Chapters (39)
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Acknowledgements
- Epigraph
- 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
Particles of ice had gathered on her scope. She wrenched her microfiber cloth from a pocket and quickly cleaned the lens, then settled back into position.
"Diaz, what are you waiting for?" called the captain. "Come on."
"Wind burst. Stand by."
She could barely hold the rifle steady. Snow cut across her cheek, and her lips were sore and chapped.
In came another gust, and the guard was shaken awake. He rose, yawned, extending his arms in the air, then leaned forward, glancing up to the next house to spot his dead comrade in the snow.
Diaz sighted him, gnashed her teeth, and willing herself into a being of pure steel, frozen, unmoving against the wind, she squeezed the trigger.
TEN
TEN
NORTHWEST WAZIRISTAN
AFGHANISTAN-PAKISTAN BORDER
JANUARY 2009
Staff Sergeant Jose "Joe" Ramirez had his eye on the remaining guard, whose head snapped back as he tumbled to the snow. The last thing that had gone through the guard's mind was 7.62 mm long, weighing 21.8 grams, and Ramirez gaped over Diaz's outstanding shot.
Captain Mitchell barked his order to move out, and Ramirez and Sergeant Marcus Brown sprang up from the snow like thawed zombies and charged toward the houses.
It felt good to run. For a while Ramirez thought his legs and a few other more important parts were going to freeze and crack off.
They reached the door of the farthest house, and Ramirez dragged what was left of the guard's body out of the way so that he and Brown could position themselves on either side of the warped wooden door.
Captain Mitchell would join them in a minute, while Diaz was booting her way through heavy snow to reach her secondary position.
The houses were only about four meters apart, so if they made any serious noise, the Taliban guys next door were sure to come out--or at least begin writing letters to their homeowners' association complaining about the noisy neighbors firing all those guns. This was the part about being a Ghost that frustrated Ramirez. If they could just blow the other two houses while simultaneously raiding the last one, they'd only have four bad guys to deal with. However, most of the really fun explosives tended to be a little noisy, and the team was supposed to get in and out without drawing attention. If they could change their name to Big Loud Badasses, they could awaken the pyromaniac in every operator. He'd even pitched the idea to a few colleagues who'd smiled, said they liked the name, and told him he was a fool.
As a kid growing up on the streets of North Hollywood, California, he'd had ample opportunity to get into trouble and develop a taste for blowing things up.