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As Stryker gave out assignments, Aubrey studied each person’s demeanor on learning their place in the rescue. They got it. No one was here for the glory or for the adrenaline rush. They were here to save lives. There were no egos here.
The rest of the flight, Aubrey made notes, trying, without success, to think about something other than the similarities between Liam Stryker and the man who had saved her life. The man she’d loved for so long.
Could this be Lion? Could he have forgotten her? Could it have been that easy for him? If so, everything that she thought she knew about him had all been a lie. Had she been obsessed for twelve years with a man who had never really existed?
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bogota, Colombia
Camp setup took less than an hour to accomplish. Thick gray clouds and a light mist of rain gave a welcome relief from the smothering heat. They were two miles from the target house. The hill was high enough to give them an excellent view of the entire estate. Despite the rain, visibility was excellent. The trees surrounding them were thick and full of foliage, giving plenty of cover. Even a drone hovering right above would not spot them.
Things were ahead of schedule. The plan was to breach the estate at three thirty-five a.m. local time. That gave them two hours to observe before heading down.
Two telescopes were aimed at the house. Each of the eight operatives took turns manning them. Due to the terrain an underground escape should not be possible this time. Though Liam didn’t discount anything, he was confident that there would be no escape-way for them.
The telescope had revealed no activity within the last hour. He’d watched two men exit earlier. Both appeared to be in their mid-forties. Based on the luxury car they drove away in and their clothing, they were affluent. Rich scumbags, poor scumbags. Didn’t matter. If they thought to return for a repeat visit, they would be disappointed.
“Got a minute?” Ash spoke behind him.
“Sure.” He glanced over at Sean. “Take this, will you?”
When he and Ash headed away from camp, he knew what was coming. Couldn’t say he hadn’t expected it, but that didn’t mean the discussion would be any less irritating.
“Rain’s a blessing,” Ash said.
“Yeah. Last time I was here, thought I would melt.”
“Mosquitoes don’t seem as bad either.”
“There’s that.”
“You know she needs to go along with you.”
Liam sighed loudly. “She’ll hear the audio. She can’t film anything anyway. She can view from a telescope and catch almost everything going on. This is too important to risk a screw-up, Ash.”
“We’ll make sure she doesn’t.”
“Why is this so important to you?”
“I believe what she does is important. The more people see the ravages of human trafficking, the more they’ll be aware of the danger. We see the horror every day. We know it exist
s. The average person has no real idea. If her work can prevent one child or one adult from being taken, then we need to do what we can to help her.”
Arguing against Ash’s reasoning was pointless. Mostly because he didn’t disagree. The more people were aware of the dangers, the better the chances of fewer people being abducted.
“My question is,” Ash continued, “why are you so opposed? You got something against her?”
“I don’t even know her.”
“Everyone else has made a point of talking to her, welcoming her to the group. You’re the only one who hasn’t bothered. Is it because of what happened in Kosovo?”
“This has nothing to do with Kosovo. This has to do with the fact that not only is she not a trained operative, she looked like she was going to slide out of her chair back at headquarters. She might make good documentaries about the ravages of human trafficking, but she’s not ready to see it up close and personal.”
“She’s had quite a few shocks over the last couple of days. Had a lot of things thrown at her in a short time span. I think we can give her some slack, don’t you?”
He stared hard at Ash. The man was the leader of OZ but this was Liam’s op. If he said no, Ash wouldn’t like it, but he’d accept it. However, he also knew that Ash would never suggest something that would put a mission in jeopardy.
He blew out a frustrated breath. “Fine. Fine. She can go, but I still want Jazz to stick to her like glue.”