Rogue Soldier Read Free Page B

she was in the U.S.A.C.E., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Hands down he had to have better connections.
    He was dialing already. “No signal.” He closed the flap with a click.
    â€œWe can try again once the storm passes.”
    â€œYou could debrief me in the meanwhile. What happened with those men?”
    She closed her eyes. Oh, damn. She didn’t want to think about that now. Guilt was eating at her still, and anger for letting them take her so easily. She took a deep breath as Mike waited. Might as well get it over with.
    â€œThey came in the middle of the night. Roger opened the door. They shot him right away.” She swallowed. “I don’t suppose they viewed me as much of a threat. They didn’t look like they knew what the hell they were doing, so I convinced them I could help. Told them I was an Arctic survival expert.”
    â€œYou always thought quick on your feet.”
    The small compliment, the acknowledgment of her abilities, felt ridiculously good. Especially since she’d been beating herself into the ground over what she had and hadn’t done, for not being able to save Roger.
    Mike was moving around, but she couldn’t see what he was doing. Probably just settling in.
    â€œDid they hurt you?” His fingers brushed against her bruised cheek, but withdrew almost immediately.
    â€œI tried to get away and fell down the steps, banged my head against the side of the trailer. My feet were bound,” she told him, hating to admit her failure.
    He said nothing for a while, until she thought he might have fallen asleep.
    â€œThey were coming from the direction of the pipeline instead of going toward it,” he spoke up suddenly. “But they still had the explosives. Doesn’t make any sense.”
    â€œPipeline? We weren’t anywhere near the pipeline.”
    â€œExactly.” He paused. “I came across some classified information. Supposedly, those men are in some radical environmentalist group. A few miles of the pipeline are shut down for repair. They were looking to blow it up.”
    â€œNothing was said about that. They were definitely heading home. They sounded pretty happy about their mission. The only glitch was, the plane that was supposed to pick them up went down in the mountains in that storm five days ago.”
    â€œOdd. Lift up a corner of this cover for a second, would you?”
    She slid over and did so on the opposite side fromwhere the wind was blowing, letting in some light. Mike already had his knife in hand, going at the crate. She propped the opening with a rifle and went to help him. “TNT?”
    â€œThat’s my best guess.”
    The wood protested loudly, but after a few seconds the lid popped off. Mike picked through layers of padding before the smooth sheen of metal became visible. His hands stilled.
    She didn’t have to have the symbol of yellow triangles explained to her.
    Far more disturbing than a pile of explosives, the crate they cradled between them housed a small nuclear warhead.

Chapter Two
    â€œSomething tells me those guys are not ticked-off environmentalists.” Mike swore as he put the crate’s lid back on. This changed everything.
    Snow swirled into the tent, but he barely saw it. Did the CIA know about this? A number of things made perfect sense suddenly. Did the Colonel know?
    â€œWeapons dealers?” Tessa went to check on Sasha.
    Apparently satisfied with the dog’s condition, she removed the propped rifle and let the cover drop, shrouding them in darkness once again, closing off the cold that had been pouring in.
    â€œIt’s ours.” He stared in the direction of the warhead, although he could no longer see the crate. “I’m guessing the American half of the group was selling it to the Russians, then the plane crashed and they got stuck here. How did they get to you?”
    â€œSnowmobiles. They were just about out of gas.”
    â€œWhat I