Page 92 of Acting on Instinct
“So Fatima is still on African soil?” T-Rex asked.
White’s face was rigid with concern. “We’re going to act as if that’s true.”
“Copy,” T-Rex said.
“Since Nadir’s group wasn’t in one of the hotels, and we all heard Fatima’s screams on the recording, we have to assume that the distance this house is from ears is purposeful. I’ve been briefed on the information that Fatima captured in the sound recordings that she sent to Kira. We need Fatima in Washington.” White dropped her voice to a whisper. “I’m really hoping she’s still alive.”
“If she’s not?” T-Rex asked.
“Walk away. Get on the plane. Head back to Spain and pick us up.”
“Wilco.” T-Rex locked eyes with Ty before he turned back to the conversation. “Any idea about the force we’ll encounter at the house?”
“Looking at the manifests of both William’s jet and Nadir’s, it looks like they left two behind.”
“Oh, that’s not good,” Nitro said.
“Why do you think that, Nitro?” White asked. “I would think five—well, six because we count Rory—against two?”
Nitro leaned forward so White could see his face. “One on duty, one asleep? That means they have her locked up tight somehow.”
“As smart as Fatima is, she’d get out if she weren’t under heavy lock and key,” Ty said.
White scratched her head. “Yeah, here I thought easy day.”
“Might still be an easy day as far as getting in, we don’t know how we’ll find her,” T-Rex said. “We’ll get the job done. I’m looking at the map. This is out where screams might not be heard, but bullets would be.”
“We’ve got our syringes from the Phossy Jaw mission,” Jeopardy said.
“It’ll be dark here soon,” T-Rex said. “I think we’ll spend some time getting a read of the location and wait for things to settle, then we’ll go in.”
“T-Rex, I can’t wait that long. Nadir took off two hours ago. He’ll land four hours from now in Qatar. I want to talk to Fatima as soon as possible so I can get the information to the State Department. It’s my preference that the Qatari police meet Nadir at the airport. If he gets word that Kira was saved, and he can’t reach the secure location holding Fatima, he could disappear into the blue mist, or worse, he could pull the trigger on his project.”
Chapter Thirty
Ty
The team benefited from the fact that the house where Fatima was allegedly held was neither owned nor fortified by Nadir.
If there were a security system, the feed would go to the owner, who would simply call the police.
The police station was a good distance away.
The other piece in their favor was that no one should know Nadir had rented this house. That meant that if guards were holding Fatima, they wouldn’t be vigilant against external threats. They’d be responsible for a single female elder. If she escaped, there was no one to help her. And the land was flat and open, so a pair of binoculars would find her before she got far.
That flat land was an Echo problem.
Especially because White wanted them to operate in daylight.
Jeopardy sent up a pocket drone, and they scouted their path in.
T-Rex tapped the image of the little building on the other side of the swimming pool. “Chances are that the house owners have hidden cameras to make sure no one's damaging their property. I’d put her back here. If the owner stopped by, they wouldn’t find her.”
“Agreed,” Ty said. “Rory and I can park here out of human line of sight and line ourselves up with this copse of trees and move in. Maybe there’s a back window or door. Jeopardy, can you get close enough to see the left side?” he waited for the image to clear. “That’s my second choice. That window there.”
“Meanwhile, Havoc, you come in from this angle. Nitro and I will come in from here,” he pointed at the screen. “Jeopardy, you hang back here at the SUV and provide overhead. And you’ll race in with a vehicle when you get the call.”
“Wilco.”
