Page 102 of Deadly Betrayal
“Shh…” He soothed her. “No one’s dying.Remember, I told you help was coming tomorrow.” If she was rightand the stoning would be postponed until after the wedding, they’dbe okay. If not… He refused to think about it.
“How can Jake help us?” she sniffed, wipingher wet cheek on his chest. “He does not know anything is wrong. Hewill not know until it is too late.”
“Not Jake. Someone else. An Afghan friendfrom before.” The heat of her tears on his cooling skin made himshiver.
When she raised her head, her eyes glistenedin the moonlight. His heart ached to see her struggle. How muchmore could the woman take before she broke down completely? Sheswallowed the last of her sobs and visibly pulled herself together.Taking a deep breath, she asked, “Can you trust him?”
“I think so.”Shit.That wasn’t true.Hassan had proved himself repeatedly. “No. IknowI cantrust him.”
A wry smile kicked up her lips. “Does thisfriend have his own army? If we are to escape from this prisonalive, we will need one. It is not just us trapped here.”
Kaden knew she meant Laila, her mother, andFaroukh’s uncle. Getting them all out would complicate the mission,but it wouldn’t make it impossible. He shrugged. “My friend and Ihave been in far worse situations.”
She looked at him, peering deep into hissoul. “What exactly did you do in the military?”
He averted his gaze as an old ache started inhis chest. How could he tell such a sweet innocent woman—a doctorwho’d devoted herself to saving people—that he’d been a trainedkiller, a covert operator for an organization that was not evenofficially recognized by the United States government? “I wasSpecial Forces,” he said, opting to get as close to the truth aspossible.
A warm touch traced the length of the scar atthe center of his chest where the doctors had cracked open hissternum. “This injury is why you left the military?” she asked.
“Yep.” The doctors had fixed him up, but thedamage had left him unfit for Delta Force, and rather than goingback to the Rangers, he’d opted out. He didn’t have the staminahe’d once had, and he was more prone to upper-respiratoryinfections. After the ambush, his faith in the military machine wasshaken. The captain had used their unit for his own benefit, toline his own pockets. Kaden would never again be able to trustblindly, to follow orders without question, to assume that officershad their soldiers’ safety at heart. He’d learned otherwise.
“I will never forgive myself for the pain Ihave caused you.” Azita pressed gentle kisses to his scar.
Cupping her shoulders, he coaxed her up. Shekept her eyes down. He sighed. “Did you pull the trigger?”
“I would never—” She shook her head wildly.Her hair lashed his chest, and he barely managed to bite back amoan at the erotic torture.
Focus, asshole.
Azita seemed to have information about thatnight, information he wanted to hear. Didn’t he? “Then how are youresponsible?” If nothing else, her story might help him figure outwho had leaked the details about the planned exchange to the menwho’d shot at them and had stolen the warlord’s money.
“I helped set up the ambush.”
His heart leapt into his throat. She wasfucking killing him. “Honey,” he said as gently as he could. “Howcan that be? You’re a doctor. You don’t have connections likethat.”
Her hands spread over his chest, and when thehairs caught between her fingers, he almost went blind.
“No, I do not. But Agha Khalid does.”
Oh, shit.“Khalid? What does he haveto do with it?” Then it hit him. The warlord. Despite the attack,Rashid Abdullah had made off with the M16s. Maybe the two had madea deal to split the money if Khalid got it back.
“This woman told me—”
He cut her off. “A woman?” he askedincredulously. Women did not usually wield much power inAfghanistan, and while they could hide behind achadri, theydid not easily blend in.
“Yes. She told me that sometimes the ISAFtraded medicine to warlords for information on the Taliban’sactivities.” She met his gaze. “People in the more rural provincesare dying because they have no access to medical care, and evenwhen they do, their doctors rarely have the right kinds ofmedications to treat them. We need antibiotics and vaccines. Ithought this was a way to get them.” Her eyes glistened brightly inthe pale light. She believed everything she was telling him. Hervoice rang with sincerity, but it was all just a little… off.
Yep. The damn medicines had been the lure forthem both. “So what did you do?” he prodded.
“I told Agha Khalid about the woman and theexchange that was to take place. A few days later, he came to meand said he would found some men who would help us get themedicines.”
“So you acted as a go-between?”
“Yes. She came to the clinic several moretimes. I relayed her messages to Agha Khalid and his to her.”
He wracked his brain, trying to rememberevery woman he’d ever met while working a joint ISAF mission. Hecouldn’t think of one who would do something like this. It had tobe someone with inside information. Someone who worked with or knewthe captain. “Tell me more about the woman.”
“She was a Westerner. I could not place heraccent though. She always spoke to me in Dari.”
