Page 54 of Steel Vengeance

“Yep. They were in a prime position to take advantage. Maybe not back then, but definitely later on.”

Damn. It wasn’t looking good for Sloane.

“How do we smoke out the bad guys?” he asked his friend.

“Pat’s flying to the U.S. tomorrow to meet with a contact in the CIA. He’s confident this guy’s legit. They’ll explain what we know and, hopefully, the CIA and the DEA can work together to intercept that shipment you mentioned and take down Sullivan and whoever else is involved.”

Best-case scenario.

Stitch knew things didn’t always go as planned.

“Alright, great. Tell Pat thanks from me.”

Stitch knew Pat well. His son, Joe, had been part of their team. He was one of the men killed in the ambush that day in the Afghan mountains.

“Will do, buddy. And the good news is, you’ll get to see me. Pat wants me to bring you something.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there. Meet me at Islamabad airport, 0800 hours tomorrow.”

“Got it. Have a safe flight.”

“Thanks.”

They signed off.

Stitch felt better as he stepped into the house. Finally, things were happening. Sitting around with nothing to do was the worst. He’d always hated waiting for things to get moving. Unfortunately, in the SEALs, waiting was just part of the job.

Soon, Blade would be here, and they’d track down Jeremy.

Stitch had heard back from his contact—a short text earlier that morning with a location: The Best Western.

There was a bar there, one of the few still open for foreigners that hadn’t been shut down or bombed yet. The memory of what happened to the Marriott a decade before made the owners of these sketchy drinking spots nervous. If you wanted a drink in Islamabad now, you relied on whispers from other expats. Personally, Stitch didn’t think it worth the hassle.

His list, however, was getting longer.

Omari.

Rasul.

Jeremy.

Sullivan.

Once the ship carrying the drugs set sail, he’d finally do what he came to Peshawar to do.

And there’d be no reason not to.

CHAPTER 20

“I’m not staying here,” Sloane snapped when Stitch told her he was heading to Islamabad to find Jeremy.

“You need to lay low,” he said firmly. “This is the safest place for you.”

“The safest place for me is with you,” she shot back, her voice shaking despite her best efforts. “Besides, no one will expect me to go there.”

He glanced at her wounded arm. “You’ve been shot. You need to rest.”