Free Forgive & Forget (Love in the Fleet) by Heather Ashby

Ibrahim. “The holy month of Ramadan ends on Eid al Fitr, which occurs on September ninth this year. Eid is a day of gift giving and fireworks. Think of it as a combination of your Christmas and Independence Day. Thank you for your part in helping us give the Americans a gift of fireworks on Eid this year.” He looked up questioningly at Ibrahim. “Does this mean what I think it means?”
    “Yes, my friend. They are giving you the date. September ninth, because Eid is a very special day in our calendar.”
    Heat rushed through Rashid’s chest. “It’s perfect because we’ll definitely be in the Gulf by September.” He paused, a triumphant grin on his face.  “But it’s even better than perfect. It’s brilliant. Because Uncle Sam will be so focused on security for September 11, they’ll be caught off guard by an early surprise.”
    “That is good to know, my friend. What else do they have to say?”
    Rashid clicked on the other message. “Send proposed schedule as soon as possible. Be sure to include liberty ports. It would be our pleasure to have friends meet with you. We have sadiqs everywhere.” He glanced up at Ibrahim. “Whoa. They want to meet me?”
    “You are doing us a tremendous favor, Rashid. I believe they will want to thank you in person if the opportunity arises.”
    “Even if I have a schedule of ports, not everyone gets to go ashore every time.”
    “Certainly you will go ashore at some point. And like he said, they have friends everywhere. Just stay in touch and email Hot Mama if you find yourself visiting a port along the way—using the code of course. Do they say anything else?”
    Rashid continued reading. “We have a faithful servant with fishing boats in several locales. As long as you are somewhere in the pond on the designated date, we will find you.”
    Adrenaline rushed to every corner of his body. This was really going to happen.
    The pond. The whole fucking Persian Gulf.
    “This is awesome, Ibrahim. I can’t guarantee anything, except that we will most likely be in the Gulf on September ninth. Just remember, plans could change at any time.”
    “No problem, my friend. Our man with the boats owns many dhows and will have five boats in two different ports.”
    His heart stuttered, skipped a beat. He grabbed Ibrahim’s wrist. “Did you say five?”
    The merchant nodded. Rashid’s heart kicked into high gear. Five? He’d expected them to send one dhow to compromise the carrier. But, five? Holy shit, these fuckers were serious.
    “Currently we plan to have five boats in al-Jubayl and five more further south, closer to Dubai. The dhows will be pre-staged, but the fishermen and explosives can be transported easily by truck. Our extensive tribal contacts will ensure that border crossings anywhere on the Arabian Peninsula will not be an issue.”
    Rashid’s orange chicken and iced tea sat untouched. His blood hummed with excitement. This was going to be so fucking easy. The sadiqs were going to take care of everything— everything except for CDC. The Combat Direction Center on the ship was all his. He wasn’t going to let somebody else have all the fun. He would be personally involved in his cause. No way would he be a pussy like Timothy McVeigh had been in Oklahoma City.
    Rashid was going down with his ship.
    Chapter 8

      
    Although Hallie and Philip had planned to set sail early Sunday morning, it was hard to stick to a schedule when neither of them had slept the night before. Both were still on physical and emotional tenterhooks. It was after noon before they cleared the marina. When Hallie parked herself on the bench seat and pulled out the bottle of sunscreen, Philip stopped unfurling the sails.
    “Please don’t ask me to put that on your back.” A corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile. “I don’t think I could bear it today.”
    “I’m sorry about last night, Philip. I just didn’t feel right about staying.”
    Philip knelt down in front of her and took