Read Warrior Mine for Free Online

Khani sat staring ahead. The level sat full of Base Branch transportation. Commercial grade utility vehicles. Police cars. An ambulance. A hearse. Beater cars. Fancy cars. Blacked-out SUV’s like this one they’d had at the airfield at the edge of the county. You never knew what you’d need to complete a mission.
    Khani dragged her sorry arse from the seat, collected her gear, and trudged halfway up the ramp to her dark-grey Benz. The sight of the prowling little car eased the weight of her load and her bone-deep weariness. It was just like the one she’d had back home. Sleek. Fast. Ticketed?
    “What the hell?”
    A rectangular piece of paper lay pinched between the clean windshield and wiper blade. The parking level wasn’t impenetrable, but it was blocked by a thick lift gate, a pass code, and spikes. Automatically on alert, Khani’s gaze swung left and right. She catalogued the classic Chevy in the space to the right of hers—Tucker’s truck—the empty space to the left—Rhonda’s spot. Nothing stirred in the otherwise deserted section.
    She dropped her gear and herself to the ground looking for trip wires, bombs, or boogiemen, but found none. Maybe it was no more than a note placed there by a member of her team. Tyler. If the paper pimped that man’s signature, his next mission impossible would be cleaning the locker-room johns for the next six months.
    On her feet with a hop, Khani neared. Still watchful, she plucked the small sheet from the car and read.
    Your commander is shot and bleeding out in the interrogation room with Carlos Ruez. Help him. If he lives, make certain Carlos believes he is dead.
    Hurry!
    Whether from her grogginess or the shock of the note’s content, she read it again. And once again, she looked around but saw no one. Adrenaline rushed her veins like football fans storming a World Cup field. With the click of a button she popped the trunk and placed the note deep in back for analysis. Next she slung the duffle. It clattered and the car’s chassis gave under its bulk. She screamed the zipper open on the bag.
    Over her black T-shirt she strapped her vest. She slung the M4 over her head and right arm. Sidearm in holster, she slammed the trunk and took off for the stairs. Khani beat them into submission with her powerful strides. One flight up, a large metal door blocked the way. To the right a silver keypad built into the wall. She tapped off the code, distinct to each member of the Base Branch, opened the door, and then threw herself through it.
    Down the sight of the assault rifle she cleared the entrance foyer. Elevators. Main entrance. Stairwell. Not much to behold. She sidled up to the hazy glass double doors, hating the exposure, also knowing no way around it. Millimeter by millimeter the door opened under her slow, steady force. Using one eye, the dull, drab corridor came into focus. Walls. Glass. But no bodies. Alive or dead.
    She flung the heavy thing wide and rushed across the hallway to the corridor to Tucker’s office. No bullets bit her rump and no one moved to gain better ground on her. All good there. Five silent, hungry strides brought her to his door. Like this was any normal day she knocked twice. “Commander Tucker?”
    Silence. From inside. From all around. Nothing moved.
    Khani shoved the door wide with her hip and confronted an empty room with the tip of her M4. The chair sat far back toward the wall. Above it hung a dull silver vent grating. Her insides—not prone to drama—danced about as though they’d never seen battle. And they hadn’t…not on their home turf.
    Khani bolted down the hallway, into the main corridor, and hooked a right at the prisoner’s wing. All the while she scanned the offices she blurred past, the conference and break rooms. All sat vacant. She skidded to a halt at the last chamber. Her fingers slammed in the access code, slipped as the sweat and nerves got the best of her, and she was forced to clear and reenter the digits.
    She