Page 63 of Stand Fast

The promise carried weight, because it was rumored that the man revered his family, and especially his mother.

It was a huge gamble, to trust the two most precious people on earth to a man with as ruthless a reputation asEl Escorpion. But with the alternative being watching Beena die in a Kabul hospital bed, what choice did he have?

“All right. I’ll have them at the airport at noon. Text me the amount you want me to wire you.”

“Good. And try not to worry. I’ll look after them both as if they were my own blood.”

His throat tightened. “Thank you.”

He ended the call and put the phone away, his mind churning furiously as he turned onto his street and drove to the hospital. His wife would argue at first when he told her the plan. But she would do it, because she loved their son more than anything.

His hands tightened around the steering wheel as he drove through the waking city, the outline of the boxy hospital building coming into view in the distance. He thought of Beena lying in one of its beds, hooked up to tubes and monitors while they fought to keep oxygen flowing through his tiny body.

It couldn’t be too late. Not after everything he’d risked to get this far.

Not when he was prepared to sacrifice himself to ensure that his son lived.

Chapter Fifteen

Jaliya knocked on the door to her boss’s new office in Kabul before cracking it open and poking her head in. David was at his desk going over some files. “Hey. Can I talk to you for a minute? It’s important.”

He closed the file. “Sure.”

“Not here.”

David gave her a puzzled look for a moment but when she gestured for him to follow her, he got up and crossed the room. “Where are we going?”

“If anyone asks, we’ll just say we’re going to grab some lunch.”

He walked with her down to the lobby of the building the DEA had set them up in. But she didn’t stop there, choosing instead to exit the building and walk half a block down the street to a tiny park before sitting on the wooden bench there.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he sank down next to her.

She didn’t care if it seemed like she was being overly paranoid. “I didn’t feel comfortable talking about this in there.” She nodded back toward the building. “I’ve long suspected that someone on the inside is interfering with our efforts to find The Jackal, and as of this morning I’m more convinced than ever.”

“All right, I’m listening.”

“My team has been analyzing all our data and intel for the past two days. We’re getting close to identifying who he is.”

He frowned at her. “Okay…”

She took a deep breath and pulled a folded piece of paper out of her pocket, showing the pictures of three men. One was the deputy chief of police. One was a suspected lieutenant of The Jackal’s.

And one was a military commander linked to the Afghan army. Colonel Shah.

David looked up at her in astonishment. “Are you serious?”

“It has to be one of them. And as of right now, my gut’s leaning toward him.” She tapped Shah’s photo. And she was listening to her gut on this one because the successful seizure last night had bolstered both her confidence and self-esteem. She was feeling good and more determined than ever to nail The Jackal.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. It’s his men we’ve been sending out to assist with the various teams. He’s been helping coordinate the missions personally—”

“Exactly.”

David fell silent, his shocked expression mirroring exactly how she’d felt when she’d finally realized what had been right under her nose all the time. “But his record is impeccable. Beyond reproach. I vetted him personally after the agency did the initial background check prior to bringing him on board, and when we looked at everything again last week due to this leak, he still checked out.”

“I know. We think something drastic must have changed in his personal life over the past few months.”

David shook his head. “Shit, if it turns out to be him…”

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