Page 4 of Lethal Pursuit

“Not even if I walked you over there?”

“Nope, not even then.” Maya hated hospitals. She only went if she was in desperate shape, like that time when she hadn’t blocked akidney shot and wound up peeing blood. They hadn’t been able to do much for her anyhow.

A faint smile spread across his face as he shook his head at her stubbornness. “That’s what I figured, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“True.” His sweet concern was proving an almost irresistible lure. No man had ever treated her with half the consideration this one did, and she barely knew him.

“Well, if you’re sure I can’t talk you into going to the hospital, I should head back.”

To the other side of the base, where the Spec Ops compound was. “Okay. I’m glad I heard you sing, by the way. I enjoyed it. You’re really good.”

He smiled, making the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Thanks.” A small silence ensued, and when she didn’t fill the void, he nodded once to acknowledge the conversation had come to an end. “Well. Guess I’ll see you around then.”

“Oh, you can count on it,” she replied. Pivoting, she left him to chew on that parting shot, the image of his startled smile fresh in her head. And even if it made her cheek hurt worse, damned if she wasn’t smiling too.

TWO

KHALID LOOKED UPfrom his map when Mohammed burst into the room and announced, “They’re here.”

He stood and followed the teenager out into the bright sunshine. Squinting to cut the light, his gaze settled on the small convoy of trucks winding their way down the mountain road toward the valley floor. He smiled. “Perfect.”

“Should I get the others?”

“Yes. Tell them to unload everything.”

Mohammed scurried off to carry out the order. A few minutes later the trucks ground to a halt where Khalid stood at the edge of the village.

The passenger in the lead truck climbed out and approached Khalid with a huge smile. “My brother.”

Khalid awkwardly accepted the greeting hug. He disliked forced physical contact. “Tell Rahim I thank him for his gifts.”

“You can tell him yourself when you meet him in person.”

His attention sharpened on the man’s beaming face. “You have news for me?”

“Something big. He has written it here.” The man pulled a wax-sealed envelope from his vest pocket and handed it over.

Quickly breaking the seal, Khalid scanned the document written in Urdu. His heart rate increased with a surge of excitement. “Rahim knows this for certain?”

The man nodded. “The location isn’t known yet, but Rahim’s source has always been reliable and accurate. He’ll let us know when the time comes.”

Khalid couldn’t hide his smile. “The American Secretary of Defense?” Could it be true?

“I know. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for.”

No, it was what Khalid had been waiting for his entirelife.This chance, if it really came, was something he’d dreamed of since he was a boy growing up during the Soviet occupation.

Back then he’d been too young and too crippled by the disgrace of his shameful parentage to even contemplate conducting such an important mission one day. But now, with the right planning, he would be able to achieve every Afghan boy’s dream of humiliating the infidel superpower occupying their homeland. If he and the others handled it right, it might even help turn the American public’s opinion of the so-called War on Terror once and for all. Their president would have no choice but to finally withdraw all American forces from the region.

Then,thenthey could celebrate the sovereignty of the Afghan people and take the fight to the enemy’s shores, where it belonged. Not like before, with sporadic and poorly planned attacks on small targets. A new, deadlier and well-organized war that took many American lives and struck fear into the hearts of the American people. One waged relentlessly with endless attacks wrought on American soil by soldiers of Allah from far and wide. But especially by martyrs already living among the enemy. People no one would ever suspect until it was too late. That was where the future of this war lay.

Pulling a lighter from his pocket, Khalid lit one end of the letter and let it fall at his feet, watching the licking flames curl over the paper, devouring it. With Allah’s grace, he and the others would do the same to their enemy within a few months. “Tell Rahim I look forward to our meeting. It will be an honor to meet him in person finally.”

The man clapped Khalid on the shoulder. “I will tell him. Now, where shall my men take all these supplies?”

Khalid walked to the first truck, where several men were opening the canvas sides to expose the crates filled with food, medical supplies, clothing and weapons. Pistols, automatic rifles, grenades, RPGs. And ammunition. Lots of ammunition. Everything he could ever need to carry out a campaign in the region. He let out an ironic laugh. Throughout the winter his numbers had dwindled. He’d lost some men to the cold, others to their homes and villages. Now, withthese supplies, he’d be able to feed and equip dozens, maybe as many as a hundred or more new recruits.

Mohammed came trotting over, a wide grin on his boyish face, partially covered with the scraggly beard he was trying to grow. “Praise Allah,” he said as he saw all the equipment.

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