Chapters (96)
- Cover
- Berkley titles by David Ricciardi
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- CHARACTER LIST
- PROLOGUE
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- THIRTY-SIX
- THIRTY-SEVEN
- THIRTY-EIGHT
- THIRTY-NINE
- FORTY
- FORTY-ONE
- FORTY-TWO
- FORTY-THREE
- FORTY-FOUR
- FORTY-FIVE
- FORTY-SIX
- FORTY-SEVEN
- FORTY-EIGHT
- FORTY-NINE
- FIFTY
- FIFTY-ONE
- FIFTY-TWO
- FIFTY-THREE
- FIFTY-FOUR
- FIFTY-FIVE
- FIFTY-SIX
- FIFTY-SEVEN
- FIFTY-EIGHT
- FIFTY-NINE
- SIXTY
- SIXTY-ONE
- SIXTY-TWO
- SIXTY-THREE
- SIXTY-FOUR
- SIXTY-FIVE
- SIXTY-SIX
- SIXTY-SEVEN
- SIXTY-EIGHT
- SIXTY-NINE
- SEVENTY
- SEVENTY-ONE
- SEVENTY-TWO
- SEVENTY-THREE
- SEVENTY-FOUR
- SEVENTY-FIVE
- SEVENTY-SIX
- SEVENTY-SEVEN
- SEVENTY-EIGHT
- SEVENTY-NINE
- EIGHTY
- EIGHTY-ONE
- EIGHTY-TWO
- EIGHTY-THREE
- EIGHTY-FOUR
- EIGHTY-FIVE
- EIGHTY-SIX
- EIGHTY-SEVEN
- Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- What’s next onyour reading list?
ONE OF THE Ground Branch men jammed all of the wireless communications in the area as Pickens’s SUV screeched to a halt in front of the restaurant. The team entered in full tactical gear with weapons in hand. By the time the warlord’s bodyguards even noticed, the Agency team had him surrounded and the restaurant sealed.
Yaxaas had survived as long as he had not only because he was ruthless but because he was able to make expeditious and judicious assessments of his opposition. He noted the position, posture, and equipment of the Americans—and they were unmistakably American; with their sleeves rolled up and wearing baseball caps, they could be nothing else—and decided that a firefight was not in his best interests.
He told his men to lower their weapons.
Jake stepped out of the SUV and entered the restaurant.
The pirate leader was sitting across from a younger man, slightly taller and more muscular than the warlord, and Clap identified him over the tactical radio net as the warlord’s son, Nacay. While Jake appreciated the intel, he wondered how the Ground Branch team already knew so much about the objective—and what else they might be keeping to themselves, but that conversation would have to wait, because there was a large semiautomatic pistol printing through Nacay’s untucked shirt.
“Lose the gun,” Jake said. He barely trusted the Ground Branch team; he certainly wasn’t going to let Yaxaas’s son keep a weapon.
But Nacay had not inherited his father’s calm demeanor. He leapt from his seat, but Jake was too fast for him. He caught the back of Nacay’s head, kicked his legs out from under him, and slammed his head into the table and held it there. With his other hand, Jake lifted the pistol from Nacay’s holster and pressed it against his neck.
All the guns came up again.
The warlord’s guards were shouting and swinging their weapons wildly across the restaurant as they tried to cover the better-placed Americans.
Jake had at least two AK-47s pointed at him.
The CIA team had had a prearranged signal to take the Somalis out, but Clap had made it clear that Ted Graves was calling the shots, and the friction between Jake and Graves had escalated to the point that Jake didn’t want to press his luck.
Yaxaas’s life might be more valuable than his.
He lowered the pistol and released the warlord’s son.
Nacay seethed, but Yaxaas once again motioned his men to stand down. The warlord lit a cigarette and pulled out a chair, as if he’d been expecting Jake for lunch. Jake sat down and motioned for Nacay to leave the two of them alone. The son walked to the other side of the restaurant, but the Ground Branch men blocked him from leaving.