“No, we don’t know.”
“Goddamn it.”
That was the kind of shit we dealt with on every job we had been on. We were about to secure thousands of dollars’ worth of guns and equipment to go rescue people who may or may not even be there. It was insane and I hated it. I didn’t like putting myself at risk or my friends at risk, all for no reason. The whole job could have been done very quickly and relatively safely if we had been properly equipped when we arrived.
We could have limited the risk by being prepared and having good intel, but instead we doubled the risk to ourselves and the client’s employees who were stuck in the building. It was horrible and insane, yet it was what we had to deal with. We certainly weren’t going to leave those people to die in that building. It had already taken us weeks to get to the point that we were actually there in Syria; we weren’t going to leave them.
My sleep schedule was all off, and I worked throughout the night before making a video call to Mr. Blankenship to finalize the details of our operation. He answered the call almost immediately, and I knew something was wrong. His face was glum and he avoided eye contact as he started to speak.
“Nate, you made it there safely? Everything is in order?”
“What’s the matter?” I asked bluntly.
I wasn’t in the mood to play any games and I didn’t need his small talk. Of course I made it there safely; I was on the video call with him. And of course everything was not in order, it never was, and he knew that.
My first thought was that he had received intel on more rebels in the area than we had planned for. It certainly wouldn’t be the best possible option, but we would deal with it if that’s what was going on.
It wasn’t all that unusual that we would find out the intelligence information was totally wrong. It was actually really laughable how much went wrong with our jobs and that I was still alive. I chalked it up to training and being able to make the best out of every situation, but there was probably a lot of luck in it as well.
“Ana snuck out last
night. She left a note saying she was going to find her inner hero.”
“What!” I screamed and woke up all three of the guys. “What do you mean she snuck out?”
“She asked my wife to walk the dog and she left. She just left. I’m sorry.”
My heart pounded hard as I tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Why on earth would Ana leave the safety of that room and go find her inner hero? She was safe there. No one would have found her. There was no reason for her to leave. I was absolutely livid that she had left and even more angry that Blankenship had allowed her to leave. I slammed the computer closed and started to pace the room.
I should have stuck on the call long enough to give him a piece of my mind, but I didn’t even want to waste my breath. He was probably happy to be rid of her. Either way, I would email him and give him some directions on how to track her down and put him to work while I finished my job in Damascus.
Baller, Rake, and Sandbag just watched me as I paced, each of them afraid to ask me what was going on. They knew me well enough to know that I wouldn’t have answered them. I didn’t show emotion when we were on jobs and I certainly didn’t show emotion when it came to phone calls with the boss. There was clearly something going on and the guys were going to patiently wait for me to tell them the details.
I closed my eyes to think about where Ana would go. At first, I thought she was going to go back to Jordan’s house and maybe I should call Chase. But I was pretty sure he was being watched and I didn’t want to risk that. I had no idea where she was or where she was going, and I felt utterly helpless.
She said she was going to find her inner hero. That could mean so many different things and I couldn’t think straight enough to figure it out. My gut was saying that she was going to go after Stephano. Ana wasn’t ready for that kind of fight, I was sure of it. She had just enough training to get herself into a whole heap of trouble, and not enough training to actually win a fight.
I was thousands of miles away and I couldn’t do a damn thing about keeping Ana safe now. After a few minutes, I sat down and put my head in my hands. I was scared. I had never actually felt fear like I did in that moment. The fear came from the inability to control the environment or ensure that Ana would be safe. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t make her stay in that room. I couldn’t magically find her and keep her safe. For the first time that I could remember, I felt helpless, and it was a horrible feeling. It was worse than fighting an enemy with bigger guns than you. It was worse than trying to escape rebels who wanted you to die.
“Man, what’s up?” Baller asked finally.
“My girl; there’s some really shitty people after her. I stashed her at Blankenship’s house and he said she left. She just took off.”
“Kidnapped?” Rake asked.
“No, she left a note and planned it out. I think she is going to try and find the guys who were after her. I tried to teach her how to defend herself and she has this idea that she could kill someone if they attacked her. It’s my fault. I taught her just enough for her to feel confident.”
“Well, let’s get shit done here so you can get home,” Sandbag said as he pulled a chair up to the table.
I liked how he thought. There was no time for pity and no time for me to worry about Ana. I had to finish the job in front of me before I could go home, so that was what I was going to do. I was going to get the job done and get out of Syria as fast as humanly possible.
It was going to be hard as hell to concentrate on the job while I was worrying about Ana though. She could be anywhere and I had no information at all. I hated having bad intel on the road, and I definitely hated it when it came to someone I cared about. There was no possible way I was going to just sit back and not do anything.
I sent off an email to a friend of mine who worked for the State Department. I gave him Ana’s information and asked to be notified if she used her passport to travel at all or if they had any other information about her. I was lucky to have friends in places like the State Department and I didn’t use them often. So, when I asked for a favor, they were always more than willing to help me out.
“How do you guys feel about getting our intel done today and making this happen tomorrow?” I asked.
“Let’s do it.”