skepticism. “With all due respect, sir, I was with the group that found her initially, and even though she was frightened, she was very lucid. I find it difficult to believe she had some sort of mental breakdown prior to her rescue that caused her to imagine or fabricate a murder.”
“It’s only one theory, Denison. And it is a distinct possibility given that a body has yet to turn up.”
Frowning, Jesse kept his next thoughts to himself. He could understand Commander Dewitt’s doubt about Lena’s version of events. The timeline was definitely off. Objectively, he could see that it would be impossible for AnSawar to hide Steven Cutler’s body with any success in the short amount of time before the SEALs takedown of the facilities. However, he still believed Lena was telling the truth about what she witnessed. She might have just been mistaken about when the murder occurred. It wasn’t very difficult to come to the conclusion that she might have been confused about the precise timing of the events.
“Did they find the man Ms. Westlake identified as the killer, sir?” Luke interjected sharply.
“No. The man she has described as having hazel eyes has not been accounted for either,” Mark responded, carefully choosing his words. “At the moment, we are checking whether or not we have any leads on anyone in the CIA and NSA’s combined database of Terror Suspect Profiles that may match his description.”
Jesse was not going to hold his breath on there being a match. TSPs were a relatively new tool used by the security agencies, and the database had not been thoroughly developed. While major Al-Qaeda members were undoubtedly listed, emergent threats would probably not be in the system yet.
“Well, whoever this guy is, he’s probably crawled back under the rock he came from by now,” Joshua replied.
“Yeah,” their CO grunted in agreement. “If he has even a modicum of intelligence he’ll either try to get out of the country or sink into a hole.”
None of this new information was sitting too well with Jesse. The fact that one of the assholes who’d terrorized Lena was still UA turned his stomach. If it were up to him, he would still be out there now hunting the son of a bitch down.
“Sir,” Jesse piped up, a memory suddenly assailing him. “The man holding Lena hostage in the underground level kept saying a phrase that I couldn’t translate. Zaida ya kivuli . Do you have any idea what that means?”
Mark seemed to consider Jesse’s question for a moment. “You sure he said that phrase exactly, Denison?”
“I’m positive, sir.”
“Well, if you’re right, it’s Swahili. Translated it means greater than shadow.”
“Does that mean anything to you, sir?”
“No. It’s not ringing any bells, but I’ll have some people check into it.”
It was probably just the nonsensical ramblings of madman, but SEAL Team Fourteen always crossed all their t’s and dotted all their i’s.
“All right, that brings me to the next order of business,” Mark continued. “The top brass at CENTCOM has given us a new assignment. There’s been a series of disturbances in Bayla, Somalia, which is located about one hundred miles from here. CIA agents currently on the ground are hearing rumblings of a new threat that could potentially be posed by Al-Jaazeez operatives.”
“Tarasov?” Luke asked, leaning forward in his seat. He was referring to Dr. Saverin Tarasov, one of the key leaders of the Al-Jaazeez network who’d eluded capture in the team’s covert operation in Russia a few months ago. The operation had successfully prevented a bioterrorist attack on U.S. soil, but unfortunately, Tarasov had gotten away. All of the SEAL Team Fourteen members hated when a murderous piece of scum like Saverin Tarasov managed to slip through their grasp.
“It’s unclear at this point. For now, I’m going to be sending a group of five to handle special reconnaissance. If we can confirm Tarasov is on the ground
“It’s only one theory, Denison. And it is a distinct possibility given that a body has yet to turn up.”
Frowning, Jesse kept his next thoughts to himself. He could understand Commander Dewitt’s doubt about Lena’s version of events. The timeline was definitely off. Objectively, he could see that it would be impossible for AnSawar to hide Steven Cutler’s body with any success in the short amount of time before the SEALs takedown of the facilities. However, he still believed Lena was telling the truth about what she witnessed. She might have just been mistaken about when the murder occurred. It wasn’t very difficult to come to the conclusion that she might have been confused about the precise timing of the events.
“Did they find the man Ms. Westlake identified as the killer, sir?” Luke interjected sharply.
“No. The man she has described as having hazel eyes has not been accounted for either,” Mark responded, carefully choosing his words. “At the moment, we are checking whether or not we have any leads on anyone in the CIA and NSA’s combined database of Terror Suspect Profiles that may match his description.”
Jesse was not going to hold his breath on there being a match. TSPs were a relatively new tool used by the security agencies, and the database had not been thoroughly developed. While major Al-Qaeda members were undoubtedly listed, emergent threats would probably not be in the system yet.
“Well, whoever this guy is, he’s probably crawled back under the rock he came from by now,” Joshua replied.
“Yeah,” their CO grunted in agreement. “If he has even a modicum of intelligence he’ll either try to get out of the country or sink into a hole.”
None of this new information was sitting too well with Jesse. The fact that one of the assholes who’d terrorized Lena was still UA turned his stomach. If it were up to him, he would still be out there now hunting the son of a bitch down.
“Sir,” Jesse piped up, a memory suddenly assailing him. “The man holding Lena hostage in the underground level kept saying a phrase that I couldn’t translate. Zaida ya kivuli . Do you have any idea what that means?”
Mark seemed to consider Jesse’s question for a moment. “You sure he said that phrase exactly, Denison?”
“I’m positive, sir.”
“Well, if you’re right, it’s Swahili. Translated it means greater than shadow.”
“Does that mean anything to you, sir?”
“No. It’s not ringing any bells, but I’ll have some people check into it.”
It was probably just the nonsensical ramblings of madman, but SEAL Team Fourteen always crossed all their t’s and dotted all their i’s.
“All right, that brings me to the next order of business,” Mark continued. “The top brass at CENTCOM has given us a new assignment. There’s been a series of disturbances in Bayla, Somalia, which is located about one hundred miles from here. CIA agents currently on the ground are hearing rumblings of a new threat that could potentially be posed by Al-Jaazeez operatives.”
“Tarasov?” Luke asked, leaning forward in his seat. He was referring to Dr. Saverin Tarasov, one of the key leaders of the Al-Jaazeez network who’d eluded capture in the team’s covert operation in Russia a few months ago. The operation had successfully prevented a bioterrorist attack on U.S. soil, but unfortunately, Tarasov had gotten away. All of the SEAL Team Fourteen members hated when a murderous piece of scum like Saverin Tarasov managed to slip through their grasp.
“It’s unclear at this point. For now, I’m going to be sending a group of five to handle special reconnaissance. If we can confirm Tarasov is on the ground
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