Chapter 5
Okay, so he wouldn’t win any prizes for his delivery, but at least he’d said it. He’d told her. One mission complete. One to go.
The look on her face was complete astonishment. She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a hand cutting her off. Now was not the time. “Come on, let’s move on. We can talk when we’re safe.”
She shut her mouth and gave a dazed nod.
Turning his back on her, he adjusted the head lamp, lowered his scope, then crawled farther along the tunnel. The angle was noticeably steeper now, and the breeze was stronger than before. It felt cool on his face, and just for a moment, he closed his eyes and savored the fresh air. They were on the right track. Escape, evasion, survival. That’s what he’d been trained for, and during his operational days, he’d crawled through way worse than this to stay alive.
They all had.
He thought about Phoenix, Boomer, Viper, and Pat—the makeshift unit guiding the other hostages through the thick, impenetrable forest that covered the valley to the rendezvous point where a chopper waited to transport them to freedom. They were a good bunch of guys. He’d served with all of them at one time or another during his Special Forces career. All except Pat, who was the driving force behind this mission. They were effective, able, and deadly. Even though the Taliban fighters would be close on their tail, he was confident they’d get the hostages out in time.
Blade peered through the night vision scope ahead into the tunnel. He guessed they had at least twenty to thirty yards to go before they broke ground. It was doable, as long as the enemy weren’t waiting for them at the other side.
Things hardly ever went according to plan, this mission a classic case in point. Prepare down to the finest detail but inevitably something would happen to fuck things up. The enemy was an unknown force, impossible to control. Hence the constant question—what if?
What if there were more fighters than they’d expected? What if the hostages weren’t there? What if one of them was injured? What if the helicopter couldn’t make it to the emergency rendezvous point?
Good thing Blade had plenty of contingency plans.
At the covert air base in the desert, before the Black Hawk had brought them to the mountains, he’d studied drone footage of the area and knew tunnels crisscrossed for miles from cave to cave. He was betting the enemy below hadn’t yet realized they’d found another exit. That would give him several hours to get Lily as far away as humanly possible.
It was pitch-black in the tunnel, and he used both the NVG and the head light to show them the way. They must be close to the end now, but it just seemed to go on and on. Nothing to tell them how far they had to go. The only clue he had was the cooler air making his eyes water. They must be close.
The tunnel curved, so he crawled around it—and hit a dead end.
What the?—?
He reached out with his hand but all he could feel was cold, hard stone. His heart sank. No, this couldn’t be. He heard Lily scampering up behind him. “Why have we stopped?”
He hesitated. How could he tell her there was nowhere to go?
Another blast of icy air hit him. It was coming from above. He glanced up.
Hell, yeah! He hadn’t noticed it before, but the tunnel made a ninety degree turn upwards. A hole loomed above them through which he could see the stars and a scant canopy of leaves.
Brilliant. They’d made it.
There was a crescent moon tonight, which was perfect. It would give them enough light to see by but wouldn’t leave them too exposed, and the trees and crags would provide plenty of shadows in which to hide.
The only problem was getting up there. He judged the distance to be about ten feet. Too high for him to reach by himself, but together they might have a shot.
“We’re at the end,” he called to Lily who’d stopped behind him. “There’s a hole vertically above us, but it’s high. We’re both going to have to squeeze in here for me to lift you up there.”
“There is? Oh, thank God.” He heard the relief in her voice.
“I’m going to stand, then you crawl until you reach my legs. Use my body like a ladder to climb until you’re standing next to me. From there, I’ll boost you up. Okay?”
“Got it.”
He got to his knees, scraping his back against the stone roof of the tunnel. Sometimes, being this tall had its drawbacks. Gritting his teeth, he maneuvered himself into the vertical shaft and held onto the walls as he straightened up. It was tight, but there was just enough room for the two of them. The problem would be getting her into a standing position.
His shoulders raked the sides. Pressing his back to the rock, he tried to leave enough space for her to stand. Jagged edges dug into his back, but he ignored them. “Your turn.”
He heard her scramble forward until he felt a hand on his shin.
“That’s it. Come as far forward as you can before angling up. Try to stand too soon and your back won’t be clear.”
Lily put one hand on his knee. Another on his thigh. She gasped and let go of him.
“You okay? Did you scrape your back?”
“I’m fine.” Her voice carried a small tremble.
“Alright, then. Time to work your way up the shaft. It’s a tight fit, but it’s doable.”
“I don’t know if I can.” Her voice was tight and high pitched. She was seconds away from panicking. “There isn’t enough room.”
“Listen, Lily. The only way we’re going to get you out of here is if you climb up my body. I can help you, but you’ve got to get to your feet first. Don’t worry about hurting me. Push against me as hard as you have to, but stand up.”
Whether it was the urgency in his voice or her own fear, he couldn’t tell, but she shuffled forward. He pressed tighter against the wall to create as much space as possible.
Her head banged into his knees, then his thighs, and then into his groin. He tensed, willing his body not to react to her closeness in case he put her off. It was almost pitch dark. He’d switched off his headlamp when he’d stood so as not to attract any unwanted attention from above. The milky glimmer from the unseen crescent moon was their only light source.
Grunting, she turned her face sideways, so it wouldn’t be plastered against his stomach, but his T-shirt was rising along with her head. He felt her hair on his skin. Slowly, she got to her knees then finally to her feet. She’d filled out since he’d last seen her, which admittedly was almost a decade ago. Her curvy hips dug into his and her plump breasts pressed against his torso. With every breath, he felt the softness of her chest expand into his.
“Are you sure about this?” she whispered, her face less than an inch from his. Damn if he couldn’t feel her breath on his lips.
“I’m sure.” He kept his voice calm and steady, even if inside he was anything but. Her hair cascaded around her face and tickled his neck, like it would if he woke with her in his arms.
He swallowed. Where the hell had that thought come from?
Lily tilted her head to glance up at the hole, but her nose bumped his. She whispered, “Sorry.”
He sensed infinite discomfort in those two small syllables.
“Let’s get you out of here.” Enough was enough. He couldn’t handle the close proximity. His body was seconds away from getting the wrong idea—and that would not be good. “I’m going to lift you from the waist as far as I can. Use your knees and feet to climb me, your hands to pull you up the walls. When you’re high enough, stand on my shoulders, from there, you should be able to reach the top and haul yourself out of the shaft.”
She nodded, her nose rubbing against his again almost like an Eskimo kiss. Their breath mingled in the darkness, and he felt so close to her that for a fleeting minute he considered leaning in to let their mouths meet. It wouldn’t take much, less than an inch. What would she feel like? Taste like? Would she respond?
What the hell?
Get a grip, soldier!
This was Spade’s nerdy girlfriend, except she wasn’t so geeky anymore. Her lush body played havoc with his senses, and for some reason, he couldn’t stop thinking about it.
“I’m ready,” she whispered.
He placed his hands around her waist then lifted her, her body flush against his. Her breasts bounced into his face, and he nearly came undone. Sucking in a harsh breath, he twisted his head to the side. It wasn’t to avoid embarrassing her nearly as much as to avoid embarrassing himself. Fuck, they were incredible breasts. He inhaled deeply. It took all his willpower not to bend his head and nuzzle them.
What the hell was wrong with him? Sure, it had been a while since he’d been laid, but this was totally unprofessional behavior. She was a hostage and his best buddy’s girl. He needed to stay focused—not react like an adolescent teenager on prom night.
Her petite frame weighed next to nothing, so he was able to lift her high enough so that her hips were level with his ears. He grimaced as his back scraped against the hard rock. “Can you grab onto anything?”
She bent her knees and hesitantly placed one on each of his shoulders, stabilizing herself. Her groin was right in his face, but she was too busy looking up to notice. She was wearing lightweight cotton trousers, and damn if he couldn’t feel the lace from her panties right through them.
Lace, for fuck’s sake.
That conjured a bunch of inappropriate images, which was crazy since he’d never found her attractive before. He exhaled. The sooner he got her out of here the better.
“I can feel a plant or a root or something.” She stretched higher, tilting her pelvis so her crotch was right in his nose.
Fucking hell.
“Grab it.” Quickly.
She managed to get enough leverage to pull herself up until she trod lightly on his shoulders. Thank God for that.
He put his hands under her feet and pressed up. Combined with her efforts to pull and claw her way to the surface, she managed to scramble out.
“Keep low,” he called quietly, looking up.
Her face filled the opening, hair tumbling down. She whispered back into the darkness, “I am. How are you going to get out?”
“Take this.” He undid a length of rope that he’d tied around his belt then tossed it up. “Tie it to that tree but stay alert for anyone who might be creeping around.” The last thing he wanted was for a Taliban sniper to spot her, although they’d be under strict orders to shoot but not kill. She was useless to them dead. They needed her alive for the codes. He, on the other hand, would be toast.
Before long, there would be fighters crawling all over the hillside searching for them. When the five of them formulated the rescue plan, they hadn’t counted on a fighting force descending from over the ridge. He still didn’t know exactly where they’d come from. They must have emerged from the cave network that riddled the mountains. It was obviously larger than anyone anticipated.
An army colonel once told him to make sure his unit’s Plan B could function as a Plan A because in many cases it was the one ultimately put into action.
At least Pat, Phoenix, Viper, and Boomer had secured the four other hostages and had escaped into the forests in the valley below. It had taken him longer to find Lily. Her captors had kept her separate, probably to interrogate her in private. She was first prize. The others were collateral—an added bonus to use for ransom.
From what he’d seen, Lily didn’t appear to be injured or harmed in any way, which was one reason why they’d inserted as soon as possible, perhaps to the detriment of more thorough reconnaissance. It was vitally important she didn’t sabotage all her hard work by giving the Taliban the access codes. Pat had outlined how important her military system was to the Afghans, even more so now that the Taliban had assumed control. Unfortunately, that meant they’d stop at nothing to extract those codes from her.
The end of the rope dropped down into the tunnel. She’d done it! He gave it a firm tug. Satisfied her knot would hold, he climbed to the surface.