Raven and Jake hadn’t been back for very long before his friends had arrived. They were dressed in full gear, with packs and weapons at the ready. Raven was sitting beside the stove inside, a blanket around her, spooning soup into her mouth that Jake had made for her just minutes before. Now she watched as Jake conferred with his men. They acted as if he was still their commander and this was just another day in Afghanistan. Their bearing was focused, with some of the gallows humor that men like them seemed to naturally possess, joking crudely about the men Jake had wounded in the woods. Using some piece of equipment that looked like a giant handheld computer one of the men had brought with them, Jake showed his three friends where he’d left her kidnappers. Jake was holding a stylus and pinpointing their location. “Right about there, maybe a click or two North.” The largest of his three buddies nodded appreciatively. “We’ll handle it,” he said, taking the handheld computer thingy back and studying it momentarily. Jake folded his arms.
