Page 92 of Secrets Along the Shore

Yvonne tried again. “If you’re there, I need a sitrep.”

The roar of an engine came from the radio, then a voice. “The exfil plan failed. The plane’s destroyed. Team’s gone.” Tyler said something inaudible before continuing. “The package is with me.”

Yvonne held in a sigh of relief. Tyler lived. The package was secure, temporarily at least. But the team had died, and he and their targets were still in danger.

Adele choked on a sob.

“What about Adam?” Yvonne rested her arms on the table.

After a few seconds, Tyler responded, “I tried to save him. There was nothing I could do.”

A door slammed shut as Adele closed herself off in her and Adam’s room. She’d be in there for a while. Even though she’d known it, hearing it couldn’t have been easy.

“Alright.” Yvonne took a breath to calm the anxiety creeping up on her. “Where are you now?”

“Vukovar. Just passed the city limits.”

The city? “The civilians will get hurt!” A stupid move on his part. He should have found a way to hide out in the forest near the airport. They could have moved on foot to avoid people while they waited for a new plane. The temperatures remained mild this part of the year so they wouldn’t freeze to death.

“I’m not about to hide in a bloody forest with a woman and an eight-year-old,” Tyler snapped. “We’ll find a place to hide in the city. Should be easy enough until morning.”

She sighed. “Fine. Fine.” He was right. It was midnight. People wouldn’t be out and about in the city. She had six hours to find a way to get him and the targets. “I’ll get a plane out there.”

“I’d rethink that. The last one got blown up by an RPG.”

Paul let out a whistle. “How close were they?”

Yvonne shook her head. They must have been pretty close since Adam radioed they had reached the plane. Maybe the explosion killed him. She shifted in her chair. “We can’t use a boat. If we use vehicles, they’ll chase us all the way. It is an eight-hour drive.”

“We have limited time, Von.” His voice broke with the static. “Viktor had an army of men at his fortress. I took out thirty, maybe. He’s got a lot left. Our hiding spots will be limited when people start coming into work.”

“I know.” Which meant she needed to get on a plan immediately. “Just find a safe place to hide. I’ll get you out of there. I promise.”

“Copy. I’m going radio silent for a while.”

She’d rather he didn’t, but what was she supposed to do? He couldn’t tell their location over the radio and unless something went wrong, she didn’t need an update. “Alright. I’ll call you when I have a plan.” After hearing his confirmation that he heard, she set the radio on the table. A sigh escaped her. The exfil plan had failed, and other than sending another plane out there, she had no idea what to do.

Pushing away from the table, she turned to her team. “We have six hours. We need a plan to get our targets out of there.”

Amir cleared his throat. “Uh, we’ll have to send more guys out there, and we don’t have that many available.”

She pressed her lips together and shook her head. He was right. They had Paul and Gage here—she wouldn’t count Adele—and four guys on their way to Vukovar that she’d sent out that way a few hours ago as a precaution. She rested a hand on the back of a dining room chair. “Just get to work. We have to figure this out.”

June 9

12:23 a.m., Vukovar, Croatia

Tyler checkedthe mirror as he guided the SUV through the neighborhood at the edge of the city. Simple homes lined the road and stood at the corner of every intersection. The houses weren’t high-end, given they had limestone walls common in Croatia, but he doubted the residents cared.

The dim light behind the vehicle revealed that their pursuers lagged. Maybe Adam had damaged the vehicle earlier. Or perhaps they’d exhausted their supply of ammunition. The latter was more likely since the rain of bullets on the vehicle had ceased.

Elara shifted in the passenger seat. Her hand gripped the console. She turned to look behind them. “They’re slowing down.”

“Yeah.” Tyler stretched his jaw. That choice of action didn’t make sense. Sure, they’d run out of bullets, but if they got too far behind, they’d lose track of Elara and her son. Maybe they’d run out of gas? Unless they had a guaranteed way of tracking them down. He glanced at the backpack on the seat next to Rian. “We need to toss that bag.”

Elara frowned. “What?” She glanced at the bag, then him.

“I’m not gonna have them tracking us. We need to lose anything you had on or with you there.” That included their clothes, which meant he’d have to find a store to buy them new ones. But they definitely needed to ditch that bag.