Free In Her Sights by Robin Perini Page A

weak.
    “I’m fine.”
    “Seriously, nobody would blame you if you didn’t want to be primary tonight. If the situation is getting to you at all, you should turn it over.”
    “When I have to, I can pull it together, Gabe.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Watch me.”
    She closed her eyes and took a few slow, deep breaths. Her imagination dipped her into a lake of tranquility, washing away the worries and memories as if she’d escaped into peace.
    She’d learned the technique early in life, to divorce herself from the worry, the pain. Back then, she’d needed the control to find enough to eat, to outwit the dark side of her mother’s world, to help her bear what was happening to her. Now she used the skill to prepare for battle.
    As if she’d cleansed herself in hot springs, the night’s events, the conversation with Luke slid to the corner of her mind. Moments later she opened her eyes to Gabe’s fascinated expression.
    “Wow,” he said. “That’s freakin’ cool, Jazz. A little scary, but definitely cool.”
    “Okay, you two, break it up.” Paretti leered at them. “Or is there something you’d like to share?”
    Gabe rested his arm on Jazz’s shoulder. “I just want her looking out for me, boys. I was reminding her who’s the quarterback of this team.”
    The van burst into laughter, and Steve Paretti howled over the rest of them, “You wish.”
    “Hey, Paretti, I heard Tower was nosing around today.”
    “Did you get a whiff of him? The guy reeked of perfume. And that smile on his face, no doubt he’d been doing the horizontal mambo with that redheaded angel.” Carl wiggled his eyebrows.
    “She’s a hottie all right,” Steve added. “I’d love to take a peek to see if those curves are real or silicone. Gabe could probably tell us. They were up close and personal.”
    Gabe cleared his throat. “A gentleman never tells tales.”
    “Then you must have lots to say, Montgomery,” Paretti said.
    A fresh bout of laughter erupted, filling the van until the vehicle stopped. At the final squeak of brakes, the antics ceased. Each team member turned his focus toward the job.
    Two by two they jumped out into the dark night, ready to work, steady in purpose.
    They formed a close-knit circle around Sarge. He pulled out an aerial photograph and a map of the surrounding area and shined a narrow beam of light on the layout. The farmhouse stood amidst several barns, a water pump station, a vegetable garden, and clusters of piñon trees.
    Immediately Jazz’s attention turned to a small hill about a hundred yards to the west of the farmhouse.
    Sarge followed her line of sight. “Good eye, Parker. Take Zone One.”
    Jazz ticked through the procedures. She was ready; she would protect them. “I’m there.”
    “Okay, people, take position,” Sarge said. “Let’s just hope the negotiators can pull this one out and we can get home before dawn.”
    Jazz strode away from the group and climbed the hill. She pulled on her camouflage cloak and made her shadow invisible on the crest, the netting and threads blending into the grass profile as if nature had engineered them both. As she estimated the distance to the farmhouse and to the windows within her sight, she clicked the night optics in place then double-checked the windage and elevation of her Leupold Mark V scope. She adjusted the windage knob two clicks, moving the scope to a perfect position for the distance then did the same with the elevation knob.
    As she lined up her sight, a flash of color sailed past the window. Then she saw them. A family of four cowered in the corner. She could barely make out two small pairs of legs as a man and woman tried to shield their children, but they couldn’t hide the fear. She had a bad feeling about this one.
    “Blue One ready, Blue Leader.”
    “Roger, Blue One.”
    “Blue Two in position,” Gabe’s voice whispered over the intercom system.
    A car’s headlights sped up the road, and she heard a vicious curse from