“Michelle, what’s your twenty?” Jay said.
“We’re 100 kilometers out. We’ll be over the cave in thirty minutes. We’re using a new military-grade Trifan for this mission.”
“How is it different from your other plane?”
“It’s similar to the commercial model, but it’s armored and has a capacity of sixteen passengers.”
“What about armament?”
“It’s equipped with an air-to-air defense including a missile avoidance system. For firepower, it has a mini-gun with a 300-degree fire zone for air-to-ground suppression. It also has a pod of hellfire anti-tank missiles.”
“Thanks for the report, Michelle,” Jay said. “Stay safe. Is Gia on the line?”
“I am here.”
“Are you all set?”
“Yes, Karen Whitaker and three FBI investigators are here to help me find the gun and any other evidence.”
“I thought an Army intelligence team scoured the cave before?”
“They did, but the gun is still there. The team didn’t find anything.”
“Did we clear the mission with the State Department and the Pakistanis?”
“Yes, we are legal until a firefight breaks out. Then all bets are off.”
“Are you expecting trouble?”
“You never know. That rogue Taliban tribe linked to al-Mujadin is still out there.”
“They shouldn’t be a problem,” Jay said.
“I do not know about that,” Michelle replied.
“What do you mean?”
“I heard from a friend in NATO intelligence that it was Andrew Bessie’s unit that was searching the cave.”
“He told me he was training to be a medic.”
“That was his cover story,” Michelle said. “The Taliban tortured and killed him.”
Jay didn’t answer as he processed that information.
Gia led the FBI investigators into the underground complex. Michelle landed two hundred yards downhill from the cave entrance. At the same time, CJ and Madman went into the mountains to set up a sniper position with a good view of the valley.
“Everyone stay close behind me,” Gia said. “Don’t wander. There are many branches in the cave, and it’s easy to get lost.”
Gia led the team through the maze. The air was cold and dry. At the bottom of a long descent, Gia stopped. She waited for the rest of the team to catch up.
“We’re outside of the large chamber. Let’s search the whole cave. Concentrate along the back wall where the hostages were.”
One investigator waved a metal detector back and forth over the cave floor. A second investigator scanned the walls with an infrared camera.
Several minutes went by without any results. Then, while one investigator pulled out a small shovel and dug up some dirt along the back wall, Gia searched the cave wall for hidden pockets.
Gia stopped. “Over here,” she said.
Gia found a small crevice in the wall near the floor of the cave. She lay flat on her stomach, reaching in.
“I feel something,” Gia said. “The crack runs in about six inches then curves upward.”
Gia pulled off her heavy assault jacket and stretched her hand into the small crack. She scooted herself up against the wall of the cave and spun around onto her back. She contorted and twisted her body in a myriad of directions. Then she stopped.
“I feel the grip of a gun,” Gia said as she strained to reach. “I can’t seem to find a way to grab it.”
Gia nudged the gun with her index finger. It didn’t move. She stretched a little more and nudged it again—this time, the weapon released and fell against her hand.
Karen pulled the gun out, removed the magazine, and cleared a round from the barrel. Then she dropped the gun and ammo into an evidence bag. She wrote some notes on the outside of the bag.
“Chain of custody is established,” Karen said. “Thank you, Gia.”
Karen shined a flashlight on the gun. The barrel was light gray steel with a dark mahogany handle inlaid with hundreds of jewels. It was not a typical weapon. It was beautiful. Gia noticed a piece of black velcro taped to the side of the barrel.
Gia led the team back to the cave entrance, where she could get a radio signal.
“We got it, Jay. We got the smoking gun. And there’s no way a man could have pushed the gun that far into the wall. His hand would never fit.”
CJ watched the five technicals drive up the road. A quick shot could take out the lead driver. The disabled truck would block the road and prevent the rest of the trucks from surrounding the cave. But he didn’t have the authority to make the shot. So instead, he watched the convoy approach. Madman took close-up photos of the drivers and gunmen.
“Jay, we have visitors,” CJ said into his mike. “Five technicals with .50 caliber machine guns mounted on their beds. At least five fighters per truck. They’re all armed with AK-47s.”
“Hang tight. We don’t know what the Taliban’s intentions are yet. They may not be hostile.”
“Are you kidding me?” Madman said. “Everybody in this hell hole is hostile.”
“Michelle,” Jay said. “Can you lift off and hover over the cave entrance? We have visitors approaching.”
“Roger. But I can’t stay exposed if they have RPGs.”
“I understand.”
Michelle lifted off and maneuvered her trifan over the cave entrance. She couldn’t see any of the rocket-propelled grenade launchers, so she moved up closer. To be safe, she activated her air-to-ground weapons and missile defense system. The firing computer locked onto the lead truck.
Gia stopped inside the entrance, “We’re ready for extraction.”
“Hold tight. We have a problem. Technicals are approaching on the mountain road.
“Can we evacuate before they get here?” Karen said. “We’re ready to go.”
“Negative. It’s not safe.”
CJ chimed in, “If we engage them now, we’ll have a better chance of escaping.”
“Can’t do it,” Jay replied. “Against our rules of engagement. They have to shoot first.”
“That’s great,” Gia said. “We have to wait until they blow us up, then we can fight back?”
“You got it. We’re a civilian force here at the invitation of the Pakistan government. We have the right to defend ourselves, but not the right to attack others.”
Jessie watched the technicals drive up and surround the cave entrance.
“Let’s see what they want,” Jay said.
Gia trained her M4 on the lead truck. She watched a man carrying an AK-47 step out of the pickup. He walked up to the cave entrance.
“We know you are in there,” the man said in English. “We are not going to harm you. Please step out of the cave so I can look you in the eyes.”
Gia scanned the trucks through her rifle scope. None of the fighters had their weapons trained on the cave entrance.
“I’m going out to see what he wants,” Gia said. “CJ, if anyone lifts their rifle, shoot them.”
“Don’t go out,” Karen said. “They’ll kill you.”
“No, I don’t think they will.” Gia handed her rifle to Karen.
Jay watched the technicals. He needed a plan of action if Gia’s negotiations failed.
“CJ, target the leader,” Jay commanded.
“Roger,” CJ responded. “I have a clear shot.”
“Michelle, target the trucks closest to the cave.”
“Got it,” Michelle responded.
“Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into a firefight,” Jay said. “Everybody, keep your safeties on until I say so. We don’t need anyone jumping the gun.”
Karen watched the lead terrorist through the scope of Gia’s rifle. The man was tall, about six foot three, and wore an all-black keftu and head wrap covering his face. But she could see his eyes. They were black as coal. He pointed the rifle at Gia as he approached.
Gia walked up to the lead terrorist. She stopped five feet away from him and raised her hands over her head, “I’m not armed,” she said.
“I know,” the man said. “But your security team is. Tell them to drop their rifles. Especially your sniper on the mountain. I have men watching.”
“Jay, can you hear what he said?” Gia said into her headset.
“Yes, we’re standing down. Everybody confirm that you’ve dropped your weapons. CJ?”
“Affirmative,” CJ said.
Jay thought about his options. First, he had to know who he was dealing with. Was it random, or did they have a plan?
“Gia, try to get him to remove his face mask. I want to identify him.”
“We do not want to harm you,” the man said. “We want to know what you are doing here?”
“I will tell you,” Gia said. “But remove your face covering. I want to see who I am talking with.”
The man hesitated. Gia knew Muslim men didn’t believe in taking orders from women. She saw her demand unsettled him. He unwrapped the black scarf and dropped it on the ground.
She thought she recognized the man. Then she remembered, and it all made sense to her.
“Thank you,” Gia said. “What do you want?”
“Why are you in Pakistan? Are you stealing something?”
“That’s none of your business,” Gia said. “We’re here on official business approved by the Pakistan government.”
“Then why did you come here at night? Why are you dressed in black uniforms and carrying weapons? You look like a military team. Or perhaps you are spies.”
“Your men attacked the last team that came here. We are not taking any chances.”
“They were soldiers. We thought they were here to attack us, so we defended ourselves.”
“We are here seeking evidence. But, unfortunately, we were not successful.”
“I don’t believe you,” the man said. “Tell your team to come out so we can search them.”
“He knows about the gun,” Jay said. “We can’t let him take it.”
“Karen, can you take a picture of the man’s face and upload it to our server? Quick, we need to identify him.”
In thirty seconds, Jay was looking at the man’s face. “Kyle, run this man’s face through the FBI database so we can identify him.”
“What are you talking about?” Kyle said. “We don’t have access to the FBI’s database.”
“I meant to say send it to Mack at the FBI. He’ll do it.”
“Why didn’t you say so. I’m on it.”
Gia turned and walked towards the cave.
“Stop,” the man said. “Or I’ll shoot you.” He pulled a handgun out of his belt and pointed it at Gia’s head. She kept walking.
“I said stop!”
Gia stopped at the cave entrance, then turned and faced the man. She held her hand behind her back and opened her palm.
Karen knew what she wanted. She placed the evidence bag in Gia’s hand.
“Is this what you want?” Gia said, holding the bag up in front of her face. “You can’t have it.” Gia ducked back towards the cave. A gunshot rang out. Gia screamed as a bullet punctured her lower leg. Falling to the ground, she pulled herself into the cave on all fours.
The man followed her into the cave. “Give me the gun,” the man said. “Now, or you all will die.”
“It’s right here,” Gia said in short gasps. “Come and get it.”
The man walked up to Gia, pointing his gun at her face. “Hand me the gun!”
Gia held the bag with the gun in it and extended her hand.
“No!” Karen said. “Don’t give it to him!”
The man turned and swung the gun towards Karen. “Be quiet, or you’ll die first.”
Karen stood her ground. She stared at the terrorist with a look of defiance.
Gia slammed her injured right leg into the man’s groin. Then, with her other leg, she kicked him in the side of the head. The man dropped his gun, writhing in pain.
Gia tried to stand up, but she couldn’t put any weight on her wounded leg.
The man straightened up. He pulled his second handgun from his waist belt and pointed it at Gia.
Karen kicked him in the side of the head. The man dropped the gun. She jumped onto the man’s back and wrestled him to the ground. He tried to shake her off, but she managed to remove her handgun and smashed him in the head with the gun’s grip.
One of the investigators ran out from the cave’s interior and grabbed the man’s arm—the other wrapped plastic ties around his wrists.
“Somebody get me a tourniquet and a shot of morphine,” Gia said. “Let’s get out of here.”
“We can’t,” CJ said in her headset. “Two of the technicals drove right up to the cave entrance. One of their fighters is approaching the entrance.”
“Is he armed?” Gia said.
“Of course, he’s armed.”
“That guy shot me in the leg. That satisfies the ROE.”
Karen heard Michelle’s Trifan hover overhead. First, she heard a single shot echo off the canyon walls. She crawled out to the cave entrance and spotted the fighter’s body lying on the ground. A large opening in the side of his head confirmed her intuition. He was dead. Then she heard a series of whooshes, and she scampered back inside. Loud explosions rocked the valley. She waited a moment, then peaked out the cave entrance. Clouds of flames and smoke engulfed the technicals. Karen froze as she saw a tall, hulking figure approach the cave entrance. The man held a large gun pointed towards the ground. Black makeup and a thick black beard covered his face.
Karen gasped when she saw him. She crawled next to Gia, then pulled out her gun, trained it on the cave entrance waiting to shoot the intruder as soon as he entered the cave. Sweat poured down her forehead as she held the gun with both hands.
“It’s okay,” Gia said as she placed her hand on Karen’s arm, forcing her to lower her gun. “You can relax. It’s CJ. He’s on our side.”
“Oh my God, you scared me,” Karen said as CJ entered the cave. “I’m happy to see you.”
“We’re ready to evacuate,” CJ said. “I’ll carry Gia out. But we need to hurry since there may be reinforcements on the way.”
CJ leaned over and picked up Gia. He cradled her body in his arms and squeezed out of the narrow cave entrance.