Page 96 of What I Should Have Done

Fight, damn it!

Slowly, as fear laced heavily through my body, the rest of my team exited the dune buggies. They cautiously crept forward, putting space between our only mode of transportation and themselves.

“Alright, stop,” Karim hissed. All five of them paused, standing in a straight line, vulnerable to every bullet that might come their way.

“A simple trade, Karim, that’s all I’m asking,” Mikey spoke again, taking a single step forward. “Me for her.”

“Prove you know where it is,” Karim hissed.

“I knew the man who stole it from you in the first place,” Mikey replied.

“That doesn’t prove anything.”

“I’m going to reach into my pocket and show you how he relayed the message to me before dying. It’s not a weapon,” Mikey explained and slowly lowered his hands.

“Remove your gear first. Drop your weapons, your vest, radio, everything first,” Karim instructed.

No, don’t do it!

Mikey’s blue eyes slid to mine. His brows flickered, tightening together as he slowly raised the strap of his rifle over his head. The click of a buckle. A plunk of heavy metal against a rocky floor. Tears swelled in my eyes as he slowly removed every inch of equipment meant to protect him and save his life.

I wasn’t worth it. Why the hell was he negotiating? We’d already discussed this in the meeting. This was not what Dom had meant as a bargaining chip. Just the information. Not an actual person.

Why was no one fighting? We could have a fucking shoot out and win.

“Alright, show me,” Karim instructed as Mikey stood up straight in nothing but his combat uniform.

He stuffed a hand in his pocket and slowly pulled out a pair of dog tags. My brows stitched together as he pinched them between his fingers. They unfurled with a simple tink. “This is how you figured out who he was, wasn’t it?” Mikey asked.

A hiss slipped through Karim al-Jabari’s lips. I glanced behind me in time to catch a single nod from him. Massive hands clamped around my shoulders, ripping me from the ground. Stabbing pain shot through my legs and nausea curdled in my throat. My head swam; my ears rang as two men dragged me forward.

“Don’t,” I choked out as Mikey walked past me.

“Don’t!” I screamed again and whipped my gaze back to Dom. “Why aren’t you stopping him?”

Dom didn’t even acknowledge my plea.

A few yards away from my team, the two men holding me threw me to the ground but kept my sniper rifle and helmet. My knees rammed against the hard rock, sending a wave of agony up my legs again.

Ford rushed forward, quickly hoisting me from the ground, and he dragged me backwards to rejoin the group. “You okay?” he whispered, brushing some sand from me.

“I’m fine,” I hissed and shoved his hands away. Unusual shadows caught my eye and I glanced over at our buggies. The smell of gasoline coated my nostrils as a few insurgents emptied containers all over the sand rails.

“No,” I silently gasped, placing a hand over my mouth as flames ignited, quickly engulfing our way out of here.

Raising my gaze to my teammates in order to alert them, a chill swept through the air. All four of them were standing completely still, unmoving, unblinking. Spinning around, I forced myself to my feet and froze.

“Mikey!” I quietly cried out, tears swelling in my eyes. With his hands tied behind his back, Mikey knelt on the sandy floor. al-Jabari stood behind him, still shielded by al-Farouk, inspecting the dog tags with a furrowed brow. His dark hair accentuated the shadows on his face.

A smile slowly spread across the terrorist’s lips. “I’m going to show you some mercy even though I assume someone else in your little group knows where the box is. I’ll get there long before you will, seeing as now you’ll be traveling on foot. You have five minutes before I tell my men to start shooting.”

Dom nodded and a hand suddenly snapped around my arm. Ford dragged me backwards towards the dying flames of the buggies that no longer would afford us a quick escape. “What are we doing?” I exclaimed, staring at Dom.

But the commander didn’t acknowledge me as we slipped toward the other side of the burning buggies, in order to provide cover from every insurgent except for the six behind us.

“You know, I am surprised, though,” Karim shouted. Dom paused, raising a fist. Everyone stopped moving at the side of the buggies, and I ripped my arm out of Ford’s hands.

“Surprised by what?” Dom snarled. My gaze slid to Mikey who remained kneeling on the ground.

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