Page 57 of Duty Bound

She perked up. That was promising. “So what do we do now? We can’t go around knocking on doors.”

“I’ll take a look around.”

“Okay. Yeah, I know. Wait here.”

He threw her a rare grin then, leaving his pack on the ground beside her, melted into the shadows.

CHAPTER 21

Blade headed toward the dark dwellings. He had no idea which, if any, was Stitch's house but if his former teammate was there, he’d recognize their unit’s callsign and come to him.

He slipped behind the first house, a single-story stone rectangle with a small patio out front and whistled. The sound was designed to sound like a bird indigenous to the region, although the sun was already coming up, so there was a possibility Stitch might think it really was a tweeting bird.

At the seventh house, he heard someone moving inside, then a door creaked. Blade stood behind the dwelling, upright and in full sight. He didn’t want Stitch to be in any doubt as to who he was.

The next moment, a hand clamped over his mouth, and cold steel touched the base of his neck.

What the fuck?

Blade spun out of the person’s grasp, gun raised.

Stitch stood there, grinning.

He sighed and lowered his hands. “You nearly gave me a freakin’ heart attack.”

“I thought I was dreaming.” Stitch sheathed his knife.

It took a moment for Blade’s pulse to return to normal. Trust Stitch to pull that one on him. “Great to see you, buddy.”

The two men hugged.

“I see you haven’t lost your skills,” Blade said wryly.

Stitch chuckled, his teeth white against the darkness. “What the hell are you doing here? More importantly, how did you find me?”

“I remembered that girl you were soft on in the village,” said Blade. “It didn’t take a genius to figure you’d come back here.”

“I only hope the rest of ’em don’t figure that out, else my days here are numbered.”

“No chance. I didn’t tell anyone.”

He nodded his thanks.

Blade grinned. It was great seeing Stitch again. He was thinner—lost most of his bulk since he wasn’t pumping weights anymore. But he was the same old Stitch. “You look well.”

“Life here suits me.”

“Glad to hear it.” He put a hand on Stitch’s arm. “Listen, I wish I could say this was a social call, but it’s not. I need your help. I’ve got a hostage with me, and the Taliban are up our asses. I need to get her to Kabul. Can you help?”

“Christ, you don’t ask much, do you?”

Blade looked him in the eye. “This is a personal mission.”

Stitch frowned.

“For Spade. It’s his girlfriend who got kidnapped. I don’t know if you ever met Lily. She’s a hot-shot software designer working for the CIA.”

“The CIA. Wow.” He gave a thoughtful nod. “I think I remember her. Blonde hair, glasses, pretty smile.”

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