“Let’s stick with the steady passes,” said Rich. “Got your waypoint. We’re moving out.”

With that, Rich stood and signaled for the team to form up. He’d briefed them on the formation, which he’d called a modified squad column. Devin got the gist of it. Marnie understood what he meant right away. Every new Marine officer spent their first seven months learning infantry basics before they moved on to their specialty within the Marine Corps, including pilots.

He waited next to her as the first two groups of three moved out, each group spaced about fifteen yards apart. When it was time for them to set off, Mike took the lead, Devin and Marnie spacing out a bit along his flanks. Mike had pulled babysitting duty. Hopefully it would prove to be an easy gig. Devin snapped a stick with his right foot, stopping the entire formation.

“Step slowly and lightly, Devin,” whispered Mike over the radio. “We’re in no hurry.”

Mike was going to earn his money tonight.

CHAPTER 44

CHAPTER 44

Marnie Young moved deliberately, frequently scanning the forest along her right flank and constantly recalculating a few variables. The first was cover. As the team crept closer to the cabins, she became more aware of the threat axis to the southwest, which forced a running evaluation of the best tree to use to block incoming gunfire—in the event of an ambush. The second variable was Devin.

She had no doubt he was invisible when tailing an espionage suspect through the urban jungle of DC, blending seamlessly into Metro station crowds and drawing no suspicion on the streets. But none of those skills seemed to transfer over to sneaking through a pitch-dark forest—even with night vision. The little mental energy Marnie had to spare beyond herself had been focused on the slew of noises Devin made, and whether that might require her to seek cover immediately.

The team clearly felt the same strain. Rich had halted the group at least eight times after Devin stumbled, scraped a tree, ran into a low-hanging branch, or tripped over a root. She was relieved they had almost reached the bottom edge of the northeast cabin wing, even though that meant the start of an infinitely more dangerous phase of the mission. Part of her wanted to suggest that Devin stay at the first set of cabins, to provide rear security. Any excuse to keep him from giving up the team’s position as they infiltrated deeper into the camp.