Rourk (Keegan's Chronicles Series Book 4) (6 page)

Rourk continued to walk around the room, taking in the computer screens and searching for any hint of the next mission. As usual, he was looking forward to being briefed.

The rest of the guys filled in, taking their places around the table. The captain, Jamison, gave a brief message—the usual thumbs up after a successful mission, and then O’Grady, the team sergeant, took over.

He read the traffic report from the prior day, went over new intel, then started to hand out tasks in preparation for the next mission.

“Jamison and I will touch base with the tribal chief and see how much was done since we last checked up on his pet project. If no real progress has been made, we won’t worry about trying to ‘correct’ the situation, just take notes and we‘ll deal with that later. It‘s low priority for us, but we want to stay on the chief‘s good side.”

“Mirko and Lance will head up to the depot and pick up the supplies we requested last week.” He passed them a sheet of paper. “Hopefully, they are ready.”

“Rourk and Stitch, I want you to do a route reconnaissance for our infil and exfil routes for the villa mission.” He leaned forward and tapped his finger on the red area. “Keep in mind, we might have to hand this off to someone else, so look at it with that in mind. Go low profile, civilian vehicle. Mount the usual comms and surveillance gear in the vehicle. You know the drill.”

Rourk nodded. “Will we have any ISR platforms in support?”

“Yeah, there will be a drone operating in the area in case you need it. No reported activity in the area as of late, so just get a feel and look for any details we might be missing from the map and overhead imagery we‘ve been using. Get with me if you two have any more questions after we‘re done here.”

The meeting continued on, and Rourk listened, but his mind was on the recon.

After the meeting, Rourk and Stitch grabbed the comms and surveillance package they would need and installed them in one of the beat- up Toyota Hi-Lux pick up trucks they had in their motor pool. Once done, they prepped the rest of their equipment, laying it out and doing their pre-combat inspections to ensure everything was present, serviceable, and fully functioning. That done, they changed into ‘low profile’ clothing, strapped on their gear, and made final checks. Once done they made final coordinations with the operations center, and then headed out.

The initial portion of the recon was pretty standard, as the route from their camp was well known to all the team members. As they passed through less familiar terrain, they made verbal notes into a voice recorder, as well as written notes when needed. It was a bit tedious, but both Stitch and Rourk knew that even the tedious and boring aspects of mission prep were just as important as “actions on” when they were actually on the target during the mission.

Like most of the areas they were operating in, the route had stretches of empty rural area broken up with small knots of villages with people, animals and traffic. Stitch rolled to a stop, and they scanned the crowd for anyone paying too much attention.

Rourk’s pulse quickened, and he could scarcely believe his eyes. A man’s eyes glowed an unearthly blue rimmed with yellow, and faint tattoos spread across his face. One of Rourk’s secondary gifts was the ability to detect other creatures of the light and dark. But this was a first for him. A d’jinn?

The man must have felt his presence. He looked up and, they locked eyes, and the creature gave him a wicked grin that made Rourk’s skin crawl.

“Stitch. Notice anything about the man at two o’clock?” Rourk asked casually.

“Looks like your standard issue Haji. Why, something catch your eye?”

So he’s cloaked to humans.
He’d expected as much. “No, just keeping myself in check.” The d’jinn turned and blended seamlessly with the crowd.

They rolled forward and continued down the road. Rourk wondered what kind of trouble the d’jinn was causing in the area, if anything at all. All he knew about d’jinns were what he’d read. A spirit that  was capable of taking on a human or animal form and has the ability to alter one’s thoughts. They were said to be extremely violent demons. Rourk didn’t believe everything he read, but there was usually at least a sliver of truth. The creature screamed evil.

It was not unusual to cross paths with other creatures, but it was the first time he had seen a d’jinn in all the time he’d spent overseas. He’d actually wondered if they were purely a myth. Now he had seen with his own eyes they are as real as he was.

He wasn’t sure what to make of the sighting. It wasn’t like the d’jinn had sought him out. So it probably meant nothing. Just a chance encounter. It was definitely something he would have to report back to Richard, Keegan’s father, and the leader of the light elfin army.

Rourk scanned the roads as they continued on. His focus back on the task at hand.

“We’re getting close to the villa.” Stitch said, staring out the window.

“Yeah it’s just up ahead.”

“Can’t wait to hit this place,” Stitch said with a smile.

They turned onto a dirt road surrounded by small prefab buildings walled in with concrete. Wild dogs lay in the middle of the road, and some were on the side of the road close to death from starvation.

Children ran and played as they rolled through the small village. Farm animals roamed about, and women cried out to their children.

“There’s the villa,” Stitch said.

Rourk nodded. He glanced over. It didn’t look much different than most of the villas in the area, but that didn’t mean anything. It was crazy how often terrorists hid in plain sight.

Intel gathering, like everything in this area, was dangerous work, but without it, they wouldn’t have made as much headway as they had. You never knew if the residents had been tipped off, who would be home, and if they were armed. Well, it was usually a given that they would be armed.

Sometimes there were women and children, and they were not above using them as shields. That made Rourk sick just thinking about it.

Hopefully, this time their intel was correct and the villa would be empty. Soon they would know.

The kept driving around the area, getting a feel for the environment, gearing up for the mission to come.

CHAPTER 9   

While wiping down the counter, Keegan stopped to watch the rain hit the windowpane. It was really coming down today, and it didn’t look like it was about to ease up. She was startled out of her thoughts by her brother.

“Gavin’s on his way to the door.” Thaddeus called out from the couch.

Keegan tossed the hand towel on the counter and crossed the kitchen towards the front door. “Gavin? What’s he doing here?”

Thaddeus was glued to a video game, and didn’t bother to answer. Keegan rolled her eyes; some things never changed.

Before she made it to the door, the bell chimed.

Keegan swung the door open and stepped aside. “Hey, Gavin, Rourk’s not here.”

“I know. I just wanted to come by and see how you’re doing.”

Keegan looked at him skeptically. Gavin had never just stopped by to visit. Rourk had worked with him on occasion, doing who knows what. Gavin was a dark elf. It was still strange that they had worked together. Keegan grew up with dark elves and light elves despising each other. The Great Battle changed all of that. There was still a lot of hatred, but many had decided to leave the past in the past and move forward.

“Well, come in. You’re getting soaked out there.”

Gavin ran a hand through his wet, coal black hair, and pulled off his rain jacket. Keegan grabbed the coat and hung it on the rack. He was dressed all in black. He kicked off his shoes and crossed through the room. “Is that Dishonored I hear?”

Thaddeus paused the game and glanced up. “Yeah, I love this game.”

“Me too. It’s one of my favorites.” Gavin paused. “So, I finally get to meet the all knowing one. It’s an honor. You’re sort of a legend.” He laughed. “I feel like I should bow or something.”

Thaddeus grinned, stood up, and they shook hands. “I’ve heard a thing or two about you as well.”

It was nice to see her brother smile again.

“All good, I hope?”

“Mostly good.”

“Ah, well, it’s hard to live up to Rourk’s expectations.” Gavin sat down on the couch next to him. “So I can live with mostly.”

“Actually, it was Anna. I believe she called you a hot dark elf with eyes of steel. But don’t quote me on that.”

Gavin laughed. “Anna is quite the character.”

“That she is.”

“Gavin, do you want anything to eat or drink?” Keegan asked. She was curious as to why he had stopped by, but would go through the motions of being a good hostess. Besides, she was hungry herself.

“Sure. Whatever you’ve got is fine.”

Keegan turned on her heels and went into the kitchen. Cooking wasn’t really her thing. Rourk, on the other hand, loved cooking. He said it relaxed him. Keegan peered into the fridge, and pulled out a roll of cinnamon rolls, and threw them on a pan while she heated up the oven. You could never go wrong with them. Taste like heaven in only ten minutes.

“Pepsi, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s great. Thanks.”

She set the rolls in the oven, grabbed a bag of tortilla chips from under the counter, popped the top off a jar of salsa, and dumped it in a bowl.

“Thaddeus, come help me.”

She looked up when her brother walked in the room. Her gaze met his with a raised eyebrow, and Thaddeus shrugged. She loved that they could have a whole conversation with their eyes.

Thaddeus grabbed the sodas off the counter and headed back into the living room.

Well, that wasn’t much help.
Keegan followed behind with the chips, setting them on the coffee table. She turned towards Gavin. “Did Rourk send you to check up on me?”

A flush rose to Gavin’s pale face. Anna was right about one thing. Gavin was certainly attractive. If you were into that type: sexy and mysterious. She’d take Rourk any day, but she doubted Gavin had trouble with women. A quick glance down at his hand, and she knew he had yet to meet his chosen.

“You caught me. He just asked me to check in on you once in a while. You know how protective he is of his life mate.”

Keegan sunk into the chair and tucked her feet under her. Rourk was definitely overprotective of her, but he’d never had anyone check up on her before. Not that she knew of anyway.

“Thad, did Rourk ask you to come?” Keegan tilted her head to watch her brother’s reaction.

“Nope. I haven’t talked to Rourk in a while.” He dunked his chip in the salsa. She would never be able to read him if he didn’t want her to, but for some reason she believed he was telling the truth.

“Well, consider your task fulfilled. As you can see, my brother is here and I’m in more than capable hands.”

Gavin took a gulp of his soda and didn’t bother to reply. They all knew he would continue to do what Rourk had asked.

They chatted about nothing until the smell of cinnamon filled the room, and shortly after, the timer went off. Keegan rose from the chair and came back with the sticky sweet goodness, and a roll of paper towels tucked under her arm.

Thaddeus reached for a roll and dropped it back on the plate.

Keegan rolled her eyes. “You
just
saw me take them out of the oven. Let them cool down.”

“They smell so good.” This time he used the spatula and scooped one onto his plate.

Gavin eyed them, but sat back. “Nothing unusual going on?”

Keegan narrowed her eyes. “You’re not very understated, Gavin.”

He took a swig and shrugged. “Figured there is no need, with your brother here. Rourk said he just had a bad feeling, and wanted to make sure you were okay. Should I be expecting trouble?”

Her head snapped in the direction of her brother. They were starting to freak her out.

“Never hurts to take extra precautions,” Thaddeus said casually.

“Thaddeus! If something bad is going to happen, you better tell me right this instant. I knew you had a reason for visiting.”

“Calm down. I’m not here to try to stop anything. I’m just here for my sister. That’s it.” He rolled his eyes and grabbed the controller.

Gavin reached over and grabbed a cinnamon roll and shoved practically the whole thing in his mouth. “Delicious.”

Keegan plopped back on the couch and stared between the two. She wasn’t going to get anything out of either of them. That much she was sure of, and it made her want to scream.

After eating two cinnamon rolls, Keegan stood up and told them she was going to take a shower.

“On that note, I’m going to head out. Thanks for the food.” He paused. “I’ll be close by. If you need me, you have my number.” Gavin stood up and headed towards the door. Thaddeus stood up and followed him outside. Keegan pressed her forehead to the window and watched them. They seemed relaxed. Maybe she was over reacting. She would definitely ask Rourk about this bad feeling.

CHAPTER 10   

The team sergeant went over the Operations Order, and then they all got kitted up. Tonight was going to be different. There would be no mountains with shadows to hunt their prey. Tonight, their mission was to raid a house and collect any electronics and papers for intelligence gathering. A villa that had been under surveillance was their target. It was supposed to be empty, but they had to be prepared to meet resistance. Their survival depended on it. One thing Rourk knew for sure, things seldom went as planned. Through firsthand experience, he’d learned Murphy’s Law often came true: anything that could go wrong  would go wrong.

“O’Grady, don’t forget to bring the luck of the Irish with you.” Mirko smirked.

O’Grady laughed, and Rourk grinned. O’Grady was far from Irish. He had dark mocha skin, and had been born and raised in New York City. He says the closest he’d come to being Irish was his love for mashed potatoes and Guinness. His real name was Sampson, but because of his luck, he’d been nicknamed O’Grady. That man had escaped death so many times, they’d lost count, and always came up smiling, kissing the cross he wore around his neck. “You know it.”