Chapter 2 #2
“Tough crowd,” she mumbled. “I kept to myself for a couple of days, and then I reached out to the woman we were supposed to deliver schoolbooks to the day after the ambush. She took me in. She kept me hidden in a small side building behind her house, where she secretly teaches her daughters to read.”
We hadn’t reached the juicy bits of the story yet. I was waiting to find out how she knew about the helicopter.
“I’m guessing they’re in Kabul.” I tossed her one of the meal bars.
“Thank you—uh, yes. She lives there with her husband, their three daughters, her brother, and their parents.”
Interesting. The resistance force was quiet but large, but to include the whole family seemed risky.
“You met them all?” I questioned.
“Not Noura’s parents,” she replied. “They were very careful about how much I could…you know, hear. Noura was the only one who introduced herself. I don’t know the husband’s name, the brother’s name, or two of the daughters.
” She smiled faintly. “The youngest daughter slipped when she and I were alone. We decided it was a secret between us.”
That made more sense.
“Do they speak Dari or Pashto?” I wondered.
“Pashto.”
“And you?”
She flushed in the firelight. “I can get by, but nothing more. The youngest daughter taught me a little. She said she wants to become a teacher when she grows up.” She was fond of that girl—and sad about the unlikelihood of that dream becoming reality.
I nodded with a dip of my chin and bit into my meal bar. It was gonna have to suffice for now. I’d go fishing tomorrow. Maybe set up traps to catch a rabbit or two.
“Did Noura help you contact your old man?” I asked.
She nodded, nibbling on the bar. “Yeah, she brought me to a bazaar where I could make a quick phone call. But it was too dangerous to go again. There was an actual poster in the market with a bad sketch of my face on it. Those rebels or whoever the hell they are—they’re still looking for me.”
No surprise. She was American.
“I wouldn’t come here again if I were you,” I said. “How long have you been an aid worker?”
She squinted. “Almost eight years.”
That was impressive. “Is this your first trip to Afghanistan?”
“Second, but the first one was six years ago. A lot has changed.” Understatement.
“My true passion is being a nurse, so I work part time when I’m home.
But I just had this need to…I don’t know, do something bigger than everything I was used to…
” She trailed off for a beat. “I bargained with my dad. He was not happy about my new dream—but I decided, four months of the year, I wanted to dedicate to this. I’ve been to Syria, Somalia, Djibouti, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. ”
Definitely impressive. The girl had courage.
“You’re close with your old man,” I stated.
She flashed a quick smile. “Total daddy’s girl. He’s a pilot like you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mmhmm.” She chewed on a small bite. “My mom died when I was in junior high, so Dad did what he knew best. He preached the Air Force gospel, took me to air shows, and gave me a call sign.”
How about that. Even I had to crack a smile. “Good dad.”
“The best,” she said. “Do you have a call sign? Or do private military not bother with those?”
Here we go.
“How do you know I’m private?” I asked.
She froze momentarily.
I didn’t take my eyes off her.
She hadn’t exactly found the helicopter by accident. Not only had she known the location, she had somehow evaded getting caught on camera. At least, I hadn’t heard anything suspicious.
“I wanna know everything, Kiera.”
She nodded minutely. “As long as… As long as Noura and her husband don’t get in trouble for this.”
I kept staring at her. For one, I wasn’t making any promises.
For two, she was admittedly very easy on the eyes.
I hadn’t paid attention to her appearance in that way before.
But now it was difficult not to, particularly in the glow of the fire.
She had a heart-shaped face, dimples, and those big brown peepers.
“Noura’s husband has been an informant for the US military,” she admitted. “And, um…when we pulled out, he was contacted by a few private agencies.”
Of-fucking-course. “I’m guessing the Hillcroft Group was one of them.”
“I-I wouldn’t know. They didn’t share any names.”
Fair enough.
“I want you to know they tried other options first,” she went on.
“I lost all my money when some shady fucker promised to smuggle me into Uzbekistan before he disappeared. They tried to call the embassy in Turkey, as well as the Turkish embassy in Kabul, but that just resulted in Noura’s husband being followed.
And then…then he learned about a pilot arriving to fly a helicopter out of here… ”
I waved her off, having heard enough. Nothing would be verified for a while, but what she said was plausible.
“And that’s how I ended up with a damn stowaway,” I said. “That’s enough for one night. I’ll make sure you get home. Just be prepared to wait a week.”
The way she lit up, man. But the smile fell almost as fast. “Wait, what? A week?”
I finished my protein bar and grabbed my sleeping bag. “I have orders. Our way home has a detour—but if you give me your dad’s information, I’ll have a colleague reach out and let him know you’re okay.”
A breath gusted out of her. “Thank you so much. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. You’re getting me home, and that’s what matters.”
“No problem.” I dug into my backpack and retrieved my spare blanket. It wasn’t soft or cozy, but it would keep her warm. “Use the burqa as a sheet, and take this.”
“Thank you.” She eyed the plastic bucket next to the stove. “I’m not going to the bathroom in that thing, by the way.”
“I sure hope not. I fetch water in that.”
“Oh. So, um, where…”
“There’s an outhouse about twenty feet down the slope,” I replied. I got to my feet, ’cause I needed to take a leak. “I’ll show you tomorrow. I trust you can piss outside in the meantime.”
She looked so happy to hear that.