The Naked Edge by David Morrell

Author:David Morrell [Morrell, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: FICTION / Thriller (FIC031000), Fiction (FIC000000)
Publisher: Morrell Enterprises Inc.
Published: 2010-09-13T04:00:00+00:00

4

“Are you okay?” Cavanaugh asked in the darkness of a bedroom

“A few bumps and bruises. Nothing serious.” Jamie lay next to him.

“I mean, are you okay?”

“Why wouldn't I be? It's just the usual, isn't it? Fear and trembling.”

“You were talking awfully fast in the kitchen. You sound as if you're on speed.”

“Adrenaline will do that.”

“It should have worn off by now.” The darkness seemed to compress around him.

“I guess I'm resistant,” she said.

“I just want to make sure nothing's wrong.” The darkness got even thicker.

Jamie lay unmoving next to him. Finally, she said, “You mean because I killed somebody?”

Cavanaugh exhaled.“Now that you mention it.”

“He was trying to kill us.”

“Best reason in the world to pull the trigger,” Cavanaugh agreed. “You didn't panic. You didn't let the heat of the moment make your hands waver. You acted precisely. You saved our lives.”

“Is this what the military calls an ‘after-action report’?”

“It's useful to talk. To sort out your emotions.”

“In other words, a cheap form of psychotherapy.” Jamie remained motionless beside him.

“Imagine that you didn't raise your pistol fast enough. Imagine him firing the rifle, full auto, bullets tearing into us, blood and flesh and bone flying, you and Kim and me dropping.”

“Trying some neuro-linguistic programming on me?”

“It's nothing I haven't used on myself.”

“When was the first time . . .”

“First time?” Outside the curtained, bullet-resistant window, a car drove by, its lonely drone echoing in the night. “You mean, the first time I killed someone?”

Jamie didn't answer.

“Twenty years ago,” Cavanaugh said. “In Peru.”

Jamie turned toward him. “Isn't that where you told me Duran was held prisoner by revolutionaries?”

“They called themselves the PCP. The Partido Comunista del Peru. American soldiers were down there, helping prop up the government. Carl and I and some other Delta Force members were sent to teach the Peruvian soldiers how to put together their own version of Delta. Lord knows, enough officials had been kidnapped that the local government needed experts in hostage retrieval. We accompanied Peruvian soldiers on a mission to rescue a high-ranking politician. The PCP was threatening to kill him if the government didn't release some PCP members the army was interrogating. But somebody leaked the details of the mission to the revolutionaries, and we walked into an ambush. Carl was knocked unconscious by an explosion. The government soldiers he was with ran away. Later, we received photographs showing that Carl was alive, with a message that gave the government three days to release the PCP agitators.”

Cavanaugh forced himself to continue. “Delta looks after its own. Within twenty-four hours, a full extraction team arrived from Fort Bragg. Twelve hours before the deadline expired, we got a lucky break, some excellent intelligence reports along with aerial surveillance photos that showed the mountain camp where Carl was being held. At night, we parachuted into a clearing about three miles away and converged on the target. The infra-red satellite images we'd studied gave us a pretty good idea of where the prisoners, eight of them including Carl, were being held.

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