Chapter 4
Zoe’s heart rate increased as she stepped out into the dust storm behind Heath. The reality of the situation she’d got them into was sinking in. The wind battered her hijab and clothes, but thank goodness Heath had bought them goggles to protect their eyes.
She took shallow breaths through her mouth, adjusting the bottom of the hijab like a filter against the thick, suffocating dust.
Heath was already several steps in front of her and almost out of sight.
She hurried to catch up with him as they walked down the wall of the apartment block, her eyes straining to see movement around her.
The street was empty as far as she could see, and no more military vehicles drove past. But would any soldiers shoot people on sight?
Her shoulder muscles tightened as she waited for a gunshot.
Heath held up a hand, and she almost ran into him, too busy scanning her surroundings to watch him.
He steadied her with one hand, his eyes on something at the edge of visibility ahead. Zoe squinted and could barely make out the shapes of something in the dust.
Heath pulled out his gun.
Zoe jolted. She didn’t know he even carried one, but he must think there was a threat to have it out. He took her hand with his free one and bent to murmur close to her ear, “Move with me.”
She nodded, taking comfort from his strong, warm grip.
He turned his attention back to the shape, and she braced herself. When he tugged her hand, she was ready, and she followed him step for step, first moving slowly and then a few fast steps that brought them to the edge of the building and around the corner.
Zoe tensed, waiting for a shout or a shot, or some other indication they had been spotted, but there was nothing. It wasn’t until Heath slowed that she allowed herself a breath of dusty air, her hijab filling her mouth as the wind blew it in. She adjusted it.
Heath squeezed her hand and she loosened her grip. Poor man would have bruises.
Heath kept them moving, but said, “How many blocks to the edge of the suburb?”
“About four.”
He nodded in response and she guessed he was planning something.
The military could have blockaded the Asian City and industrial area which was where most of the migrant workers lived.
If they had, there’d be no point getting a car, but they were also running out of time to get to the kids before the ship sailed.
Another shadow materialised out of the gloom, this time a car. Heath stopped and jimmied it open. “Get in.” He checked the time. “Quickly.”
She ran around the other side of the white hatchback and got in. Heath had already got the engine started.
“Move the seat back and get on the floor. Brace yourself and stay low.”
Her hand shook as she adjusted the seat and squeezed herself into the footwell. She ducked her head and braced a hand against the seat and the centre console.
“Good. Don’t move until I tell you.”
The sounds of the call to prayer were just audible above the wind and the sudden sound made Zoe flinch.
She closed her eyes, her heart racing as Heath drove.
He wasn’t going fast, maybe because of the lack of visibility, but then he swore, and the car shot forward.
Zoe braced harder as shots rang out and the windscreen exploded.
She gasped, but Heath didn’t flinch or slow.
The car bumped over something, maybe a curb and her body banged against the dash.
She gritted her teeth at the pain and glanced up at Heath.
Wind blew his scarf against his mouth and his gaze was focused on the road, but his shirt had torn along his bicep, and a red patch seeped through the black.
He’d been shot.
The car jolted again, and she hit her head against the door, wincing and repositioning her hands.
“Stay down,” Heath yelled.
“You’ve been shot.” She didn’t have a first aid kit. What if he bled out? She didn’t know where the nearest hospital was.
“Just a scratch,” he replied as he pushed the old car as fast as it would go. “We’re clear. Sit on the seat and strap in.”
Zoe’s hands trembled as she shifted to the seat and fastened her seat belt. The windscreen had several holes with webbed cracks stretching out from them.
They were on a long flat road with dust surrounding them. Best she could tell they were out of the city and crossing the long, empty stretch of desert between the city and the new port.
“Are you OK?” Heath asked.
She glanced at him. “That should be my question. You’re bleeding.”
He checked his arm where the patch of blood had stopped spreading and patted it with a wince. “Just a graze. It looks worse than it is, but it stings like a mother-fucker.”
She felt his grimace rather than saw it.
“We don’t know what reception we’re going to get at the port,” he said. “There might be guards, or the government might not care.”
“So what’s the plan?”
“The windscreen with bullet holes in it isn’t a good look if there are military guards, but if they’re migrants, they should let us in.”
“So what, we have to wait until we arrive before you make a decision?”
He nodded. “Stay strapped in for now. If there’s military on the gate, our story is, you’re my wife, and I’ve brought you here where I think you’ll be safe. Keep your head lowered and your scarf high so they can’t see your face.”
“What about you? If there are workers on the docks, they’ll think you’re the enemy.”
“Then I tell them the truth, that we’re here to rescue the children.”
It seemed reasonable, but there were so many variables. Perhaps he was hoping she didn’t realise that, so she didn’t worry. He certainly sounded as if he had everything under control.
Calm, unbothered.
It worked. Her heart rate slowed a little. Whatever happened, Heath would be able to handle it.
The dash clock showed it had only been about twenty minutes since they had left Nisha’s place. The speedometer was straining at a hundred and twenty kilometres an hour.
She prayed they didn’t meet another car on the road because there was no way Heath would stop in time.
Her eyes strained to see through the dust cloud for any light or shadow which could indicate someone else was out there.
Nothing.
They might as well be the only people on earth.
She kept scanning until the first structure appeared and Heath slowed. The main entrance had a security boom gate and several military personnel stood outside, in the storm, rifles at the ready.
Zoe’s heart pounded. Were they about to be shot?
Was this the last thing she would ever do in her life?
At least she would die knowing she was trying to help.
Heath’s chuckle pierced through her fear and she glanced at him as he pulled to a stop outside the gate and wound down his window a crack.
What was so funny?
She glanced at him and then remembered she wasn’t supposed to let them see her face. She lowered her head.
“Who did you piss off to get the shit job, Fox?” Heath asked.
Zoe jolted. He knew the soldier? She lifted her head so she could see.
“Who the hell are you?” The soldier’s American accent made her relax slightly.
“You wound me,” Heath replied. “It’s Joker, Squadron 6.”
The man’s tone shifted. “They leave you behind?”
“Got split up. Need access to the port to rescue some kids who are being smuggled out of the country.”
“You need a hand?”
“Wouldn’t say no, if you’ve got spare men.”
Fox said something into his radio and two men came out of the guard house and got into the back of the car. Heath greeted them as Fox raised the boom gate and waved them through.
Heath wound up the window and drove forward. “Long time no see,” he said to the huge men in the back. “Zoe, that’s Rambo and Phoenix.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am,” Rambo said. “What’s the mission?”
“Find the Tridant, get the kids out of a container and back home to their parents. Then get Zoe here out of the country. What are you doing on guard duty?”
“Military helped at the embassy and got our people to safety in return for us staying here and helping,” Phoenix replied. “You’re the first people we’ve seen out here.”
Rambo drew out a radio and spoke in Arabic, asking for the location of the ship. Within minutes they had the dock coordinates.
“Can we talk with the ship’s captain?” Zoe asked. “Maybe if he sees you, he’ll let the children go.”
“Or maybe he doesn’t know what cargo he’s carrying,” Phoenix said.
“Then surely he’ll let us search,” Zoe said.
Heath shook his head. “We’ve got no jurisdiction and he could get into trouble opening a container without due cause.”
She stared at him. “Don’t you think trafficking children is due cause?”
“Joker’s right,” Rambo said. “We go in with demands and they’re likely to say no just to spite us.”
“So what do we do?”
“Ship’s registered in Iran.” Phoenix gave Heath a look.
He stopped the car on the edge of the container area and glanced at her. “Can you protect Zoe while I’m gone?”
Zoe shook her head as a glimmer of fear filled her. “No. You’re not leaving me behind. Those kids might not want to go with you. I’ve met Nisha’s niece. She’ll know it’s safe if she sees me.”
“He’ll work much faster without you there,” Rambo said.
Dread lodged in her stomach. She didn’t want to be separated from Heath. He’d got her this far. She didn’t know these men, though they seemed nice and were probably capable if Heath was going to leave her with them.
But then it was her fault they were still here. “Maybe it hasn’t been loaded on to the ship yet.”
“They’ve finished loading,” Heath told her.
Rambo’s radio blared with voices. “Hostiles incoming. Need backup.”
“Out, Zoe,” Heath barked and she jumped, shoving open the door as Heath leapt out of the car and Phoenix jumped in the driver’s seat. Rambo shoved her out of the way and in seconds they were speeding back to the entrance.
Zoe exhaled and moved over to Heath, glancing back towards the car which had already disappeared in the dust. She placed a hand on her heart to help calm it. “Holy crap you guys are fast.”
Heath chuckled. “We’ve got to be.” He also glanced back to the entrance. “Looks like you’re staying with me.”
Relief filled her though she didn’t like the grimness of his tone. “Do you think they’ll get in?”
“I don’t know. Let’s move.” He grabbed her hand and kept her by his side as they crossed over to the massive cargo ship that was docked beside the equally massive yellow cranes that were motionless in the storm.
There was no way they would find the right container. The ship was massive, and containers were stacked ten high and who knew how many wide, not to mention those below deck.
“We won’t find them, will we?” Zoe asked Heath, her heart sinking.
“Your phone is still giving off a strong signal, and I made note of the container number in the photo you had. That gives us the coordinates.”
She had no idea. “But it might be below the deck, or out of reach?”
“Yeah.” He glanced at her but it was impossible to read his expression. “Here’s the thing. The chances of us getting on the ship, finding the kids, getting them out of the container and off the ship before the ship sails are slim.”
Zoe wanted to be sick. “So we have to leave them here.”
He hesitated. “There’s another option.”
“What is it?”
“Each ship has enough lifeboats for its crew,” Heath said.
She frowned as she tried to follow his train of thought. “So what, we steal one of those after we get the kids?”
He nodded.
“Do you even know how to launch one?”
He placed a hand on his chest. “Darling, you wound me.”
His attempt at humour made her smile. “Sorry, I forgot you’re special forces. Does that mean you can do everything?”
“Pretty much.”
His confidence made her smile and settled her stomach. “All right. What do we do?”