Free Flawlessly Executed (Dark Horse Guardians Book 3) by Ava Armstrong Page A

on the hit. That part they liked. As long as nothing went wrong, it would appear that the militant factions turned upon one another, which wasn’t out of the realm of possibility.
    In reality, the Middle East was in a state of total chaos. Since the beginning of time, repressive regimes dominated the people of the region…Communists, Ba’athists, the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and the spin-off terrorist group of the week.
    The radical Islamic fighters were being joined by all manner of rebels, and this was the opportunity that Ben and Moshe would exploit. Unknown to the radicals in charge, there were groups living in their midst who wanted them defeated as much as Ben did. The radicals made one huge mistake when they executed all non-Muslims in Mosul. They pissed off the Yazidis taking their land, causing them to live as refugees.
    The Yazidis were taken in by the Kurdish people. In addition, the radicals managed to piss off a large group of Kurds and Shia Arabs. And, the latest intel revealed many Sunni sects who were turning against the Islamic radicals. Moshe’s men were now actively arming the Kurds and women joining the fight. Ben had to tip his hat to these women; he admired their strength and courage in the face of such adversity. If anyone deserved his expertise and support, it was this group. He would go to the wall for them.
    Thus, the mission would be carefully coordinated assassinations. It would consist of flawlessly executing sixty-five terrorists released by the corrupt President of Afghanistan. The targets to be eliminated had led armies in horrific crimes of terror, participating in and ordering rapes, kidnappings, mass murders, beheadings, and crucifixions. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, these animals filmed the atrocities and put them on YouTube in an effort to recruit more sick individuals. And, it was working .
    The purpose of the mission would be to disrupt, and possibly defeat, the radical Islamic group that had morphed into an army before his eyes, thanks to the United States pulling out of Iraq prematurely without a Status of Forces Agreement. This mission could possibly cut off the head of the snake and Ben felt it could even turn the tide in the Middle East.
    However, it had to be done so that no one would know there were boots on the ground. He laughed whenever he heard that term. How naïve to think there weren’t boots on the ground twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. There was a constant presence of shadow-operatives along with dedicated U.S. military men and women doing the most difficult work in the world. The geo-political significance of flawlessly executing sixty-five horrible radicals gave Ben an adrenaline rush.
    His felt his phone vibrate and saw it was Rashida. He was surprised to hear from her so soon. Her dialect was a mixture of Pasto and Arabic, with English slang tossed in, and he couldn’t suppress his happiness as he heard her voice, “Hello Chief. I want to thank you my medical treatment.”
    Ben’s heart was in his throat, but he managed to speak, “Good. I’m glad things worked out. You are happy?”
    Rashida handed the phone to someone else in the room and Ben recognized Nate O’Neal’s voice, “Hey, I’m going to call you on the other line.” He clicked off.
    The satellite phone chimed. Nate continued, “Hey, listen. Rashida wants to join us in the tactical takedown.”
    Ben felt a wave of panic wash over him, “Oh, I don’t think that’s such a good idea. If she was captured, you know what would happen.”
    Nate’s tone was persistent, “You’ve got to meet with her. She has skills and abilities. She’s brilliant. We could utilize someone like her. She’s much tougher than you think.”
    Finally, Ben acquiesced, “All right, but our meeting has to be someplace out of the way. And, I need Jake Wilson there, too.”
    Nate replied, “I’ll have them both at the hut. I need to pick up some stuff there anyhow. How about Saturday