Page 104 of Reckoning
Nadia keyed her radio. "Overwatch, this is Actual. Status report." Nothing but static. "Overwatch, respond."
Silence.
"How long since her last transmission?" Sloane asked.
"Eighteen minutes. She said she'd lose the tail and meet us here. Fifteen-minute window." Nadia's voice was tight. "Something's wrong."
Reese came over from the vehicles. "We need to move. These women need medical attention and we're exposed out here."
"We're not leaving without Mara," Winter said flatly.
"I'm not suggesting we leave without her. I'm saying we need to get these women to safety and then figure out what happened." Reese looked at Sloane. "You know that's the right call."
Sloane did know. Mission first. The women they'd rescued had to be the priority. But that also meant leaving Mara out here alone with hostiles on her tail. She looked at the team, saw the same conflict on every face. Duty versus loyalty. Mission versus family.
"Nadia, take Winter, Kira, and Reese. Get these women to the staging area and start medical triage. I'll take Harper and Quinn. We'll backtrack Mara's route and find her." Sloane's voice left no room for argument. "If we're not at the staging area in two hours, you leave without us. Get these women home."
"Sloane—" Nadia started.
"That's an order. These women are the priority. We don't risk fifteen lives for one person, no matter who that person is." Sloane grabbed her rifle. "But we're not leaving her out here either. Two hours. If we haven't found her by then, we fall back and regroup."
Nadia looked like she wanted to argue, but she nodded. "Two hours. We'll be ready to move."
Harper and Quinn grabbed their gear and fell in behind Sloane. The three of them moved quickly back toward the compound, following the route Mara should have taken. Sloane kept her rifle up, scanning for threats, trying to think tactically instead of emotionally. Mara was out here somewhere. Either injured or captured or worse. But they'd find her. They had to.
They moved in tactical formation, covering each other, checking every piece of cover that could hide an ambush. A kilometer from the extraction point, Sloane's radio crackled with static. She tried Mara's frequency again. "Overwatch, this is Shadow Lead. If you can hear this, respond."
Nothing.
Quinn was monitoring her tablet, using what satellite connection she could get to track any electronic signatures in the area. "I'm not picking up her comms device. Either it's powered down or..." She didn't finish the sentence.
Or it had been destroyed. Or taken. Or Mara was dead and the equipment was scattered across the Iraqi countryside.
Sloane pushed the thoughts away and kept moving.
They found Mara's overwatch position first. Evidence of her presence was there. Disturbed rocks where she'd set up. Indentations in the ground where she'd been prone with her rifle. But no spent casings, no equipment left behind. She'd cleaned up properly before moving out.
"She was here," Harper confirmed. "Packed out clean. Moved that direction." She pointed toward the extraction point.
They followed the trail. Sloane had trained with Mara for years. Knew how she moved. Knew the choices she'd make. She read the landscape the way Mara would have, choosing the path that offered best cover and fastest movement.
Two kilometers from the compound, they found the site.
Sloane saw it first. Mara's pack. Lying on the ground, partially hidden behind a rock formation. She approached carefully, rifle up, scanning for threats. But the area was clear. Whoever had been here was long gone.
The pack was intact but had been searched. Contents scattered. Mara's rifle was gone. So was her sidearm. Her comm unit was smashed, ground into pieces under someone's boot. But her other gear was there. Medical kit. Extra ammunition. Water. Everything except the weapons and the comms.
And no blood. Sloane checked carefully, looking for any sign that Mara had been injured. But the ground was clean. No blood spatter. No signs of a sustained fight. Just evidence that someone had searched her gear and taken what they wanted.
Quinn was scanning the area with her tablet. "I'm picking up vehicle tracks. Recent. Leading away from this position heading..." She checked the coordinates. "Northeast. Toward Mosul."
Mosul. The same city where they'd pulled Steele. Where Nazari had held him. Where everything had started months ago.
Sloane's stomach went cold.
Harper found something else. A piece of fabric caught on a rock. She bagged it carefully. "This is from tactical pants. Looks like Mara's kit."
"So she was here. They took her." Sloane stood up, looking at the terrain. "Someone knew her route. Set up an ambush. Professional job."
