Alone and Unafraid (American Praetorians Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

contract,” he said slowly, “largely dependent on your ‘guest.’”  There was no difficulty figuring out who he was talking about.  “ The contact is on his way to you; he left here this morning.  He’s got the credentials to get past both the Kurdish and Iraqi checkpoints.  He wants to meet with you, and talk to your ‘guest.’”
    “What’s the contract?” I asked.  I almost said we were previously committed in Basra, but given what Alek had said about Saleh, that was by no means certain.  We’d known from the get-go that our arrangement with Mullah Abdullah al Hakim to secure Basra as an autonomous province along the political lines espoused by his mentor, Ali al Sistani, was going to last only as long as we weren’t political liabilities to al Hakim.  Given Saleh’s anti-Americanism and control of the majority of the former Iraqi Army, we were probably about to find ourselves on the “political liability” list.
    “I’ll leave that to him to explain.  There are a lot of tangled threads in this shit, brother, and I’m not confident enough in our encryption to want to discuss it over the phone.”
    That got my attention.  “Who is this guy?” I asked.  “More importantly—who’s he with?”
    “Good questions,” Alek replied wryly.  “He calls himself Renton.  Short, mousy-looking dude, but don’t underestimate him.”
    “He’s a spook, isn’t he?” I asked.
    “That’s a pretty safe bet,” he said.  “He should be there l ate tonight or early tomorrow.”  There was another pause.  “Watch your six, brother.  I have a feeling that between Saleh and this new…development, things are going to get pretty sketchy soon.”
    “I always watch my six, brother,” I said.  “And I don’t trust much of anybody.  That helps.”
    “Good luck, Jeff,” Alek said, then disconnected.
    Well, fuck.  I stared at the reports and photos in front of me for a second.  Fuck it.  Daoud was a slimy little fuck anyway; he could wait.  I went looking for Haas.
     
    Haas was our resident spook, a former paramilitary operations officer with a certain three-letter agency turned freelancer, who had sought us out in Kurdistan and joined up after he put a few things together while we were both working separately for Liberty Petroleum.  He was good at it, and had contacts throughout the country, some of which had landed us the job with al Hakim’ s operation in Basra.
    Presently, he was writing feverishly in one of the small, black notebooks that he had with him all the time.  I ’d glanced over his shoulder briefly while he was writing in one once, only to discover he wrote in shorthand.  I hadn’t known anybody still did that, but in retrospect, it made sense if he didn’t want anybody reading over his shoulder.
    “Hey, Haas,” I said, as he looked up and put the notebook down, “You know a guy named Renton?”
    He frowned.  “I did.  I don’t know if we’re talking about the same guy, though.  What does he look like?”
    I shrugged.  “Haven’t met him yet.  But Alek says he’s kind of a mousy-looking dude.”
    Haas arched an eyebrow and stood up, beginning to pace the small side room that was his pseudo-office.  “Maybe.”  He shook his head.  “I’d have to know more about him.  Why do you ask?”
    “He’s on his way here.  Alek wouldn’t tell me much; he seems to be a little gunshy about the security issues with this guy’s visit.  But he’s apparently a spook, and he’s got a contract for us.”
    Haas’ frown deepened.  “That doesn’t make sense, unless…” he muttered, I was pretty sure mostly to himself.  He shook his head again.  I was starting to have the hackles go up on the back of my neck.  I’d never seen Haas rattled.  Ever.  The guy was the definition of “unflappable.”  But something about Renton coming with a job had him spooked, if you’ll pardon the expression.
    “Unless what, Haas?” I asked.  “If you know