Three minutes later, the headlights of a Land Rover race toward them. Luckily, they are next to the river and manage to slip away unmolested.
Cole has never messed up like that before and is angry with himself, but he couldn’t seem to get his mind off Savannah. Dammit, he is worried something is going to happen to her. It’s the first time he’s really had a reason to get back, and God, does he want to go home. He misses so much about her, even the way she looks at him, like he’s the only one she sees.
Ahhhh! Focus!He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to clear his head. Nothing is working. He looks over at Mark, who is passed out in the corner, taking advantage, as only an experienced combat soldier can, of any spare moment to grab some Zs.
Paul is propped up against the wall, using the handle of his weapon as a pillow. John is at the door, leaning on the window frame on first watch. Cole jumps out of bed and grabs his gun.
“John, I’ll take the first shift. I’m wide awake, and there’s no sense in neither of us getting any rest.”
“Thanks, but if it’s all the same, I’d rather not,” he says, not leaving his post.
Cole nods his understanding, unable to shake off a bad feeling. These situations are high stress, and The American is someone they’ve been up against before; the man is ruthless. Cole rests his weapon on the wall next to him and sits on the ground, angling himself so he can see out the back window. They sit for a long time, tuning in to every single noise that finds them.
“How’s your sister?” Cole whispers. John’s sister was hit by a semi in an intersection four months ago. It was touch and go for a while with the swelling in her brain, but she somehow came out of it all right—well, somewhat all right. It was really hard on John, considering she’s his twin and they are very close.
“Better, physically. They say she should be able to walk again,” John says. “As for her mental state, she’s still missing most of her childhood. She doesn’t know anyone but Pops, so that’s hard. At least they caught the driver. He was eighteen hours over his logbook.”
“Oh, man, I’m sorry.”
“It is what it is,” he mutters. They both go back to comfortable silence.
Later, Cole looks at his watch. It’s seven thirty in the morning. He and John never left their posts, neither getting a wink of sleep. They often work on less in situations like this. Cole reaches for the satellite phone.
“Checking in at oh seven thirty-five,” Cole says as the call connects and Keith answers.
“Roger, Raven One. What’s the plan today?”
“We’re going to hit the house. They had company yesterday, so we want to get in there and see who it is.”
“All right, copy that. Going ahead with plans to move in on the house today.” There’s a pause. “Daniel and Sue decided to stay here at the house. Agent Joel and three others arrived this morning, so the extra backup is here. Sue has been keeping Savi busy, so—”
“Good, that’s good.” That makes him feel a whole lot better. “All right, I’ll check back in with you tonight.”
“Stay safe.”
“Will do. Raven One out.”
Cole tucks the phone into his vest pocket then downs a protein bar and a few chocolate covered coffee beans. He takes a deep breath, clearing all thoughts out of his head, and finally focuses on what’s to come.
“Okay,” he says as he walks into the room where the guys are packing their gear. “Let’s go get ’em.”