by Gennita Low
Kit frowned as the men obeyed her orders. Although all of them were in fatigues, Arab head gear covered much of their faces. She was quite sure not all of them were Americans. After putting hoods over the two who had attacked them first, they tossed the injured man she’d shot—she breathed a sigh of relief he was alive—over one man’s shoulder and led the other out, using the trail she and Lucas earlier had been on. While that was happening, someone else searched Lucas for weapons, pulling out his pockets and patting down his pants. That didn’t seem friendly protocol either.
After a minute of silence, Lucas confirmed her suspicions. “There isn’t a fucking 210th Division. Who are you?” he asked, still lying on the ground.
“Again, I apologize,” the woman said. “When I saw you were Americans, I needed to give our prisoners the impression we’re on the same side. A woman in charge ought to convince them, don’t you think?”
Her smile had a glimmer of amusement.
“I repeat, who the hell are you?” Lucas asked.
“Not your business, soldier. Let’s just say for now we’re the owners of these weapons.”
Kit hoped they weren’t going to search her too. She didn’t want to lose her camera and important things. The man holding her prisoner seemed satisfied with just twisting her arms behind her back, though.
“Lieutenant, I found this card on him. Read the name on it.” One of the rough-looking men who had been searching Lucas’ pockets held up a scrap of paper.
The woman took it from him. After a moment, she said, “Why am I not surprised?” She turned towards one of the waiting men. “Tell him he can come in.”
The underling went off to one side and Kit watched him disappear behind what looked like a protruding piece of rock. How many tunnels were there in this place?
“Except for the bump on his head, he is not injured, Lieutenant,” the searcher said.
“Let him sit up. I suggest you obey orders, soldier. No sudden lunges. Remember, we also have your woman friend here as a prisoner.” The Lieutenant turned at the sound of someone re-entering the cavern from the rocky protrusion. Kit fancied she heard a thread of anger in her voice as she greeted the man who appeared. “Excellency, I believe this man has your card, so perhaps you know him.”
Kit looked up and her eyes widened. Whoever the new guy was, she could tell he was in charge. He was tall, like Lucas, with fierce-looking dark eyes, assessing the situation with one sweeping glance. A machine gun slung carelessly over one shoulder. And was that...yikes...a sword? A big-ass shiny out-of-medieval-times sword with a curved blade. In the muted lighting from the lanterns, he looked imposing and dangerous.
A small smile appeared on his lips when he saw Lucas on the floor. The light caught the gleam of an earring as he swung his gaze toward her. She swallowed, meeting his eyes. Then again wished she had her camera handy. It would so cool to have his photo on her tablet wallpaper.
“I know Lucas Branson here. Who are you?” He asked, his American accent making her blink in surprise.
“Kit,” she replied. Did Lucas really know him? “Who are you?”
His smile widened. “An American woman in a Pakistani dress running around in a cave with a weapon. I was watching you on the camera. You should be a GEM operative.” He nodded to the man behind her. “Release her.”
“A what?” Kit asked.
He didn’t answer her. Instead, turning to Lucas, who was still watching him, he said, “Why are you here, Branson, and where is your team? I notice you’re not on your feet. May I ask if your wound is bothering you?”
Kit inhaled. Lucas was indeed holding his side again. How badly was that cut he said he had? She frowned. A new worry gnawed at her. Had he been lying and it wasn’t food poisoning that was making him sick like that?
* * *
Lucas shook his head. This whole damn day had been like riding on a rollercoaster. He was all for action, but everything usually made sense, especially about which group belonged to which side. And now, here was the same fucking dude from last night. Then he was just some middle-man with connections. Now, he was all dressed up like he was some warlord with his own tribe. What the hell?
He examined him up and down. He looked cleaned-up and certainly better groomed than his own current self. AK-47 over one shoulder. Was that a freaking broad sword? Did people even use that anymore? Rounds of ammo criss-crossed his chest. There were knives sheathed in his belt and the sides of his boots. What, did the dude think he was fucking Rambo?
He was beyond pissed-off at the moment. He couldn’t get over how weak he was. Yesterday, he would have handled a dozen of these assholes without hesitation. Right now, he was out of breath and his side was burning a hole into his stomach. He refused to be sick in front of these guys, whoever they were.
“Give me the 411 on what’s happening, Shahrukh. I’m not talking until I know who these fu...people are,” he demanded.
“I don’t think you’re in the position to be asking questions, soldier!” the woman who had clued him in on everything being a ruse told him sharply.
“He’s a SEAL, Lieutenant Zerya. They prefer to be called sailor,” Shahrukh corrected mildly. “Branson, they’re my people. You’re in the middle of an operation I’m running.”
“Weapons? In insurgent-infested caves? Your story stinks.”
“Does it matter? All I need is to call Hawk to confirm. But first, you have to tell me why you’re here.”
Lucas shook his head again. No way was he going to be specific. “Long story, but it has to do with the girl at that wedding thing we...attended. Do you remember?”
Shahrukh cocked his head, a frown forming. “Minah. Yes.”
“You know Minah?” Kit asked, leaning forward eagerly. “Do you know how to find her? She is—”
“A friend,” Lucas interrupted. “We’re trying to get hold of her. But first, we must contact Hawk and Jazz. We need to tell them our location.”
“No need,” Shahrukh said, pressing a finger in his ear, listening. Lucas realized he must be wearing a wire. “Ah. Choppers very close by. Lieutenant Zeravich, please leave me four men and follow my earlier orders. Lucas, you and Miss...Kit can come with me. It seems they somehow have tracked you down. How?”
“Kit sent them a message,” Lucas said. “We found the back way instead of the front entrance and were making our way there when we found your little cache here. What do you intend to do with it? Because I’ll be reporting it to my commander.”
The snooty woman, Lieutenant Zeravich, made a rude noise and said something in a language Lucas didn’t recognize. Shahrukh replied likewise. The woman answered and turned her back on him rudely. Shahrukh just nodded to the men and they started heading toward the different piles on the floor.
Lucas tried to stand up and barely made it without stumbling back on his knee. “You better have a good explanation where you’re taking them, Shahrukh,” he warned.
Kit came running over. He hoped she wouldn’t bring up the fact that he wasn’t one hundred percent, although he had a feeling the other man had his suspicions.
“I’m okay,” he assured her.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. She turned to Shahrukh. “Excuse me, did you say you know Minah? And that people are here to rescue us?” She glanced at Lucas again. “I really, really need to get hold of Minah. Please.”
“I know,” Shahrukh said. His voice was gentle. “I’ll get to her soon, I hope.”
Lucas looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”
“Let’s just get your commander’s attention first, shall we? There isn’t time to lose.” He started toward the bigger opening, the one with rock protrusion. “Coming, or not?”
“Yeah,” Lucas replied.
What choice did he have? He needed to get to Hawk or Jazz, but he was certain by the time he conveyed to them about the weapons in this particular cavern, they would be gone. He glanced back at the men efficiently picking them up. There was a shitload of them. If he hurried, may
be his team could stop them. He took a step. And another. Fucking hell. His legs felt like he had 100lb weights tied to his ankles.
He looked down at Kit. Those pretty blue eyes showed so much worry, he wanted to kiss her and tell her he was okay. Instead, he just smiled and gave her a thumbs up. “No cadences, please,” he teased, hoping his smile didn’t look like a grimace as pain gnawed one side of him.
He was a SEAL. He wasn’t going to show he was in trouble. Dig in. Walk straight. Deep breath. Power on. He’d noticed if he shouted and let adrenalin take over, the nausea and pain would become worse. If he kept his head straight, he should be A-OK until he was back at base.
“So I’m gathering the yarn was your idea of not getting lost?”
“Yes. But I was getting worried, with so many tunnels, whether I’d have enough!”
“Then I arrived just in time.”
“Yeah! Those two other men...I shot one of them because he hit Lucas in the head. What’s your name again? And what exactly do you do?”
“You’re a good shot. I’m just a friend of Lucas and his team, that’s all.”
“You must give an interview to me and my team.”
“And what exactly do you do, Kit?”
Kit and Shahrukh seemed to be getting along like a house on fire. Lucas didn’t like it at all. Not one bit.
As they continued, he could hear the thump-thump-thump outside. Ahead, a small crack of light. He concentrated on it, watching it getting bigger and bigger as he struggled to walk without stumbling. His commander, Hawk McMillan, was already off the chopper heading towards the mouth of the cave when they slipped out of the cool darkness. Lucas looked around. Thank God. Familiar faces.
Lucas snapped a salute. Hawk returned one and put a hand up to halt the situation report he’d formed.
“One moment, Cumber,” he said, then turned to Shahrukh. “You’re damn quick. T contacted me while I was in the air regarding your situation and your current operation. Tell me you didn’t know about these weapons beforehand before I give you my help.”
Lucas blinked. Damn, he didn’t even have to tell anything and those COS commandos and GEM operatives had already taken over.
“I didn’t know about these weapons,” Shahrukh said.
Hawk’s gaze was laser-direct and a bit skeptical. “You have thirty minutes, tops, before the authorities of either side of these borders reach here.”
“We have enough to convince you and your counterparts to buy me time to set things up.” Shahrukh gazed up the mountain trail. “You have to release the weapons to me for now.”
“His men are already removing them, Sir!” Lucas volunteered the information.
“Shahrukh, it’s against protocol to move weapons around and then recollect them at another checkpoint,” Hawk said. “Those weapons are important to show how much the insurgents around here are preparing for battle.”
“I’m sure Mrs. Zeringue and Miss Hutchens would disagree about the amount of importance weighed against a girl’s life,” Shahrukh said calmly. “It is a girl’s life we’re trying to save, is it not? And in the end, you’ll get your weapons, with a little fire power, to show the other side you mean business. If we succeed, then you’ll have weapons and a recorded battle to show for it. What good is a find if you’re without a group to which to point a finger in your many reports?”
Lucas noted Shahrukh’s demeanor never changed through his argument. He sounded like a logic professor, giving the details to reach a projected conclusion. The dude was a great strategist but how good was he in a real war, with many variations to a scenario? He was sure his commander was considering all the possibilities of things going wrong now as he too glanced up the mountainside.
“And what are we going to do for distraction?” He asked.
“You’ll need to move your copters toward the target. I’ll call and let you know where and when. I have the advantage of being on horseback and getting to the area to...set things up. We also have two men, one injured. You may want to keep them for questioning, although they’ll tell you they didn’t have any knowledge of the weapons. But they’re local Taliban fighters and it’d be a good idea to keep them behind bars for a while. Your people here,” Shahrukh continued, pointing at Lucas and Kit, with a quick smile at her, “surprised them. Kit shot at one of them.”
Hawk turned to Kit. “My co-commander talked to your media crew. Sean Cortez is burning a hole through the floor back on base. I’m not sure whether it’s out of worry for you or because I forbade him to come along on our Chinook.” His flash of amusement suggested the latter. He added, “Jazz found your van. When he searched around it, he found newspaper articles about a certain bin Yakob. We have quite a number of questions for Mr. Cortez.”
Lucas caught his commander’s gaze and gave him a shrug, indicating he had no idea. But this Cortez fellow must trying to sniff out details other than the plight of Pashtun women. He remembered Kit saying something about Minah’s description of a raid during her interview. If Cortez listened to that recording and investigate further, he’d realize the Cob had recently been secretly captured by the US army. He needed to let Hawk know about the interview back at the school.
“Oh, Sean! I totally forgot about him and the others.” Kit turned to Lucas. “You can go back and let him know I’m okay, right? You can take my backpack and the suitcase to him. Tell him the passports and important stuff are in there.”
Lucas frowned. “What are you talking about? You’re coming with me. You can give them to him yourself. I’ve never met the guy.”
Kit gave him an impatient wave and approached Shahrukh. “Mr. Shahrukh, sir, can I ride horseback with you to wherever it is you’re planning to get Minah? I’m so worried about her and besides, the firsthand information will really help the news piece I told you about. We could conduct the interview afterwards too.”
She spoke so earnestly, no one could deny that sweet plea in her voice.
Oh no. Oh hell, no to the nth. Not. Nein. No way.
Lucas took a swift step forward, swept a surprised Kit over one shoulder, glared at Shahrukh, and practically ran toward the chopper. He ignored Kit’s “Hey!” and quick protests. Oh no. She wasn’t going to go anywhere with that commando without him around. He could see she was all smitten with that stupid broad sword and Rambo attitude.
He reached the Chinook and Mink was there. Depositing her in his friend’s arms, he climbed up quickly, pulled her back into his arms, then turned sideways and gagged for a full minute.
“You look like shit,” Mink remarked.
“Long day, dude,” Lucas managed in between gasps of air and coughing.
He kept a firm hold on a very mad Cupcake, then grinned. In his hurry, he’d forgotten to ask permission from his commander to leave. The woman was all sorts of trouble.
He returned her to Mink.
“Don’t let her go. That’s an order,” he said, then jumped off the copter again, gathering all his reserves to make it back to Hawk to stand in attention. His commander and Shahrukh were looking at him like he was an idiot. “Pardon me, sir! That woman is under the illusion she’s an Airborne Ranger, sir!”
“An Airborne Ranger?” Hawk asked, amused, looking back at the Chinook. “She’s cussing you out like she’s one, Cumber.”
“I’d admit she’s been tough. She single-handedly stopped a grenade exploding by accelerating the speed of our vehicle. Said she heard about it from her brother, an Airborne Ranger.”
“Is that what happened? Jazz sent me a picture of that baby stuck in the grill. Damn lucky. Or maybe not, if Miss Kit had planned it.”
“She’s amazing,” Lucas told him proudly, then straightened again, adding firmly, “But she isn’t going anywhere with Shahrukh.”
“I was going to say no,” Shahrukh said, humor in his voice. “But when you lauded her warrior abilities like that, I might need her quick thinking and reckless bravery. After all, I did see her coming to your rescue back there, against those t
wo insurgents.”
“Two insurgents,” Hawk repeated. His gaze turned sharp. “Branson, you shouldn’t have any trouble with two hostiles. What’s the matter?”
Lucas stared straight ahead. He wasn’t going to admit any weaknesses in front of the other man. “Nothing, sir. I was fighting in the dark and got slammed in the head with a weapon. Kit just joined in. She needn’t have. She’s under my charge and I’m determined to return her in one piece back to her friends.”
Hawk studied him for a second. “You’re full of it, Cumber,” he said, softly. “I’ll take her back myself. At ease. Let go. I’ll take care of her, I promise.”
Lucas finally met his commander’s eyes. He’d have argued if he could, but the ground was rocking under his feet as if there was an earthquake in the area. He just wanted to make sure Kit was going to be safe. Hawk would make sure of that.
“Thank you, sir,” he said. He let out a sigh.
Without another word, he pitched forward, watching detachedly as the ground rose up to meet him. Damn, there was something else. But it was too late. Everything went black.
* * *
Kit couldn’t believe it. Did he just caveman her? She glared after his broad back as he walked to his commander and Shahrukh. She twisted and turned but Mink refused to loosen his hold. She called him a few choice names.
“Sorry, Kit. I’m on orders to keep you with me,” he told her, flashing his trademark grin at her.
“Lucas! I’m so going to...dammit, let me go! Mink, I’m going to hurt you so...Lucas!” Kit let out a small gasp when she saw Lucas falling forward and both his commander and Mr. Shahrukh hurrying forward to catch him. “Lucas! Mink, you have to let me go. Lucas needs help!”
“Damn. What’s going on?” Mink put her down on her feet. “Come on.”
They both ran toward the group, followed closely by Dirk. When she got to him, Lucas was out cold. Mr. Shahrukh was checking his pulse.
“Lucas!” She knelt down beside him. “He told me he had food poisoning. He’s been coughing and vomiting the last few hours. He passed out once already.”
