Page 27 of Lethal Pursuit

Maya blinked away the sudden moisture in her eyes. His love for his family was so strong she could practically feel it. A small part of her envied belonging to that kind of tight-knit security, but she just wanted him to return to his loved ones safely. The chances of them escaping on their own were almost zero. Their only chance lay in a rescue. She prayed for a miracle.

“They’re...” She paused to gather herself, found the courage to say it aloud. “They’re all out looking for us by now. Right?” She hated the uncertainty eating at her.

“Yeah. And with the Sec Def being involved, the entire region has to be crawling with SOF personnel right now.”

She clung to the tiny spark of hope those words lit inside her. Maybe someone would find them before it was too late. Otherwise their chance of escape—of survival—dwindled by the minute. Even if they managed to get out, in her condition she’d be a liability to the others now. No way could she keep up on the run with her injuries.

They were silent a long time. To stay calm, Maya focused on taking shallow breaths and feeling the steady throb of Jackson’s heart beneath her palm. “In your training,” she began, in English this time, “you must have been good in the water. Scuba diving and whatever.”

“I wasn’t at first, but I got real good eventually. Why?”

A beat passed before she answered. “I’ve always wanted to scuba dive.” The wistful words trailed off into silence, and he didn’t break it.

She was just drifting off into a light doze when the sound of footsteps snapped her to rigid wakefulness. Her bloody lips pressed together to stifle a cry of pain and fear. Were they coming back for her?

No.No! Her heart beat a hard tattoo against her ribs.

Jackson heard it too. He tensed, seemed to hold his breath for a few seconds until it became clear the person was headed toward them. She forced herself to pull her hand away from him, her mind screaming in protest at the loss of her only anchor in this sea of agony and suffering.

“Maya,” he whispered, regret and urgency lacing his voice.

Forcing back the cries clawing at her throat as she inched her way to the middle of her cold cell, Maya gathered what was left of her courage. If the guards suspected she and Jackson cared about each other, they’d exploit it at every turn. She refused to allow that to happen. She was the ranking military officer; her duty now was to protect Jackson and the Sec Def. If that meant taking more beatings over the next few hours or days to spare them, she’d do it.

I am an American Airman.

Wingman, Leader, Warrior.

I will never leave an Airman behind,

I will never falter,

And I will not fail.

She repeated that part of the Airman’s Creed over and over during the long seconds while those dreaded footsteps approached. The beam of the flashlight finally washed over her and for one terrible moment, the panic rising inside her was so strong she didn’t think she could hold it back.

But the man holding it merely shone it over her still form as though he was looking her over or making sure she wasn’t dead yet. Apparently satisfied by what he saw, he clicked it off and shuffledback toward the opposite wall. His knees cracked as he sank down and settled himself there.

Aware of Jackson lying close by and that her captors would be returning for her soon enough, Maya closed her eyes and drifted into a fitful doze, desperate for the escape.

NINE

THEIR JOINED VOICESfloated into the cool spring air as Khalid and his men said their dawn prayers. The air was chilly, his breath rising in a silver vapor into the sky. As one, they kneeled together, facing Mecca, touching their foreheads to their prayer carpets while the first rays of sun filled the valley below, painting the harsh and barren landscape with tones of pink and gold.

A beautiful morning for reflection and an entire day full of promising opportunity ahead.

He and his men finished prayers and gathered together for a light meal of tea, bread and dried fruit. Everyone was quiet but in good spirits, though Khalid could sense nervousness in some of the others. He’d done what he could to calm their fears, but there was no escape from danger now. Their high-profile prisoner guaranteed that a full-scale rescue operation was well underway now. Every last man had to maintain increased vigilance and be ready to move location at a moment’s notice, using one of the various evacuation plans already in place.

He spotted Mohammed sitting away from the others, wrapped in a heavy woolen shawl. The teenager’s gaze connected with his for a heartbeat before he looked away. Expelling a deep breath, Khalid approached him. This had to be dealt with. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, Khalid-jan.” He wouldn’t meet Khalid’s eyes and his expression was guarded.

Khalid lowered himself to the ground and squatted beside Mohammed. Together they watched the sun rise, spilling more of its warm light across the valley. “Taking those prisoners was an important thing. You understand what we must do now, yes?”

The boy nodded, looked away and shifted his feet. Khalid knew why he was so uncomfortable. It was the reason he’d sentMohammed away from the room before beginning the physical part of the female’s interrogation. From the corridor he’d have heard everything, but at least he’d been spared the sight of it.

“Our prisoners are well-trained soldiers,” he continued. “It is my duty to break them, to find out what we need to know. That is the only way to help our people now. It is how we will begin the end of the American occupation.”

Mohammed nodded again, still staring out over the valley.

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