Page 49 of Trapped (Sheppard & Sons Investigations #6)

Nathan

“ S ierra One to Bravo One.” John’s voice came over comms as the sun hovered just over the horizon. Less than an hour of sunlight remained, but the clearing would feel dark sooner because of the trees.

I didn’t love the idea of finishing the rescue mission in the dark, but we couldn’t wait until morning. The Bravo team could easily carry out the mission in the dark. I had to trust the Sierra team could too.

“Go ahead, Sierra One.”

“Parked and ready to move.”

“Move. Watch your backs.” Sierra would enter from the back of the clearing, relative to the cabin’s front door.

“Copy that. Sierra One out.”

Perpura wouldn’t kill Ashley. Get used to calling her Flirty . A call sign I loved and despised in equal measure.

“It’s not much farther before we can park,” Kroup updated me.

I nodded. We’d park in the dense forest and walk in. Perpura would expect us to come in guns blazing, so we’d sneak in instead.

Not that it’d matter. Perpura would’ve staged men, ready to engage, the instant he knew we were coming. If he didn’t know, bonus. But we had to assume he did as we moved forward.

After we parked, Kroup prepped Havoc with his body armor, goggles, and Ashley’s scent. If Perpura hid Ashley, Havoc was our best hope of finding her.

“Bravo One to Sierra One.”

“Go Bravo One.”

“Bravo is on the move,” I said.

“Copy that. We’re almost in position.”

“Observe and report from there, but don’t engage.” I didn’t have to add, unless necessary.

Kroup led with Havoc sniffing his way to the cabin.

Time stood still as we inched our way to our destination, where we’d spread out and observe before finalizing our plan of attack.

We knew there’d be a firefight. We expected booby traps. We didn’t allow ourselves to think about failing.

Failure wasn’t an option.

Prepping took minutes but felt like hours as shadows danced between the trees. Every rustle of the leaves, every croak of a frog, every branch snapping underfoot had our heads scanning for a threat.

When we were in place, I contacted the Sierra team.

“We’re in place. What do you see?”

“Sierra Five has the drone ready to go.”

“Let it fly.”

The drone barely cleared the forest before a single shot rang out.

“The drone is down.” John confirmed. “We’re going in blind.”

At least we still had thirty minutes of natural light.

“Copy that.” I sent one last prayer to heaven. “On my mark.”