Lethal Pursuit (Bagram Special Ops #3)

Two

TWO

K HALID LOOKED UP from his map when Mohammed burst into the room and announced, “They’re here.”

He stood and followed the teenager out into the bright sunshine. Squinting to cut the light, his gaze settled on the small convoy of trucks winding their way down the mountain road toward the valley floor. He smiled. “Perfect.”

“Should I get the others?”

“Yes. Tell them to unload everything.”

Mohammed scurried off to carry out the order. A few minutes later the trucks ground to a halt where Khalid stood at the edge of the village.

The passenger in the lead truck climbed out and approached Khalid with a huge smile. “My brother.”

Khalid awkwardly accepted the greeting hug. He disliked forced physical contact. “Tell Rahim I thank him for his gifts.”

“You can tell him yourself when you meet him in person.”

His attention sharpened on the man’s beaming face. “You have news for me?”

“Something big. He has written it here.” The man pulled a wax-sealed envelope from his vest pocket and handed it over.

Quickly breaking the seal, Khalid scanned the document written in Urdu. His heart rate increased with a surge of excitement. “Rahim knows this for certain?”

The man nodded. “The location isn’t known yet, but Rahim’s source has always been reliable and accurate. He’ll let us know when the time comes.”

Khalid couldn’t hide his smile. “The American Secretary of Defense?” Could it be true?

“I know. It’s what we’ve all been waiting for.”

No, it was what Khalid had been waiting for his entire life. This chance, if it really came, was something he’d dreamed of since he was a boy growing up during the Soviet occupation.

Back then he’d been too young and too crippled by the disgrace of his shameful parentage to even contemplate conducting such an important mission one day. But now, with the right planning, he would be able to achieve every Afghan boy’s dream of humiliating the infidel superpower occupying their homeland. If he and the others handled it right, it might even help turn the American public’s opinion of the so-called War on Terror once and for all. Their president would have no choice but to finally withdraw all American forces from the region.

Then, then they could celebrate the sovereignty of the Afghan people and take the fight to the enemy’s shores, where it belonged. Not like before, with sporadic and poorly planned attacks on small targets. A new, deadlier and well-organized war that took many American lives and struck fear into the hearts of the American people. One waged relentlessly with endless attacks wrought on American soil by soldiers of Allah from far and wide. But especially by martyrs already living among the enemy. People no one would ever suspect until it was too late. That was where the future of this war lay.

Pulling a lighter from his pocket, Khalid lit one end of the letter and let it fall at his feet, watching the licking flames curl over the paper, devouring it. With Allah’s grace, he and the others would do the same to their enemy within a few months. “Tell Rahim I look forward to our meeting. It will be an honor to meet him in person finally.”

The man clapped Khalid on the shoulder. “I will tell him. Now, where shall my men take all these supplies?”

Khalid walked to the first truck, where several men were opening the canvas sides to expose the crates filled with food, medical supplies, clothing and weapons. Pistols, automatic rifles, grenades, RPGs. And ammunition. Lots of ammunition. Everything he could ever need to carry out a campaign in the region. He let out an ironic laugh. Throughout the winter his numbers had dwindled. He’d lost some men to the cold, others to their homes and villages. Now, with these supplies, he’d be able to feed and equip dozens, maybe as many as a hundred or more new recruits.

Mohammed came trotting over, a wide grin on his boyish face, partially covered with the scraggly beard he was trying to grow. “Praise Allah,” he said as he saw all the equipment.

Khalid nodded. “Have the men stock everything in the caves, quickly. I don’t want anything to be visible from the outside.”

“Of course, Khalid-jan.”

Khalid smiled fondly at the boy, feeling almost fatherly. Mohammed was his most trusted soldier, teenager or not. Khalid had done everything he could to protect him over the past few months, teaching him to survive, and to kill. He set a hand on Mohammed’s shoulder, patted it. “You’re ready.”

The praise turned the tops of Mohammed’s cheeks red. “Thank you.”

Letting his hand drop, he gazed up into the clear blue sky, filled with renewed energy. “No, Mohammed, thank Allah.” For it was by His grace that Khalid would slay the demons from his past and embrace the future bright with purpose and possibility.

* * *

M AYA OPENED THE gym door and stepped out into the cool air, chugging a bottle of water on her way back across the base. Today’s workout had been especially intense, but she’d needed the release despite her sore right hand and other bumps and bruises. Her quads felt weak and her abs were still on fire, and she freaking loved it. With her self-inflicted torture done, she now had her weekly Friday morning date to keep.

Her little friend, Fila, was waiting for her in their usual meeting place. Maya smiled and raised a hand in greeting when she saw the eleven-year-old girl at the fence. Fila waved back, shifting a young child about three or so on her hip whom Maya had never seen before. “ Salam alekum ,” Maya called out.

“ Alekum salam ,” Fila answered softly, a shy smile on her young face. The boy on her hip clung to her, regarding Maya with suspicion in his teary eyes. His little cheeks were flushed an unnatural shade of red.

Something was wrong. “Is he sick?” She pointed at him then put a hand on her own forehead and stomach, made a sickly face.

Fila nodded. “Brother.”

She’d brought him here for treatment, Maya realized. Fila had walked miles and miles from her isolated village, carrying her brother here in the hopes that Maya would help. Her family, as usual, was nowhere to be seen. Maya wasn’t about to abandon these children too. She gestured with her arm for Fila to follow her around the fence’s perimeter. “Come on.”

At the gate she spoke to the guards and received permission to bring Fila inside. The Friday market always made everyone on base a little edgy, especially since that rocket attack back in November that had killed several service members and wounded a dozen more. Security had tightened considerably since then, and procedures for the market had changed.

Fila followed her inside the base. Maya flagged down a passing vehicle to hitch a ride so her little friend wouldn’t have to walk across base after her long journey. Fila hesitated, her gaze uncertain. Had she never been in a vehicle before, or was it the soldiers inside it who made her nervous?

“Come on,” Maya said again, giving her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay.” She waited until Fila climbed inside the vehicle before sliding in next to her. Her brother sat perched on her lap, his flushed, chubby cheek nestled into the curve of Fila’s neck. “What is his name?” she asked slowly.

“Salar.”

Maya shifted her gaze to the boy. “ Salam , Salar.”

His glassy eyes focused on her, his expression guarded. Maya understood too well what it felt like to be at the mercy of others. Even those who were supposed to take care of you. These children had more reason than most not to trust people. She’d make sure no one here abused that trust.

The driver stopped at the hospital to let them out. Maya led Fila inside and spoke to a few of the staff. A few minutes later Maya’s other roommate, Erin, appeared with a clipboard, her brown hair twisted into a bun.

“Hey, who have we got here?” she asked, aiming a gentle smile at the children.

“This is my friend, Fila, and her little brother, Salar. He’s not feeling very well, are you, buddy?”

He didn’t respond, but his lethargy said it all.

Erin made a quick note on her paper. “Come with me so we can get them set up in an exam room, and I’ll have a doctor come by as soon as possible.”

Maya ushered them into a room after Erin and shut the door. Both children gazed around the room with wide eyes, their anxiety palpable. “It’s okay,” Maya said again, this time catching Fila’s gaze. The girl seemed to relax a fraction. “Her English is about as good as my Dari, so this should be interesting. Don’t suppose you’ve got an interpreter on staff?”

“No,” Erin replied, pulling her stethoscope from around her neck and offering it to Salar so he could examine it, “but the doctor I have in mind has a pretty good handle on Dari.” She showed Salar and Fila how the stethoscope worked, even allowing them to place the earbuds in their ears and listen to Erin’s heartbeat.

When they smiled and seemed to be enjoying themselves, Erin gestured for Fila to raise her brother’s shirt. His little tummy was distended and looked hard. With him nestled on Fila’s lap, Erin did a quick exam, taking the basic vitals and finally coaxing the little boy to accept a thermometer under his armpit. After writing all the information on a chart, she spoke to Maya. “He’s got a pretty good fever going. I’ll get the doctor to come as soon as he can.”

“Okay, thanks.” While they waited, Maya used hand gestures and her limited Dari to entertain the children. Salar began to warm up to her slowly, even offering a toothy grin once or twice. The doctor arrived a few minutes later. His easy smile and basic grasp of Dari seemed to reassure Fila enough to allow him to take Salar and place him on the exam table. After another thorough assessment and some questions to Fila, the doctor glanced over at Maya.

“I’m going to need some blood and urine samples.”

That should be fun. “Why, is it serious?”

“Not if he gets the right treatment, but I want to rule a few other things out first just to be sure.”

The urine sample was easy enough. Salar thought it was hilarious to pee into a cup. The blood sample, however, didn’t go so well. In the end, Maya had to pin the child down while Fila held his free hand and stroked his hair, speaking to him in a calm voice. A sudden memory slammed into her brain. Of her sister taking care of her during that awful, violating exam after their uncle’s nocturnal activities had finally come to light. The tenderness Fila showed her brother reminded Maya so much of Pilar, a hard lump formed in her throat. She quickly swallowed it down and pushed the painful recollections from her mind before they could tear into her.

Samples in hand, the doctor left the room and returned a half hour later with the news that Salar had a bacterial infection that required IV antibiotics. That procedure didn’t go so well either.

hours later with tears drying on his cheeks, a bandage on the back of his hand and a lollipop in his other, Salar was ready to go home. Fila had a little vial of pills for him, and the doctor checked twice to make sure she understood how the medication was to be administered.

None of them could get out of there fast enough. Stepping outside, Maya pulled in a deep breath of air, that uncomfortable pressure in her chest easing the moment she exited the hospital. After grabbing Fila and her brother something to eat, Maya took them back toward the main gate. Salar was getting sleepy, and Fila was obviously tired too. Maya held out her arms and gave Fila a questioning look. The girl immediately handed her brother over. Maya expected him to squawk but he never made a sound, just looped his arms around her neck and settled his head on her shoulder. Her heart squeezed at the feel of him nestled against her.

On the way across base, they spotted a group of soldiers playing soccer with some local kids. Salar craned his head around to watch. The ball hurtled past the players and bounced toward them. Maya paused as it rolled near her feet.

“Hey, little help over here?”

Startled by that deep Texas drawl, she glanced up into a familiar pair of smiling dark eyes. He wore a bright orange Texas Longhorns ball cap.

A sharp pang of excitement flashed through her and her heart rate picked up as she turned around fully to face the man who’d haunted her fantasies these past few months.

* * *

J ACKSON GRINNED AT the flare of shock in Maya’s eyes and set his hands on hips as he waited for her to respond.

“You have time to run soccer clinics?” she asked in that Latin-tinged accent he was coming to crave the sound of.

He grinned wider. “Now and then, yeah. Who’s that with you?” He indicated the two children with a jerk of his chin.

“Friends of mine.” She made the introductions, and Jackson stepped closer to offer his hand to them both. Fila shook his shyly, blushing and avoiding eye contact, but Salar quickly buried his face deeper into the curve of Maya’s neck. Not at all offended by the rebuff, Jackson smiled. He knew from personal experience just how good Maya smelled up close. The lotion or whatever it was she used was scented with vanilla and the tart bite of tangerine. He’d love to lean in and nuzzle the side of her neck to get more of it, but the boy was getting to enjoy it instead.

She shifted Salar on her hip. “We’re just leaving the hospital. Poor little buddy has an infection that needed some needles. It wasn’t fun.”

“Sorry I didn’t see you earlier. I’d have been happy to help.”

She looked started for a moment, as though she wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Thanks, but we managed okay.”

“I’d say you did better than okay. They both seem pretty attached to you.” And damn, that maternal side looked good on her, too, confirming what he’d suspected about her all along. Beneath that tough exterior lay a big heart she didn’t seem to want anyone to know about. He’d bet that very few people ever got to see that softer side of her. What would it take for him to earn her trust, get her to let him in that far?

Maya glanced down at Fila’s hand twined with hers and smiled a little. It softened her whole face and lit the pilot light on Jackson’s protective instincts. “Yeah. We’ve been through a lot together, haven’t we, guys?”

This had to be the girl Maya tried to protect the day the base had come under attack in November. Ryan had told him Maya had charged the fence to shout instructions to her young friend. Apparently Maya had stayed there through automatic gunfire to make sure Fila was okay, only moving when Ryan had forcibly ripped her away from that fence and hauled her behind cover. Jackson had no difficulty whatsoever imagining her standing her ground to protect the girl. Maya might be a badass, but he was on to her now. There was so much more to her than that tough-chick image she preferred to show the rest of the world.

By the increase in noise behind him, the youngsters were getting restless to resume playing. He indicated the stalled game behind him with a jerk of his thumb. “Care to join in?”

Her expression turned startled, those big sea-green eyes staring up at him. “I don’t...” She glanced down at Fila, gestured to the ball at her feet and said something in Dari. The girl shook her head shyly. Maya met his gaze. “I think they’re both done for the day, but thanks. I’m going to find us a ride back to their village.”

“You going with them?”

“Well I’m not letting them walk all that way again, especially without an escort. This little guy has a death grip on me anyhow, and I don’t want Fila to have to be alone with any other soldiers.”

Something flashed in her eyes at the last part. A spark of buried anger. That and the fierce way she said it made him think there was something more than protectiveness behind her words. Had someone abused Fila? The idea made him feel sick. He shifted his gaze to Maya’s hand, locked with the girl’s. “How’re the knuckles?”

“Good.”

They weren’t. He could see the bruising and swelling from where he stood. He’d bet money she’d at least cracked one of them, yet she held Fila’s hand without complaint to offer reassurance to her young friend. That sweetness pulled at him. “Your cheek looks better.”

She nodded, her expression closing up. “Yeah, I’m fine. Here.” She nudged the ball toward him with the toe of her boot.

“Thanks.” He didn’t want her to go yet, but navigating this situation was tricky. Their difference in rank didn’t seem to bother her though. Thank God for that. Technically she could have reported him for rounding on her that day in the hospital. He’d been on edge, just back from a mission where he’d lost a patient on the way back to base. Normally he had a long fuse, but she’d managed to push every one of his hot buttons within the space of a few minutes. “By the way, I apologize for the way I spoke to you that day.”

She shook her head, looking straight into his eyes. “I deserved it. Never realized you spoke Spanish. Guess I’ll have to swear at you in Dari from now on.”

Her response startled him so much that he chuckled. “No, those words I know.”

“How did you learn Spanish, by the way?”

“My mom worked two jobs when we were kids, so she hired a nanny and she was Mexican. My accent’s not perfect and I can’t speak it as fast as you, but I understand it well enough.”

“Yeah, you sure do.”

He admired that she took responsibility for her attitude that day. He hadn’t expected her to. “If you can’t find a ride, let me know. I’ll go with you.” Even as he said it, he knew she’d never take him up on it.

“Thanks, I appreciate it. Come on, guys, let’s get you home.” She tossed him a cocky grin. “See you.”

No Sergeant tag, so she wasn’t hung up on protocol like Ace had been with Ryan. That had to be a good sign. “Yeah. Take care.” He admired the sway of her hips and the lean lines of that taut body as she walked away. The woman was sexy as hell. Her self-confidence and take-charge attitude even more so. And while he liked her harder side, that soft, feminine glimpse he’d just seen was what drew him in.

Jackson pulled off his ball cap to drag a hand through his hair and shook his head at himself. Damn, he was in bad trouble here. Growing up in a household of women, he’d developed an appreciation for the fairer sex early on. But Maya was different. When she was nearby, he felt it. When she walked into a room, she owned it. Knowing she was interested in him made it that much harder to resist temptation and stay the hell away from her. He couldn’t remember ever wanting a woman this badly, and he had no idea what the hell to do about it. Maya was unlike any other woman he’d known. It was like trying to navigate through a minefield. One false step could blow his legs off, yet he couldn’t resist the lure. But he was most definitely up for the challenge she posed.

“Hey, Thatcher, you done getting shot down for the day? Cuz we’re waiting to finish the game over here.”

Turning around to glare at his fellow PJ, Jackson sent the soccer ball hurtling back at him.

Game on.