Page 49 of Stand Fast

“I’m sorry to hear it.” He sounded so sincere, but thenEl Escorpionhad children of his own, so maybe he meant it. “Go. Spend some time with him before he goes to sleep. I just wanted to let you know I’m working on it on my end. As soon as something comes up, I’ll let you know.”

But what he’d really called for was to check to make sure The Jackal hadn’t been identified yet. At the end of the day, this was merely a business arrangement forEl Escorpion. Where for Fahim, it was his son’slife. “Thank you.”

“You take care, my friend.”

My friend.

Fahim set his jaw and slipped the phone back into his pocket, unable to shake the feeling that he was being watched. He wasn’tEl Escorpion’sfriend and never would be, even if he managed to conjure the miracle of saving Fahim’s son.

No, this was business, nothing more, and it was as ruthless as the drug trade he was now too deeply ensconced in to escape. He was only useful as long as he kept the opium flowing to Mexico.

For his son, he would ensure that it did.

Fahim wiped at his eyes to hide all traces of fear and sadness from his face before climbing the back steps and letting himself in through the kitchen door. His boots were quiet on the tiled floor as he made his way to his son’s bedroom.

When he reached the doorway his wife and son both looked up at him with tired smiles. The boy was in his mother’s lap, his dark head resting on her shoulder as she read him a book.

“Ah, that one again?” Fahim asked with an indulgent smile.

“I love it,” Beena rasped out from beneath the oxygen mask. His face was ashen, a bluish tinge to it, his little chest laboring as he struggled to breathe.

Fahim’s heart cried out in agony at the unfairness of it, but he kept his smile firmly in place. “Would you like me to read it to you tonight?”

Beena nodded, his eyes brightening.

“All right.” He traded places with his wife, pausing to grasp her hand as she passed him. She stopped and looked down at him, concern darkening her eyes for a moment, but he merely squeezed her hand once and released her.

He lifted Beena into his lap, anguish slicing through him as the slight weight of his son’s too-thin body snuggled into him. Such trust and innocence. Relying on his father to provide for and protect him.

Fahim would not fail him.

Clearing his throat, Fahim started the story from the beginning, his mind on his son and the people who threatened to unravel it all.

The entire American team had to be dealt with. He wanted to do it immediately but killing them now would look far too suspicious so soon on the heels of the other two assassinations, even if he staged it to look like an accident somehow. So no matter how he hated to wait, he’d have to.

Just a little longer.

Chapter Twelve

“Blade one in position. Moving in on target.”

The silent tension in the cramped room sharpened at the SF team leader’s words. It had been two days since the assassination in downtown Kabul, and Jaliya’s team had uncovered yet another target to raid.

She leaned closer to the computer to watch the live feed from the soldier’s helmet-mounted camera, showing the desolate nighttime landscape in the mountains outside of Jalalabad in neon green. Sergeant Bowen was his name.

She’d met him several times now, and he and a few of his teammates had been in the room during the game night with FAST Bravo last week. She knew his face, what color his eyes were, and that he wore a titanium wedding band engraved with a message from his wife.

It was so much harder to watch an operation unfold in real time when she knew people in the unit involved.

It was even harder tonight, since this was the first time that military action had been carried out based directly onherintelligence. Through her network she’d received a tip late this morning that The Jackal would be checking on this shipment tonight personally. The source was credible, and she had high hopes that tonight would prove The Jackal’s undoing. They’d also tightened security in an effort to stop or at least isolate the suspected leak.

As she watched the soldiers on screen, her mind flashed to Zaid and the rest of FAST Bravo, who had been sent to check out a different village close to the SF team’s target. They’d texted back and forth since the other night in her office, but hadn’t seen each other since.

It was impossible not to worry about him and the others, especially when she had no information on their op or movements. All day she’d been focused entirely on planning this op, and Commander Taggart was monitoring his team from another room.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about Zaid. In a matter of weeks since FAST Bravo had been over here, he had managed to steal his way into her heart. If anyone suspected there was something going on between them, it could be disastrous for her position. She’d done her best to hide her feelings and tried not to pay him more attention than the others when they were in a meeting or briefing, but she wasn’t certain she’d pulled it off.

It was unsettling to feel so intensely about a man when she couldn’t have him. Not for anything more than a short-term fling, anyway. Wondering what he meant by wanting more than sex was driving her crazy, but that was a conversation she wanted to have face-to-face, in private.

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