Special Forces: Operation Alpha: No Protection (Kindle Worlds Novella) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Sean. I was mostly trying to get them to let me be embedded as a trainee and our conversations were about women in combat roles, especially in a Muslim world.” She frowned, trying to remember the details of the hours of interview material. “Nothing big. I’m sure they weren’t going to impart any secrets to a journalist that they weren’t ready to reveal to anybody.”
    “Hmm,” Liam said, his frown echoing hers. “I’ll have to think more about this as we head back to the checkpoint. There’s something we’re both missing, but we need to get going with the rest of the plan. Wolf, you filling me in?”
    “Yeah. We’re good to go. Here’s your share of the available weapons.”
    Liam looked and whistled. “Fitz, you done good.”
    It was silly, but Ella really liked the way he made Fitz sound sexy. Logic told her it couldn’t possibly sound like that to anyone else but her. Still, coupled with the thought of that deep voice intimately calling her that while...oh, dammit, she was not going to think about bouncing up and down on his lap again. And yes, she remembered very well how his erection grew the longer she bounced and how it had slid intimately between her thighs as she tried to right herself during that crazy ride.
    He gave her one of his side glances. How did he always do that? Catch her thinking about him? And he always looked as if he knew what she was thinking of doing too. They hardly knew each other, yet the connection was there.
    She pulled her hair back, securing it with a scrunchie, and his gaze followed. “Glad you boys like the toys,” she said. “I do have a question. How are we going to get close without the bad guys hearing the M-ATV’s engine?”
    “We leave the vehicle behind when we get close and hike the rest of the way,” Abe replied.
    That was a lot of hiking, but she’d trained hard enough and knew she was in good shape. “Okay. The element of surprise would be our strength.”
    “Yes, and according to both you and Zainab, there are about ten or twelve of them. They could be busy setting up their next plan while a couple of them guard the prisoners,” Wolf said. “Or, they’re stripping the place of weapons to take with them. I’m betting they plan to leave at early light because they aren’t expecting anyone until afternoon, at least.”
    Ella nodded. It made sense. They were close to the Iraqi border and the checkpoints were fewer in this area. The next one—codenamed Salamander—was seven hours away, with a couple of watering holes and too few troopers, if there were any, to help mount an attack. One thing she’d learned about security here was that the border was large swathes of unsecured land, porous to both sides at night, and filled with landmines too, from previous battles. It was difficult to traverse off the roads without a very experienced guide. Night travel was a risk to all sides.
    Which meant unless this Hawk came to their aid, they were pretty much alone in this venture. She’d better come up with a good back-up plan of her own, in case things turned sour. She trusted these SEALs to do what they did best because, as a journalist, she’d seen them in action, but she knew there was a real chance she might get injured, or worse. Not going to think about that. Her brother had told her, if going into battle, never think about loss and pain. It was self-defeating, he’d advised.
    She took a deep breath. Yeah, today, she’d somehow survived the battle without even a scratch. She wouldn’t call herself brave, but she hadn’t felt truly afraid either. Right now, she wanted the men and women at the fort to be safe too and there was no way she was going to just stand by the sidelines. However, she was also a journalist and had a responsibility to ensure the safety of her information.
    “I’m ready,” she said, thinking of her fellow trainees. Some of them were her friends now.
    “Me too,” Zainab said, adding something in Kurdish.
    “What did she