That surprised Seth. “Stand-by sucks. I hate airports.”
“Yeah, me too.” But I hate hanging around here worse.
“You ready?”
Lee cast the military base behind him one last glance and climbed into the passenger seat of the Humvee. “Move out.”
Seth obliged.
Traffic was light. Khwaja Rawash, the Kabul International Airport, was still a risky place for tourists. Lee planned to take stand-by on any flight that could get him out of the country. Dubai was close, and Ankara, Turkey, not much farther. He didn’t care which airline he took. It was time he saw another part of the world. Any place else would do.
“I had a girl once,” Seth muttered.
“Oh yeah?” Lee didn’t know that about his buddy. “Sounds like that was a while ago.”
Seth nodded. “It was. I, umm, I lost her.”
“Sorry.” The last thing Lee needed was a sad story about another woman who’d run off with someone else.
“It was the damnedest thing,” Seth said quietly. “She was on her way to the airport to pick me up. I was home on a two-week leave. We were engaged. She planned to surprise me with our wedding the minute I stepped off the plane. Crazy woman. Had both of our families with her. Her maid-of-honor. My best man. My mom and dad. We’d waited so damned long...”
Lee glanced at Seth. His voice was far away.
“Katlynn was the prettiest girl this side of the Mississippi.” He stopped there, and Lee waited, his gut clenched with foreboding. This wasn’t a Dear John story. This was worse.
Seth blew out a small breath. “She was in her wedding dress when it happened, all white and pure and pretty. Her folks were driving because she was nervous, and she had these white, lacy three-inch heels.”
Lee held his breath. Seth was actually on his way to get married at one time in his life?
“Anyway, a drunk driver hit their car just off the interstate. I could’ve seen it from the plane if I’d a known where to look when we were landing. The jet I was on flew over the scene of the accident, only...” His words trailed away.
“I’m sorry, man,” Lee said.
“Yeah,” Seth murmured. “Me too. Katlynn was the prettiest girl, and she loved me.”
They drove in silence for a few minutes.
“That’s why I was out drinking with my friends the night I shot that little girl. They thought they could cheer me up, and there was a band at some bar in downtown Chicago, and... anyway, that’s why I was there. I was supposed to be drowning my sorrow only I ended up killing a teenager. Fate really sucks rocks sometimes.”
Lee stared at the traffic. All he could see were Tess’s violet blue eyes lit up with love that morning he’d awakened on the hotel floor in her arms. He’d had some feelings for her before then, but that day had changed everything. She got him like no one else. It was like she knew all about his private hell—she even knew the language that went with it. Singing “Amazing Grace” had cinched it. That was when he knew he had to have her, no matter what.
“I’m not asking for your pity,” Seth interrupted Lee’s hopeless thoughts. “Heck, I don’t even care if anyone understands why I’m such a screwed-up mess today. I just want you to know that sometimes things happen, Lee, and we think they’re really bad, and we get so mad we forget what’s real, and we walk away from the very thing that can save us. We give up. We think we’re too broke to ever be fixed again.”
Lee couldn’t have felt more like crap. First Tess. Then Alex. Now Seth.
“It’s just that sometimes, when we’re feeling like the whole damned world’s crapping on us, we’re not seeing what’s real and what’s not. We can’t see through the shit to what’s important. We got this little old ball of crap up against our eye, and the damned thing looks like the whole damned world, and I guess, in a way, at that moment it is. But it ain’t, Lee. It’s just a little piece of shit that’s stuck in our eye. That’s all it is.”
Lee blew out a small sigh. Tess and Turik knew each other from their past lives. So what? He just wished he knew why she’d sought Turik out so soon after their very intimate profession of love. Hell, Lee had gone through hell to save her life, and the next thing he knew, she was hanging out with her Taliban assassin buddy. How messed up was that?
Seth didn’t say another word until he pulled up to the curb at the domestic terminal at Kabul International. Plenty of NATO forces and military dominated the scene, but Lee just sat there. He no longer knew what to say. Or do.
“Guess this is goodbye,” Seth muttered, his hand extended.
Lee obliged him with the traditional hand-to-wrist grip. He tugged his gear over the seat. The time had come to leave. The crazy woman he’d fallen in love with seemed determined to make something out of this stone-hard country. She saw diamonds where others saw nothing but dust and rocks. She saw hope. All Lee saw was that damned ball of crap.
Was she insane? Yes. Was she seeing things in Afghanistan that no one in their right mind saw? Definitely. Did he love her anyway? Hell, yeah. Could he forgive her for running to Turik? Lee just plain didn’t know. She’d made that choice for the both of them, and Lee didn’t know what to do with it.
He sat there with one foot in the Humvee, the other out. An orange and white airliner roared overhead, close enough he could see the heat waves coming off the jet engines. That would be him in a few hours, on his way to who knew where.
Seth sat there waiting, the engine idling while Lee stalled. Was this what he wanted to do? Leave? It felt a lot like running away. That was the real quandary. He wasn’t a quitter, and yet he’d just quit The TEAM, but what the hell? What difference had he made? He’d done everything humanly possible to save Tess’s life. Heck, he’d killed men with his bare hands to get to her. He’d saved three American soldiers in the process, but it had always been about her. It still was.
Ky, Jack, and Ross should be thanking her for their lives, not him. It was only because of Tess that he’d been so focused and so damned deadly. That the universe had complied with the unexpected alliance of Turik had helped, but not enough. The first moment Tess opened her eyes, she’d thrown Lee’s gift of love back in his face like it meant nothing.
Enough was enough. Lee turned to Seth, thumped his bicep, and put both boots on the ground. “I’m tired of fighting the world, man. I’ve killed for my country, and what do I have to show for it? Squat. I get it now. I can’t win. I’m gonna hitch a ride on a southbound current and spend some time adrift on the Atlantic. Maybe a year or two. Take care of yourself. See you around.”
“Keep in touch,” Seth muttered.
Lee turned away. Not damned likely.
Tess woke to a not-so-gentle pat on her cheek. At least her headache was gone.
When she opened her eyes, she about swallowed her tongue. Clint peered down at her, his pointy nose too close and his dark beard as scruffy as all get-out.
“Where have you been?” she croaked while she pushed herself to her elbows.
“Whoa. Listen to you.” He chuckled at her raspy voice. “You sound like you need something to drink, Sis.”
She punched his shoulder. “What I need is answers, you moron. Where the hell have you been, and how come you never told me you could fly? Where’s your helicopter? Will you please raise this bed up so I can see you better?” She scooted her butt higher on the mattress as he elevated the bed. “And how could you leave me in the middle of one of the biggest heists we’ve ever attempted? Did you know Agent Hart before he bribed you with a fifth of whiskey? Were you expecting him? Huh? Answer me.”
When Clint rolled his eyes, she wanted to smack him again. She’d had nightmares about him, and there he was all cavalier and smirky, the smartass. For a change he was in clean jeans and a simple white T-shirt. His cheeks weren’t as sallow as they usually were, and he was smiling. He’d shaved. Gosh, he actually looked good beneath that mop of black hair.
He offered her a glass with a straw in it, and she couldn’t refuse. Her
throat was parched. After she swallowed a soothing sip of tepid water, she ordered again, “Answer me.”
“Cease fire, why don’t you?” He chuckled again as he rested his backside next to her. “I can’t keep up with all your questions. You don’t look your usual perky, bossy self. What’s up, Sis?”
“Clint…” Tess gritted her teeth at his attempt at diversion, but the sight of him safe and sound was more than she could handle. “Damn you, Clint. It’s so good to see you.”
He grabbed her into his arms, and she bawled like a baby despite her anger. “So much has been going on.” She gulped a breath before she sobbed again. “And I had a dream. You needed me, but I couldn’t get to you. And where the hell have you been?”
“How about if I answer first questions first?’ Clint was always the glib one, and now that Tess thought about it, he always could get around her. Even as mad as he made her, he had a charming, conniving way.
She leaned against her pillow, tired from her outburst. “Where the hell am I?”
“You, my dear sister, are in the Camp Eggers medical unit. Some guy named Jackson called to let me know you were here. They tasered you at the front gate, huh?”
“I don’t remember that, but look at this.” Lowering the shoulder of her hospital gown, which she just realized someone had changed her into, she showed her absentee brother the harsh whip marks.
Clint’s eyes darkened. He lifted from the mattress to examine Tess’s wounds more closely. “Nizari?” The bastard.”
“Yes, Nizari,” she spat the words at Clint like he was to blame. “You should’ve been there. None of this would’ve happened!”
He frowned. “Give me a break. It ain’t my fault. You know how you are. If you tangle with the wrong guys often enough, and they’re going to catch up with you. For heck’s sake, don’t play on the freeway if you don’t wanna get run over by a semi.”
She didn’t know why she’d ever worried about him. He sure didn’t think twice about her. “You’re an ass.”
He grinned and waggled his brows. “And your point?”
Her point was she wanted to feel physically well enough to kick his butt. She crossed her arms and glared at him. “You traded me for a bottle of booze. Me. Your only sister.”
“Not exactly. I mean, yeah, that is what Agent Hart gave me that night, but there’s a little more to the story.”
“Then spit it out. What aren’t you telling me?”
He stared her down through a big sigh. “Only if you promise not to get mad.”
“I’m already mad.” Mad and feeling ill wasn’t a good combination.
“Why don’t I introduce you to a friend of mine first? That’ll make everything crystal clear.” He went to the door and motioned for someone to join them.
An Afghan man with the most amazing turquoise blue eyes entered her room. Dressed in the traditional shalwar kameez of his people, he nodded once to acknowledge her, and immediately, she pulled the blankets up to her neck. This was definitely a fundamentalist Muslim. She didn’t want to offend him by exposing her bare shoulders and arms.
“Relax,” Clint said. “He’s a friend. I think you and he have needed to meet each other for a long time.”
“Miss Culver.” The man stretched his hand to hers. “I have been looking forward to this day. I am Iskandar Kadir.”
“Very nice to meet you.” Her hand trembled when he took it, and she didn’t know why. She wasn’t afraid of him. Something about this good-looking, bearded man seemed familiar. “Excuse me, but do I know you?”
Iskandar smiled. He had perfect teeth, a straight nose, and intelligent, smiling eyes. “You should. You have been searching for me for years.”
His rich baritone rumbled between them, and she looked deeper. She didn’t understand, and judging by Clint’s big grin, she should. But why? What was going on that she didn’t get?
“You see, Sis,” Clint intervened, “I work for WAR just like you do, only I’ve been undercover.”
“That’s what Mohammed said.” She settled into her pillow and listened mostly because Iskandar’s presence made Clint’s words seem more credible if not entirely palatable. But what was she missing?
“Who do you think hired your Agent Hart and his boss in the first place?” Clint asked, glancing around the room. “By the way, where is Agent Hart? You haven’t sent him packing, have you?”
“No,” she answered. “He’s probably still sleeping. So who hired him? You?”
Clint didn’t blink. “Hell no. How rich do you think I am? Guess again.”
She hated guessing games, but the first name that came to her mind tripped off her tongue. It made sense. “Jacque?”
“You’re getting warmer.”
There was no one else who loved her enough to have her physically remove her from this country. No one except... She swallowed hard. No. It couldn’t be. “Mohammed?”
Clint winked at her. “Bingo. He had to do something to keep you safe.”
“Mohammed did this?” Unbelievable. Incredibly unbelievable. She couldn’t catch a breath. “To me? For me? You’re wrong. He tried to shoot me.” Only he didn’t. Not really. He’d only meant to wound her, not kill her. She shook her head and placed both palms to the bed, the wind knocked out of her. “You talked with him? You know this for certain?”
Clint nodded. “He’s a cocky son-of-a-bitch, all right.”
She shook her head. “No, Clint. That’s not right. Why would he hire Alex Stewart then? Why hire the very same man who was trying to kill him? My gosh…” She trailed her fingers through her hair, combing it back over her ear while she rubbed her scalp. None of this made sense. Mohammed definitely had an over-inflated male ego. He was smug, an Afghan male to his toes: autocratic, egotistical, and a bit of a windbag. She’d always known that, but this? To take on one of America’s most elite covert teams, to contract Alex to guard her while they were trying to kill him at the same time? God, the man thought he was untouchable. Mindboggling. Simply mindboggling.
“Admit it. It was the only way to protect you, Sis. We knew you’d never give up this crazy quest you’re on. Everything went south from the day you confronted Nizari. He had it bad for you anyway, which brings me to my friend here. Do you remember the legend of Alexander and Roxana, that nonsense you’ve been spouting, like forever?” His eyes glittered with some untold secret.
“Wait a minute…” She glared at her brother. She might have felt fairly crappy, and her head was pounding, but she’d heard that telling word. “Who exactly is we?”
His eyes narrowed. Clint shrugged like the little brother he would always be. “Okay, I give. Turik had a few run-ins with Alex Stewart before, and, don’t ask me how, but he trusted the guy to get you home safely. Call me crazy, but I think Stewart likes this wacked out country more than you do. I also think he enjoyed the challenge Turik proposed.”
Her brother simply would not answer a direct question. She pinned him down. “So you were in on this protection order with Mohammed?”
Clint reached over and tousled her hair, nodding. “Of course. I do love you, Sis.”
She grabbed his hand to stop the playful gesture. “Then why didn’t you tell me you were working for WAR? Why did you make me think you were drunk or doped up all the time? Damn it, you had me convinced.”
“Because you…” he sighed deeply, “are a flaming ass to work with. Admit it, Tessie. You’re pig-headed, overbearing, and once you get a notion in your head, you run over anyone and everyone in your way. You’re secretive and for reals? I found I could accomplish more when you thought I was zoned out on drugs than I could working side-by-side with you. You tend to want to snap your fingers and expect everyone to fall in line behind you as if they don’t have any brains.” He glanced at Iskandar. “What say we table this brother-sister discussion until later?”
“Fine.” she relented, perturbed he acted like he had the upper hand. Okay, so he was right about a couple of things, but she was pigheaded only
because she was passionate about her missions. All of them.
“I’ll wager you everything I own that this gentleman’s DNA...” Clint nodded toward Iskandar, “matches the DNA of those fingers in the reliquary, as well as the mummies.”
She forgot to breathe, her eyes shifting to Iskandar. The softest blue skies of Afghanistan smiled back at her. Could it be? Was this—him? “Are you sure?” she asked, her heart pounding.
Clint nudged Iskandar’s elbow. “Told you she’d be shit-faced.”
Iskandar came forward and knelt to one knee at her bedside. He latched onto her hand, and she was deeply embarrassed for her appearance. He was such a good-looking man, around thirty, his eyes clear, and his heart on his sleeve. Honesty stared back at her, and she was smitten.
“Miss Tess Culver,” he said, his voice mellow and rich. “My people have guarded our ancient queen for centuries. Many of us can trace our lineage to her. We are in your debt for retrieving the sacred reliquary of Roxana from the evil warlords.”
She honestly couldn’t speak to save her life. “But... but...”
“I have submitted to the test your brother requested, but the legends are true. I am here to testify of what I know. It has been foretold. The descendants of Alexander will rule again. This country will be filled with peace and prosperity. The day will come when the Taliban will live no more.”
“But... but...”
“And on the day the truth is declared to all the world, it would be my greatest honor if you would join me in my humble village for a celebration of rebirth. My people crave to meet the brave woman who dared believe in them.”
Tess shut her mouth because nothing was coming out of it that made sense anyway. Clint still grinned like a Cheshire cat. Iskandar pressed his lips to the back of her hand, his sharp eyes beguiling her to her toes. “If you are still a single woman when that day comes, I will take you to be my fourth wife. It would bring me great joy.”
Too much! She wished Lee was there to lend her some of his excellent strength. At last she remembered what she’d wanted to say. “But I saw the soldiers destroy the mummies. We watched it on satellite. Isn’t Roxana gone?”
Lee (In the Company of Snipers Book 12) Page 31
