Read Dangerously Hot (A Hostile Operations Team Novel)(#4) for Free Online Page A

fact HOT couldn’t find the most dangerous terrorist in the world and neutralize him did not sit well with the colonel.
    “I wish I could tell you that. But he’s careful. Paranoid. He does everything through intermediaries. We don’t know who his daughter is, but we know she is in a very exclusive school for girls. The students are daughters of the wealthiest, the most privileged of Qu’rimi society.”
    “I’m not a teacher.”
    “You speak the dialect. And you speak English. It’s all that’s required. Many of the people who sign on to teach English in Qu’rim are nothing more than native speakers. You at least have more than that going for you.”
    “And won’t they be suspicious when I show up speaking the language?”
    He shook his head. “We’re working with the king and certain high-placed people in his command. There will be no questions.”
    Lucky closed her eyes and tilted her head back. This was not what she’d expected—and yet there was no way she could refuse. Everyone at this table was counting on her. And more than that, her nation was counting on her. If Al Ahmad and the Freedom Force gained control of the uranium mine—or Qu’rim’s chemical stockpile—the consequences would be catastrophic.
    “All right,” she said softly. “Tell me what I have to do.”

 
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    Abdul Halim bin Khalid al-Faizan sipped his tea and read the papers that his wife had brought to him. There was much unrest in the desert these days. Much unrest.
    As it should be, praise be to Allah. Abdul Halim’s lips curled in a small smile as he thought of all that would come to pass when opposition forces broke through the king’s defenses and conquered the city. It was almost time, but not quite.  
    There was still the matter of the uranium to be settled first. And it would be quite soon, he was certain.
    But he was a patient man these days. He could wait.
    He knew the Americans would be looking for him now that his code name had resurfaced. It was regrettable that his second-in-command had allowed news of his existence to escape. That would not happen again. He’d made an example of Jassar ibn-Rashad. No one would cross Al Ahmad now, not if they wished to avoid the fate he’d meted out to his former lieutenant.
    Fortunately, few people knew that Abdul Halim and Al Ahmad were the same person. Jassar ibn-Rashad had not known. Abdul Halim made it a point never to let his lieutenants know his true identity. Those who knew were related to him by blood or marriage, and they would not tell. As his fate went, so went the fate of the family.
    Abdul Halim lifted his head as his wife came into the room. Fatima was a pretty creature but empty-headed for the most part. But Lana loved her. It didn’t hurt that Fatima was quite enthusiastic in bed, which was never an unwelcome thing. In fact, looking at her now, at her trim figure beneath the silk dress she wore, his body began to stir.
    And then Lana ran into the room. “Daddy!”
    She ran into his arms and hugged him tight, her dark curls tickling his nose as he held her. He patted her head and set her away from him. She was a precocious child, much like he had been at her age. She amused him. He would even go so far as to say he felt an emotional attachment to her.
    But he did not wallow in sentimentality. If he had to one day slice himself away from her, then he would do so. He would do whatever it took to achieve his goals.
    “What is it, my pet?”
    “I want a puppy.” She stuck her little lip out in a pout. Perhaps he should be angry with the blatant attempt at manipulation, but she was too much like him. At the age of six, Lana had a very high opinion of herself. He admired that greatly.
    “Lana, did I not tell you not to ask your father for a puppy?” Fatima was standing with hands on slim hips, looking furious.  
    Abdul Halim ruffled his daughter’s hair. “I will think about it, habibti. Now get ready for school.”
    Lana stomped her foot and