Distant Thunder Read online

  Distant Thunder

  A Prequel to Storm Warnings

  By

  Mary Alford

  COPYRIGHT

  © 2019 by Mary Alford All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Distant Thunder

  COPYRIGHT

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  COURAGE UNDER FIRE SERIES

  ALSO BY MARY ALFORD

  ABOUT MARY ALFORD

  Chapter One

  Afghanistan - 2100 hours. Sixteen kilometers northwest of Toro Boro. One hour before meet…

  She always got antsy before a mission. But this one was different. The tension far greater. Since she’d set up the meeting, her nerves had been on edge. Heart going ballistic every time she thought about what lay ahead.

  CIA Paramilitary Operations Officer Piper Morgan had gone over every detail of the meet with asset Mosul Amani in her mind. A CIA drone had cleared the location of threats. They were a go. Yet all she could think about was that it was too late to call it off. And the information Amani promised too important.

  Mosul Amani claimed to have details about one of the latest terrorist threats rising through the ranks. A player Amani referred to only as the Serpent.

  This was Piper’s third meet with her asset and she believed she’d finally convinced him to tell her what he knew about the man in the grainy photo he’d showed her before. Tall and thin, the man’s face was almost completely obscured from view. The eyes were the only thing showing. In the fading light in which the photo was taken they appeared to glow. Serpent was a fitting name.

  But they needed more to bring the Serpent down other than a made-up name and an unclear photo. Amani promised to deliver big tonight. He’d hinted at something alarming in the works involving a chemical weapon known as VX gas. Amani claimed the Serpent was stockpiling it in massive amounts.

  “Everything okay?” CIA Officer Reed Decklin entered the tent where she’d been pacing. They’d set up command some distance from the meeting location and hopefully out of sight of any curious soldiers of the Serpent.

  Having Reed close helped calm her frayed nerves. She loved him so much, though she hadn’t meant to feel this way. It just happened. Handsome. Strong. The man she’d been looking for even before she realized she needed him. And one of the reasons why with each new mission, her fear of losing him increased.

  She blew out a breath into the space in front of her and turned to him. The worry on his face was all her fault. Reed knew her better than anyone. He’d trained her. Taught her everything she knew about being a spy. Made her the agent she was today. He’d know she was worried.

  “Piper,” he prompted when she was slow to answer. He clasped her hand, their fingers entwined, love shining in his eyes.

  “I’m fine. Jitters, I guess.” Still, she couldn’t let go of her misgivings.

  “It’s not too late to call it off,” Reed said, a sobering expression she hadn’t seen before replacing the smile. He had doubts, too.

  “It is and you know it.” Still, Piper loved him for the offer. She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his knuckles and his eyes grew dark.

  “Piper,” he whispered her name. More than anything she wished things could be different between them. As much as she enjoyed the work they did, loving Reed made her wish for a simpler way of life. The ability to be like every other couple in love sounded heavenly.

  “I’ll be fine. Besides, Amani won’t talk to anyone else. He’s nervous enough as it is.” She tried to dismiss her worries. Couldn’t.

  And Reed saw it. “I’m coming with you to the house.”

  Protective as always.

  She touched his face and shook her head. “I need you on command. You’re my virtual eyes and ears on the ground. I trust you above everyone else. I need you, Reed.”

  He didn’t like her answer, but leaned down and kissed her gently before drawing back. The solemn look in his eyes sent a shiver up her spine. Why were they both so troubled about this meeting?

  “We should head out. The others are waiting,” he told her.

  Just for a moment, she wrapped her arms around his waist and clung to him. Piper couldn’t explain it. She had a bad feeling and needed to feel him close.

  Reed pulled back. “Are you sure you’re up to this?” His voice was tense with uncertainty.

  For the first time, the answer wasn’t clear and yet she tried to reassure him. “I’m fine.” Letting him go was hard, but she did and stepped from the tent.

  The chopper, piloted by Army 160th SOAR helicopter pilot Sylvie Parish, roared to life at their approach. Blades spinning. Desert dust swirling around them.

  Shielding her eyes, Piper pulled in a breath. Kissed Reed with all her heart one more time and didn’t care who saw.

  “I love you,” she whispered against his lips before heading to the helicopter where the rest of her team waited.

  She turned back. Reed still stood rooted in place watching her. She forced a smile, and he slowly followed her over.

  Andy Cates, her fellow CIA officer, had been there with her at the last two meetings with Amani. Matt Drummed was part of the elite special mission unit of the U.S. Army known as Delta Force. Brayden McDaniel and Nolan Wyatt were members of the SEAL Six Team. Andy, Matt, Brayden, and Nolan would be Piper’s team on the ground. Zach Ressler, part of the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment Reconnaissance Company, would man the command center along with Reed. The team was all highly skilled and had performed half a dozen similar missions to this one. They practically knew each other’s thoughts.

  Once everyone was inside, Reed shut the chopper’s door. Seconds later, they were airborne.

  “The latest drone photos confirmed the location is free of enemy combatants less than an hour earlier,” Reed told the team, his voice unusually sharp. “As you know, the house is located some distance outside of the village. Piper confirmed our operatives from the Afghani National Directorate of Security have cleared the place of explosives. They will be stationed close to the house for added security. That said, the village is a known Taliban hideout, so if anything looks off, call it.” This he directed at Piper.

  “Roger that,” she said and focused on what lay ahead while trying to ignore her churning gut.

  Six months ago, the team had captured a young terrified Taliban soldier by the name of Mosul Amani. At the time, Amani refused to talk. Slowly, Piper had cultivated a relationship with the man after his release and eventually he’d agreed to cooperate. Until now, Amani’s information had been of little consequence. But the mention of VX and a new, charismatic leader called the Serpent changed everything.

  “Two minutes from the destination,” Sylvie announced through the headphones.

  Reed grasped Piper’s hand. Their eyes met. Held. For the life of her, she felt as if she were saying goodbye to him for good this time.

  Please, God, no…

  “It’ll be okay,” Reed sought to assure her. Failed miserably.

  She squeezed his hand. “I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” She attempted to laugh but it sounded hollow. Forced.

  As she watched the darkness outside the chopper, she prayed that by this time tomorrow, all her fears would be gone and the mission to ga
in information on the Serpent would be successful. Tomorrow. Right now, she longed for it more than ever before.

  Chapter Two

  No matter how many times he watched her go, it never got easier. Piper knew what she was doing. She was one of the best he’d ever trained. Her team was highly skilled. And this was a simple meet to gather information at the asset’s insistence. What was he so worried about?

  Maybe because he’d never seen that look of fear on her face before.

  “I have the house in sight.” Piper’s confident voice came through his earbuds. The dry desert breeze kicked up suddenly, making it hard to hear her.

  “Hold up!” she blurted. The strain in her tone had Reed leaning forward in his seat. “Do you see that?” she asked incredulously.

  A shuffling noise followed, then Andy’s voice. “I see nothing. What was it?”

  Unnerving silence followed. “There was someone over there. Just now. I saw him.”

  Reed imagined Piper scanning the area with her night vision glasses.

  “He’s gone.” She sounded doubtful. Nothing like the confident agent he knew her to be.

  “Let’s keep moving,” Andy volunteered.

  A beat clicked off before the noise of movement returned.

  “We’re at the house now.” Piper again. This time sounding more like herself.

  Reed checked the time. “You’re right on schedule.”

  “Copy that,” she said. “He’s here.”

  “Thank you, God,” Reed said under his breath, though the sentiment was just words for him. He wasn’t a believer. Not anymore. He’d seen too many bad things out here to accept there was a benevolent God watching out for those here on earth.

  Immediately, Piper switched to the Afghanistan language of Pashto. “Did you have any trouble getting here without being spotted?”

  “I was not followed. There was no trouble.” Mosul Amani sounded on edge and a new uneasiness chewed at Reed’s gut.

  Static was the only sound for a while.

  “Are you okay?” Piper asked the man. She’d picked up on Amani’s strained tone as well. Despite his uneasiness, Reed smiled. She had all the potential of being the best agent he’d ever worked with.

  “Yes, but I’m worried. He suspects everyone. If I am missing too long, it won’t be good.”

  A long hesitation followed before Pipe spoke. “Then let’s make this quick. Tell me everything you know about this Serpent and the VX.” Amani didn’t respond. “Mosul, I can help. I can get you out of the Serpent’s clutches. All you have to do is help us.”

  “There is no getting out.” The man’s panicked voice rose several octaves.

  Reed didn’t like it. Was Amani having second thoughts about cooperating?

  He turned to Zach. “Where are the operatives from the National Directorate of Security?”

  Zach honed the satellite signal in as close as possible. Shook his head. “Nothing. There’s no one else there.”

  Reed leaped to his feet. “It’s a set up. Get out of there, Piper, you’re being set up.”

  No response. Only static came through the earbuds.

  “Piper. I repeat you’re being set up. Get out of there.”

  Piper continued speaking to Amani. Something was interrupting the communication signal. She and her team were flying blind.

  “Let’s go,” he told Zach and Sylvie. “They’re in trouble.”

  The command center was set up less than a mile from the house. A Humvee had been supplied in case the chopper was damaged and couldn’t fly for whatever reason. Reed hopped behind the wheel with Zach and Sylvie piling in.

  His breath came in frantic gasps. Reed covered the distance while listening to the strange conversation taking place at the house.

  “I must leave,” Amani exclaimed in a frantic voice.

  “Wait, you haven’t told us anything yet. You said you had news about the Serpent and his plans for the VX gas.”

  Static replaced Piper’s voice. Then silence. Eyes wide, Reed shot Zach a look. They’d lost all contact.

  With the dark house in sight, Reed’s heart poured adrenalin through his body. He couldn’t get to her fast enough.

  The Humvee’s light flashed across the house. Piper stood a little way from the left side of it, night vision glasses in hand. She watched something far off.

  Before Reed had time to get out even, an explosion rocked the ground beneath them. The Humvee shook from the blast. The house went up in a fireball. He lost visual of Piper.

  “No!” he screamed and jumped from the Humvee as the world around him became engulfed in flames. Heat poured from the house. Scorched his face and arms. No one in the structure would have survived the explosion. Had Piper?

  He ran toward the last known location of her.

  “Piper,” he called out before erupting in a fit of coughing. Tears streamed from his burning eyes. Shielding his face from the flames that licked all around, he searched the ground.

  “Piper, where are you?” The only answer was the roaring of the fire.

  Now frantic, he kept calling her name as he spun around in the middle of the desert terrified he’d find her dead.

  Over the noise of the blaze, a faint moan came from up ahead. Something lay on the ground. Piper! She wasn’t moving.

  As he ran toward her, his thoughts tumbled over themselves. The one that stood out the most was he and Piper both had bad feelings about this meet and he’d let her go in there anyway. If she died, he’d never forgive himself.

  Chapter Three

  Flames licked at her face. Singed her hair. She tried to move. Couldn’t. Something was wrong with her leg. The pain searing up the limb confirmed she wasn’t dead. Yet her people were dying inside and she had to help them.

  She’d heard a noise. Gone to investigate. Amani fled at the sound before she could stop him. Outside, she saw the man again. Tall and thin, he stood some distance from the house, watching. Unafraid of her when she’d charged toward him. And then the explosion happened.

  Flipping onto her stomach, Piper crawled on her belly toward the blaze. She had to help her people.

  “I’ve got you,” someone said. Reed emerged from the flames like a hero. “Hang on, Piper, I’ve got you.” He lifted her in his arms. Moved away from the house.

  “No.” She struggled with him, but his grip tightened. “We have to help them, Reed. They’ll die.” Still, he didn’t stop. Through the chaos going through her head, Piper stared up at him. Why wasn’t he listening to her?

  “Reed, stop,” she insisted.

  He finally did. “They’re gone, Piper. No one inside the house survived.”

  The words penetrated through the daze in her head and her world collapsed. In an instant, the men she’d worked with side-by-side with—trusted—cared about, we’re gone.

  Reed laid her gently in the backseat of the Humvee and got in next to her. “Don’t move,” he told her when she struggled to sit up. “We have to get you out of here and to Bagram Air Force Base. You’re hurt.” Reed glanced at someone close by. “Go, Zach. Now.”

  The Humvee reserved. Bounced across the uneven desert floor at breakneck speed. A tear slipped from her eye and onto the seat. She wanted to cry for real. Sob. Scream at how unfair it was that they’d died, and she’d lived, yet nothing but a wounded moan came out.

  She stared up at the ceiling and felt herself losing consciousness. Andy’s worried face swam before her eyes. He’d been the first to hear the noise that drew Piper outside.

  “Where are you going?” Andy’s last words rang in her head. She turned in time to see Amani tear out the back of the house. He’d been on edge from the moment they entered the residence.

  Questions raced through her head. Why had he chosen that location? Their only means of securing the place was drone surveillance and the assurances from her contact with the National Directorate of Security.

  “He was part of it,” she murmured and wasn’t sure if she’d said it aloud. It mad
e sense. Amani had set them up. But why?

  “Stay with me, Piper. Zach and I will get you into the chopper and then out of here.” Reed’s voice sounded so far away.

  The blades whirled to life. She could feel the dust and debris peppering her injured flesh as she was lifted from the Humvee.

  Sylvie barely waited until they’d boarded before liftoff. The chopper banked hard right. Each shift shot white-hot pain through her broken and burned body.

  Shrapnel had gotten lodged into her leg. Buried in her face and arms. There were burns over part of her face and body. But she was alive. Her team was not, and it was all her fault.

  She’d known something was off. Should have called the meet off. Didn’t. She’d lived. They’d died. All her fault. She closed her eyes and prayed that the blackness embracing her would shut out the guilt in her heart. Yet no amount of darkness could kill the truth. She’d carry that guilt of their deaths with her for the rest of her life.

  ◆◆◆

  “It’s done,” Amani said with pride. Standing beside him, Amani surveyed the blazing fire from the distance. Pleased with himself.

  “Good. She survived. You made sure of it?” he asked.

  “I did. She had no idea I set her up. She believed I called her there to give her information on you and the VX.” Amani smiled with satisfaction at a job well done. “She was so easy to fool.”

  He turned. Soldiers from the National Directorate of Security gathered nearby. While Amani continued to watch, he stepped away and motioned their commander over.

  “He’s served his purpose. Take care of him. And make sure they find him amongst the remains along with the others. It will cast doubt on her story.”

  The commander nodded. “I’ll take care of it. You should go. The Americans will send troops here soon.” He could feel the man’s steely gaze bore into him. The commander was a friend. They’d grown up together. He knew this man would never betray him. “You are too important to the cause. You cannot be captured.”