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They landed on a private air strip deep in the swamps. It used to be a drug lord’s compound, and now, it would serve as their base of operations. It was well hidden and well furnished. The group made their way inside and were surprised to see that it looked like a grand hotel. A man named Sherman led them to their rooms and told them that they would be briefed in six hours’ time. Sarah’s room was next to Reese’s, with Janie on the other side. Reese couldn’t sleep, so he went down the hall to the study. Sarah was already in there looking over intel reports.
“Hi. Are those new reports?”
“Yes. No calls yet on the ransom drop, but they still have several hours before the demand time.”
“So, you couldn’t sleep either huh?”
“No. It always takes me a few days to settle into a new time change.”
“Yeah, that was always the hardest part about deployment for me too.” Sarah handed Reese a stack of papers, and they continued to review the information in a comfortable silence. After a short while, one of the attendants entered the room and announced that Mr. Carter would be arriving within the hour. Reese went to wake the others.
Thomas was the next to enter the study. He actually looked well rested. As the rest of the group trickled in, they took a seat around the large table in the center of the room. A man entered with cups and a coffee pot. He set them up and left the room in silence. Shawn was the last to arrive. Ten minutes later, Matthew Carter joined them and told his body guards to wait in the other room. Immediately, Matt asked if there was any new news about his wife. They assured him that they would do all they could to bring her home safely and get those responsible for her harm behind bars for the rest of their lives.
Mr. Carter and his guards left for the evening, and the man who had brought in the coffee earlier reappeared to announce that dinner was ready in the formal dining hall. None of the agents were used to treatment like this. Normally, they were just grateful to have a tent in some godforsaken desert.
Conversation was light until dinner was served; that’s when they strategically began to map out their plans. Ryan showed up halfway through the meal and asked if everything in the compound was meeting their needs so far. They all agreed that the accommodations were wonderful. After dinner, the group decided to turn in for the evening so that they could get an early start in the morning.
Ryan asked Reese and Sarah to join him for a night cap.
“So, how is everything going so far?”
“You don’t have to worry, sir. Whoever picked this team had great insight. We are all playing nicely together,” Reese told him. They all laughed and enjoyed the sense of comrade in the air. Ryan let them know that he was flying back to Washington to have a meeting with Vice President Woods, but ensured that he would be back before things got underway.
After Ryan left, Sarah decided that she was finally ready to get some sleep. She wished Reese a goodnight as he poured himself another drink. Reese sat there staring into this drink for a while, pondering their team. This is a good group, he thought, no weak links. These were men and women that he could trust with his life, and he had a feeling that that would prove to come in handy.