She felt intensely sorry for Cathy, whose eyes were vacant and glazed over with unrelenting pain. Alexa had never seen someone in this kind of catatonic state; it was as if the woman’s spirit had fled her body, and all that remained was a physical shell.
It was horrible to watch human beings reduced to a hull of their former selves. Alexa didn’t know Cathy, but her anger had reached a high point. No human being should ever have to endure this. At the same time, she was terrified that the General would shoot Cathy once they reached wherever they were going. Oh, God . . .
The last tunnel was brutal for Alexa, and her back felt as if it were on fire. The stinging, burning sensation throbbed throughout her, making her grunt with pain. Teeth clenched, nostrils flaring, she breathed hard, and all the women struggled mightily as the tunnel ascended steeply. Gasping for breath, Alexa tripped and fell, with Cathy crashing down upon her. Tracy was jerked off her feet, slamming into the other cave wall, crying out.
Oh, no! Alexa scrambled to her feet, hearing the General cursing at them. Now he was coming back down the tunnel toward them.
“Get her up!” Alexa cried out to Tracy, grabbing Cathy with superhuman strength, hauling Cathy’s body against herself. God, she felt heavy!
Tracy scrambled, her head jerking to the right as the General roared a curse in Urdu at them, his pistol up in the air, his face filled with rage. She quickly helped take Cathy’s weight, cowering as the Pakistani officer pushed past the soldiers and moved angrily toward them.
Alexa saw murder in the man’s narrowed eyes, and she knew he was going to shoot Cathy. She could feel it in her bones. She had her hands free, and the Taliban soldier in front of her was shaken by the sudden commotion. He stepped backward, slipping on a rock in the tunnel.
Now! Alexa released Cathy, stepping forward and making a grab for the rifle in the soldier’s right hand. He was falling backward as she wrenched it out of his grip, and then everything became a blur. Her entire focus was on the rifle.
Alexa had been trained in the weapons the Taliban used. She jerked a look down, unsafing the weapon and turning the selector to single shot.
As she aimed at the General, who was snarling, he lowered his weapon to shoot her. The women started to scream, scattering, running back down the tunnel to escape the General and his pistol.
Alexa jammed the AK-47 to her shoulder and fired at her mortal enemy.
The loud crash of the rifle going off deafened them all and echoed through the tunnel. Alexa heard nothing but saw with satisfaction a bloom of blood splatter across the General’s left arm. She saw his face go from fury to surprise and then realization. Alexa fired a second shot to his head that wasn’t protected by the bulletproof vest he wore, taking him down.
The pistol dropped out of his hand, but the Taliban soldier in front of her, who still had his weapon, turned, aiming at her. Suddenly, there were shots coming from behind her, and the tunnel became a deafening roar of explosions as bullets were fired. Alexa stood firm and shot the soldier in front of her.
She screamed as the soldier, who had fallen earlier, grabbed her ankle, hauling her off her feet, and the AK-47 flew out of her hands.
More shots were being fired. Alexa heard them coming from both ends of the tunnel. Who was firing? Was it the Taliban soldiers behind them? Slamming onto the tunnel floor, Alexa cried out as pain ripped up and down her bruised, battered back.
The Taliban soldier leaped up, grabbing at his rifle that lay nearby, but Alexa scrambled up, pushing off in her slippered feet, lunging for him. His hand curved around the weapon just as she landed on top of him, rolling him away from it.
And then Alexa heard the women scream—and men yelling in English! She had no time to think about what she’d heard, but Tracy dropped Cathy in the middle of the tunnel, racing to Alexa and leaping upon the soldier, pummeling him with her fists, screaming at him in rage.
It was enough of a diversion. Alexa crawled away, grabbing the rifle.
And then she anxiously peered down the tunnel, and her mouth fell open. Gage Hunter was coming up it, his eyes narrowed with a feral look in them, his .45 drawn, his total focus on the Taliban still on the floor. She blinked, unable to believe her eyes! He was running now, his body powerful, hurtling toward her and protecting all of them. How had he gotten in here? Where had he come from?
Her mind reeled. She turned, hearing Tracy scream. Before she could get a shot off at the Taliban, who had punched Tracy and knocked her out, Gage skidded to a halt, put her behind him, and fired his weapon. The explosion careened down through the tunnel, killing the Taliban soldier.
Breathing hard, Alexa looked up the tunnel. To her shock, she saw American-dressed black ops men racing toward them, their M4s up and ready to fire. They were saved! Saved!
Tears spilled down Alexa’s face as she sagged against the tunnel, holding on to the AK-47 with white knuckles. She saw Gage turn, that hard, killing look in his eyes gone, replaced by compassion for the women, and especially for Alexa.
“It’s over, Alexa,” he growled, moving over to her, gently taking the weapon out of her hands. “These are SEALs. You’re all safe . . .”
The words careened around in her head as she stood there, her knees weakening, feeling a relief so heady it was almost like a drug high sweeping through her. The other operators, three of them, came forward. Their faces were expressionless, their mouths set in a hard, single line.
“The rest are dead,” Gage called, pointing down the tunnel. “We need to gather up the women.”
He turned back to Alexa, cupping her jaw, looking deep into her eyes. “Just hang in there with me. We’ll get you out of here. You’re all going home.”
Closing her eyes, tears streaming hotly down her cheeks, Alexa leaned into his rough, callused palm, never having needed Gage more than she did right now. But she knew there were seven other women here—women without military training, who were far worse off than she was.
Opening her eyes, gulping, she pulled away. “The others,” she croaked, her voice breaking. “They need help, Gage . . . they’ve all been harmed . . . be gentle with them.”
She saw his face change as sudden anguish came to his eyes, his mouth tightening. He drew his hand away from her jaw.
“I-I’ll be all right. Just go to them. Let them know you’re not going to hurt them and that you’re here to rescue them.” She was blithering like an idiot, the words raw, rushing out of her. She was shaking and wrapped her arms around herself, adrenaline crashing through her system.
“We’ll take care of them,” he promised her gruffly. “Stay here . . . I’ll come back for you . . .”
Alexa forced herself to move. Tracy was sitting up, her nose bleeding profusely, swelling already around her left eye and cheek. Cathy was unconscious. Alexa went over to Tracy, dropping to her knees, holding her shoulders.
“A-are you okay?”
“Yeah,” Tracy muttered, glaring at the two dead soldiers farther up in the tunnel. “Those bastards,” she whispered, touching her bleeding nose.
“I don’t even have a tissue for you,” Alexa said apologetically.
“It’s okay,” Tracy whispered. She turned her head. “We have to help Cathy.”
Nodding, Alexa got up. At first, she wondered if Cathy was dead, and turned her over on to her back to quickly examine her for bloodstains. There were none. Tracy moved over to her on her hands and knees.
“Is she dead?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Alexa heard a sudden commotion behind them, and then heard women shrieking. But it wasn’t from terror. It was from joy. The team who had rescued them must have found them and told them they were safe. Swallowing, Alexa moved her hand over Cathy’s hair, feeling so sorry for the young woman.
Tracy wiped tears from her eyes. “They saved us, Alexa. We’re saved. Oh, God, we’re going home. I don’t believe it . . . I don’t . . .” She suddenly gasped, pressing her hand against her mouth, her face wet with tears.
Al
exa nodded, suddenly very aware of the overwhelming pain in her back. But Gage was here. He was alive! He’d survived the wound he sustained at the village. And helped to save her life and the lives of these other women. How had he and the SEALs gotten here?
Soon, she saw the rest of the women coming up the tunnel. Their wrists were no longer bound. They were free. The looks of relief on their faces said everything. She saw one operator move ahead of them with a concerned look on his face as he drew up to them.
“Is she wounded?” he asked Alexa, looking over at Cathy.
“I think so. Do you have a corpsman with you?”
“No. But we have four medevacs on the way here. They’re landing in about twenty minutes. Can you two stay with this woman? I want to get the rest of the hostages up to the entrance and prepare them for transit.”
Alexa nodded. “Yes, we’ll stay with Cathy.”
The women trailed by Cathy, who lay on one side of the tunnel. Alexa kept her hand on Cathy’s shoulder while Tracy remained kneeling and cradled Cathy’s head in her lap. There were sobs and tears of joy now. Alexa saw the gratitude in their eyes for being rescued and not forgotten. The last man to come up the tunnel was Gage. Her heart leaped, she wanted so badly to fly into his arms. How desperately Alexa needed a little comfort. But she wasn’t going to leave Cathy. Not now.
Gage knelt down at Cathy’s feet. “What’s wrong with her?” he asked.
“She’s been hurt internally, but I don’t know where. I can’t find any blood on her,” Alexa whispered, shaking her head. She saw Gage look confused for a moment, and then he got it.
“She fainted?”
“Yes, from pain, I think.”
Gage settled the strap of his M4 against his back. “Then I’ll carry her. Why don’t you two go ahead of me? I’ll bring up the rear.”
Alexa slowly stood. She was unsteady, reaching out to the tunnel wall to remain upright. Instantly, Gage stood, his hand cupping her elbow. “What’s wrong?”
She gave him a sad look. “Everything. But I’ll be okay. I’m just a little shaken up. Take care of Cathy, okay?” Her voice was low and strained. Gage gave her an intense look, searching her eyes. Reaching out, she gripped his arm. “Take care of Cathy? Please . . .”
Gage released her, worry deep in his gaze. He glanced over at Tracy, who stood nearby, and asked her if she could walk out of there or not. Tracy nodded and said she could.
Gage gently gathered up Cathy, her body limp. Alexa wanted to cry as Gage handled the woman so carefully, arranging her against his tall, strong body. She saw the sweat on the front and back of his T-shirt, realizing the physical demands he’d had to undertake. She had so many questions to ask him. She looked over at Tracy, who was still wiping blood away from her nose, and walked over to her.
“Let’s lean on one another, okay, so we can get out of here?” Alexa said, reaching out for her.
“Good idea,” Tracy said, her voice breaking, tears coming. “You helped save us, too,” she whispered, giving her a grateful look. “Thank you . . .”
Alexa stared up the tunnel at the General’s still body, and hatred welled up within her. “He’ll never hurt another woman,” she spat out, her emotions nearly getting the best of her. “Not ever again . . .”
Alexa clung to Tracy, who did the same to her. They weren’t walking very well, fully exhausted from carrying Cathy between them, and the tunnel was at such a steep incline, they found themselves breathing roughly, taking tiny, mincing steps to reach the outer cave.
By the time Alexa got there, it was flooded with light from the headlamps of what looked like a truck parked just outside the opening. The brightness hurt her eyes, and she bowed her head. Outside, she could hear a lot of noise and activity. She caught the sounds of helicopters, a lot of them, flying around. There were six men, all in flight suits and helmets, entering the cave, heading for the huddled women, who clung to one another.
Alexa thought they might be air crewmen or medics from the medevacs. There was a woman Alexa was sure was a physician, dressed in a dark green flight suit, accompanying them.
As she and Tracy made their way slowly toward the group, Alexa saw the doctor moving among the women, swiftly assessing them medically. This was a triage situation, and she was dividing them into three categories. She didn’t see Gage or Cathy. He had probably carried her out to the nearest medevac.
Licking her dry lips, she squeezed Tracy’s arm as they halted near the group. “I can’t believe it,” Tracy whispered to her. “We’re really saved. Saved . . .”
“Y-yes . . .”
Tracy slowly looked around the cave. Near the tunnel entrance, she saw all the men who had hurt them sitting on the floor, bound with flex cuffs, arms behind their backs and guarded by an American operator. Her voice deepened with quiet fury. “I hope like hell they kill those monsters for what they did to all of us.”
Alexa watched the captured group, feeling satisfaction. “They’ll get what’s coming to them,” she agreed grimly. Only the General was dead out of the original group, and they had passed four dead Taliban in the tunnel on the way up to the cave. She had seen two more Taliban dead near the tunnel entrance they had just passed.
She almost smiled, thinking about the captured group’s fall from grace. Where were these sick bastards heading? To the CIA interrogation unit at Bagram, Alexa was sure. A vengeful part of her wanted to be there to see what would happen, to see fear and anxiety enter their eyes, and for them to know the kind of fear she and these other women had experienced. The CIA wouldn’t be easy on any of these sick, predatory bastards.
“They’re taking the women out,” Tracy said, pointing toward the entrance.
Alexa looked up. She saw Gage reenter the cave, halting, looking for her. Instantly her heart sped up as soon as his gaze locked onto hers. More tears leaked out of her eyes. The tenderness in his glance as he walked over to Alexa nearly totaled her. She was shaking badly now, not sure she could keep standing.
A medic followed Gage and introduced himself to Tracy, asking if he could walk her out to the awaiting medevac. Touched that the man pulled a dark green handkerchief from a pocket in his uniform, handing it to Tracy, Alexa wanted to burst into sobs. They’d been tortured, threatened with death, assaulted, and invaded. And just this one bit of human kindness made her throat close up with tears once more.
Gage drew her gently against him, his arm going around her waist. “It’s going to be all right, Alexa,” he rasped, holding her tight. “Can you walk?”
All Alexa wanted was Gage, his body, his heat, his care, and that special gentleness that was so much a part of him. “Y-yes. My knees are wonky . . . but I can make it. Just keep your arm around me, please?”
He smiled, leaned down, and pressed a kiss on her mussed, dusty hair. “You got it. Come on, you’re flying back in the fourth medevac with me.”
Alexa turned, looking at the slave traders. “What about them?”
Grimly, Gage lifted his head. “Them?” His eyes glittered with barely held rage. “Don’t worry, the SEAL team will take them aboard an MH-47 that’s circling the area right now. They’re heading straight to hell. The CIA can hardly wait to get their hands on them.”
He gave her a look of satisfaction, gently urging her forward.
Alexa wearily leaned against Gage, her head resting on his chest, wanting to collapse with utter relief. The noise increased outside as he led her through some brush. Three of the medevacs had already lifted off, one after another. Above, Alexa could hear the familiar sound of Apache combat helicopters much higher, circling the area like guard dogs, protecting all of them with their special instruments that could locate an enemy and take them out.
She saw a huge truck at the entrance and noticed the Pakistan Army emblem on the door. It was then that it struck her that the General had planned to herd them into the rear of that massive truck, which would drive them across the border and into Pakistan. Alexa shivered.
Gage’s arm c
losed around her even more firmly and he stopped, worried, looking down at her shadowed face. “All right?”
“I am now,” she said, barely able to shout over the roar of the helicopters circling.
“Come on,” he urged, pulling her forward.
Alexa saw the medevac, a crewman waiting outside it holding the sliding door open for them. The blasts of the whirling blades buffeted her. Gage turned, slid his arms around her, lifted her off her feet, and carried her aboard. Alexa clung to him, her arms around his strong neck, relaxing for the first time because she knew Gage would not drop her. Her back smarted where his arm rested against it, but she bore the pain in silence.
He carried her carefully toward the medevac and she buried her head against his neck, closing her eyes, beginning to sob from sheer relief. It was over. It was really over. And they’d all survived, when Alexa had given up thinking they would ever be rescued.
She felt such overwhelming gratefulness and love for Gage, and the fact he’d risked his life for all of them, that he’d never given up on finding her, made her cry even harder. And in response, she felt him hold her tighter, press a kiss to her hair, whispering words against her ear she couldn’t understand due to the roar of the helo engines and the gusts of wind slapping and tearing at them.
Gage felt his heart tearing out of his chest as he transferred Alexa to a litter attached to the bulkhead of the Black Hawk helicopter. She lay there, and he had to move aside and sit in one of the two rear jump seats at the back of the medevac.
Tracy was brought in next and placed on the litter below Alexa’s. Gage was grateful the pilot had allowed him to fly back with Alexa. Normally, that wouldn’t have happened, but Gage was sure the pilot had recognized how much the exhausted sniper needed to be aboard and had given him a nod.
They were the last two hostage women to be flown out of that miserable place. The blades whirled faster, the engines thundering as the pilot lifted off into the grayish dawn light. The medic caring for Alexa placed a helmet on her head to protect her ears from the horrendous noise. Next, he placed one on Tracy’s head. Gage pulled one on, too, and plugged into the ICS system so he could hear the crew speaking to one another, as well as hear the medic who cared for the woman he was falling in love with. His throat ached with tension, adrenaline still coursing through his body from the firefight. He worried for Alexa. She seemed in shock and disoriented. But then, who wouldn’t have been?
Broken Dreams (Delos Series Book 4) Page 18
