Page 65 of Protected By The Green Berets

“That’s what I was wondering,” Alden replied, sounding as uneasy as I was.

Torque kicked an empty can with the toe of his boot. “Maybe it’s some kind of sentry post in case anyone comes toward the compound?”

“There would be shit here, if that was the case,” Alden insisted. “They have nothing. It’s like today is the first day any of them have been here.”

“Why would today be the only day they’d be here? Waiting on a shipment for Roj?” He was trying to make sense of it as much as we were.

Rush entered the door and looked around. “Find anything?” We caught him up to speed. “Maybe we should head back to the compound?”

It was a good idea. The only way we were going to make sense of this would be to see what was going on there. We mounted our camels and made a beeline back there.

My blood ran cold as we approached the area we’d been using over the last week. There were footprints everywhere in the sand. “Fuck.”

“They knew we were here?” Rush asked, looking around.

Alden and I shared worried looks. “If they knew we were here and led us off into the middle of the desert…” He trailed off as it began to click for us.

“Zinnia,” Torque said, eyes widening. “They’re going after her.”

We were back on our animals in a heartbeat and racing across the desert. How could Roj have found out we were here? My mind raced for answers. The only way was if one of his men back in Karbala had survived, or someone in Najaf was working for him and had seen us. Either was plausible. There was no telling how long after we followed that truck they’d left. We’d get there in time. We had to. The thought of losing Zinnia made bile rise in my throat.

CHAPTER28

Zinnia

Ishuffled over to pour myself another cup of coffee. The urge to change into pajamas and go to sleep was strong, but I couldn’t do that. Not when the guys were out working. I needed to pull my weight and that meant digging up every single piece of information on Roj that I could.

Taking a sip, I moved back toward the table. I stretched, my back popping, before I began to sit down. A dog barking out on the street made me pause. It’d been silent for hours, everyone in the village was still bedded down during the early morning hours.

Barking and growling came again. It wasn’t very close to the safehouse, but the sound traveled. The dog sounded agitated. I set my cup down on the table. I was going to end up laughing about this when it turned out some street cat was the one riling that dog up, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was coming.

I picked up my holster and secured my Glock to my belt. Staying fully dressed and prepared in case trouble came knocking hadn’t been a decision so much as a necessity, and I was grateful for it now. I closed up my laptop and crossed the room, securing it inside my bag. I put that inside the tub in the bathroom and closed the shower curtain. Everything I kept on there was secured, but with enough skill and time anything could be hacked.

Grabbing my rifle from the corner of the room as I exited the bathroom, I tucked it up under my arm and waited. The dog had gone silent and I wasn’t sure why but goosebumps raised on my arms.

I didn’t care if I was being paranoid, this was the first night I’d gotten this feeling.Just because you’re feeling paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you.I secured the butt of my rifle against my shoulder and moved over to the opposite side of the room, tucking myself down into the corner on one knee. The only window in this house was over the kitchen sink and no one was fitting through that. The fact that the door was the only entry point was one of the main reasons the Agency had secured this as a safehouse.

A scratching sound came from outside my door and I sucked in a steadying breath. Someone was here. It was too early for it to be the guys, unless they’d decided to end early tonight.

Please be the guys.

The chair wedged between the doorknob and the floor cracked—or maybe it was the wooden door—as someone kicked their way inside. As soon as he stepped into the room, I pulled the trigger. I had them in a choke point. They had to come through the door to get in here. The choke point was an equalizer. Superior numbers didn’t mean shit when only one at a time could fit through.

The sound of gunfire so close to my ear was scrambling my brain, but I couldn’t stop. They were coming too fast. I’d already killed four, but two more barged through the door. They’d barely fit, but knew if they were going to get the upper hand they had to overpower me. I aimed at one and brought him down, but the second ran full tilt across the room, slamming into me.

He knocked me back into the wall and now we were fighting over my weapon. I couldn’t use the rifle at this close range, so I let go of it and pulled my Glock. I shot three times before the man slumped in front of me.

When I looked past him my heart climbed into my throat. Four more men had guns trained on me. Slowly, I put my Glock on the ground, then held up my hands. They hadn’t fired. They wanted me alive. That was preferable to me as well.

Someone stepped out from behind the row of men and I swallowed past the lump in my throat. It was Roj.

He looked around, kicking at the splintered remains of the chair that’d barred their entrance. “Who are you?”

His voice was heavily accented, but he spoke English perfectly. The fact that he didn’t know who I was gave me hope.

“My name is Debbie Watson. I’m here-”

“Stop lying to me!” he snarled.

---