Operation Date With Destiny Read Online Free PDF Page A

they were ever needed.
    The thought that this enormous clusterfuck might prevent him from ever seeing his family again filled him with a frustrated rage. In his job he accepted that there could be a time that he didn ’ t come back—but that was his job. His life. This was not something he signed up for . T here was nothing noble and brave about being drugged, tied up , and forced to do something as dangerous as this .  
    This sucked—big time.
     
    ****
     
    They ’ d been driving deep into remote farmland when they finally reached a small village. Looking around Tupper saw that there ’ d been a lot of recent construction going on. A school building not far away looked new and all about him, the tiny village seemed to be thriving.
    Destiny led the way inside one of the huts and Tupper waited until the Cambodian guy who met them opened his door so he could get out. He saw Destiny bow low and place her hands together as she greeted an older man and woman.
    He heard her talking quietly in Khmer and the fact she knew the language fluently surprised him. It wasn ’ t a common language most people spoke. He could speak passingly acceptable Pashto, a little German and Spanish. In his line of work he often found himself in some rather remote and not so friendly places where it may make the difference between life and death to know a few of the basics. But why would she know how to speak Khmer ?
    He watched her around these people, and saw there was a genuine respect between them , as though she belonged . How did this all fit together? The questions bugged him. He hated mysteries—always had. He liked to know how and why stuff worked and if it didn ’ t—fix it. This was out of his control and he felt as though he were struggling to piece it together without all the right bits .
    A short while later she walked across to him and without a word, withdrew her knife and cut the rope, freeing his hands. He didn ’ t thank her even though she ’ d taken care not to bind them too tight . He wasn ’ t in the mood to show any form of gratitude to this woman at the moment .
    “ Aren ’ t you worried I ’ m going to escape now? ” h e drawled.
    “ Nope. ”
    He eyed her warily before turning to take a look outside the window and realized why she didn ’ t seem too concerned. A small militia of armed men patrolled the school yard and without any weapons he stood little chance of evading them. “ Okay so we ’ re here. Now what? ”
    “ We eat, and then you get to work. You can freshen up first, if you like. ” She pointed to a doorway at the end of the room. “ I took the liberty of packing you some clothes, before we left your apartment. You ’ ll find them inside the backpack I put in the bathroom. ”
    “ You ’ re certainly thorough. You must have been planning this for a while? ”
    He noted her o ff hand shrug before turning away . Damn she was closed mouthed. What the hell? He ’ d never met anyone like her before. She was like some sort of chameleon. Last night she was a red hot vixen—today she was a gun toting, knife wielding warrior Princess. How many sides could one person have?
    The bathroom was basic, and true to her word there was a pack with his belongings inside. He took advantage of the shower, and was amazed how much better he felt once he was dressed and clean again . He was still hostage, and somehow had to work out how to retrieve God only knew what from God only knew where, but his headache was gone and he was now able to think straight.
    “ Ponleu will show you what we have in the way of weaponry and ammunition. We have a satellite phone you can use—under supervision of course, to make any arrangements for extraction and insertion, ” Destiny told him after they ’ d eaten.
    “ Do I get to find out where we ’ re going now? O r am I expected to just plan this all without any destination in mind ? ”
    “ You may have the coordinates, ” she said calmly and the Cambodian dude, Ponleu,