Down Range (Shadow Warriors - Book 2) Read Free

down in
Peru years earlier. Maya had put together a plan of an all-woman Apache combat
squadron to halt cocaine shipments out of that country. It had been approved and
had been a spectacular success. Then Stevenson had organized Operation Shadow
Warriors three years ago. It was a program putting women’s boots on the ground
in various combat theaters.
    Morgan wasted no time in pleading her case directly to the
General to mount a mission. She wanted to even the terrible score over in
Afghanistan. Morgan had been caught up in the battle along with a group of Green
Berets, wounded and one of the few survivors of Khogani’s attack on a Shinwari
tribe village.
    Houston nodded. “You’re going to get your wish, Captain. You’ve
been a SEAL trained sniper for three years now, and you’ve exemplified yourself
in that department. You’ve been downrange with SEAL and Special Forces units for
the past three years.”
    “I have the background it takes to successfully complete this
mission, sir.”
    “There’s no question about that, Captain.”
    “I’ve lobbied hard to get this op on the board, sir.”
    Houston smiled a little at the brash woman officer. “If you
could suffer a little more with me, Captain, let’s talk about the mission
details?”
    Chastised, Morgan relaxed against the chair. She saw humor in
his eyes, as if he were putting up with a petulant, pushy child. “Yes, sir,
sorry, sir. I’ve got a few guns in this fight.”
    Houston nodded and sobered. He was familiar with SEAL slang. “A
gun in the fight” meant the person had a personal, vested interest in the
undertaking. Morgan had never gone through SEAL training. Instead, she’d been
working off and on with them for years over in Afghanistan. Their slang and
lingo were bound to rub off on her.
    “I understand. General Stevenson and I are responsible for the
inception of Operation Shadow Warriors. We took your request seriously when you
submitted this mission to General Stevenson. We’ve worked with SOCOM, Special
Operation Command, up and down the chain of command to ensure this mission,
which is now called Operation Peregrine, is successful.”
    “Thank you, sir. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
Morgan held her breath as he slowly leafed through several pages of the mission.
Would they let her be on the op? Just because they approved it didn’t mean she
was assigned. They had to allow her to be a part of it! Never had Morgan ever
wanted anything more in life right now than to go after Sangar Khogani. She had
two scores to settle with him.
    At the same time, she knew Houston was well aware she was a
sniper and a damned good one. She’d proved her skill out in the field many times
over. Snipers weren’t supposed to be emotionally involved in the hunting of
their quarry. They couldn’t do their job if revenge was uppermost on their
minds. Emotions clouded a sniper’s mind-set; something no one wanted in the
field during an op. Morgan realized she’d revealed her personal and emotional
need to have a stake in this op. A stupid move on her part.
    And now General Houston knew how badly she wanted Khogani.
Would he overlook her passion? Or not? Unsure, Morgan forced herself to sit
quietly and wait. After all, that was what snipers did best. Patience was a
virtue among the sniper cadre, and ordinarily, Morgan had the patience of Job.
But Khogani stirred up violent, angry emotions in her, and there was no way
around it. She wanted that bastard dead. His head on a platter. And she wanted
to be the one who put it there.
    “Go to page four, Captain. This entails the guts of the
op.”
    Morgan’s gaze went to page four. There were two names chosen
for the op. One was her, which sent a giddy emotion of joy through her. When her
eyes dropped to the second name, her heart plunged with disbelief. Gulping, she
snapped a look up across the desk at Houston. Struggling to speak, she rasped,
“But—sir, I’m assigned to this op with Lieutenant