Code of Honor

The team crouches over the body of a dead sniper on a mountain ridge. Kamran looks at the view from the ridge and wonders if he can see his house. The Phoenix sprawl unfurls before them on one side; on the other, they are surrounded by desert. Dane had noticed footprints in the sand and gone ahead to look for scouts, taking out the sniper. They found the rest of his gear, including ammo and an Uzi, in a bag nearby. The presence of the sniper indicates that the enemy camp is close. Kamran wonders if they could just ask the guy where the camp is, but Dane doesn't want to play games with a terrorist. Instead, he takes the scope of the Uzi and looks out at the sand. He spots the hint of a cave opening; around it are the faint outlines of ATV tracks, going in and out: “I'd been right all along. Haydar Ansari was in America. Here in my own backyard. And if Darius was alive, he was right there inside that cave with him” (212).