stared at the mess. Then slowly he lifted his eyes to the water. If Henry Thomas Ellington IV hadn’t taken over his father’s firm, then the two must’ve had a falling-out. In which case the son would’ve been cut off from his wealthy father. He certainly wouldn’t be here, traipsing around Belize City, chumming it up at the Blue Breeze and about to marry Anders’s only daughter.
His hands clenched and he narrowed his eyes. What had he just stumbled onto?
The young man was coming back tonight to see Eliza. But Henry Thomas would have a surprise waiting when he got here. Anders imagined the look on the man’s handsome face when he realized later tonight that he’d been caught. The guards would have fun with him and then dump his body in the river.
With weights around it.
“Helen!” Anders yelled. Almost immediately one of the housemaids appeared at the door. Anders waved his hand at the mess on the floor. He wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. “Clean it up. Hurry.”
Anders retreated to his private balcony. Calm, he told himself. Breathe. He had found out the truth before it was too late. Wherever the man had come from and whatever business he had here in Belize, he was about to learn a very important lesson.
Don’t lie to Anders McMillan.
* * *
JACK COULDN’T SEE it, but the ship was there.
Five miles off the coast of Belize, the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault vessel that had been quietly patrolling the Caribbean Sea, was now ready for action. The Tripoli could house up to a thousand sailors, depending on the mission. But it specialized in Army helicopter support, mainly for busting up significant drug cartels and international sex-trafficking rings.
Like the one Anders McMillan was running.
Afternoon sunshine streamed across the Belizean shoreline as Jack took his spot on his balcony. Just another day in paradise as far as Anders and his men would be concerned. They didn’t expect anything. Jack felt sure of it. From his hotel balcony, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Same way Anders’s men wouldn’t.
The raid was in three hours.
Like before every mission, Jack would take the day to think through the details, seeing the events play out in his mind until they were so clear he wasn’t only going through the motions. He was living them.
Sunset tonight was at six thirty-one, and an hour after that the sky would be dark. Raids often took place on the darkest nights, and this would be no exception. Tomorrow was a new moon, so tonight just the faintest sliver of light would hang in the sky.
The USS Tripoli would begin their part of the mission at seven forty sharp. That’s when a pilot and two gunners from the Army’s 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment would lift off in a Black Hawk helicopter and fly it to the spot just over the rooftop of the Palace. The 160th regiment was a famous group, also known as the Night Stalkers.
Some people thought the Night Stalkers team was a thing of fiction, showing up only in action movies. That wasn’t true. These were the Army’s most elite pilots, able to fly under the cover of night and carry out some of the military’s most dangerous missions. The purpose of the Night Stalkers was to serve the nation’s elite military units—even if it cost them their lives. One of the division’s most famous raids was against Osama bin Laden. The regiment’s motto was simply: Night Stalkers Don’t Quit.
And they didn’t.
Jack felt good about their participation in tonight’s operation. Eight Navy SEALs would rappel from the Black Hawk to the roof of the building. Until given an all-clear signal, the Night Stalkers would remain hovering overhead with the two gunners ready to add support from the air. Just in case.
Eliza had told Jack what to expect at each of the doors on every floor. In addition, one of the agents on the ground had verified a few of the entries. Eliza still hated Jack, but she was telling the truth. She probably figured no point getting them all killed tonight. The raid was going down with or without her help, and she knew it.
Wrong information would only harm all of them.
A breeze blew over the balcony and settled Jack’s soul. Over the last few days, every bit of intelligence had been passed on to Oliver, and the information disseminated to the Army and Navy. The plan tonight had been analyzed from every angle. And the risks were