Headed for Trouble - By Suzanne Brockmann Page 0,89

was little more than an endurance test for her. For Robin, too. And even for Sam.

As a former SEAL and a man of action, it was possible that the role of sitting and waiting was hardest on Sam.

But it was Sam who had suggested the trip, generously offering to babysit not just Ash, Mikey, and Emma, but Robin and Gina, too. His plan was to distract everyone—no doubt himself included—while Alyssa, Max, and Jules were working in a war zone.

But Gina’s getting sick was a little too distracting. For all of them. Especially Max, who was looking a little green himself.

“Let’s take a break for now.”

Jules glanced up as Alyssa continued, “We’ll have an opportunity later to continue the discussion, so keep those ideas percolating.”

Percolating. Good word. He stood up, stretching his legs, and headed for the coffeepot, going only slightly out of his way to pass Max, who had a half-filled mug, surely cold by now, on the table in front of him.

“You want a refill?” Jules asked.

“Yeah, because not sleeping tonight from a caffeine overdose sounds like it’ll be so much fun,” Max said dryly. But he held the mug, handle out, so that Jules could take it.

“We all know no one’s sleeping,” Jules countered. “Not until we get the word that their plane’s wheels up out of Tarafashir.” He took the mug and got in the growing line for coffee.

“Out of Tarafashir?” It was Alec MacInnough who was in front of him, and the SEAL officer turned around to tell Jules, “Who wants to leave Tarafashir? Man, what I wouldn’t give to be going in, with Commander Jacquette and the rest of Team Sixteen.”

Jules looked at him through the blear of too many days without any real sleep, and those words didn’t make any sense. Until they made too much sense. “Wait a minute. What happened in Tarafashir?”

Alec was a little taken aback by Jules’s intensity. “Oh, wow, sorry, man, I thought you knew. I mean, you brought it up, right?” He looked over Jules’s shoulder, and Jules turned to see that Alyssa was standing right behind him.

“Why is a SEAL team going to Tarafashir, Lieutenant?” she asked, her voice even, her demeanor calm. Jules knew her well enough to know that her blood pressure was spiking.

“Ma’am, there’s a hostage situation at the airport in the capital,” Alec reported, looking from Jules to Alyssa and back. “Some kind of terrorist sleeper cell was activated and, well, they attacked. I didn’t see the report, I just …” He raised his voice. “Jenkins!”

“Yes, sir?” With his freckles and boyish height, Petty Officer Mark Jenkins was older and way more capable than he looked. He appeared at Alec’s elbow as if he’d been conjured there, and Alec jumped.

“God damn it,” Alec said, “how do you do that?”

“I was standing right here, sir, you just didn’t see me.”

“What happened in Tarafashir?” Jules spoke over Jenk, even as Alyssa raised her own voice, calling, “Max! Sir, I think you need to hear this!”

And Max joined them as Jenkins, normally upbeat and cheerful, realized that this was personal. “Who’s in Tarafashir?” he asked, his face suddenly that of a man with a dozen years of SpecOps experience.

“Sam and Ash,” Jules told him. “And—”

“Robin and Gina,” Alyssa said.

“My kids, Emma and Mikey, too,” Max whispered.

Jenk glanced at Alec. “Sir, maybe there’s been more information.”

“Yeah.” The SEAL officer nodded. “Excuse me, I’ll go talk to Lew and request computer access. In the meantime, Jenkins, at least tell them what you know.”

“Yes, sir, but it’s not much,” Jenkins said as Alec went out into the snowstorm, not bothering to grab his coat or a hat. “From what I understand—and you need to know that the report I saw was not verified, but … Earlier this evening, a dozen gunmen entered the airport in the capital city of Tarafashir and, without any warning, opened fire. Casualties are believed to be high, but we don’t have details, because the tangos are still in possession of the terminal. We do know that two planes—both commercial airliners—took off shortly after the attack. F16s have scrambled with the intention of shooting them down if they don’t follow radioed instructions and land immediately.” He glanced at his dive watch. “It’s hard to imagine we haven’t already achieved that objective.”

“So there was no timeline on the report that you received,” Jules clarified, because he knew that Alyssa was thinking the same thing he was: Please God, let them have left the airport before