Page 4 of Stand Fast

Zaid felt for her. She and the others on the taskforce had been working overtime to find The Jackal, and woman-hating assholes like Barakat gave her no time or respect whatsoever, making her job even harder.

“Barakat,” he said, immediately taking the chair opposite him and pulling up to the table. He leaned back in it, his hands resting on his thighs in a deceptively casual pose. Open body language made for a higher chance of building a fragile thread of trust.

The kid focused on him, but flicked another cold look over at Agent Rabani in the corner.

“I understand you can help us find The Jackal,” Zaid said in Dari, wanting to take the kid’s attention off her so they could get things moving.

“Why is she still here?” Barakat demanded as he stared at Agent Rabani.

“Because she’s in charge of this investigation. So if you have a problem with her being here, that’s too bad. Because she’s staying.”

Barakat’s expression turned sullen as he looked back at Zaid, like a child who’d just been scolded. But he didn’t argue. Progress.

Zaid cocked his head a little. “So. We doing this, or not?”

The kid stared at Zaid’s chest rather than looking at his face. “I don’t know who he is.”

“So then whatdoyou know? Maybe you’ve heard where he is? Where he’s going? Or maybe you know something about a shipment. You have to give me something.”

He flicked a fulminating look at Rabani again. “Maybe I know something.”

Part of Zaid itched to reach across the table and grab this rude little fuck by the throat. But since he wasn’t authorized for that sort of interrogation, he’d have to play it cool and save the choking bit as something to fantasize about while he sat here.

“Look,” Zaid said, bringing that black gaze back to him. “You know there’s no money unless you give us something we can use. And you wouldn’t have come all the way to Bagram, risking someone seeing you enter the base unless you had something to tell us. Something you didn’t want to say over the phone.”

The kid lowered his gaze. “I did hear something. Last night. But I’m not sure how reliable it is.”

Finally they were getting somewhere. Zaid crossed his arms casually over his chest. “Let’s hear it.”

Barakat hesitated for a long moment before answering. “Supposedly he’s getting ready to move a shipment. From Kabul to a village in the foothills to the east.” He named it.

Zaid had never heard of it, even after all the time he’d spent deployed over here. Must be small and remote. “Go on.”

“I heard it’s going to be moved over the border into Pakistan within the next few days.”

Well, it was something. And at least the kid didn’t appear to be preoccupied by Rabani anymore. “What kind of shipment?”

“Opium.”

Of course.

“And weapons. Lots of weapons. I don’t know what else.”

Money. A shitload of money, likely U.S. greenbacks. “And The Jackal ordered it?”

“Yes. I don’t know if he’ll be there in person though.”

One could only hope. Zaid and his team would love to help capture that son of a bitch before this tour was over. “Who did you hear this from?”

“An elder in my village. I overheard him talking to some of the men at a council meeting last night.”

Jaliya crossed to the table and spread a map down in front of Barakat. “Show us where the village he’s moving the shipment to is.”

Without looking at her, Barakat placed a fingertip on the map, right in the foothills of the central Hindu Kush.

Zaid watched her, taking in the sweep of her thick lashes, the strong lines of her profile as she studied the map for a moment, then stepped back. Even without knowing her well, Zaid could tell that having to hand over the reins to him for this was hard for her. “You need anything else?” he asked her quietly in English.

Those bittersweet chocolate eyes cut to him, sharp and direct. He could almost hear the gears turning in her head, analyzing all the data Barakat had just given them.

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