Duty Bound (Blackthorn Security Book 1)

Chapter 10

What was she trying to do? Torture him?

He couldn’t get rid of the image of Lily standing there in nothing but a blanket, her pearly white shoulders in full view, her cleavage taunting him.

Soaking freaking wet.

Damp tendrils of hair falling over her shoulders, like some sexy river nymph.

It was all he could do to concentrate on what she was saying. For a moment, his brain had frozen.

The effect this woman had on him…

Not this woman. Spade’s woman.

As if he could forget that. He was beginning to understand why his buddy hadn’t brought her out with the guys like some of the others did. The wider Special Forces units were fairly incestuous. Maybe Spade had wanted to keep her all to himself, and not run the risk of anyone hitting on her.

Not that she would have cheated on him. She was loyal, he could see that. She’d loved Spade.

Her words came back to haunt him.

I needed to get away from the memories. Everything at home reminded me of him.

His heart twisted painfully.

Everything still did.

Blade pushed thoughts of Spade aside and spread the topographical map out over the worn, wooden table. It had a wonky leg and kept listing over, but it was good enough for their purposes.

“What if they find us here?” she whispered.

He saw real fear in her eyes and his heart twisted again. Now he wanted to protect her. Tell her everything was going to be alright. Wipe that fear from her eyes.

Except she wasn’t safe. Not yet.

They had a long way to go still before they were in the clear.

“They won’t have expected us to have gotten this far.”

She gave an uncertain nod, her gaze turning to the map. “Where are we?”

“Here.” He pointed to a vast green space—a nameless area in the valley region.

“I had no idea we were so close to the river.” She traced the blue, squiggly line with her finger. It was a cute, child-like gesture, but then he realized she was working out how long it was. “Pity we don’t have a boat.”

“The river is in full flow right now thanks to the spring thaw. We don’t want to cross it unless we have to.”

“How wide is it?”

“As wide as a basketball court. Wider in parts.”

“Where are we headed?” She scanned the topography with experienced eyes. As a military software designer, she’d be used to reading maps.

“Here.”

She glanced up at him. “Kabul?”

“Yeah, it’s our best chance of getting you out of Afghanistan now that Bagram is controlled by Taliban forces.” The U.S. air base north of Kabul in Parwan Province would have been his preferred option, but since U.S. and NATO troops had withdrawn from the country, that was now a no-go zone.

She frowned. “But it’s over a hundred miles away. Impossible by foot.”

For her, maybe. He’d rucked farther than that before. Still, he was blown away by how quickly she’d worked out the distance. “I know, but hear me out.”

She rested her gaze on him.

“Plan A. Find some sort of transport to get to the city undetected. Don”t forget we”re deep in Taliban territory here, so the villagers will be sympathizers. Two westerners like us will stick out like burning flares.”

“Especially with you dressed like you”re going into battle.” She cast a pointed look at his camo trousers, khaki long-sleeved shirt, and rifle.

He grunted. “We’ll stick to the off-road areas and skirt the villages.”

She was still studying his gun. “Don”t you ever take that thing off?”

“No.”

He”d have thought she”d known that, after living with a soldier for ten years. One of the first things you were taught in the armed forces was to never let go of your weapon. Even when he slept, he kept one hand on the comforting cold barrel. It was his version of a safety blanket.

She sighed. “What”s Plan B?”

“We head to the nearest village and call for an emergency extraction. There are people in neighboring countries I can contact to fly us out.”

“I thought you said the villagers would be Taliban sympathizers?”

“Most are, and those who aren’t may be too scared to help us.”

Her lip trembled. “They could betray us, and we’d be captured again.”

He gave a small nod. “It will be risky. We might find someone brave enough to let us use their telephone, but I wouldn’t count on it. If they’re seen cooperating with us, it could be dangerous for them.”

“You mean they’d be killed for helping us?” Her shoulders slumped. She”d been in the country long enough to know how these things worked.

“Yeah.”

“Pity we don’t have access to Hawkeye.”

“Your software system?

“Yeah, my predictive threat software.”

“How would that help us?” Pat hadn’t told him exactly what it did.

“It’s an AI-based system that utilizes machine learning and big data to analyze vast quantities of intelligence to predict enemy movements and tactics. It helps in preempting attacks, identifies vulnerabilities in defenses, and optimizes resource allocation on the battlefield.”

She’d lost him at AI.

He hadn’t gotten on board with all of that yet, although it was working its way into military operations, logistics and training exercises, particularly drone management and cybercrime. If it was half as impressive as it sounded, he could see why the Taliban were so keen to destroy it. “How long have they had this?”

“Before the coup, the Afghan government was using it to locate Taliban strongholds and assess threat levels. They saw this coming, but without international support, were powerless to defend themselves.”

“Why is it such a threat?”

“Because we can use it too. The United States has access and can see the same data.”

“But they need you to do that?”

“They need me and the codes to do that.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her body like she was giving herself a hug. The fear was back, flickering in the depths of those deep, brown eyes.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said quietly.

“You can’t make that promise.”

“Trust me, Lily. I’ll get you out of here, one way or another.”

“I hope you’re right.” Her voice was a whisper.

Blade turned back to the map. “I think we should go for Plan A, and if that doesn’t work, we switch to Plan B.”

“Isn’t there a Plan C?”

“There is.” He hesitated. “But that involves trekking over four hundred miles through the mountains to Pakistan.”

“You mean the Khyber Pass?”

He nodded.

She blinked at him. “Let’s go with Plan A.”