Chapter 26
“They’re going to kill him,” Lily sobbed, through her tears.
Blade walked onto the bridge, unarmed, his hands in the air. Within seconds, he was surrounded by security personnel, nine lethal assault rifles pointed at his head.
“Not yet,” Stitch said, grimly. “They’ll want to know what he’s up to first.”
Blade was pushed face-down into the dirt. One of the guards put his foot on his head. They yanked his hands behind his back to handcuff him.
“Oh, God.” Lily couldn’t breathe.
This couldn’t be happening.
Two men grabbed Blade roughly by the arms, hauled him to his feet, then dragged him off.
“I should have known he’d do this.” Stitch bashed his hand against the steering wheel.
“You mean he planned this?” Lily turned on him. “But why? Why would he give himself up like that?”
“To save your life.” Stitch’s voice was strained and raw. “And mine. That guard knew who you were. If Blade had made a run for it, he would have been shot down in seconds, and so would I because I”d have covered him. There’d be no one to get you to safety. The bastard knew this was the only option.”
Lily gasped. Their Land Rover was surrounded by angry-faced guards, rifles drawn. Her head was still spinning after what had happened.
“Oh, Lord.”
Stitch kept his hands in the air. “Let me handle this.”
One of the guards pulled open the door.
Lily kept her eyes down, hoping they wouldn’t notice the tears on her face.
It had all gone terribly, terribly wrong. Blade had sacrificed himself for her and Stitch.
Headstrong, stubborn man.
The scheming bastard had planned for this. That’s why he’d been so distracted on the drive here.
The guard gestured for Stitch to get out of the vehicle. He did so, hands in the air. She remained in the Land Rover, a guard at her window.
Lily looked up beneath her lashes. She couldn”t even see Blade anymore. They’d taken him into the hut.
Stitch had said they wouldn’t kill him, not without interrogating him first. But he’d killed one of their soldiers, so they wouldn”t go easy on him. Spade had told her what could happen if a Special Forces soldier got caught.
She squeezed her eyes shut, blocking out the million terrifying thoughts flying through her head.
Stitch’s voice broke through her thoughts. Glancing sideways, she saw him gesticulating back up the road in the direction they”d come. He was acting out their cover story.
The American soldier had forced them to stop, held them at gunpoint, and made them drive across the checkpoint. His gun was still in the back, see.
The soldier ripped open the back door and retrieved Blade’s weapon.
Thankfully, they didn’t search the rest of the car.
Another guard peered in the passenger window at her, but she kept her head down like Stitch had told her.
Pleasedon’t let him recognize her.
He didn’t.
A few minutes later, the guard gestured for Stitch to get back into the car and waved them on their way.
Lily felt weak with relief.
They”d bought it.
Stitch drove slowly and cautiously over the bridge. Once they were clear of the checkpoint, Lily spun on him.
“What”s going to happen to him?”
“They’ll interrogate him. Find out why he’s here.”
Torture him, more like.
“Stitch, please. We can’t leave him here.”
“Blade’s a survivor. If anyone can get out of this, it’s him.” She could hear by the flatness in his voice that he didn’t mean it. He was just trying to give her hope.
“You know as well as I do they’re going to kill him. After what he did—” She gestured back to the bridge.
Stitch was silent.
“Stop the car. I’m not leaving without Blade.” She put her hand on the door handle.
Stitch glanced in the mirror then pulled over. The Land Rover screeched to a stop, dust whirling from beneath the tires. “Lily, listen to me. Blade did this for you. I’m not going to risk your life by going to get him. He wouldn”t want that.”
Lily stared at him. She was numb. Broken. Destroyed.
Blade was back there, being beaten to a pulp, and she was supposed to just walk away?
Emotion choked her, and she burst into tears. She couldn”t help it.
Blade had sacrificed himself for her. He”d willingly given up his life for hers.
“Who does that?” She was crying so hard she could hardly speak. “Who gives up their life for a hostage they barely know.”
“A Green Beret,” said Stitch simply. “He’s just doing his job.”
She shook her head, blinded by tears. “They’ll kill him.”
Stitch scowled, and she noticed how white his knuckles were as he gripped the wheel. “He”s trained to withstand interrogation. He’ll drag this out. It will take them a while to figure out exactly who he is.”
“Do you think they’ll realize he rescued me?”
“If they do, they’ll question him about you. That’ll take some time. Once they figure out you were in the car with me and they let you go?—”
He hesitated. “They’ll launch a man hunt for the Land Rover.”
“Won’t they know it’s registered to you?”
“I’m not that stupid.”
She sniffed. “They can’t trace anything back to you?”
“No, Lily. We made sure of that.”
She covered her face with her hands. It was too much. “I know what they’re going to do to him,” she murmured. “Spade told me stories.”
Stitch knew too. She could tell by the way he ground his jaw.
Lily imagined Blade being stripped naked and beaten until he was semi-conscious. She pictured him hunched over, his glorious body bruised and broken, eyelids swollen, blood seeping from multiple wounds.
“I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Really?”
She nodded and opened the door.
Stitch waited, engine still running, as she threw up the contents of her stomach. Even when she was done, she kept retching.
“Lily, we have to go. We have to put some distance between us and the checkpoint.”
He was right. She knew he was right.
Lily gave a surly nod.
Stitch put his foot down and the Land Rover growled into gear. He increased the speed until they were racing toward the road to Kabul.
The miles flashed by. Lily barely noticed. Her head was filled with Blade. How he’d held her. How he’d kissed her.
How he’d given his goddamn life for her.
Stitch said very little, focusing on the road. Twenty minutes later, they turned onto the Kabul highway. It wasn’t big enough for a highway, more of a main road with lots of traffic squeezed into two lanes heading in each direction.
Stitch drove a couple of miles toward Kabul, then cursed under his breath, and pulled over into what looked like a make-shift rest area. The only thing there was a small store selling fruit.
Lily turned to him. “What are we doing?”
“Wait here.”
He climbed out of the car and approached the store. A man and a woman were standing in front of the fruit display, picking out some fresh produce.
Lily watched as Stitch started talking to them. What the hell was he doing? Grief-stricken, tired, confused, she threw up her hands and leaned back.
She didn’t care anymore.
Maybe he was getting supplies, although eating was the last thing on her mind right now.
When he got back to the car, she opened her eyes.
“Are we done?”
“You’re getting out.”
“What?” She gawked at him. “Why?”
“I’m going back.”
She gasped and threw her hands around his neck. “Thank you!”
“Easy now.” He disentangled her. “This couple will take you to Kabul. It’s probably safer that you’re not seen in the Land Rover, anyway.”
Lily smiled through her tears.
She was okay with that. More than okay.
If it meant Blade had a chance.
“When you get to Kabul, call Pat. he’ll know what to do.”
“I will. Thank you, Stitch.”
“Good luck, Lily.” He paused. “And for what it’s worth, I think Spade would have been happy to see you two end up together.”