“You sure about that? You seemed a little hesitant a minute ago,” Captain Logan said with a wry smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “What would you do if you were responsible for all four hundred and fifty-eight men stationed at this post?”
“I would take it to heart and increase security around the post, sir. I would recommend increasing patrols to look for activity.”
“Would you let your little news anchor on base?”
“Truthfully sir—yes and no. I would let her do her interviews outside of camp, but no cameras anywhere close to here. It’s not safe to have our security and privacy on camera, showing the world where we are and what we are doing.”
“I think that is a smart idea, Post.”
“I will write her back and tell her…”
“Tell your friend,” the captain interrupted immediately, getting to his feet and causing Jamie to snap to attention again, “…Tell her you will escort her into town so she can gather all the data she wants in this area with her camera crew. I want to see her footage before she returns to the States too. The camera crew and staff are not welcome here because of the security risk. If she’s truly your friend and you trust her with your life—this shouldn’t be a problem doing a little babysitting… and then get her out of here quickly, Post.”
“Sir!”
“And if you two find anything at all—report back immediately. Am I clear on that soldier?”
“Sir, yes, sir!”
Captain Logan left the office, leaving Jamie standing there alone for a moment before they escorted him out. The captain took the folded sheet of paper that Jamie had handed him with him. Walking out of the building, Jamie glanced up at the sky and uttered a curse word softly.
He was stuck dealing with Lucy.
Chapter Seven
I’ll meet you at the airport and discuss the details.
Jamie
He was picking her up? Lucy thought in surprise.
She read the short, blunt email again and glanced around. The airport resembled any other, almost anywhere in the world. People were rushing about to get to their gates, others were waiting casually in the seats. They made announcements over the intercom in a variety of languages. Setting down her backpack, she was glad she’d found a burqa to purchase. Her dark eyes and hair would help her appearance, but as she stood there in black slacks and a blouse, she realized that she did stand out. Several men were glaring at her from their seats.
“I’ll be right back, Mike. Don’t move,” Lucy instructed her one-person team. It had mortified her to have the others back out almost immediately when they’d been selected. It showed a lack of confidence in the new girl and reaffirmed how dangerous this trip could end up being.
She darted into the restroom and immediately slipped on the burqa, carefully positioning the eyes so she could see. A rectangular slit was all that was revealed to the outside world. Thankfully it was comfortable, even if she felt like she was being stifled. Her breath kept hitting the fabric and warming up the air underneath. It was like having someone breathing in your face or wearing a mask constantly. Thankfully, it would give her a bit of anonymity and allow her to blend in.
And it worked.
Walking up to her cameraman, she tapped him on the shoulder to see him do a double-take at her appearance.
“Lucy?”
“Let’s go find our ride.”
“No one will recognize you,” he warned.
“That’s the idea. When I spot Jamie—I’ll let you know.”
As if by magic, she saw the convoy truck almost immediately on the far side of the lane used to drop off travelers. Several men were watching the truck warily as Jamie and another soldier stood at alert waiting.
“There he is!” Lucy said, pointing. She and Mike began to walk over immediately, only to see their hands clench on their guns and the angry looks on their faces.
“Jamie, it’s me,” Lucy said.
“Are you trying to get us killed? Take off the burqa so they don’t think we are kidnapping one of their own,” Jamie whispered hotly, nodding his head towards the soldiers walking their way. “Luka, start the truck in case we have to get out of here quickly. We are already being watched.”
Lucy yanked off the burqa angrily and glared at Jamie. Smoothing back her disheveled hair, she immediately moved to get in the truck. Mike was already inside waiting on her. It didn’t take him long to realize exactly what the soldier was implying.
No country would take kindly to thinking someone was being kidnapped or detained—and it hadn’t even dawned on Lucy that they might perceive it that way. She was just trying to avoid the reproachful looks that she was receiving and thankful she hadn’t worn a miniskirt again.
Climbing inside, Lucy was barely seated when the truck lurched forward. Thankfully, no one followed them. Jamie glanced over his shoulder where they were sitting and turned back to study the road ahead.
It felt like they drove for hours in the confines of the covered truck. There were several checkpoints they had to pass through along the road and each one involved her being questioned. Mike looked like a typical surfer, blond hair and light-colored eyes. Lucy however had a darker complexion because of her heritage. Her father had been Hispanic, and she’d inherited his dark brown hair and eyes.
As the truck pulled to a stop, Lucy watched as the driver got out. Immediately, she grabbed her bag and got to her feet as she saw the other soldier, Luka, come around to the back of the convoy truck.
“I take it you’re the camera guy?” Luka said with a grin. “What’s your name, dude?”
“Mike Conner. Why?”
“Well, Mike—you and I will be besties for about forty-eight hours while Miss Lucy gets a tour of the Afghani desert and surroundings firsthand. C’mon out. I’ve got you a room held here.”
“We are splitting up?” Lucy asked, stunned.
“Your camera guy isn’t allowed on base,” Luka answered, shrugging. “Captain’s orders. You are lucky you are getting special treatment.”
“Shut up Luka!” Jamie snarled from the driver’s seat after sliding over to take the wheel. Lucy glanced at all three men in shock, feeling a bit of betrayal as Mike shrugged and got up. He quickly exited the truck with the case full of equipment and his bag.
“And he’s a little sensitive about it,” Luka whispered, grinning.
“Mike and I will be just fine and we’ll see you soon. Take care of my boy, Lucy,” Luka ordered and then slapped the truck’s side panel twice as a signal. The truck lurched forward and Lucy fell onto the bench seat.
“What is going on?”
“Blabbermouth already told you.”
“So, it’s true? The captain won’t let the camera on base?”
“It’s not so much of an official base—but literally a station post that we are operating to protect the area. If I’m allowed to answer your questions over the next two days, I will. I’ve been told what I can and cannot comment on, so fire away. We’ve got about three minutes until our next stop.”
“Where are we going?”
“To drop off the truck at the depot.”
“On base?”
“Yes.”
“Can we walk around?”
“We will get a different vehicle.”
“Why?”
“It’s camouflaged a bit more and we’ll be safer. Here’s our stop. Grab your things,” Jamie ordered coldly without looking at her. Lucy grabbed her bag and expected him to come around to the back of the truck to help her out. After a moment she realized that he wasn’t coming and made her way down awkwardly. A tan colored armored vehicle stood nearby with the door open. She saw Jamie was already sitting in the driver’s seat with his arms crossed over the steering wheel looking at her impatiently.
“Don’t give me that look,” Lucy snapped hotly, “if you’d have wanted me to hurry up then you could have helped me get out of the truck.”
Throwing her duffle bag up into the seat, she grabbed the side
handle and got her leg up onto the grated step on the side of the truck. Jamie rolled his eyes and held out a hand towards her. Lucy slapped her hand into his as he helped pull her upwards into the cab of the vehicle.
“Do you have boots or something a little more resistant to sand?” Jamie asked, glancing down at her slip-on flats she wore for travel.
“No. I figured I would be in the city or on base the entire time.”
“What size do you wear?”
“Eleven,” she stated plainly, arching her eyebrow and daring him to comment. She’d heard the snarky comments all her life about her big feet. Instead, she was surprised Jamie didn’t say a word but instead got out, returning a few minutes later with a pair of boots and tube socks.
“Put those on.”
“Who do they belong to?”
“Does it even matter?”
“No, but I’d like to know who to return them to.”
“They are Luka’s boots—mine are a little too big for your feet.”
“Thank you for getting them and letting me borrow them.”
“They’ll be full of sand shortly and you’ll be glad for them.”
“You’re certainly in a nasty mood. Am I cramping your style?”
“No. I think this was a foolish trip and that you should be a bit more concerned with your safety. If there is danger—why are you out here?”
“I told you—I came to get a story for work.”
“And they had to send you?”
“Because I know you!” she snapped.
“This is my fault now?”
“Look, you’ve already snapped at me once via email and treated me like dirt in the twenty minutes I’ve been here. I don’t know what problem you have with me—Lucy—but I can sure tell you I’m not your ex-fiancée. So just drop the ‘angry at the world’ attitude, okay?”
“Let’s just go,” Jamie snapped, starting the truck and putting it into gear. “Buckle up.”
Lucy turned away and slipped off her shoes. Yanking on the tube socks, she put on the boots and laced them up. Glancing out the window, the arid desert stunned her around them. It had shocked her when disembarking from the helicopter, a year ago. Her memory didn’t do the area justice. Sun-bleached rocks and stone dotted the craggy hills ahead. The crevices along the face were a deeper color brown as they filled with sand. Caves, overhangs, and fallen boulders marred the landscape, showing that erosion or people had been busy.
“Where are we going?”
“Out for surveillance.”
“Just us?”
“We will do a walkthrough of an area we just cleared. Captain wanted me to show you what we deal with daily.”
“Does your captain have a grudge against women too?”
Jamie cracked a smile at her comment. That was the first time she’d seen him show any sort of emotion other than anger or indifference towards her since she’d arrived.
“I don’t think so, but you’d have to ask him.”
“Okay. So, we are getting a first-hand look of daily life—but no camera footage. That makes sense,” Lucy said tightly.
“You can take a photo with your phone. There is no Wi-Fi out here and no identifying marks to give away our location.”
“So how do you know where we are?”
“We patrol this area all the time.”
“So we are safe?”
“Never,” Jamie said honestly, looking at her. “Every few days, we find new mines, new bombs, or see signs that the rebels are in the area again. We have cleared this part several times over the last few days. We should be okay, but let’s not chance anything.”
“Nope.”
“If we see rebels, we need to take cover.”
“Yes sir,” she said with a mock salute. Jamie rolled his eyes.
Lucy realized as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky that she was ill-equipped with handling desert life. Jamie was wearing a tan camouflage uniform and her black slacks were making her roast alive in the heat. He’d brought canteens and the massive armored truck had a reservoir on the side that was easily accessed.
The boots he had given her were quickly filling with sand just as Jamie said. Each step she took, she sunk down to her ankles, and had to pull her feet out of the sand. The fine crystalline sand slipped into every gap or seam. The wind blew it along, making her feel gritty as it stuck to her sweat.
“How are you holding up?”
“Never better,” Lucy said calmly with a cheerful smile, “What else do you have to show me?”
Jamie just shook his head and smiled, turning back to walk along as he swung what looked like a metal detector in front of him. He had instructed her to walk behind him and understood why. He was searching for hidden mines in their path. The armored truck was utterly out of sight and it felt like they’d walked for miles.
Walking along in silence was killing her, but she was trying desperately not to pant like an overheated dog. Deep breath in, out through the nose, she kept thinking as she walked. It was getting to her though—she was a chatty person by nature.
“Isn’t that so weird how when the wind blows through the hills, it sounds like a drone or remote-controlled airplane?”
“What did you just say?” Jamie said, stopping immediately in his tracks. Lucy jumped back to keep from getting knocked in the shins with the detector by accident.
“Don’t you hear the little whirring or whooshing sound?” Lucy asked in surprise and realized that he actually didn’t hear the faint sound, “It’s really faint but there.”
“Let’s go,” Jamie blurted, looking past her. “We need to take cover, just in case.”
“In case of what?”
“In case that noise is actually a drone that the rebels used to make sure we aren’t in the hills. They send the drone and then enter—and we do not want to be here alone with them.”
Jamie immediately turned and started up the craggy hillside. A flurry of rocks skittered down as he moved. He glanced back and saw that Lucy was struggling. The boots were so bulky and she didn’t feel like she could get a footing on the face of the steep hillside. Jamie slid back down and immediately helped her, pushing her upwards.
“Wait a second! I will slip,” Lucy gasped, feeling her fingers slip.
“We might not have seconds—I can hear it now.”
Lucy reached down and yanked off the boots, using her sock-covered feet to get better traction. Tying the laces together, she tossed one over her shoulder like a pro and started up the hillside. Jamie nodded and immediately moved forward towards the cave high up along the rock face.
“Head for the opening.”
“I’m going as fast as I can.”
“Do you need help again?”
“What I need is a stupid elevator and a Reese’s cup,” Lucy gritted out under her breath, pulling herself upwards. Her arms were trembling and her feet ached but there was no way she was going to feel comfortable with the large bulky boots dangling on the ledges. She heard Jamie let out a chuckle and realized that he’d heard her words.
“Don’t make me laugh, Jamie,” she admitted, “My arms and legs are worn out beyond belief. You might be used to panicked hill-climbing—but I certainly am not.”
Stunned, she saw him quickly maneuver down beside her on the ledge. She looked at his tanned face and dark, understanding eyes. Her breath caught as she realized this was the closest she’d ever been to him and he was everything she’d imagined.
“C’mon,” he said gently. “You’ve got this. It’s not much further.”
“I know.”
Who would have thought little Lucy Reyes would be scaling the side of a steep hill in Afghanistan in her office wear with the guy of her dreams? Yet here she was! As she pulled herself upwards, Jamie would stay a step behind to spot her. Occasionally he helped push her along, pushing on her elbow. The noise was getting louder. Jamie gave a mighty shove on her backside, shocking her into practically leaping from him, up into the open face of the ca
ve. He quickly appeared over the ledge, ducking inside.
“Sorry about that,” he began looking away. “You are right; it was a drone. I saw it crest over the hill and that’s why I pushed you from behind.”
“Thank you… I think.”
“Yep,” Jamie said, “wait here while I make sure there is nothing back there in the dark.”
“Like what?”
“Like rebels, spiders, snakes, scorpions… they all come out at night when the temperatures get cooler or live in caves. Now, stay here.”
“Spiders? You don’t have to ask me twice!”
“Big spiders,” Jamie confirmed, “when you get on Wi-Fi again—google what a camel spider looks like. They are nasty suckers.”
“Ugh. No, thank you!” Lucy retorted, shivering. “I hate spiders of any kind.”
“You came to the wrong country.”
“I’m starting to think that,” she whispered aloud, watching Jamie disappear into the darkness with only a flashlight in hand and his gun.
“You know, we don’t have to go all the way back there,” Lucy suggested brightly. “We could stay near the opening and lie low so no one sees us.”
“And when they see the unoccupied truck,” Jamie asked, reappearing from the darkness. “What do you think will happen when they realize that a perfectly good truck is out there and no one is inside?”
“They are going to comb the hills—aren’t they?” Lucy whispered in dawning horror. “We are stuck.”
“They’ll take the truck if they find it—and if they do, they will start looking for us,” he confirmed, his expression tight with concern. “If they get up here, we can head to the back and hide. I’ve got some ammunition, but not a lot.”
“My bag is in the truck.”
“Consider it theirs now,” Jamie told her, sitting down along the rock wall in the shadows. “We are stuck for right now and this is not my first time spending the night in one of these caves. It’s going to get a little chilly in the evening but I think we’ll be all right. Besides, Luka will come looking for us if we aren’t there to pick up your camera guy.”
Remember Fate Page 5
