Page 62 of Trapped With the Secret Agent

If she was still angry with him, she wouldn’t be holding on to him like he was her personal anchor. Then again...his sisters had always found a way to teach their husbands a lesson and did so with smiles on their faces.

The roar of a tank topped the sound of the truck’s engine and Georgia grabbed his arm with her other hand as it approached and passed them. Peter reached around and encircled her, pulling her in close, stroking her shoulder reassuringly.

“We’re ok,” he whispered in her ear. “As far as they know, we’re just one big happy army.”

She laughed but quickly snuffed the sound out, as if afraid to find his words funny.

Now she had a grip on him with both hands, he realized they were shaking slightly. She wasn’t nearly as composed as she was trying to act. She probably figured she was a liability if she behaved any other way. Peter shook his head. Amazing. He’d seen trained men buckle under less pressure than she’d been under in the last twenty-four hours, yet here she was trying to hold it together and doing an awesome job.

Peter peeled her fingers off his arm and let go of her hand, choosing instead to wrap both arms around her, plastering her to his side. There. He hoped that would help.

Immediately, she relaxed. The cloth of her chador grazed his chin and her breath tickled his neck.

“Thank you,” she breathed into his ear.

“Any time.”

Peter was glad that she found his embrace comforting and not a reminder of that asshole who’d attacked her the day before. He could still picture her hunkered against the wall, terrified out of her mind. The thought was enough to make him want to commit murder all over again, but he controlled his anger. Now was not the time for that. There’d be plenty of opportunities later to exact retribution.

The truck bounced as it went over a large pothole in the road, and Peter had to take a better grip on her, hauling her almost totally into his lap to prevent her from falling onto the floor. He wanted to keep her there but didn’t want the SEALs to ask any questions, aloud or otherwise, so he eased her back onto the bench next to him, keeping a firm arm around her waist.

The truck slowed.

“Welis, we’re going to need those directions now.” Stokes’s voice floated through the dark.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to Georgia, moving off the bench toward the front of the box where the slit in the canvas was. He felt along the flexible wall, searching for the opening, found it, and stuck his head through.

They were on a shadowy street, no lights were working, and all the surrounding buildings were dark. He recognized the rundown restaurant where he’d killed the soldier and gave Carrs directions to make a turn and keep going for several blocks.

Almost every street now had a tank or a truck full of soldiers or both on it.

Peter kept a running tally of the military presence and wasn’t happy with how fast the numbers where adding up.

“What’s the plan for getting the hostages out?”

Stokes never took his eyes off the surrounding terrain. “As soon as we give the all clear signal, they’ll be helicoptered out. The birds are fueled up and waiting at the base.”

Peter nodded. “Sounds good. What’s our timeframe?”

“Completion of mission by 06:00. Before sunrise.”

Peter looked at his watch. It was 01:00 hours now. Only five hours to get in, disarm the nuke, neutralize the terrorists, free the hostages, and get them flown out. He hoped they could do it all in time.

“Slow down,” he ordered Carrs. “This is it. Turn right at the next corner. We need to find a place to stash the truck.”

“Aye, sir,” the SEAL said as he coasted around the corner. They rolled slowly down the street, Stokes looking out the window on the right and Peter out the left, for a place to park the truck out of sight.

The headlights of another transport truck approached.

“There.” Stokes pointed at a deep shadow on his side of the street. “Do you see it?”

Peter stared at the dark outline of a building, barely making out the large open door and empty interior. “It looks like an old garage.”

The other truck was rapidly approaching.

“Sir, I’m going to let this truck go by and drive around the block,” Carrs said.

Stokes nodded. “Sounds good.”

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