me, even, and I wasn’t going to take any more of his
bullshit. So what I did say was, “I’m not going home
until I either capture or kill your good buddy Zahed.”
Shilmani translated.
Kundi stepped back. The gunmen lined up.
260 GH OS T RE CON
“What the hell, boss?” groaned Treehorn. “Are they
getting ready to shoot us?”
Kundi heard the whomping first. He whirled around,
lifted a hand to his brow.
Then I heard it. We all did. Two choppers: a Black-
hawk and an Apache screaming in from the east, from
Kandahar.
“We’re late getting back,” I told Treehorn.
“Good deal,” he said.
Suddenly, Kundi waved for his men to retreat behind
the trailers. They ran off, as did the old man, who was
shouting back at Shilmani.
“I’m sorry, Scott. Really. I am,” cried Shilmani. “And
Scott, maybe you can help me! They took my daughter!
They took my daughter!”
With that Shilmani bolted off.
It was interesting trying to explain to the Blackhawk
crew how we’d managed to get our sorry asses kid-
napped, and I called ahead to Harruck to have someone
pick up our Hummer—that was, providing the villagers
hadn’t set it on fire. Turned out they hadn’t.
During the chopper ride back to the FOB, Gordon
contacted me to say that while they’d been scanning for
Green Force Tracker Chips they’d picked up a brief sig-
nal from Warris’s GFTC. Intel indicated that he was
being moved, and Gordon had pinpointed the entrance
to yet another tunnel complex.
It was time to make our move for a rescue.
CO MB AT O P S
261
* * *
“So you got yourself taken prisoner,” said Harruck, pro-
ducing two glasses for us. It was going to be straight
whiskey this time and it was barely past noon.
We sat in his office, me still rubbing my wrists, him
intent on filling our drinks to the brim.
I took mine and sucked it down like a man who’d
found an oasis. The burn nearly made my eyes roll back.
After a long exhale, I said, “I’m so over this.”
“You and me both.”
“It’s tearing us up. All of us.”
“It is. You ever think it’d be like this? I mean when
you first joined up?”
“Oh, yeah, of course. I was totally stoked about the
futility of war.”
He snorted. “Me, too.”
“But maybe now we’ve caught a break.”
That drew his frown. “Really? You know they’ve
gone back on the TV. They’re going to kill Warris if we
don’t meet their demands in twenty-four hours. Keating
has stepped up plans for the offensive.”
“And you know what’s going to happen,” I said. “If I
don’t get out there, they’re going to kill Warris, they’ll
launch that offensive, and the media will report on all the
innocents who were killed. W’ell be the bad guys all over
again.”
The XO knocked, then entered. “Sir, the governor’s
back. He’s screaming again.”
“Tell him to fuck off,” snapped Harruck.
262 GH OS T RE CON
I laughed under my breath.
“Tell him I’m in a meeting,” Harruck corrected.
“Okay, and Dr. Anderson is outside, too. She says all
the workers just walked off the job. They just . . . left . . .”
“What?”
“I don’t know what’s going on, sir, but I’m willing to
bet it all goes back to Kundi.”
“That’s a safe bet,” I told the XO. I stood. “I’m gearing
up. I’m taking the team out tonight. We’ve got actionable
intel on Warris’s location. We’ll find him. And maybe we’ll
find Zahed.”
Harruck was already shaking his head. “There’s noth-
ing to talk about here. Like you said, they’ll kill Warris,
the offensive will happen, and all my work here was for
nothing. Actionable intel is just an excuse for C-4 and
gunfire.”
I raised my brows. “I’m taking one more shot, and all
I need is a little evac if it all hits the fan.”
“You’re dreaming, Scott.”
“I’m not. If I can find Warris—if I can do that, they
won’t have to launch the offensive. If I can take out
Zahed, that’s icing on the cake.”
“We’ve got more enemies than the Taliban here.
Bronco wants Zahed rich and alive and feeding the
agency information. Kundi wants the status quo. Even
the people here would rather deal with Zahed. We’re the
only idiots that want him dead. If you kill him, the Tal-
iban will retaliate.”
“We’ll dismantle and demoralize them. By the time
I’m done, they won’t know what hit them.”
CO MB AT O P S
263
“I don’t believe you anymore, Scott. And I can’t sup-
port you.”
“I know when it comes down to it, you’ll do the right
thing. You won’t leave me hanging out there.”
He took a deep breath. “Just get out.”
I returned a lopsided grin. “Thanks for the drink.”
T WENTY-FIVE
The satellite images that Gordon had provided were both
excellent and disconcerting. The tunnel entrance where
Warris’s signal had last been detected overlooked the north-
east side of Sangsar, so we’d need to hike through one of
the mountain passes off the main road, then hike another
half kilometer to reach the top and descend down to the
tunnel, all the while making sure we were not spotted.
With the men gathered inside our billet, I went over
the hardcopy images, indicated our route, and asked for
suggestions about our evac.
“Any word on CAS?” asked Brown.
I gave him the usual look.
“Not even a Predator?” asked Hume. “I mean, Jesus
God, we’ve lost men up there. Not even a friggin’ drone?”
CO MB AT O P S
265
“I’m working on it,” I said. I had sent Gordon the
request. Even if we couldn’t get fire support, the Predator
guys could pick up the thermal images of guards posi-
tioned near and around the tunnel entrance. I’d said we
were willing to take any kind of intel via sensor because
anything that’s a sensor has to talk to everybody else.
“Before we leave, I want to put something on the
table,” said Ramirez, his voice growing uneven.
My heart might have skipped a beat. I cautioned him
with my gaze, which he met for only a second.
“What’s up?” asked Brown.
“Look, nobody’s said anything about it, but we need
to talk.”
“Joey, I know where this is going,” said Treehorn.
“We’re all in this together. We don’t need to do that.”
“I think we do,” Ramirez said, raising his voice.
“Because if we rescue Warris, then he’ll start squealing
like a freaking pig—and we’re all going to pay for that.”
He looked at me. “Warris is not loyal to the Ghosts. Not
the way we are. Isn’t that right, Captain?”
I just shook my head. Was he threatening me now?
“I am not having this conversation,” said Brown,
raising a palm. “I am not going there.”