Chapter 22
Ethan stood frozen in the freezing Iowa wind, his hand gripping the satellite phone so tightly the plastic casing groaned.
"What do you want, Thorne?" Ethan whispered, his voice shaking with restrained, explosive fury.
"I want my top operative back," Thorne demanded coldly.
"There is a package inside the trunk of your Ford truck—a diplomatic pouch containing a new passport, a satellite transponder, and instructions for a mission in Zurich."
"You will get into your truck, leave your wife at that diner, and drive to the airport in Des Moines within forty-five minutes."
"If you attempt to alert her, if you attempt to engage my snipers, or if you deviate from the route... the trigger gets pulled."
Ethan looked back at Clara through the diner window.
She looked up from her magazine, catching his eye across the parking lot, and gave him a beautiful, loving wave, gesturing for him to come back inside out of the cold.
Ethan felt his heart tearing into a million shattered pieces.
He had fought through hell to save her, to build a future together, and now he was forced to abandon her in a roadside diner to keep her alive.
"If I do this mission, you leave her alone forever," Ethan bargained, his voice cracking with emotion.
May you like
"You have my word as your former commander," Thorne replied. "You have forty minutes remaining, Captain."
The line disconnected into dead static.
