Page 89 of Over the Edge

“Isn’t it great working with women?” Axe commented dryly. “We get to play with underwires, now.”

Cal grinned. “Tell me about the meeting.”

She raised her left arm over her head to give Leo access to her side and said, “The contact’s name is Patel. He’s the general in charge of Jammu and Kashmir provinces. Ronan says the guy owes him huge and will play ball with me as soon as I drop Ronan’s name…assuming I flirt with him and show him a little cleavage. This Patel guy is a known womanizer and goes for blondes in particular. The general can’t be seen talking with anyone who might be linked back to the U.S. military, of course. Enter me. The blonde nobody will guess is Spec Ops.”

“You’re okay with having him potentially hit on you?” Cal asked reluctantly.

“You say that like I haven’t ever been hit on before. Should I be insulted?”

“I didn’t mean it like that. You’re very attractive. It’s just…this is awkward…” He trailed off as her grin widened and then finished in a rush. “It’s one thing theoretically to use women operators in this way, but it’s another thing to actually do it.”

“I’m not going to sleep with the guy,” Lily retorted. “I’m just having dinner with him. Some pleasant conversation. Putting him at ease. You can breathe, Cal. You haven’t turned into a pimp.”

“I’m allowed to worry about my troops,” Cal declared.

“And I can take care of myself.”

She could, at that. What Lily lacked in size and strength in hand-to-hand combat, she made up for by being fast and slippery as a mink. He nodded in approval at her. “The longer I work with you ladies, the more I realize how well I chose.”

Lily laughed as she turned around to give her back to Leo. “And don’t you ever forget it.”

Anna navigated while Trevor drove.She took them north for the rest of the morning, and eventually came out at what constituted a major highway. There were actually two sets of stone tracks paralleling each other so traffic could pass without someone having to pull off to the side of the road.

They came to a village at the base of the infamous Khyber Pass between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the late afternoon. Apparently, they had to cross over into Afghanistan to meet Trevor’s informant. Using the writer/photographer cover again, they asked about someplace to spend the night and were offered clean straw in a barn, which they gratefully accepted.

The young family they stayed with offered to share supper with them, and after the meal—a stew sopped up with a tasty flatbread fresh off the stone it was cooked on—Trevor disappeared outside with the man of the house to smoke.

Anna tried to help the wife clean up after the meal, but the woman waved her back down to her seat. Which left Anna with the children. She taught them how to do thumb wars, and the kids laughed and squealed with her for several minutes. When she asked them to teach her a game, the little girl, perhaps seven years old, started to sing in, of all things, halting English.

Twink-uh, twink-uh, coun-try stah,

Hah I von-duh vay you ah.

Up east of duh cold dee-vide,

Cah-ssing to dee udd-ah side.

Twink-uh, twink-uh, coun-try stah,

Hah I von-duh vay you ah.

What on earth?Anna asked carefully, “Can you sing that again?”

The little girl nodded and repeated the song.

It was definitely the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. But those were just as definitely not the usual lyrics. She repeated after the little girl, “Up east of the cold divide?”

The child smiled widely.

“Crossing to the other side?”

The children laughed and clapped as if she’d solved a big mystery. “And you said, ‘ Twinkle, twinkle, country star, yes?”

“Uhh huh. The man in the cage singed it.”

Oh. My. God.

She stood up with a brittle smile and stepped outside. Trevor noticed her instantly and excused himself from his conversation. He took her by the elbow, leading her around the corner of the house. “What’s up?”

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