—Euripides That night the two SEALs sat alone in the rear of the hotel lobby watching a rebroadcast of the Barcelona-Athletico Madrid soccer game on a big-screen TV. Crocker didn’t follow international soccer, but Akil was a fan. He explained that Barcelona was one of the greatest teams in the history of the sport, led by two of the most talented forwards who had ever played the game, Lionel Messi (an Argentine) and Andrés Iniesta (a Spaniard). Barcelona had just pulled ahead 2 to 1 when Hamid, wearing a gray hoodie and jeans, waved at them from the front desk. They met him out front as a steady rain started to fall, lowering the temperature and producing a relaxing calm. “Reminds me of summer showers in northern Virginia,” Akil remarked as they climbed into Hamid’s dark green Ford Explorer. “DZ is gonna meet us there,” said Hamid as he navigated the SUV through dark, narrow streets. The rain evoked Crocker’s childhood memories—sitting on the back porch at night listening to the owls, exploring the woods behind his parents’ house, catching fireflies with his brother.
