Page 32 of Stolen Faith

“I am. That’s my specialty.”

“Then why do you think you should be able to take out five armed guys?” Brennon was watching him closely.

Rowan sighed. “Because I’m a Night Stalker.”

Brennon and Izabel wore matching blank stares in the face of his revelation.

Not that he was surprised. Most contemporary movies and fictional novels tended to feature Navy SEALs, Green Berets, or Army Rangers. Night Stalkers didn’t have the same brand recognition, especially since Night Stalker was a nickname, not an acronym like SEAL, which stood for Sea, Air, and Land, or Ranger, which was an official designation.

“Night Stalker?” Brennon repeated. “Um. Is that another name for Batman? Do you think maybe you’re concussed or something, Rowan? How hard did that guy just hit you?”

Rowan blew out a long, slow breath. “I was with the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.”

“Special Operations Aviation Regiment.” Izabel raised a brow. “Please tell me they called it that on purpose so the acronym can be SOAR.”

“Probably. It’s an airborne special ops force.”

“Waaait,” Brennon breathed. “You’re special ops?”

“Not the way you’re thinking,” Rowan hedged. “Not really.”

“Uh-huh.” Brennon didn’t sound or look convinced.

“SOAR specializes in missions conducted at night, low altitude, and on short notice. Possibly in hostile air space.”

“Plain English,” Izabel demanded.

Rowan shifted, pain washing over him like a wave. “Night Stalker missions usually involve attack, assault, recon. Sometimes transportation or extraction for other special ops teams. And we typically fly under the cover of darkness—hence the name.”

“How has no one ever written a movie about Night Stalkers?” Brennon asked.

“Brennon,” Izabel started.

“I’m just saying…I could write the hell out of that. It would be a perfect vehicle for Chris Pine or Hemsworth or hell, any of the Chrises. Maybe I could pick your brain about the job, Rowan, when we—”

“When we aren’t being held captive by the cast of Deliverance?” Izabel interjected. “To put it in terms you might understand.”

Brennon gave her a sheepish grin. “Yeah. I guess we should focus on getting out of here first. But then after that, you and me, okay?” Brennon said hopefully.

Rowan looked from Brennon to Izabel and back again.

“Actually,” Rowan said slowly. “There is a movie.”

“Oh.” Brennon’s face fell. “Well, that’s okay, I’m talking about a big movie. A blockbuster.”

“Er…” Rowan looked at him.

“It can’t be that big! I’ve never heard of Night Stalkers, and I should have, because that’s a cool-ass name.”

“Night Stalkers are the ones who fly MH-60 and MH-60M helicopters,” he said apologetically.

They stared at him. Okay, he’d been pretty sure even civilians knew what those were.

“And those are…” Izabel was fighting a smile as she raised her brows.

“Black Hawk helicopters.”

Brennon blinked, then made a face. “Aw, shit. Are you serious? Like Black Hawk Down?”

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