Page 28 of The Lazarus Protocol

Adam winced, watching Dan walk after the others. He flicked two fingers to the pilot in the door of the plane and grabbed the weapons crate and the tech crate, lugging both out the side door of the hangar. Down a hall to the exit where he had to blink against the sun as he emerged outside.

Ice took the tech crate to a rust-colored Toyota pickup truck. “Guess I’m riding in the back.” He hauled the crate in and climbed into the bed, sitting down with his back to it while Dan got in the driver’s side.

Ash slid into the driver’s seat of the other vehicle, an aging Mercedes. Kai looked at Adam over the roof and gave him a chin lift. Good to see he was in operational mode now, and whatever that had been inside the hangar had blown over.

“You have what you need from Dan?” Adam called over to him.

Kai nodded. “Got it.” He lowered into the car and shut the door. A second later, Ash peeled out of the parking spot, burning rubber in a hurry to illegally cross into Syria, retrieve a drone that belonged to a private tech company, and get back out with Jay in tow, watching their backs.

“Phoenix.” The man who’d been asleep on the plastic chair stuck his hand out now, his expression concealed behind sunglasses. Gray stubble on his chin. “Good to see you.”

“Been a while, Henry.” Adam shook his hand. “Appreciate your help. And the use of two vehicles.”

Henry lifted both hands. “I don’t want them back.”

“Understood.”

“We’re square?”

“Sure,” Adam said. They shook again. “Take care of the plane.”

Adam headed for the truck and got in. Dan pulled out slower than Ash had, going in the same direction, passing the guard shack. Where Ice flipped a tarp over his head, and turning the opposite way Ash had gone.

Adam watched them in the side mirror until he couldn’t see the Mercedes anymore.

The window behind their heads slid open, making his hair flicker against his forehead. Adam grabbed a ball cap from his duffel and slid it on.

“That thing didn’t fall apart yet?” Ice practically stuck his head through the window.

Adam tugged on the bill of the dark-green cap. “This thing is family.”

Ice yawned. “Fill us in on this asset we’re going after. Who is it?”

“You think the CIA gave me her name?” Adam shot him a look.

“At least they told you it’s a woman.” Dan gripped the wheel with both hands, driving like he was transporting his grandmother’s soufflé to the church potluck. “Did they provide a way to confirm her identity?”

“She has a pass phrase.” Adam used his own tablet to access the files the CIA had sent, which weren’t much. He navigated to the image and tapped it.

“There’s a quicker way to do that.”

Adam ignored Ice and turned the tablet so they could see the woman’s personnel photo.

“Doesn’t look like she belongs in the field.” Ice’s expression shifted.

“Don’t say it,” Adam warned, cutting him off before he could talk. “Whatever you’re thinking, just keep it to yourself.”

“Fine.” Ice huffed. “What else do we know?”

Dan glanced over. “It’s gonna be a long drive. I doubt what we know will fill five minutes.”

“True enough,” Adam said. “Her name is Stephanie-Jo. She was on an op in another country, though they didn’t say which. They also didn’t say why they believe she’s in this town.” He showed them the spot, a two-hour drive northwest of here. “Or who took her. Or why. But we’re closer than anyone else the CIA has available.”

Dan shook his head. “I won’t ask how they knew that.”

Ice said, “So what you do know fits on a penny, and that’s all of it?”

“She’s an asset whose life is in danger. She’s believed to be a captive and has been for hours, maybe days. And they believe she’s here.”