Page 95 of What I Should Have Done

I bit back the smile, waiting for the inevitable hiss of a bullet soaring through the air.

“Did you say something?” Karim stretched his arms out, a grin widening on his face as he stepped out from behind Rashid.

“Crow, respond,” Dom asked over the radio.

A low chuckle reverberated around us. “I can’t hear you very well, but I assume you’re calling for someone. A friend and business partner of mine reminded me to not forget about your newest companion.” al-Jabari inhaled deeply and raised his gaze above our buggies. “I heard she’s called ‘squib’ am I right?”

The fabric of reality tore apart.

Scottie.

Pieces of a puzzle slammed together. But the last thing I cared about at this moment was the fact that we just received confirmation as to who our mole was.

Scottie.

Rustling and a string of curse words from a voice I knew, from someone I craved, melded through the frozen time, whirring the world back into orbit. I didn’t want to look behind the two sand rails flanking us. But there was no stopping my gaze from connecting to the sight I knew I was about to find.

Five figures morphed out of the shadows. Thick, red liquid stained the right side of Scottie’s face, dripping from a gash in the side of her head. Dark hair stuck to her skin; her body hung limply between two men dragging her on her knees toward us. Following behind were two more combatants, carrying her sniper rifle and helmet.

Scottie.

Her chin raised, dazed amber eyes briefly found mine, and she suddenly thrashed about. The butt of a rifle slammed against her stomach. I bit back the desire to rush out of my seat and tear the throats out of the monsters who held her captive. Anger seared hot through the ringing in my ears. How dare they touch her.

How dare he.

“Now, who’s going to tell me where to find my box?” Karim jumped down to the hood of the truck, his faithful follower joining him and stepping back in front as a human shield, as Scottie and her captors passed in front of us. “Or should I blow her brains out right here?” Karim pulled a gun from his waistband, cocking it. “Oh, and don’t bother trying to radio your command, my loyal soldier will make sure you can’t contact anyone.”

“Fuck you!” Scottie shouted, spitting toward Karim as the four men threw her in front of the truck. A fleeting surge of pride rushed through my veins as I knew what was going to happen.

What I was going to do. What I was willing to do.

What I had to do to give her the world.

Chapter 32

SCOTTIE

My head swam. The strange insurgent standing on the hood of the truck, shielded by his right-hand man, Rashid, was unrecognizable as the world swirled around me. But the one thing I had recognized, the one thing that I knew for sure, were Mikey’s ocean eyes locked onto me. He’d tracked me the entire way, pain and desperation twisting his features in a way I’d never seen before.

And all I wanted was him.

Pressure shoved my head toward the sand. My knees burned, grating against the dune floor.

“She doesn’t know where it is,” Mikey’s voice permeated the air.

I shoved back against the pressure, throwing off the hand that forced me to look at the ground. What was he doing? Why wasn’t Dom speaking instead of Mikey?

“No? And I’m assuming you do?” the man on the hood of the truck asked, and as the fuzz in my brain finally cleared, it dawned on me who he was.

“Yes.” Mikey climbed out of the buggy. “I’ll trade places with her.”

“Stop moving. Right now, or I pull this trigger,” Karim demanded.

Mikey threw his hands into the air, surrendering his palms. This was not part of the plan. We had known this was a possibility, but this was not how we’d agreed to go about this. We were supposed to fight.

“Everyone, show me your hands and get out,” Karim quickly added. His soldiers raised their rifles, pointing them at my team.

I no longer had my radio in my ear, so I had no idea what Dom was saying, but I could see his mouth moving. So, why was no one fighting? What was going on? This felt exactly like a damn movie, happening as everyone always predicted it would.

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