Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Thorne negotiates with the CIA operative, who reveals her name as Harlan and shares intelligence confirming Masovich plans to hit Kalynka at first light. Harlan has been tracking the battalion independently for nine days and provides details on patrol gaps and convoy timing. Thorne learns the attack force is smaller than expected because Masovich split his battalion, sending a detachment west. Shadow signals from the outcrop that the command vehicle has gone dark. Thorne and Harlan agree to coordinate, and Thorne heads back up the ridge to brief Cole and formulate a plan before dawn.
Thorne lowered his hands, keeping them visible. The woman hadn't touched her rifle again, but her eyes, sharp and assessing, tracked his every subtle shift. Nine days alone out here, he thought, a grim testament to her resolve, or perhaps her desperation.
"Nine days," he said, his voice low, roughed by the cold and the strain of the climb. "Solo?"
"Support pulled out six days ago," Harlan replied, her voice flat, devoid of complaint. "Extraction got redlit. I stayed." The words hung in the frigid air, heavy with unspoken implications. Staying meant a commitment beyond the mission parameters, a personal investment in the outcome.
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