Into the Storm, page 22
“Damn,” someone muttered.
He nodded. “It’s believed that the gas explosion at the elementary school in Lithuania was a cover-up for the first field test of the compound.”
Audrey’s face blanched. “Last September? The one that killed nearly a hundred and fifty children?”
He nodded. “No way to prove it, of course, but the accidental explosion was a little too thorough in destroying the building.” He’d stared at photos of the bombed school for hours, remembered every gruesome detail. He cleared his throat and continued. “As you may have figured, the chemical compound is the brainchild of a Russian scientist.”
“So why are we in Washington and not in Russia, taking out their chemical weapons lab?” a SEAL asked.
“Because sometime after the school explosion in Lithuania, a team was sent to extract the chemist. She’d signaled through intelligence lines she would help the US if we got her and her son out of the country safely. She could even stop further attacks by uploading corrupted data. But as long as her son was a hostage, she couldn’t make a move without her child facing retaliation.
“The first mission to extract her was a disaster—a CIA special operator died, while another was severely wounded. After that, she and the boy were moved to a location very much like this one—far east Russia, on the Sea of Japan. Complete with mountains and a temperate rainforest. She and her son are ensconced in a remote mountain mansion. It’s the vacation home of an oligarch. She’s being forced to complete her work to set up the upcoming attack from there.”
“So we’re here to do a practice run for the extraction of the chemist and her son,” Mock said. “And the clock is ticking down to the attack.”
Xavier nodded. “There’s only one road to the mansion. It’s in the mountains about thirty miles from the sea, and about a hundred and fifty miles northeast of Vladivostok in the heart of Primorsky Krai. Very isolated, as there are only small villages along the coast. There’s absolutely no communication in or out. Signal blockers have dampened all communications from the mansion. There is no landline or cable. No internet. Nothing.”
“So how does she do her work? How does the Kremlin keep track of her progress?”
“Twice a week, an armored SUV drives from Vladivostok or one of the villages on the coast to the lake. We believe the purpose is to deliver hard drives for data transfer. There’s another vehicle that delivers food once a week. We initially hoped to be able to infiltrate the food delivery, but intelligence suggests we’d never get past the guard at the gate without the proper password, which changes daily.”
“So shoot the guard,” one of the SEALs said.
“It’s believed there’s a helicopter at the ready to remove the chemist if there’s any indication the guard has been incapacitated. The chemist has been warned that if they were forced to do another emergency extraction, this time they would leave her son behind with a chemical bomb that would explode when SEALs breached the building.”
“Okay. So we leave the guard alone.”
“And here I thought you were just fucking with us with the no-comms shit,” Flyte said.
“I wish.”
“So we were going to run scenarios here to plan the op,” Phelps said. “Figure out how to do the impossible.”
Audrey rose from her seat next to George and stretched. They used small red lanterns to light the room, making it impossible to see the red marks on her neck, but he knew they were there. Her voice had a slight rasp as she said, “I don’t understand. What you’ve described is part of military operations—not a training exercise. Why didn’t you just submit your plan to the park under that regulation? Ops don’t fall under environmental review. You could have left me out of it and the lodge would have been yours to use.”
“Inholding property owners couldn’t be here, so we had to have a public notice period. We couldn’t go out with a public notice saying the Navy is going to run an op in Olympic National Park, so we called it a training exercise, which left it open for review.”
It wasn’t lost on him that every man in this room had learned tonight that she was pregnant with his child, but only Cohen and the other trainers knew what he’d done to her to get them here. He’d never expected to have the opportunity to justify his actions, but here it was. He’d be a fool to let it go by, even if this wasn’t the most opportune moment. “When the training was denied, I would have walked away and come up with a different plan, except then there was the chemical attack in Prague at the beginning of December.”
Audrey’s gaze whipped to his. “That was a gas attack?”
He nodded. “Intelligence gathered indicates upwards of eighty-two people died. Of course, this is all highly classified, but at this point, you all have the right to know what brought us here.” His gaze met Audrey’s. “And why I did what I did to you.”
He’d never expected to be able to tell her, but now that he had, a weight lifted from his chest. At least there was a chance she would understand. Would know that it truly had nothing to do with her and everything to do with hundreds, even thousands of lives hanging in the balance.
She gave him a small nod, and he moved on. They still had a lot of ground to cover. Like how the hell they were going to end this nightmare once and for all.
“So if everything hadn’t gone to hell before we even splashed down,” Williams said, “we would have taken the lodge the first night, and then what?”
“Then we would have run different scenarios for how to extract the hostages. As we’ve learned, it’s one thing to get in, and another entirely to get out.”
“As far as I can tell,” Flyte said, “the only way out without being seen, without being able to call for a helicopter, is hiking overland.”
Xavier nodded. “Yes. I believe that would have ended up being the only scenario that would work. That’s why the dummies representing the hostages are the right height and weight of both hostages, although the boy will have grown in the months since he was last seen, so his dummy is based on averages.”
“And that’s what we need to do now,” Smith said. “Hike beyond the signal blocker and make the call with a satellite phone.”
“The best way to do that is to go deeper into the forest,” Audrey said, “toward Mount Olympus. Get high, above the tree line, to have the best chance to get a signal.”
“We could try to find the signal blockers the mercs set up,” Cohen suggested.
“I’ve considered that,” Flyte said. “But from the coverage, I’m guessing there are several. We could waste days searching. In the meantime, we’ve got a critically injured SEAL and three missing team members.”
All at once, Audrey jolted. He knew her body language. She had an idea.
“What is it, Aud?”
“Remember the night we met?”
He couldn’t help but smile, his gaze landing on her belly. “Uh. Yeah.”
Cohen snickered.
She rolled her eyes. “I mean what I was doing. The project I was working on.”
“You were doing a survey to determine if an archaeological site would be harmed if an emergency shelter was built near a trail.”
She smiled. “You were paying attention.” She crossed the room to a table that was stacked with brochures for tourists, unharmed by the battle that had taken place here. She grabbed a stack from the tabletop and returned to the group, setting the trifold pamphlets on the coffee table in front of the hearth, between the facing couches where everyone had gathered.
“This is a park guide for trails in the vicinity of the lodge.” She opened one and pointed to a dotted line a fair distance from the line drawing of the lodge.
Flyte grabbed a map, as did others. Audrey moved to stand by Xavier so he could look over her shoulder at the page.
“They weren’t just building an emergency shelter for hikers caught in a storm. The plan was to put in cellular antennas, giving my project area a bigger footprint. It’ll be one of the few lower elevations where a cell signal is possible—there isn’t much point in putting up a tower in the middle of the trees where the signal won’t carry far.”
“But the terrain is better there?”
“Yes, there’s a decent rise and clearing.”
“How far is it from here?”
“Roughly seven miles. Four by road—backtracking toward the gate. There’s a wide pull-off for parking where there’s a mile long trail that gets you halfway to the ridge, then it’s nearly two miles of backcountry hiking to reach Lost Goat Trail and the proposed emergency shelter location.”
“But avoiding both road and trail, how far is that?” Xavier asked.
“All backcountry? Five, maybe six miles. You still can’t go as the crow flies because it’s steep and heavily forested. The ground will be really slippery, requiring a lot of switchbacks instead of hiking straight up.”
Cohen frowned at the brochure. “Please tell me there’s an antenna in place there now?”
She shook her head, “Sorry. No. But it’s a hike no one would expect. They’ll be watching for us to head west, toward the edge of the park and the towns along the coast, or to go north along Lake Olympus Road toward the gate. Like last night, when we sheltered far from the lake and lodge, it’ll be safer. Unexpected because it’s such a difficult hike that seemingly goes nowhere that would help us.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“We won’t leave without Odent, Mueller, and Hobbs,” Flyte said. Audrey assumed he’d named the three missing SEALs.
Xavier nodded. “We’ll send a Fire Team to make the call. NSWC will send reinforcements.”
Flyte shook his head. “We need every man here—to protect the lodge and to search for the missing team members.”
Audrey cleared her throat and made her terrifying offer. “I’ll go.”
“You can’t do that,” one of the SEALs said. “You’re pregnant.”
She turned to glare at the man. “I’ve been hiking these woods for over twenty-five years. And I was pregnant last night when Xavier and I hiked all over the damn forest in pouring rain.”
The man looked a bit sheepish. “I just meant…you said it would be steep.”
“I’ll go. Alone,” George said.
“You aren’t hiking on that leg,” the medic who’d just stitched him up said.
“I’ve survived worse.”
“I know, George,” she responded. “And if we were choosing teams and you weren’t injured, you’d be my first choice for this. You know this forest better than anyone alive. But you haven’t slept in two days, and that cut looks like it went deep.”
The medic nodded. “It is deep. You lost a lot of blood, and your leg could give out in a tight spot. You’ve saved all our asses, and we’re grateful. It’s time for you to rest and let the team do what we’re trained for.”
“They invaded my land,” George said. She could see the fire in his eyes. “Killed my friend. I can do this.”
“So can I,” Audrey said.
“You can barely stand,” George said. “Don’t think I didn’t see your face turn white as you tried not to puke the minute you walked in here, and your hands have been trembling for the last twenty minutes.”
She’d thought she’d hidden her stress pretty well, but nothing slipped by George. “The nausea is from stress, and I need to eat. Some protein and a few hours of sleep and I’ll be fine. I can do this, George. And don’t forget, after you, I know these woods better than anyone else here. Plus, I’ve learned a lot from Xavier about how to move quietly through the forest. I can do this.”
“I’ll go with her,” Xavier said.
She didn’t know if she was irked or not that his words weren’t addressed to her, but then, this was a military operation and he was a SEAL and not exactly in command of the op.
Sure enough, his gaze wasn’t on her or even George. He addressed Lieutenant Flyte, his former teammate and close friend. “I’m useless here with my shoulder, but my legs work, and I can protect Audrey and make the call to NSWC. They’ll listen to me.”
All at once, she remembered that there was a chance NSWC might try to disregard a call from her. They’d listen, surely, but it would take more convincing than if it was one of their own.
Finally, Xavier faced her. “I hate the idea of you leaving the safety of this lodge.” His gaze flicked to her belly, and she knew he wanted to mention Fig, but he wouldn’t do that now, not in front of his team. “But you’re right about being the best choice for this, and I know you’ve got the grit and stamina for it. I will have your back every step of the way.”
She nodded. “We should go now, then, while it’s still dark. We could probably be halfway there before dawn.”
“No way. As you said, you need to eat and sleep first. You’re running on fumes. We’ll head out an hour before dawn and get well away from the lodge complex before daylight.”
She nodded. It was a reasonable plan.
She resumed her seat on the stone hearth next to George and listened as the men made a plan for searching for the missing SEALs and protecting the lodge while she and Xavier hiked up Mount Olympus.
Given the conditions, she figured the five- or six-mile hike would take at least six hours. Possibly longer as they would have to avoid areas that were too steep to traverse without ropes. This wasn’t a good time to attempt rock climbing an unexplored cliff face. Audrey was already mentally preparing her route when George nodded toward one of the large topo maps hanging on the far wall. “You’ll want to take a Thunderbird trail.”
“Thunderbird?” Cohen said. “There aren’t any trails by that name around here.”
“They’re traditional trails,” Audrey said. “Used by tribes since the beginning of time. Hidden routes through the Olympics that connected the coastal groups with the Puget Sound tribes.”
“My people would meet in the mountains to conduct trade,” George said. “The mountains were neutral ground, allowing for commerce. Bypassing the range and crossing the lowlands to the sound could be considered an act of aggression and war.”
“There’s a Thunderbird trail near here?”
“Not so much trail as a general course, but yes, we had a route that connected Lake Olympus with the top of Mount Olympus, which would intersect with the Lost Goat Trail not far from the area where you surveyed last November.” He nodded again toward the topographic map that hung on the wall. “Come. I’ll show you.”
She and George left the SEALs to their strategizing session and crossed the dark room to the framed map he’d indicated.
George ran a finger across a section of closely drawn contour lines, indicating a steep slope. “This section is going to give you the most trouble without a trail. Over here”—his finger traced a small adjacent area—“might as well be a cliff, and the ground is too exposed. You’d be visible from a distance. This area to the north is your best bet. The ground is supersaturated. You’ll have to watch out for areas where downed trees have caused water to collect. Some parts of the hillside could be more bog than ground, but you won’t know until your foot sinks deep, because ferns will hide the water.”
She closed her eyes and tried to envision the area he’d indicated, but she couldn’t. She’d never explored that area. For the first time, she recognized her words about knowing the forest might be nothing more than bravado.
But still, even if it was bluster, she was the team’s best bet. They couldn’t spare SEALs for this, and none of them had ever visited that part of the forest either.
“Okay. Thanks. This helps a lot.”
Xavier approached from behind and offered George a thick black marker. “Draw our route, and I’ll take a picture with my phone.”
Lieutenant Flyte joined them, and George talked them through the route again as he marked the glass that covered the topo map. Audrey felt better with Xavier being part of the discussion of the route.
They could do this.
They would do this.
By tomorrow evening, she’d be safely in her Port Angeles home.
She’d call her parents and tell them she was pregnant and that she loved them and missed them. She’d tell her mother she wanted to see her more.
She’d even call her ex-boyfriend and…well, she didn’t know, really, but try to find some peace with the way they broke up. He’d dumped her the day she got the park archaeologist job, because he knew the permanent position meant she would never leave the peninsula.
It had been a blow on the day she’d achieved a goal she’d held since she was eleven years old, robbing the moment of all the joy it deserved.
He’d meant the world to her once upon a time, but now she realized that no, she’d never loved him more than her park, and she could see how that must have hurt him to come in second place to a…place.
Much like it had gutted her that Xavier prioritized his job over hers, and they weren’t even in love like she and Kevin had been.
But now she knew why Xavier had prioritized his job, and he’d been right. She did understand. It had never been about his job or her job at all.
It had been about preventing a massacre of epic proportions.
He hadn’t been able to tell her the truth, the reason it mattered so much. She didn’t feel the need to judge him for his decisions now that they at least made sense. He’d done, if not the right thing, then the only possible thing.
She stared at the map, mentally planning each step she would take, climbing over logs and burrowing through branches draped with moss, wading through tall ferns.
In the flatter areas, the ferns had been tamped down by snowfall, but the steeper hillsides hadn’t collected snow, and the green fronds remained perky. In the summer, they grew so high, one could take cover from the rain under the thick overlapping plants.
The edges of her vision darkened as she focused on the black line George had drawn on the map, and the men’s conversation around her faded into meaningless chatter. Like birds.
