Page 2 of Stand Fast

“He’s just upset because he didn’t realize he’d be dealing with a woman,” she said without looking over her shoulder. Well, too damn bad for Barakat. She’d been working various informants over here for the better part of three years now, and refused to let misogynistic wankers like this one get to her.

“Barakat,” she said, her voice sharp. The kid’s jaw clenched beneath his scraggly beard and he reluctantly made eye contact again. “We brought you here for a reason. You need to tell us what you know about The Jackal and any upcoming shipments you’ve heard about, or there’s no deal.” To press her point, she pulled the chair back from the table, sat down and leaned forward, deliberately crowding his space. Refusing to give him any wiggle room.

He pushed his chair back as though the very idea of having to sit so close to her was offensive. “I do not negotiate with women.”

His hateful expression and tone set her teeth on edge. Too often in this part of the world men treated women like livestock or stray dogs, placing no value on them whatsoever, let alone granting them respect as fellow human beings.

Jaliya didn’t stand for it. She didn’t care what men around here thought about her—she was working to help stem the endless flow of opium out of this country, and she didn’t give a shit whether assholes like Barakat liked it or not.

“Well, you’re going to have to today, and for as long as you want money from the DEA. You’ve seen what The Jackal does. How he prospers off the poison he smuggles out of your country, profiting off the broken backs and broken lives of the people he uses to make himself rich. How he kills or tortures anyone who opposes him.” She paused. “Including your grandfather, the man who raised you.”

Those dark eyes darted back to hers, now burning with resentment instead of just loathing. He didn’t answer.

She pushed. “I can help make him pay for everything he’s done. But to do that, I need to find him first. I was told you know something that might be useful to us. Was my source wrong?”

No response, just that defiant stare.

All too aware of Taggart and her colleague impatiently watching all of this happen, she tamped down her irritation as the back of her neck began to heat up. She’d worked damn hard to build a reputation within the agency for getting things done, and being one of the best intelligence personnel they had. She was proud of that, and wouldn’t let anything diminish it.

Including the ignorant little shit before her now.

She held Barakat’s gaze, refusing to back down. “Don’t waste my time. You’ve got ten seconds to answer me, or the deal’s off.”

“Well?” Taggart prompted, still standing behind her.

She was glad he couldn’t see her face or tell how fast her pulse was pounding. “He’s not cooperating,” she gritted out, frustrated and embarrassed.

He sighed. “Let’s get a male translator in here then—”

“There aren’t any available,” she said, continuing the staring contest with her so far useless informant. She’d pulled so many strings to get him here, and he was giving hernothing. Dammit. “My colleague just said so.”

Taggart exhaled impatiently, his boots shifting on the floor.

Jaliya resented being made to look like a fool. It played on her secret fear that she didn’t have what it took to pull off this kind of job, that she might fail and lose her position within the taskforce because of her gender. Her father’s words were always there in the back of her mind.

Why would you waste your time in that job?You won’t do any good over there. You’re a woman. They won’t respect or cooperate with you. Stay in the States and do something with your life that will actually make a difference.

No. She’d invested too much time and effort to get where she was. She wouldn’t allow this bullshit misogynistic behavior to jeopardize any of it.

Jaliya held Barakat’s gaze for another few seconds, then shoved her chair back and stood up. “Take your medical supplies and go, and don’t bother contacting us again,” she told him in a cold voice. “Have a nice trip back to your village.” She grabbed her coat from the chair and turned to leave.

Taggart stopped her with an upraised hand. “Wait. I’ll bring in one of my guys to help.”

She stared at him. “What?”

He already had his phone to his ear. “He speaks fluent Dari and he’s got the necessary security clearance.”

There was no doubt as to who he meant.

An immediate protest formed on her tongue but she bit it back as conflicting arrows of dismay and anticipation shot through her. It wouldn’t do any good to argue. And she did need help.

It just chafed thathewould be the one called in to assist.

****

Deeply engrossed in the Web Griffin book he was currently reading, SA Zaid Khan had just flipped to the next page when someone nudged his shoulder. Pushing up on his bunk, he pulled off his headphones and blinked down at his teammate, Reid Prentiss, who stood beside their stacked bunk beds, his dark brown hair damp from a recent shower.

“What?” Everyone knew better than to interrupt him when he was sucked into a book during his downtime. Or at least, they should know better.

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