by Paige Tyler
* * * * *
The exchange went better than Logan expected. Probably because Joe walked up with a big bag full of Turkish lira and tossed it on the ground in front of the Kurdish fighters. That had effectively ended the negotiations.
The pilot was younger than Logan expected, maybe twenty-eight or twenty-nine. He looked like he’d had a rough few weeks, too. His short dark hair stuck up in places, his dark eyes were bloodshot from too little sleep, and his flight suit was scuffed and torn. When he saw Logan and his Team, his whole demeanor changed. A spark that hadn’t been in his eyes before flared up now.
“He’s your responsibility until we get him out of the country,” Chasen said to Logan as the Kurds took their money and hightailed it out of there. “Stick to him like glue.”
Joe and Chasen turned and led the way west toward the helicopters waiting for them across the border in Turkey. From there, they’d fly straight to Incirlik Air Base then hop a C5 for home. If they didn’t run into any problems, they’d be back in the US in a day or so.
Logan and Nikolay stayed in the middle of the group, with Nash and Dalton taking the flanks while the SOG agents brought up the rear. Logan had been a little worried the pilot might hold them back since he was clearly exhausted, but he moved across the broken terrain as fast as Logan did. Apparently, he wanted to get out of this place as much as the rest of them.
They’d barely gone two miles when someone ambushed them. Logan jumped on Nikolay and drove him to the ground, shoving him behind a rocky outcropping and protecting him with his body as round after round of small arms fire slammed into the ground around them.
From the disciplined, controlled way the bad guys shot at them, Logan immediately knew they weren’t dealing with a ragtag collection of terrorists or Syrian military. The people shooting at them knew exactly what they were doing.
“It’s a Spetsnaz team,” Chasen said as he peppered the south ridgeline with slow, careful shots intended to make the bad guys duck and cover. “I don’t know how, but they must have known we’d be coming this way.”
“Fucking Kurds played both sides against the middle,” Joe muttered. “They took our money and probably the Russian’s, too, then told them know which way we went after the exchange.”
“What’s the plan?” Dalton shouted as he aimed the mini 40mm grenade launcher mounted on his M4 then popped a high explosive grenade toward the top of the north ridgeline.
“Get the pilot out of here alive,” Joe ordered.
* * * * *
Felicia was starting to think Hayley might be a saint when the journalist showed up at her apartment door Tuesday night with pizza and a movie, asking if she needed some company.
“Being alone when you’re stressed out is a bad idea,” Hayley told her as she set the pizza box on the island in the kitchen.
Felicia couldn’t argue with that. “I was about to call my sister and ask if she wanted to hang out. Do you mind if I invite her to join us?”
She felt horrible admitting it, but she’d been so caught up in her own crap, she hadn’t even realized she hadn’t talked to Stef since they had dinner together last week. She’d tried to call Stef a few times over the weekend, but had ended up having to leave messages on her voicemail.
“Of course not.” Hayley smiled. “I’d love to meet her.”
But, like all the other times she’d called, Stef still didn’t answer.
Felicia stared pensively at the pizza box, her mind going to all kinds of places it shouldn’t. She tried to tell herself she was being an alarmist, but the nagging feeling in her stomach wouldn’t go away. Something was wrong with Stef. She could feel it.
“Hey,” Hayley said. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m worried about Stef. After the kidnapping, she acted like it wasn’t a big deal, but since then… I don’t know, she seems…off. I’ve been trying to get hold of her since last week, and she’s not picking up her phone.” Felicia sighed. “Would you mind if I take a rain check on dinner? I want to take a run over to her dorm.”
“Of course not. Want me to go with you?”
Felicia started to say no but then changed her mind. “Actually, yeah. I could use the company.”
Giving Chewy a treat, Felicia stuck the pizza in the fridge then grabbed her purse. When they got to the Earl Warren dorm, Felicia led the way to Stef’s room and knocked on the door. Stef’s roommate, Kelly Doyle, a girl with red hair a freckles opened it.
“Is Stef here?” Felicia asked.
Kelly frowned. “She moved out a couple of months ago to live with her boyfriend off campus.”
Felicia did a double take. “What?”
“Yeah. Since seniors can never get space in the dorms, Craig lives in this cool place in Downtown La Jolla. He asked Stef to live with him, and of course she said yes.” Kelly folded her arms. “Heck, I’d live with them if I could. Do you know the washer and dryer in this dorm hasn’t worked in a year?”
Felicia knew her sister had a pretty steady thing going with Craig, but she had no idea she’d moved in with him.
Felicia shook her head. She could care less about hogging dorm space. She had more important things to worry about. “Do you know where Craig lives?”
Kelly shook her head. “Sorry. I just know it’s downtown.”
“Do you know Craig’s last name?” Hayley asked Felicia as they left the dorm.
“Yeah, but what good is it going to do?” Felicia said. “It’s not like we can look him up in a phone book.”
If those things even still existed.
When they got in Hayley’s car, she pulled out her phone and dialed someone. “Without getting into a whole lot of messy details,” she said to Felicia, “Kyla is a world class hacker. She’ll be able to find where this guy lives.”
Felicia sat there wide-eyed as Hayley chatted with the shy, quiet girl. Kyla was a hacker? How had that not come up during their conversation at lunch yesterday? And how could this girl possibly find a guy’s house with nothing more than a name?
Apparently, Kyla had because fifteen minutes later, Hayley pulled up in front of a duplex in a part of town Felicia had a hard time believing any student could afford. She knew Craig was pre-med, but did he sell drugs on the side?
Craig answered Felicia’s knock, smiling when he saw her. “Hey, Felicia.”
“Is my sister here?” she asked sharply.
“Um, yeah. I’ll go get her. Come in.”
The inside of the house was as nice as the outside, and from the feminine touches around, it looked like her sister had made herself right at home.
Stef came down the steps into the foyer. Craig, thankfully, was nowhere to be seen.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d moved out of the dorms?” Felicia demanded.
The question came out harsher than she’d intended. But hell, she’d been terrified, and Stef owed her an explanation.
Stef folded her arms. “Because I figured you’d lose your mind. Apparently, I was right.”
Felicia face her face heat. “I’m not mad you moved. I’m mad you didn’t tell me. What if there had been an emergency?”
“You would have called me.”
“I have been calling you—multiple times!” Felicia said, frustrated her sister didn’t even seem to care she was upset. “You never returned my calls.”
Stef at least had the dignity to look slightly ashamed. “I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy lately and I didn’t have the energy to deal with you.”
Felicia felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. “The energy to deal with me? What does that mean? When did I stop being your sister and start being a burden?”
Emotions flitted across Stef’s face. Anger first then embarrassment, and finally acceptance.
“You’ve always been my sister, and you always will be, but you’ve always made it clear you see the world drastically different than I do.” Stef took a deep breath. “Craig and I are engaged, Felicia. We’re getting married after he graduate
s.”
If Felicia thought she’d been floored before, it was nothing compared to what she felt now. “Married? You’re not serious?”
“Yes, I am serious. Craig and I have been dating for over a year, and we’ve been engaged for four months.”
Felicia blinked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Stef ran her hand through her long hair. “I tried half a dozen times. But you never want to hear me, so I stopped bothering. I knew you’d freak out. Exactly like you’re doing now.”
“I’m freaking out because you’re too young to be making decisions like this. You need to slow down and make sure you’re doing the right thing. Like Mom and Dad taught us.”
“No, that’s what they taught you.” Stef lifted her chin. “If what happened in the warehouse taught me anything it’s that we don’t know how long we have to spend with the people who matter. You can’t waste a second of it.”
“So you’re going to jump into marriage with a man you barely know?” Felicia asked incredulously.
“No, I’m jumping into marriage with the man I love, and who loves me. It’s about how much we love each other, not how much we’ve analyzed our relationship.”
Felicia wanted to scream. “Planning for a life together isn’t a bad thing. It’s what gets you over the rough patches. If you’d thought this through, you’d see what I’m talking about. You’re going to get married right before Craig goes med school? While you’re still in college? How is that possibly going to work? You’re never going to see each other. Hell, you won’t even be able to pay the bills.”
“That’s not your problem, it’s ours.” Stef gave her an icy glare. “Maybe you should go.”
Felicia silently fumed. She wasn’t leaving until she’d talked some sense into her sister. She dug her cell phone out of her purse, poking the screen viciously as she pulled up Google.
“What are you doing?” Stef asked in exasperation.
“I’m showing you the statistics on divorce rates for people who marry under the age of twenty-five,” Felicia said.
“I don’t care,” Stef said. “Stats are your thing, not mine.”
“Look at this!” Felicia said, shoving the phone in Stef’s face.
Her sister slapped the phone away, making Felicia lose her grip on it. It fell with a clatter, bouncing on the wood floor. Felicia didn’t even look at it. The phone was probably broken, but not as broken as her heart. Her sister had dismissed everything Felicia had tried to teach her, as if it meant nothing to her.
“Go home, Felicia,” her sister said softly as she opened the door. “We’re done here.”
Felicia stared at her sister for a long moment, tears stinging her eyes. Blinking them back, she bent to pick up her broken phone then turned and walked out.
Chapter Eleven
LOGAN GRABBED THE back of Nikolay’s flight uniform, dragging him to his feet and shoving him along the rocky path while Chasen and the other guys poured cover fire into the ridgelines along either side of them. Even with all the lead and steel coming at them, the Spetsnaz team focused on one thing—killing the pilot. As bullets spattered rocks around him and grenades exploded, Logan let instinct take over. There was only one way they were all going to survive this ambush—get out of this valley. The Russians would have to come out of hiding to chase them, and Logan liked his chances in that situation a lot more than he did sitting behind a rock waiting for a bullet to find him.
Nikolay wasn’t wearing NVGs, so he couldn’t see in the dark. Fortunately, he seemed to have faith in Logan and ran balls out in whichever direction Logan pointed.
For a minute there, Logan didn’t think they’d ever get out of this mess, but ten seconds later, they popped out the end of the valley and the number of rounds impacting around them dropped drastically. Somewhere off to the left, Logan heard the thud of heavy boots thumping on rocks.
Somebody—maybe a couple somebodies—were chasing him and the pilot, while the rest kept the other guys occupied.
As soon as he could, Logan steered Nikolay to the right, away from their pursuers. But the ground was rockier and started ascending. The pilot slowed down, and Logan knew this chase would be pretty short. He could feel the bad guys getting closer.
Thirty seconds later, he and Nikolay crested a low hill. The pilot gained reckless speed on the downslope, but it wouldn’t help them. There’d only be another uphill climb on the other side, and by then the Russians would catch them out in the open.
Logan needed to do something besides run.
He reached out and grabbed Nikolay, dragging him to a stop and yanking him down to the ground behind a bunch of rocks not much bigger than their heads. They wouldn’t stop too many bullets, but hopefully they’d provide a few seconds of concealment long enough for him to deal with the men coming behind them.
As he knelt down beside the pilot, Logan picked up a rock the size of his fist and pitched it down the slope where it hit with a clatter. Then he prayed the Russians would assume the noise had been them stumbling down the hill.
A few moments later, a figure appeared over the hill, moving way slower than Logan would have liked. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone with him.
Shit. Logan had been sure he’d heard at least two people behind them.
He would have waited to see if a second soldier lagged behind the first, but he simply couldn’t. Too much chance he and the pilot would be seen.
So he snapped his M4 to his shoulder and put three rounds through the man’s chest, killing him but completely missing the other one who’d split from his buddy and circled around the hilltop to the right. By the time Logan saw him, the guy was barely fifteen feet away. They stared at each other for a split second then the Russian charged him, his weapon firing on full automatic. Knowing he was screwed, Logan charged at the Russian soldier, firing his weapon on the run.
One second they were both shooting, the next they slammed into each other like two football players on a kickoff.
The Russian soldier was big and the impact hurt like a son of a bitch. But Logan forced himself to his feet, sure he’d be dead if he didn’t.
That’s when he discovered three of his bullets had hit the Russian. The Spetsnaz soldier lay dead with two holes in his stomach and one in his chest. Logan glanced down at his own body, not sure how he’d gotten through this one without buying it. Sometimes it was training; sometimes it was luck. He was still considering that when he heard a noise behind him.
He spun and saw the pilot looking around.
“Is it over?” the man asked in English not nearly as accented as Logan expected.
Logan looked at the two dead Spetsnaz soldiers on the ground, about to nod, but then he heard more gunfire behind them near the site of the original ambush. He started to check in with Chasen over his squad radio but realized he needed to get the pilot out of this area first.
He moved forward and pulled Nikolay to his feet. “We’re not dead yet, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. We have about three miles of rough terrain to cover, so let’s go.”
* * * * *
“Stef didn’t say where she was going?” Felicia asked the woman who resided in the other side of the duplex where her sister and Craig lived.
The woman, an elderly lady with gray hair and kind eyes, shook her head. “I’m afraid not. I was coming back from a walk this morning when I saw her and Craig get in his car with some suitcases. They left before I had a chance to ask.”
Felicia sighed. She’d driven over to the duplex Stef shared with her boyfriend, fully intending to try to talk to her sister about this crazy idea of getting married before she even finished her sophomore year in college. Felicia doubted Stef would listen, but she had to try. She couldn’t let her sister make such a huge mistake.
Now, she wasn’t going to get the chance. Stef and Craig had already run off to get married.
Felicia would have called her sister right then, but the idiot at the cell phone store had screwed up when he’d transferred
everything from her broken phone to her new one. Her work calendar was now empty, her music playlist gone, and her contact list was now a useless mess of old Yahoo email addresses and random phone numbers with no names attached. She didn’t even know if she was getting texts like she was supposed to. She’d gotten a few from Heather and a couple from Hayley, but they’d come in hours after her friends had sent them. She never realized what a lifeline her phone was until then. She’d didn’t have Stef’s number, or even Logan’s. Heck, she barely had anyone’s contact info.
Fortunately, since Hayley had texted her, Felicia had her number. Thank God. Because right then, Hayley was the only person Felicia could think of who might be able to help her find Stef.
“It’s me,” she said when the other woman answered. “I need a big favor.”
“Anything,” Hayley said.
Felicia explained the situation with Stef and her boyfriend. “Do you think Kyla might be able to do some hacking and figure out where they went?”
Hayley hesitated. “I’ll see what Kyla can do, but Felicia, Stef is an adult. If she wants to run off with her boyfriend, do you think it’s a good idea to run after her and try to drag her home? She isn’t going to appreciate that.”
Felicia’s gaze went to the duplex. “I know, but I need to know where she is. I need to know she’s okay.”
Hayley said she’d get with Kyla and call her back as soon as she could. All Felicia could do was sigh and wonder what to do with the information if she was right about her suspicions and Stef had eloped to somewhere like Vegas.
As Felicia started her car, she realized she’d never gotten around to asking Hayley for Logan’s number. She almost called her friend back, but resisted. She didn’t want to be a nuisance. Besides, it wasn’t like Logan would probably be getting back for a while. She’d get his number when Hayley called back later.
* * * * *
Logan glanced at his watch, shocked it was only 1100 hours. Shit. The pilot’s debriefing had only been going for an hour. God, it felt like it had been days. Probably because it was so damn boring. Logan knew the stuff Nikolay was telling the CIA and Navy analysts about the new Russian aircraft was very valuable, but it was dull as hell. Thank God SEALs rescued people for a living and didn’t do intel analysis. He’d be bored out of his mind.
