Gonchaya took a hard breath and closed his eyes, his face contorting in pain. “That’s above my paygrade, Rose. Zorra was the one who found the lead. Maybe the bosses didn’t want us to chase our tails on this one before we made sure it was actionable.”
Rose nodded. “Zorra can be exacting.”
“You can trust this guy?” Iceman said.
Rose looked at him and nodded. “With my life. He is a good operative.” That was decisive and gave Preacher a reason to relax. He had been with Ice on this one, not sure if this guy was on the level. But Preacher trusted Rose, and if she said he was on the up and up, then he was. She returned her gaze back to Gonchaya. “Do you feel up to a debrief?” she asked, her tone subdued, obviously over her snit. She would kick a man when he was down, but that would be bad guys. It was obvious she knew him and had worked with him before.
“Yes, ma’am. Whatever you need.” He might have been tortured and was feeling the effects, but his tone was decisive.
She nodded, her gaze showing compassion and concern, and then said, “Let’s get everyone together. We’ll assess the situation and go from there,” she said to Iceman.
Preacher walked over to assist Kodiak in helping Gonchaya up from the chair he was in. He grunted in pain as he stood. They supported him all the way to the debrief. Once he was seated, Kodiak set a bottle of water in front of him.
“Let me know if you get light-headed or your pain gets worse,” Kodiak said.
As soon as the team filtered in, some of them giving Gonchaya supportive glances, Rose said, “Let’s start with the hostage mission first. Iceman?”
“We secured both hostages alive. They are heading back to their families as we speak. As for Jovanovic and Savic, we missed them by fifteen minutes. Karasu and Volk were pissed. They tracked them to the airfield.” The mention of Karasu being on-site made Preacher’s heart beat a little faster. He now had no idea how he stood with her, but that was nothing new. Once he saw her again, they were going to have a conversation, and she was going to listen to him until he’d said what was on his mind. Whether either of them wanted to admit it, there was something “special” between them. He wasn’t going to let his fear hold him back. Iceman continued. “They took off in a small plane. Intel was minimal as according to one of Jovanovic’s minions, he carries everything on his laptop and never lets it out of his sight.”
“That’s true,” Gonchaya said. “I’ve seen it. According to Zorra’s intel, Savic is supplying the weapons for No Safe Haven and Jovanovic is coordinating mercenaries for them. But, as I said, I haven’t been able to confirm this information.” He shifted in the chair and winced. “If we could get the laptop, we’d have much more to go on and be able to confirm he’s in bed with NSH.”
“Sounds like a priority to me,” Rose said. “I’ll speak with Station Chief Moore as soon as this is over.” She set her hands on the table. “We’ve gotten an opportunity here to get some answers and we’re not going to waste them.”
“Rose…Zorra. Has anyone heard from her?”
Rose was as good with the CIA stare as Gonchaya was. “I’ll ask when I talk to Moore.”
Gonchaya frowned, his eyes filled with worry. “Let me know as soon as you get any information about her. We got separated when I was taken. I don’t know what happened to her.”
“Of course.” He had no doubt. When Rose wanted something, she had the golden touch. “Thank you all.” She turned to Iceman.
Ice stood and said, “We’ll be leaving at O-six-hundred tomorrow. Dismissed.”
The guys got up and Preacher automatically went to help Gonchaya, but Iceman said, “Preacher, could you stay?”
Preacher looked at Kodiak and GQ stepped in. “I’ve got him, Preach.”
The room emptied. Preacher joined up with Rose and Iceman at the head of the room. “What is your take on all this?” Iceman asked.
“I think we caught a lucky break when Jovanovic kidnapped those Wall Street guys. Now he and his gunrunning, human-trafficking POS are on our radar.” The thought of Savic getting anywhere near a young Karasu made his blood boil, and his anger spilled over into his voice. He forcefully calmed himself down. “Getting the laptop and those two lowlifes could be a game changer. We should do what it takes.”
“Agreed.” Iceman narrowed his eyes. “I’ll fill in the brass, Rose. You talk to Ray. We’ll be ready to deploy as soon as there’s anything actionable.”
“Sounds good.”
Preacher touched Iceman’s arm. There was still a big elephant in the room they needed to talk about. “A minute, boss?”
“I’ll see you later,” Rose said with a soft smile.
Iceman smiled back warmly. He watched Rose leave the room, releasing a soft sigh.
“Ice?” He couldn’t fault the man. He had taken care of his attraction to Rose quite handily, whereas Preacher was still struggling with his “little raven problem.”
He turned back to Preacher with a besotted look on his face. “Sorry…she’s—”
“I get it,” he growled, remembering how it was to be stuck in that trunk with Karasu.
Ice set his hands on his hips. “You want to talk about Striker. Don’t you?”