Page 40 of Stand Fast

“Well. I suppose we’ll just have to leave it to the investigative journalist I spoke with to get to the bottom of it. He seemed incredibly keen to begin work on the story when I met with him this morning.”

When the color drained from his face, she knew her threat had hit home. He was dirty and now people outside of his corrupt little circle knew it. Once exposed, his credibility in this city—in all of Afghanistan—was shot to shit. And that likely put him square in The Jackal’s crosshairs.

“Well, thank you for lunch.” She stood and pushed her chair back, satisfaction surging through her veins. “I’m fortunate to be in a position to provide you a certain amount of…protection, should you decide to cooperate in our investigation. If you decide you want to make a deal, your assistant has my contact info. Think about it. ”

Giving him a tight smile, she grabbed her coat and headed for the door, doing a mental fist pump. That dumbstruck and stricken expression on his face had been priceless. She’d bet a year’s salary that he’d call and ask for a deal within the next twenty-four hours.

Already riding high on the wave of her success, the sight of Zaid waiting for her outside the dining room doors made her heart flutter.

“All done here,” she said.

He gave her an assessing look before nodding and transitioning back into sentry mode. “Prentiss is bringing up the SUV. I told him we’d meet him at the corner.”

“Sure.” She followed him outside, her mind churning. Yasin was pretty adept at covering his tracks. She and her team had to be better at uncovering them before he could destroy whatever remaining evidence linked him to The Jackal.

She and Zaid were a few steps down the sidewalk from the hotel when a familiar voice came from behind her. Jaliya glanced back to see Yasin and his security agent emerging from the lobby onto the front steps. Yasin’s face was dark as a thundercloud, his strides quick and angry as he started down the steps.

Someone shouted. She stiffened and whipped fully around, caught a glimpse of two men as they burst out of a vehicle in front of the hotel, automatic weapons in their hands. A ragged gasp locked in her throat.

Yasin froze on the steps. His bodyguard reached back to shove him to the ground and reached for his weapon, but it was too late. The gunmen opened fire.

Strong arms grabbed her around the shoulders and yanked her sideways as the bullets flew. She bit back a cry and braced for impact, but Zaid twisted them and managed to get a hand up to cradle the back of her head before it could bounce off the concrete. They hit the sidewalk together and he rolled on top of her, covering her with his body as they hid behind the flimsy cover of a bench.

Screams and shots filled the air. She made out the sound of pistols returning fire and the automatic weapons stopped. Tires squealed. Then an eerie silence took over.

Her heart thudded in her ears and her lungs were tight. After a few moments of quiet Zaid lifted his head to glance behind her. “Don’t move from here until I tell you to,” he muttered, and rolled off her to crouch behind the bench, drawing his weapon.

Jaliya rolled to her stomach and peered beneath the bottom of the bench, uncaring about her scrapes and bruises. Yasin and his bodyguard lay sprawled on their backs on the hotel steps, their blood running in crimson rivulets down the treads. People were racing out of the hotel to help them. One of the gunmen lay dead on his side on the sidewalk, his weapon still in his hands.

She swallowed, shock rolling through her in a dark wave. The Jackal? Had he known about the meeting? Had he or his men followed her here?

Beside her, Zaid was already on his phone to Prentiss. “Meet us one block north.” He shoved his phone back into his pocket, reached out to grab her under the arms and hauled her to her feet. “Let’s go.” His tone brooked no argument and she had none anyway.

Her mind was in a fog as she jogged behind him, his hand locked securely around hers as he led her alongside the hotel to the street behind it, and turned left. They’d just assassinated Yasin in broad daylight, in plain view of no fewer than a dozen witnesses. Would they have killed her too if Zaid hadn’t tackled her?

Cold seeped into her bones. If she’d been a few seconds slower, she and Zaid might be lying in their own blood on those steps right now too.

Barely aware of moving, she blinked as the SUV suddenly appeared before them at the end of the alley. Prentiss brought the vehicle to a rocking stop.

Zaid ripped open the back door before shoving her into it. He was right behind her, sliding into the back seat before slamming the door shut. Prentiss took off, speeding them away from the scene.

Jaliya gripped the door handle and tried to steady herself.I’m okay. I’m fine. Zaid’s okay too.

“You get a good look at them?” Prentiss asked.

“A good enough look,” Zaid responded, looking all around them as his teammate drove. “Two gunmen and a driver. Driver and one of the shooters got away.”

“Get the plate?”

“No.” He was so calm. But she wasn’t. Not inside, at least. Inside, she was shaky as hell.

Zaid reached for her hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. She was cold, her breathing slightly choppy. “You okay?” he asked quietly.

She met his gaze and nodded. “I’m okay.”

No she wasn’t. She was shaken, but putting on the best brave front she could. And she was too smart not to realize that her involvement in this investigation might have just put her square in The Jackal’s crosshairs. She might even have been one of the intended targets back there.

“We’ll get you back to base real soon,” Zaid murmured, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.

---