By Lethal Force Page 10

  I suck down half a bottle of water, my gaze trained on the small bit of light seeping in from the hallway. Until the rest of the compound sleeps, I don’t trust Faruk or his men not to barge in, so I won’t risk a shower. Or closing my eyes even for a minute, despite how tired I am.

  Carefully, I work the tiny needle free from the hem of my tunic. It’s not much thicker than a couple of strands of hair, but it’s enough to sting. To remind me I’m alive.

  Only willing to expose a small bit of skin at my wrist, I drag the sharp point along my radial bone. The barest hint of blood wells, and a fraction of the tension seeps from my shoulders.

  “You kept him alive,” I whisper. “If nothing else, you gave him one more day. Gave yourself one more day.” My eyes burn. One more day…for what? To huddle on the floor, terrified, while nightmares wake me every time I close my eyes, leaving me shaking, trembling with fear? To be manhandled and bruised as I’m dragged from this little prison to the makeshift lab? To be constantly threatened with the hole? With death?

  The sight of Mateen’s sweet face as his pain eased this morning, his high-five as he left tonight…those moments brought me joy. But they were only two small sparks in the unending darkness surrounding me.

  The bruises along my back and hips ache with every breath. I worry Faruk cracked one of my ribs when he kicked me, but I won’t take off my tunic to check. Because amazingly, he hasn’t found the ring under my clothes yet, and without that…I fear I’d lose myself completely.

  Shadows move outside my door. Footsteps too quiet to hear. Quickly, I shove the needle under the pillow and rearrange my headscarf. I won’t let them see me broken. Rubbing the fresh scratch, I force my pounding heart to calm.

  Tiny clicks and scrapes at the lock terrify me. This isn’t Zaman. It’s someone new. Backing into the far corner of the room, I flatten myself against the wall.

  The man who flings open the door looks like all the others. Dressed in dark brown pants and tunic, a traditional hat largely covering his dark hair, he scans the dimly lit room. Recognition flickers in his green eyes, and he smoothes something over the locking mechanism before pulling the door almost shut behind him.

  “Joey? Josephine Taylor? Come on. It’s time to get out of here.” His accent is decidedly American, and he holds out his hand to me. I have to be dreaming. No one would come for me. No one even knows I’m here.

  “Joey? We don’t have a lot of time. You need to trust me.”

  “Wh-who are y-you?” I take a single step forward, but when he does the same, I freeze, unable to will my limbs to move again.

  “Trevor. I’m a friend.” He reaches into the pocket of his tunic and pulls out a small, plastic package. As he unfurls his fingers, I gasp. “He said these might convince you.”

  Red Vines. A little mini-package of Red Vines. Only one person knows how much I used to love these.

  “Ford? He’s here? How did you—?”

  “We’ll explain later, Joey. Now, I need to get you out of here.” Tossing me the Red Vines, he arches a brow. “We have to be quick and quiet. Are you ready?”

  I clasp his hand, and for the first time since they took me, I feel something other than fear—hope. “Yes.”

  Trevor leads me down the hall, then stops at the bottom of the stairs. “I have the package,” he whispers. “Are you on your way to Foxtrot?” After a moment, he curses under his breath. “Get your ass in gear. We only have one shot at this and we’re not leaving a man behind.” A pause, and then he shakes his head. “I know what he said, but I’m not letting that sadist have him just because you ran into ‘complications.’”

  Foxtrot? Is he talking about Ford? My free hand touches the ring through my tunic. I don’t know how he found me, but…I want so very much to see him again.

  Trevor starts up the stairs, but I stop and plant my feet. “There’s only one way you could have known a package of Red Vines would get me to trust you. And Foxtrot? That’s Ford. What happened to him?”

  His green eyes darken, and he shakes his head. “We have to leave. Right fucking now. Faruk’s men took Ford—we think to a bunker on the west side of the compound to interrogate him. But Nomar ran into ‘complications’ as he put it. No clue what he meant by that. Our diversion goes off in ten minutes, and if we’re still here, we’re dead.”

  Trevor tightens his grip and half-drags me through the communal dining room and back to the kitchen.

  “Why is Faruk interrogating him?” I whisper as Trevor urges me to duck down so we’re not seen through the window to the courtyard.

  “Because we used him as leverage to get in. Said we’d caught him after he’d murdered the fucker running the flesh auction and let the girls go. His cover story is that he’s an American ex-pat living in Kabul and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But after we destroyed half the building and killed the guys running the sale, I doubt Faruk will believe him.”

  My heart skips a beat. “The auction? Oh God. Ivy and Mia. Are they—”

  “They’re safe. Now, come on. We have to get you out of here, and I’m not leaving Ford for that asshole, so you’re coming with me. We just better hope no one sees us.”

  Readjusting my headscarf, I meet Trevor’s gaze. “If we’re seen, start yelling at me. Tell me how much I’ll suffer. There’s an old well fifty feet from the gate. That’s where you say you’re taking me. On Faruk’s orders. Any of his men will believe it.”

  “Joey—”

  “It’ll work. Just…don’t put me down there.” My eyes burn, but I swallow hard as Trevor pushes through the back door and out into the night. We keep close to the wall of the house until we come across a door with a thick padlock.

  Trevor pulls a small, black pouch from his pocket and crouches down. In a few seconds, the lock springs open. “I can’t let you out of my sight, Joey. He’d never forgive me. Stay behind me and keep quiet.”

  A long set of stairs leads deep underground, and my heart thunders in my ears. The walls press in on me, and I try not to wheeze as I clench my left hand hard enough to break the skin. Focus. Ford’s here. And he needs you.

  Trevor stops at a corner, then points to the left. Flattening myself against the wall next to him, I wait for him to verify no one’s waiting on the other side, then we take off at a run. His steps are almost silent. I’m not so graceful, and when he stops short, I slam into his back. My bruised ribs protest, but I manage to keep quiet.

  Picking another lock with ease, he throws the door open and I clamp my hand over my mouth, tasting blood from the self-imposed cuts on my palm.

  Ford.

  I didn’t believe—not truly. I hoped, like I’ve hoped for so many things these past ten days, but I didn’t trust the universe not to pull the rug out from under me again. He’s here. Strung up by his wrists, his head bowed, eyes closed. Older. A bit of gray in his hair. But very much Ford. Very much the man I once loved.

  Trevor moves quickly, finding a chair and going to work on the shackles holding Ford up. I rush forward to try to catch him as, freed, he sinks to his knees with a soft grunt, but I’m not fast enough.

  He peers up at me, one eye swollen, and I reach out, my fingers trembling, to touch his stubbly cheek. “Ford.” I don’t know why he doesn’t touch me, but his eyes water, and what I see in their hazel depths…I never thought I’d see him look at me like that again. “Say something.”

  “Later,” Trevor hisses. “We have to get out of here. Can you walk?”

  As if he’s just remembered Trevor’s in the room, he blinks hard. “I’ll make it.”

  “Lean on me,” I say, desperate to feel his arms around me after so many years apart.

  “Are you sure?” His whisper is so hesitant, so filled with pain, and I take his arm and sling it around my shoulders. He’s a solid mass of muscle, and Trevor has to help him stand, but once he’s upright, he steadies.

  “Nomar’s blown. Something about a complication he couldn’t ignore. We’re headed for the front gate.
The bomb’s set to go off in six minutes. Can you shoot?” Trevor asks Ford.

  He turns his gaze to me. “I can do anything. Now.”

  As soon as Trevor presses a gun into Ford’s hand, we take off, and the warmth of the man at my side feels so reassuring, I want to cry. But I can’t. Not until we get out of here. Faruk has so many men…so much firepower, I don’t know how they’re planning on getting beyond the gate without us all being shot.

  But they got in here. Maybe we can get out.

  As if Ford can read my mind, he gives my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I found you, buttercup. We’re going to be okay.”

  “Stop,” a deep voice says as a shadow crosses our path.

  Trevor raises his gun. “Don’t move,” he growls.

  Hands in the air, Isaad lowers his gaze. “I am no threat to you, but you cannot go this way. I monitor the cameras, and if I wait more than fifteen minutes to report a glitch in the feeds, he will…hurt me. Your other man is headed for the front gate, but there are too many guards between here and there. Come with me. There is an underground tunnel that leads out of the compound.”

  “Fuck, no,” Trevor says and lunges for Isaad. But the guard sidesteps him, backing away with his hands still in the air.

  “Please,” Isaad says. “Let me try to atone for my sins.”

  “For your sins?” Ford straightens slightly, winces, and tightens his arm around my shoulder. “Your accent…you’re American, aren’t you? Isaad? Isaad what?”

  Shouts come from the opposite side of the compound, and Trevor grabs my other arm. “We have to go. Now.”

  “Wait!” Isaad hisses. “The doctor is wearing a tracking device.”

  My entire body goes rigid as terror floods my system. “What? Where?”

  “In the hem of your pants. He trusts no one. Not even his own men. Not even his wife.”

  Trevor crouches and runs his fingers around the bottom of both of my legs. Yanking a knife from his pocket, he rips through the thin fabric and comes up with a small piece of plastic and metal the size of my thumbnail. “Shit,” he says as he drops the tracker then stomps on it and pins Isaad with a hard stare. “Why tell us?”

  “Faruk took my name. And my honor. Let me earn a piece of it back.“ Isaad drops to his knees and bows his head with his hand over his heart. “I will kill him for what he has done. Then…maybe my ledger won’t be so full of blood.”

  Trevor and Ford exchange a glance, then Trevor mutters something I can’t make out under his breath. “Get up. Show us this tunnel. But if you’re lying to us, I’m putting a bullet in each of your kneecaps before I shoot you in the head.”

  Isaad nods, then gestures for us to follow him through the dark shadows to the back of the compound until he comes to a wooden trapdoor. “The tunnel leads under the wall. I will give you a two-minute head start, and then I will send the guards to the east wall. After that, I will have to tell Faruk the doctor is gone and the cameras were shut down. And if I am lucky, I will be able to kill him before he kills me.”

  Trevor nods at Isaad, and I whisper, “Thank you.”

  11

  Ford

  Joey waits for me to climb the ladder, then guides my arm back around her shoulders and lets me lean on her again. Just ahead of us, Trevor mutters, “Blow it and get out.”

  Five seconds later, an explosion shatters the air. Joey jerks against me, and I pull her closer as we start to run down the hill. She winces more than once, tension pulsing through her muscles every few steps, and I glance down at her feet. Shit. One of them is bare, the other…that can’t be more than a glorified slipper.

  “Joey, let me carry you, buttercup.”

  “I can run,” she says through clenched teeth. “He’ll come after us…”

  Trevor tosses a glance over his shoulder. “Hard right. Now!”

  We veer between two darkened houses and press our backs against the wall. The sound of an engine grows louder, and Trevor signals for us to stay low and head for the barn fifty feet away. We don’t have much time if we want to stay ahead of Faruk’s men, and I haul Joey into my arms and carry her the rest of the way.

  “Where the hell are you, November?” Trevor whispers over comms. “November?” A few seconds later, he turns to me with a worried frown. “Nomar’s gone dark. Whatever his ‘complication’ was…at least he disabled the gate. You two get to the Jeep and haul ass to the Mazari Sharif safehouse. I’m headed to the backup rendezvous point.”

  Trevor removes the saddlebags from his horse, clips them together, and throws them over his shoulders. Joey’s shaking against me, and as much as I hate this plan, I have to get her somewhere safe. Fast.

  “Trev?” He meets my gaze. “I’ll never be able to pay you back for this.”

  Striding over to us, he claps his hand on my shoulder and leans in. “Family doesn’t collect debts. Family does what needs to be done. Now get her out of here. And remember…if you don’t hear from us by thirteen hundred tomorrow, and I mean on the fucking dot, you and Joey get out of there. Matt and his team will take care of your transpo back to the States.”

  “I won’t leave—”

  His face hardens, and all the emotion drains from his gaze. “You will. If you don’t hear from us—at all—we’re dead.”

  Joey gasps. “Trevor—?”

  “I mean it.” He holds out his hand to her, and she stares at him a moment before taking it. “I won’t let him capture me, and neither will Nomar. We’ve been in this business too long. You make sure he does what I told him, okay?”

  She nods as a tear trails down her cheek. “Don’t die.”

  Trevor laughs, though even that holds little mirth. “Do my best, doc.”

  Before I can say a word, he slips out the barn door and into the night.

  I don’t want to let Joey go, but we’ll be a hell of a lot faster on two horses than one. “Can you ride?” I ask.

  “Pretty sure if you asked, I could fly.” She offers me a weak smile, and all I can see is how she looked on our third date when we watched The Princess Bride. I started calling her buttercup after that, and when I wanted to tell her I loved her, but was too afraid to say the words, “as you wish” was all that came out.

  Lifting Joey into the saddle, I frown when I see how bloody her right foot is. Ripping a long strip off my tunic, I tie it quickly before adjusting the stirrups for her. “You ready?” As I swing up onto the second horse and gather the reins, I meet her gaze for a brief moment. “Joey? Buttercup, I need you to stay with me for an hour. After that, we’ll be safe.”

  “I’m not sure I believe in safe anymore,” she says quietly, and we dig our heels into the horses’ flanks and set off for the city.

  By the time we reach the Jeep, Joey’s half bent over in her saddle, and she keeps shaking her head like she can’t stay awake.

  It’s only a little after one in the morning, but I don’t know what she’s been through the past ten days, and though she claimed to be fine every time I asked, I haven’t believed her once.

  As I reach for her to help her down, she collapses into my arms with a moan. “Joey! Talk to me, baby.” I cup her cheek, a yellowing bruise still swollen under my palm.

  “Do…do you have any food? I haven’t eaten in…a long time.” Her eyelids flutter as she tries to keep them open, and she doesn’t protest when I carry her to the Jeep and buckle her in.

  Digging into my pack, I pull out a protein bar. “Four hundred calories of pure, unadulterated pine tar. At least that’s what it tastes like. But it’ll keep you going until I can get you an actual meal.”

  After a wobbly smile, she tears into the bar. “Oh, God. This is awful.”

  At least I think that’s what she says. Hard to tell with her mouth full. “You’re so beautiful.” The words slip out before I can stop them, and Joey flinches. “Joey…I’m so sorry. I fucked everything up. Both of our lives… If I hadn’t—”

  “Stop.” The single word is choked with emotion, and tears glist
en in her eyes. “Not here. Please?” Shoving the last bite of protein bar in her mouth, she nods at the steering wheel. “If he finds us, he’ll kill you, and I’ll…I’ll be…” She swallows a sob and shakes her head. “Just…drive.”

  Nodding, I stow my gear, pay the elders in the camp another five grand so they hand over the keys, and slide in next to her. Tears glisten on her cheeks, and my heart feels like it’s about to break into a million pieces.

  There’s so much I want to say to her. So many years of regrets and desires and frustrations. But despite how strong she was when she walked into that dark basement room, now, she looks like she’s about to fall apart.

  I throw the Jeep into gear and head for town. I hope once we get there, she’ll talk to me. Yell at me. Anything but this.

  As we turn onto the main road, I whisper, “There wasn’t a single day I didn’t think about you. Not one.”

  Joey

  The drive to Mazari Sharif passes in a blur. I can’t quite believe I’m safe, let alone sitting next to a man I’ve…loved…for more than twenty years. But the reality of what happens next presses down on me, and I’m struggling to stay calm enough to breathe.

  I can tell he wants to talk, but I can’t. Not yet. I’m such a hypocrite. The houses start to get closer and closer together, apartment buildings and shopping centers in the distance.

  Sneaking a glance at Ford’s chiseled features, a hard lump in my throat aches, and I reach for the bottle of water he put in the cup holder for me. The years made him even more handsome. A hint of gray colors his temples and is sprinkled through his sandy hair. His short stubble is peppered with silver, and the lines on his forehead…he didn’t have those the last time I saw him.

  More than the physical, though, it’s his maturity that stands out. His consideration. The way he didn’t touch me until I’d made the first move. Stopping to bind my foot, and the emotion in his voice as he tried to apologize for…everything.