Chapter 5
Willis barked, “That trench is too narrow.”
“For vehicles,” Cross said. “Not for men carrying one wounded soldier.”
The drone operator leaned forward.
“She’s right. The trench runs behind the compound and connects to the dry creek bed.”
Another officer spoke carefully.
“Major, we can get a team there in twenty minutes.”
Willis looked around the room.
He saw the shift.
He felt it.
The officers who had looked at Cross like she was emotional were now looking at the map like she had just handed them a way through hell.
His control was slipping.
So he reached for the only thing he had left.
Rank.
“No launch,” Willis said. “We wait for daylight and negotiate.”
Cross stared at him.
The words were so absurd that for a second, no one reacted.
Then the hacked camera showed a masked man testing a microphone in the courtyard.
Hale’s head hung low.
Daylight was not a plan.
It was a death sentence.
Cross stepped away from the table.
Willis grabbed her arm.
“You leave this room, and your career is finished.”
She looked down at his hand.
Then back at his face.
“My career can wait.”
Her voice dropped.
“He can’t.”
Maddox stepped between them.
“Major Willis, remove your hand.”
Willis didn’t.
Two military police officers at the door shifted.
That was when Willis finally let go.
Cross put on her helmet.
Maddox looked at her.
“You have thirty-nine minutes.”
Cross nodded once.
May you like
“Then we won’t waste one.”
Read Part 6 to see how Cross led the rescue through the one path the enemy never expected.
