Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,1

place. It’s not a drug deal, but it’s a deal that will affect him for the rest of his life,” Eyes said.

“Where are the targets coming from?” Green asked. “I want to make sure my gun is sighted.”

“The targets will be in these locations,” Eyes said as he used his pointer on the map. “There are four locations with five targets at each.”

“How do you know? This area doesn’t seem the best place for the enemy.”

Smoke was studying the image. “I can come in through here, and be in and out in seconds, but I need to know what I’m carrying. And I can make the drop, and grab up Sleep, and be out of there before anyone knows what’s happening.”

“You might need to pull Sleep out,” Eyes said. “We’ll have to see how the mission goes.”

“I won’t need pulled out,” Sleep insisted, his eyes narrowing.

“We aren’t saying you can’t do the job,” Smoke assured him. “But I don’t like this location. There are too many variables, too many high points for the enemy to get into place. How did this spot get chosen, and is it too late to move?”

Eyes looked at each of the men, proud to be their team leader. They were brilliant, and they were lucky to have each other to work for the good of their communities. The world was already a better place because they were fighting for justice.

“Yes, it’s too late to move. But I’m not worried. We have a good team.”

“I want to take the possibility of a loss of life to zero percent. I don’t like going in knowing we might lose one of our own,” Brackish said. “I’m sure we can fortify better, but we don’t have a lot of time.”

“It’s too late, Brackish. One of us might be lost already. I’ll explain,” Eyes said as he pointed at the map again.

“Brackish, you’ll be over here. There’s a sound system. You’ll be starting the sound at exactly 2100 hours. It will play for ten minutes. When you get the signal from Sleep, you’ll switch it to another station. Here’s the first drive, and here’s the second,” Eyes said.

Brackish looked at Eyes as if he’d lost his mind. But he simply nodded, holding on to the disks he wasn’t going to be able to check until they adjourned.

“Green, you’ll first drop items from right here,” he said, pointing again at the top of the cliff. “As soon as the signal is given, you’ll switch to over here,” he told him, pointing about six feet away. “And that’s when you’ll shoot the targets.”

“Do I get to see what I’m dropping ahead of time?” Green asked.

“Of course, I’ll hand out the materials in just a few minutes.”

“Sounds good,” Green told him.

“Smoke, I’ll be with you over here,” he told him. “We’ll come through this path as soon as Sleep and the civilian is at the water’s edge. We’ll leave our items right here in this location,” he continued, moving his pointer. “As soon as we’ve dropped the items, I’ll get a head start on you to the exit. You’ll light this fire right here, then haul ass out before Sleep and the civilian turn.”

“Light what fire?” Smoke practically shouted. “Is it a bomb? What in the hell are we doing?”

It took everything in Eyes not to smile when the men gaped at him. They were utterly confused, which none of them liked. He kept his expression neutral, and then he pulled folders from his briefcase. He passed papers to each of the men, then sat back and waited.

A full ninety seconds went by before the first reaction was snapped out.

“Are you serious?” Green gasped. There was a look of disbelief on his face. It was obvious he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be feeling in that moment. Finally, a smile broke through as his gaze zeroed in on Sleep. “I guess we are losing one of our own.”

“Yep, it’s obvious he’s a goner,” Brackish said.

“I never would’ve thought it could happen,” Smoke said, shaking his head.

“This just shows that none of us are truly safe,” Eyes told the group. “Any of us could be taken out in a single heartbeat. Although it’s hopeless now for Sleep, we’ll still take this mission and help tie the noose around his neck.”

“What else can we do?” Green asked. “He’s made his choice.”

Sleep laughed. “You know it’s going to happen to each one of you someday, and I won’t forget this moment,” Sleep said with