Down Range (Shadow Warriors - Book 2) Read Free Page A

Jake Ramsey?” For a moment,
she felt as if someone had hit her with an armor-piercing round to her Kevlar
vest, sucking the breath out of her.
    “That’s right,” Mike Houston said. “General Stevenson and I
want this to be a SEAL mission. You’ve worked well with them in the past. We
needed a SEAL sniper who could be sniper leader on the op.”
    Morgan swallowed her disappointment. “Yes, sir,” she barely
mouthed. There would be no way in hell she could voice protest over Ramsey being
assigned. On top of that, he had been designated as lead sniper. In the sniping
business, they were both equally qualified, but one sniper would be the leader,
the final decision maker. And it would be him! Dammit! The ramifications of the assignment whirled
like a nightmare around her. Obviously, these generals did not know their long
personal history. Maybe that was a blessing in disguise. Morgan was sure she’d
never have been assigned to the op if General Houston realized what she and Jake
had once been to each other.
    Lifting her head, she said, “Sir? What led you to choose
Lieutenant Ramsey?”
    Mike sat back in his leather chair and said, “His name was spit
out by the computer, Captain. Any problems with that?”
    “None, sir,” she lied, her voice husky as she carefully
closeted her roiling feelings. That was why she’d met Jake in the parking
lot.
    “General Stevenson is interviewing First Lieutenant Ramsey as
we speak. If she feels he’s the right man for the job, we’ll be setting up the
briefing tomorrow at 0900 here in this office. We’ll all go over the details of
this op at that time.” He picked up a voucher and handed it to her. “You’ll both
be staying at this hotel located near the Pentagon. I know you just came out of
Afghanistan, flying for almost twenty-four hours to make this meeting, Captain.
Get a hot meal under your belt tonight and get a good night’s sleep. I need you
a hundred percent tomorrow morning. Understand?”
    Quickly coming to her feet at attention, Morgan said, “Yes,
sir. Thank you, sir.”
    “Dismissed.”
    Morgan forced herself to turn and walk to the door. Emotions
clashed within her. She felt a little dizzy. As she left the office, she was
grateful not to see Jake Ramsey. She kept walking toward the front doors, trying
to deal with this new development. Closing her eyes for a moment, she dragged in
an uneven breath, forcing all those feelings down into her once more. It didn’t
work.
    Morgan fought the deep jet lag. She’d only been able to grab
some sleep aboard the C-5 that had flown her from Bagram air base in Afghanistan
to Rota, Spain, and then on to Andrews Air Force Base just outside Washington,
D.C.
    Pushing herself, Morgan left the Pentagon, glad to be out in
the warm May sunlight once more. The breeze reminded her she was home, if but
for a little while, not in the harsh desert mountains of Afghanistan with a
hunter-killer SEAL team. Aiming herself at the rented SUV, Morgan looked at the
voucher. She was so damned tired, she was weaving. Houston was right: she needed
a hot shower and then bed. If she woke up sometime this evening, she’d get
dinner to fortify herself. Because the turnaround on this op was immediate. The
schedule had them leaving within twenty-four hours, headed back into
Afghanistan.
    As she opened the door to the SUV, Morgan wanted to check in to
the hotel and make a call to her parents in Gunnison, Colorado. And even more,
she wanted to talk to her two-year-old daughter, Emma. Just thinking about her
family buoyed Morgan. She tried to force her thoughts away from Jake Ramsey.
What did he think of the sniper pairing on this op? He had to be feeling like an
IED had exploded beneath him. Morgan knew, without any doubt, the last woman
Jake would ever want on a mission with him would be her. Correction, he’d never want any woman on a mission with him, believing
they were incapable of operating in combat.
    All hell was about to break