Looked like she was carrying a big tray of food. It was covered with a cloth, but looked like maybe four plates.”

The woman exited building five in a few seconds, and Anna zoomed in on her face. “Hey, isn’t that one of Haddad’s wives?” she exclaimed under her breath.

Trevor stared hard at the woman. At the last second before she entered the first house, she turned and looked over at her shoulder at the boys, finally exiting the barn. Her face was clearly visible for just a second. “Yup. That’s the young wife. The second one.”

“So, building one is a possible residence for Haddad,” she confirmed.

“According to Islamic law, each wife should have her own household. The first wife will live in another building.”

“Since I’m a woman, I get to say this: the older wife is in her late-forties and the young one is in her early twenties. Which one doyouthink Haddad prefers to sleep with?”

Trevor shrugged. “I take your point. But let the record show, as women age, they become more confident and sure of themselves, which is sexy as hell. Frankly, I find mature women fully as attractive as athletic young things.”

Anna laughed under her breath. “You just became my favorite man, ever.”

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