Ready to Kill by Andrew Peterson Read Free Book Online

contact him, we’ll just have to assume he’ll be okay meeting with both of you.”
    “If he knows Harv, he probably knows me as well. We were together the entire time.”
    Cantrell went silent for a moment. “What does the term ‘scatter point alpha’ mean to you?”
    Nathan made eye contact with Harv and nodded an okay.
    Harv answered. “It was one of four regrouping locations we’d planned to use if any member of an Echo or kilo team got separated from the group. In other words, if the shit hit the fan and we all had to bolt, we’d meet up at the closest scatter point and await retrieval.”
    “Would you be able to precisely locate it for me if you had good aerials?”
    “Definitely,” Harv said. “All four scatter points were on either ridgelines or mountaintops along a northeast to southwest axis. We purposely avoided choosing the highest or most prominent peaks, but each location provided a 360-degree defensible position with clear lines of sight to the north for radio communication.”
    “Is that where the messenger wants to meet Harv?” asked Nathan.
    “Yes,” said Cantrell. “Which means our messenger is likely one of your kilo grads. Who else would know about your rendezvous points?”
    “No one,” Nathan said. “It’s entirely possible Raven himself tossed both notes over the fence.”
    “I’ve considered that. And if true, we need to know what he wants.”
    Harv continued, “It could also be the opening move of an extortion scheme. Pay me money, or I go public with Echo.”
    “I’ve considered that as well, but if extortion were his thing, I think he would have tried it long ago. In two days, Nicaragua’s hosting an economic summit in Managua. Central American commerce ministers from Mexico to Colombia will be there. Not surprisingly, the United States is not invited. Security will be tight but not out to a thousand yards. All Raven would need is a little inside information to make a hit. As you know, even our own president isn’t one hundred percent safe from a truly great shooter.”
    “And you think Raven might have his sights on one of the ministers?” Nathan asked.
    “The timing of Raven’s reemergence, if we can call it that, is highly suspect. But that’s not my worst-case scenario.”
    “What is?” asked Nathan.
    Their conversation paused for a few seconds. Nathan waited, hoping Cantrell would be forthcoming.
    “There’s a distinct possibility this whole thing is being staged to lure you into Nicaragua. There’s no way to know why. It could be anything from revenge to extortion.”
    “Thank you for being candid,” Nathan said. “We’ve already talked about the risk of it being a trap, but we can’t address any tactical or security issues until we hear your plan for getting us in and out. We know those mountains well, and we can disappear if we have to.”
    “It’s my job to make sure it doesn’t come to that.”
    “You’re the only person we trust, Rebecca.”
    “I appreciate that. Do you happen to remember a town called Santavilla?”
    He exchanged another glance with Harv. “Yes.”
    “Then you also remember a Pastor Tobias?”
    “He helped us during a tight situation. We may not have survived without him.”
    “Five days ago, he was shot and killed by a sniper. Presumably Raven.”
    “Was that in the baseball note?” Harv asked.
    “Yes.”
    “That’s a bad deal,” Nathan said. “He was a good man.”
    Harv asked, “Do you think the murder of Pastor Tobias could somehow be connected to the approaching summit?”
    “I don’t know, probably not. All we know is that the shooting seems to have prompted the messenger to request this meeting with you.”
    “When?”
    “He wants to meet you in just over . . . thirty-three hours.”
    “That’s going to be tight,” said Nathan, “especially if we have to hoof it through miles of jungle. Alpha was the westernmost point in the scatter point chain. Rebecca, you know that area. It won’t be easy