by Jason Kasper
A rush of fear surged through me. Was this another test ?
I asked only, “Who are you ?”
“I am the Silver Widow .”
“The Silver Widow is old. Who are you ?”
She gave a cold smile. “I am one who wants the same thing you do .”
“Why?”
“Why does not matter. Let us concern ourselves with how .”
“Then how ?”
“You will tell them you met with a very old woman .”
I shook my head. “If I get caught lying, neither of us will get what we want .”
“She did not remove her mask .”
“I have been assured he sees everything .”
“She did not speak .”
“I’ll get killed .”
“You might be killed, yes. But if you do not do as I say, it will happen before your first sunset in America. You do not grasp the danger you are in .”
Leaning back, I watched her face for some further clue as to her intentions. I saw none .
Then I said, “I don’t know when I will meet him. It may take a decade or more .”
“We do not have a decade. A few years at best .”
“Before what ?”
“Before he discovers the truth .”
“How?”
“It does not matter. You must meet him quickly. Do whatever it takes .”
“Then help me .”
“I am helping you. But you must also find a way .”
I swallowed, tasting the fading smoke in my mouth. “What else can you tell me ?”
“Giants are not slain at the end of golden roads .”
“What?”
She gave a frustrated sigh. “If the opportunity to kill him seems certain, then do not proceed. He is going to test you, and when the moment seems perfect to complete your revenge, that is the very time you must not do it .”
I nodded. “What do you get out of this ?”
“That does not matter unless you succeed .”
“And then what ?”
“If you live, I will come calling and you will not forget my help. Now take your prize and go. Your friend is awake .”
Grasping the case’s handle, I carefully stood and felt its weight for the first time. I gauged it to be between forty and fifty pounds, just as Jais had said .
I looked at her seated figure. “I want to doubt you, but I don’t think I have a choice .”
In that moment, lit by the undulating candlelight, she appeared for a fleeting second as Laila—strawberry-blonde hair, electric green eyes, the face, the curves, and everything in between .
So too did her voice match Laila’s as she said, “We all get a choice, David .”
I blinked hard, twice, trying to clear the smoke’s effects from my mind .
The young Somali woman was in place as before, though she no longer watched me .
Instead she reached down and lifted the silver mask, draping it over her face and fastening it behind her head. The henna-covered arms lowered to her waist, and suddenly she appeared very old once again, staring into oblivion as if I had never entered the room .
I turned, opened the door, and walked back down the hall, the heavy case suspended in my left hand .
* * *
I turned the handle of the crimson door and pushed it open to enter the main chamber .
As I let it swing shut behind me, I saw Jais pacing under the golden dome .
“I got it,” I said breathlessly .
His eyes fixed on me, then the case in my hand, and then back to my face .
He said, “Where have you been ?”
I lifted the case. “Getting this. I was only gone a few minutes .”
“Really? Because I’ve been waiting here for hours.” He strode past me and tested the door handle. Upon finding it locked, his jaw clenched .
Then he turned to me, reaching into a pocket with one hand and clasping my left arm with the other .
By the time I saw the glint of silver metal and realized what he was doing, it was too late. As I tried to recoil, he snapped one handcuff over my wrist and latched the other around the handle of the case .
“What the fuck are you doing?” The hair on the back of my neck stood up as a turbulent mix of rage and fear swirled within me. My mind returned to the night I was handcuffed to the pipe in the basement while Cancer tortured me .
Jais’s expression remained unmoved. “I have my orders, too. And these aren’t coming off until we get home .”
“How am I supposed to shoot a weapon like this?” I said .
“How am I supposed to go to my meeting when I get back? What can I say about the Silver Widow—that I never saw her ?”
For the first time since I’d met him in the interview room at the Complex, I didn’t know what to say. He whirled around and paced over to the white door on the opposite side of the room. I followed him numbly, casting a final glance at the small potted tree, the only marking that remained of our grand banquet .
Jais pounded on the door until it opened, revealing Elnaya calmly appraising us as if he had been waiting to be summoned .
Jais said, “We want to be delivered to our drop-off point shortly after nightfall to move under cover of darkness. Since I don’t know what time it is, I need you to tell me when we can leave to make that happen .”
“This is not possible,” Elnaya said in a courteous tone, procuring the two blindfolds and holding them out to us. “You have completed your business, and now you must leave. The truck is waiting .”
11
As the truck came to a stop, I pulled the strip of cloth off my head and squinted at the daylight and green vegetation outside my window. Jais was seated beside me but didn’t meet my eyes as he opened the door and stepped out. From the passenger seat, Elnaya turned his head to watch me with an expression falling somewhere between sympathy and regret before he, too, exited .
As I slid the case along the seat and toward the door, three other guards in shemaghs got out with their weapons and formed a small perimeter around us, facing outward. I stepped onto solid ground, and my left arm assumed the full weight of the case that hung suspended from my hand .
I could tell at once that it was morning; the final traces of humidity from the previous night were still detectable in the air before the sun’s wrath peaked in the afternoon hours .
Turning to catch a glimpse of the truck’s exterior, I found a vintage, sand-colored Land Rover equipped with a brush guard, snorkel, and roof rack loaded with fuel cans and supplies. Then I looked at my surroundings, getting a ground view of the terrain that Jais and I would be moving over for the two-mile hike to our helicopter pick-up location .
We were standing on a dirt road representing the last vestige of flat ground, as the terrain to our north slanted upward into rolling foothills that increased in height. We were far from the barren desert wasteland we had encountered south of the landing zone—now, the hillsides were dotted with low green shrubbery interspersed with a number of boulders placed so curiously that it seemed to be intentional. A wide procession of shadows inching over the landscape heralded a flock of white clouds overhead, their movement ushered by an intermittent and welcome breeze washing over us from the west .
Elnaya swung open the tailgate mounted with two spare tires to reveal our confiscated equipment. Jais and I immediately took possession of the Galil rifles we hadn’t seen since passing out in the desert and checked that they were loaded and chambered. Jais stuffed the satellite phone into a cargo pocket, and we turned on our GPS devices before donning chest rigs .
This last action was easier for Jais than me—with my left wrist still handcuffed to the case, I was forced to route it through the straps of my chest rig and then arrange the rest around my neck and opposite shoulder .
I strapped my watch on my right wrist and noted that the time was 10:32, the date December 31 .
Elnaya spoke the first words since we had stopped. “We stand at the agreed d
rop-off to the east of Saakow. Do you agree ?”
Jais consulted his GPS before replying, “I do .”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Elnaya dipped his head sharply in a bow before raising it once more. “Very well. This ends her protection over your journey. Good luck, my friends .”
The guards loaded into the vehicle, with Elnaya boarding last and settling into the passenger seat. As his door closed, a high-pitched chirping preceded the low, rumbling roar of the diesel engine firing to life .
Jais began walking immediately, threading his way up the shallow hillside in front of us. I followed him toward our helicopter pick-up site, glancing right to watch the Land Rover pull forward and accelerate down the dirt path, the twin spare tires watching me like eyes. The road wound past a hillock to our east, and the truck followed it, soon disappearing from view .
Jais’s large frame now moved easily. He didn’t speak, so neither did I, uncertain where his mood had settled since his outrage at seeing me with the case. Our shared silence continued for several minutes of uphill exertion, which was all the time it took for me to realize how long a two-mile hike could seem .
The case was an anchor. Its contents didn’t shift or slide; instead, the entire mass felt like the uniform density of a bowling ball, which, together with the handcuff restriction, made it impossible to carry with the slightest degree of comfort .
I tried hefting the case into the crook of my right elbow and covering ground with my rifle slung the opposite direction, picking up my pace as we neared the high ground of the shallow slope .
“I’m sorry for snapping at you back there,” Jais said abruptly .
I considered my words for a moment. “She didn’t give me a choice, Jais. I tried to get you .”
“What was she like ?”
“Old. Like, really old .”
“So what happened when you were in there ?”
“Depends.”
“On what ?”
I cracked a smile. “Does the Outfit do random drug testing ?”
He gave a mocking laugh. “No, but what happens on an Outfit op stays on an Outfit op. Doesn’t mean you can keep secrets from me, so let’s hear it .”
“She made me smoke something .”
“Oh, twisted your arm, did she ?”
“I’m serious. She wouldn’t show me the case until after I smoked a pipe .”
“Weed?”
“No. I was seeing all kinds of stuff—she turned into an ex-girlfriend at one point. Really trippy shit .”
“Then she gave you a hallucinogenic. Could have been any number of opiates or herbs .”
“Why would she do that ?”
“That’s the million-dollar question. Did she ask you anything ?”
“No. She didn’t even talk, just gestured .”
“Don’t sweat it, David. Odds are this won’t be the weirdest thing you do with the Outfit. And you did a bang-up job—don’t think otherwise because of my lapse in professionalism. I’d work with you again any day .”
I heaved the case behind my back, placing the weight on one shoulder blade as I replied, “Well I may not be much of a partner, but I’m a hell of a mule .”
We crested a ridgeline and saw a descent ahead of us that eventually rose to a taller hilltop a quarter mile away .
Jais said, “This has been a rough ride, but it’s your first trip out of the Complex and my responsibility is to set the standard of conduct by example. I owe that to the Outfit as much as to you .”
“Lashing out I can handle. But why did you handcuff this thing to me ?”
“I told you. I have my own orders .”
“You could have waited until we got a little closer to the pick-up site. I wouldn’t have told anyone, I promise you.” I returned to the straight-arm carry as my left arm fell asleep .
“There are no shortcuts in this business, David. If you remember nothing else I’ve taught you, remember that .”
* * *
We began ascending another hill, its boulder-lined crest appearing an eternity away .
I glanced at the handcuffs on my left wrist, casting my thoughts onto what other orders Jais may have that I wasn’t privy to. If he hadn’t mentioned the handcuffs until after he’d slapped them on me, then what else awaited us as the mission dwindled down to completion and we boarded our flight to the Complex? The Somali woman, whoever she was, told me I wouldn’t survive the following sunset if I didn’t heed her advice. If that was true, I had a hard time believing that Jais wasn’t aware on one level or another .
He said, “So are you going to tell me now what you were about to say in the desert ?”
I hesitated as the black shape of an enormous bird of prey soared alongside us, slightly above eye level. As it glided above our heads, the curvature of its wings trembled and adjusted to the breeze .
I said, “What do you think the wingspan on that thing is ?”
“Don’t change the subject .”
“It was just something stupid. When I was hiking the Smoky Mountains — ”
A sharp crack sounded against the boulder beside me. The case hit the ground, its weight almost pulling my shoulder out of its socket. I slammed down beside it before I had time to flinch. I had reacted before consciously realizing the sound was a bullet strike .
Jais fell prone in front of me as the echo of a single high-pitched gunshot rippled over the hills .
“You all right?” he asked, sliding toward me on his elbows .
“Yeah. Sniper ?”
“Dragunov shot. It came from the east, so we need to swing to the west side of this hill. Get above him on the high ground and then find an alternate route to the pick-up site. Let’s go .”
As he began high-crawling around a boulder, I called after him, “Easy for you to say—you don’t have a fucking anvil chained to your arm .”
“Baby steps, Rivers,” he yelled back .
I followed him as best I could, pushing the case ahead of me and using it to pull myself up the hill with the Galil still lodged in the crook of my free arm .
Once we made it to the opposite side of the boulder, Jais rose to his feet and darted to the next cluster of rocks. I waited for him to arrive and then followed suit. Another bullet glanced off stone somewhere to my right as I crashed into his side behind cover .
We stayed as low as we could, bounding between rocks to the west side of the hill, away from the sniper. A final shot rang out before we separated ourselves from his view altogether, though I couldn’t hear where it impacted as we continued moving uphill toward a vantage point where we could reappraise our route .
Unencumbered by the case, Jais disappeared over the crest and onto the hilltop minutes before I did .
I struggled uphill with panting breaths, my left arm screaming for relief from the dead weight pulling it toward the earth. At any moment I expected Jais to yell down to me, his words surely consisting of some good-natured ridicule bemoaning my lack of speed .
Instead, I heard the low murmur of his voice .
By the time I crested the terrain, I saw he was holding the Iridium satellite phone to his ear with its antenna angled skyward .
“…now read that location back to me,” he said .
I crouched and moved forward, pointing my rifle north and scanning the ground with my magnified optic .
I made out the shape of a vehicle six hundred meters away that was passing between the hills and stopping to let out armed men at varying intervals. It wasn’t a pickup like the one we had driven but rather a larger flatbed that appeared to be loaded with fighters .
Jais said into the phone, “I confirm, that is our current location. Request immediate extraction .”
Shifting my view to the east, I saw a second truck dropping off men who quickly assembled into patrol formations and began approaching us on foot. Then a third truck stopped to the west. The vehicles were circling our position and dismounting fighters just out of range for us to accurately engage w
ith our Galils .
Once the enemy closed the distance between us on foot, we would run out of ammunition long before they did .
I scanned the south and saw a fourth truck stopped on the dirt road we had walked in from, its men already released into the countryside to hunt us .
“I copy all,” Jais continued. “But understand that we are surrounded. Unable to maneuver. Have visual on five enemy vehicles, estimate four-zero enemy personnel in total. That may be too long. Yes, I confirm .”
He pressed a button on the phone, pushed the antenna down, and looked at me. “Welcome to the Alamo .”
I knelt beside the case. “What about the helicopter ?”
“Mechanical issues. ETA is an hour and a half.” I started a countdown timer on my watch as he continued, “Get into position facing south. I’ll cover the north. Our sectors of fire are 180 degrees. All we have to do is hold them off until our bird gets here .”
I moved to the southwest side of the hilltop and looked through my optic at another truck releasing its men .
I called back to him, “Jais, these are off-road flatbed trucks, not pickups with machineguns. And the dismounts are moving in tactical formations instead of rushing to their deaths. I don’t think these are the same people we dealt with south of the landing zone .”
“They’re not .”
“Then why are they after us ?”
He paused. “They’re not after us; they’re after the case. Just focus on the enemy, David. We’ve got to make our ammo last, so don’t waste it on anything over five hundred meters away. Remember, we’re only outgunned as long as we’re missing .”
“Yeah, I got that,” I said, settling into the prone position and readying my rifle from behind the cover of a boulder .
Then I stopped, feeling the breeze that carried with it the rolling clouds sweeping over the hills around us, my mind inexplicably plagued by some notion I couldn’t put my finger on. Brushing it aside as pre-gunfight nerves, I returned my eye to the optic .
The first group of men I saw were traveling in a loose wedge, patrolling cautiously at a distance of 550 meters. Close enough, I thought, leveling the appropriate tick mark below the crosshairs of my sight on the center man in the formation .
