Page 22 of Wild Card (The Trident Trilogy 3)

Sarajevo, Bosnia, 1994

“Who are we hunting for tonight?” Nejra whispered to Mack as the team got ready to leave.

Mack attempted to smile. She knew he was trying to calm her down, but she noticed his usually gentle eyes had turned hard and cold.

“Some bad guys,” he said quietly.

“But—”

He looked down at her. “Stay close to me—like we practiced. That’s all you need to do, okay?”

She nodded as the team started crawling into the back of the van. Clem offered Nejra his hand to help her in, but Mack knocked it away. She climbed up herself with the help of the door handle. She noticed Mack’s arms were at the ready behind her in case she fell. She looked around nervously, as the men spread out all over the floor. She wasn’t sure where to sit.

“You need to be in the middle. It’s safer in case we’re attacked,” Mack said. When he saw her wide eyes, he quickly added, “We’re not going to get attacked. You’re fine.”

Despite her steadily climbing anxiety, Nejra almost laughed out loud as she tentatively sat down. Only a day before, Mack had been embarrassed when he touched her hand. Now, she was in the middle of six men—their enormous arms and legs touching her from all sides. She didn’t feel threatened after Mack make one of the other guys move so he could sit next to her.

Nejra closed her eyes and tried to figure out where they were going. She felt the van climbing, so she figured they were going into the mountains. She knew that was not a very safe place to be right now. The Serbs were launching the bombings into Sarajevo from there. Her body shuddered as she realized they were probably hunting Serbian leaders.

“Just stay close to me,” Mack whispered again as he felt her body shake against his. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Nejra nodded again. As the van started taking hairpin turns, she was finding it hard to sit upright. She tentatively leaned her body up against Mack to steady herself. He didn’t push her away and after the van took a particularly wild turn, she felt his arm go around her waist. The tingling sensation shot through her body again.

After about twenty minutes, the van stopped. Harry opened the doors to reveal a small mountain village.

“Nejra,” Chase said, leaning down to look directly into her eyes. “Stay close to Mack. Go wherever he goes.”

She nodded quickly—the anxiety in her body rising rapidly again. As the team walked slowly toward the village, Mack took her hand and placed it through a loop hanging from his belt.

“Don’t let go,” he said as he dropped his night-vision goggles into place.

They had barely gotten into the village when a building exploded about a hundred feet ahead of them.

“Incoming!” Clem yelled. “Take cover.”

As more explosions started erupting around them, the team scattered to find safety. Nejra dropped the loop on Mack’s belt and fell to the ground. Mack quickly picked her up and ran into the nearest house. He held her tightly to his chest as he searched for a cellar door. He ran down the stairs with Nejra in his arms just as the house exploded above them. Mack fell to the ground covering Nejra’s body with his own as rubble fell around them.

When the dust settled, Mack raised his head slightly and looked around the cellar. The stairs were destroyed, but the walls were still standing. The floor above them was in ragged pieces—rays of moonlight shooting through the missing slats. He could tell the house above them had been flattened.

Mack pulled Nejra up into a sitting position and put her back against the wall.

“Are you okay?” he said softly.

She nodded—her eyes wide.

“Did I hurt you when I fell on you?”

She shook her head as he sat down next to her. Mack re-inserted his radio earpiece that was dangling from its cord.

“Alpha One to Alpha Two.” Mack heard Chase’s voice.

“This is Alpha Two. I have Warrior with me. We’re both fine. There’s no way to get out of the basement we’re in. I just set off my beacon.”

“We have you, Alpha Two. We’re pinned down in another building. We’ll get to you, but it might take a while. Our birds took out the enemy shelling position. Things should be quiet. Just sit tight.”

“Roger that. Alpha Two out.” Mack said as he pulled out a bottle of water.

“Do you want a drink, ma’am?” Mack held the bottle out to her. “I have plenty for both of us.”

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