Tom Clancy's Act of Valor Read Online Free PDF Page B

plenty of veterans to carry the load. Bottom line: All of them wanted to get their guns into the fight. On balance, those who went south seemed to have a better chance. In addition, Roark Engel and Dave Nolan had a responsibility to place the platoon’s two most experience leaders—in this case the two of them—in harm’s way and where they thought the action would be the most intense.
    “When do we tell them?” Engel asked. “Tonight?” The platoon was having a family barbeque at Gator Beach, just north of the SEAL Team Seven complex and only a few hundred yards south of the Hotel del Coronado. It was the last platoon social before deployment.
    “The guys will want to know as soon as possible—give them some time to get their heads around the change. Besides, dad-to-be, tonight’s family night. So let’s do what we can to concentrate on the families. I’ll initiate a call-down this afternoon and let everyone know about the change.” They were silent a moment before Nolan continued. “Not that it changes much.” As they both knew, most SEAL operations outside of Iraq and Afghanistan, the ones you never hear about, were squad operations. “We’re nothing if not versatile. If there were no last-minute changes, the guys would get suspicious.”
    Engel grinned and nodded. “One thing I did do. I asked the skipper if he would assign Senior Chief Miller to our detached squad. I figured we would need him if we have to launch a mission with a short time fuse, which is probably how it will go down.”
    Nolan sat back and regarded his platoon officer. Engel was not only looking ahead but also looking out for the mission and the men. And it was a smart call. Senior Chief Miller was the best operational planner at Team Seven. This was yet another reason Nolan respected Engel as well as liked him. He was always thinking about the mission as well as the men. He was also a little sneaky.
    “But, Boss, how did you know
we
would be going with the detached squad—before
we
had even discussed it.”
    Engel gave him a Cheshire-cat grin. “I’ve got a sharp platoon chief. I knew that’s the way he would want to do it. Why don’t you give the senior chief a call and have him join us tonight?”
    Nolan nodded. Another smart call. “Consider it done, Boss.”
    The two rose and bear-hugged. Engel scooped up his books and headed out the back. Nolan went to the bar to settle up with Cindy.
    *  *  nut* ;*
     
    Lisa Morales was an internist and had been with Doctors Without Borders for the past six years. She was Mexican born and U.S. trained. At thirty-four, she was single, attractive, and passionate about helping those who were less fortunate, which is why she found herself working for DWB and was not in private practice. Her current assignment was in Costa Rica. She was tending to a patient in a Spartan medical clinic in the small town of Barranca, about eight kilometers east of Puntarenas near the intersection of highways 17 and 23. Unknown to her colleagues at DWB, she also worked for the CIA.
    Had it been known that she worked for American intelligence, her colleagues would have shunned her, and Doctors Without Borders would have fired her. The fact that she would serve as a covert agent was a testament to her commitment to the poor of Central and South America. She knew that much of the poverty in the countries where she worked was a product of corruption promoted by the drug trade. So she was both healer and spy—the former role was her profession, the latter a personal obligation. Lisa Morales felt she simply had to do more than just fight malnutrition and disease. As she worked, she watched a gaggle of small children play soccer on a dusty, makeshift field adjacent to the clinic.
    Without warning, an SUV pulled up and Christo got out accompanied by his enforcer, Tommy. The two men were a study in contrast. Tommy was clearly a thug, a blunt object alongside the slim, urbane Christo. Pandemonium broke out as