Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
J ess awoke with a start. She sat up, confused, unsure of where she was at. She heard the horse munching quietly nearby. It was grayish in the cave. The drip, drip, drip of water from the pool caught her attention as she sat up. Grimacing as pain throbbed through her arm, Jess suddenly felt scared. Where was Logan? She hadn’t felt him get up and leave. What was the horse eating? She slowly got to her feet, rubbing her face, trying to come awake, her heart starting to pound in dread.
Just then, Logan silently returned to the cave. This time, Jess had seen him coming down the tunnel, so she didn’t start. He had his M4 and he was back in his battle garb. The sat phone was in his left hand. When he saw her, she saw his game face dissolve, soften momentarily, then returned to being unreadable. Jess could tell he had something difficult to tell her and, as he walked over to her, she asked quietly, “Is everything all right?”
Logan shook his head and safed the M4, placing it against the wall. He was wearing his H-gear, the tops of magazines sticking out of its pockets across his chest. “I just finished talking with Chris,” he said guiding her over to the sleeping bag. “Khogani is actively hunting for you. And, somehow, it looks like they’ve tracked us to this general area. He’s called in his east and west troops and now, they are surrounding this slope.”
Her heart sped up and she stared in fear at his grim, shadowed features. “What can we do?”
Logan tried to keep his voice emotionless, seeing the fear in Jess’s eyes. “They’re spread out partway around us. Khogani’s figured out that you’ll try to escape to the valley, so he’s got his men in a rough semicircle about a mile below where we’re at, like a bowl for us to drop into.”
Her heart rate kicked up and she nervously licked her lower lip. “What do we do?”
“We’re on the slope of the mountain range. It means going up and over the mountain spine and down the other side. The nearest forward operating base to where we’re at presently is Bravo, where I’m stationed. It’s roughly fifty miles on the other side of this mountain.” He saw Jess’s eyes widen with the implications.
“But… that means we aren’t getting picked up?” She saw the set of his face, the lack of expression. How could Logan be taking this so calmly? She felt shaky inside. Terrorized that Khogani would find them.
Logan reached out, smoothing some of her hair back into place. “We’re at nine thousand feet. To the east of us is a pass that the Taliban uses to go back and forth across this mountain range, Jess. The place is crawling with enemy. There’s a village on the other side of this mountain. Goat herds are out during the day below the nine-thousand-foot level. We wouldn’t be able to tell friend from foe, Jess. We can’t just bring in Apaches and shoot people we suspect are Taliban. And Chinook helicopters don’t do twelve-thousand feet too well. What we’ll do is go north, climb up to the snow level where Khogani won’t suspect us of going. His whole focus and army is in the south. Then, we’ll travel east toward that pass. We’ll cross it at night when everyone is sleeping. There’s a lot of goat trails and ratlines, paths that Taliban take to carry fertilizer and weapons on, that we can choose from once we get down off that pass. Our main focus is to get into the valley below. It will be warmer, but it also means we’re more exposed to Taliban eyes.”
Jess pulled her arms around herself, staring up at him. “This sounds almost impossible to do, Logan.”
He shrugged. “Under the circumstances, it’s our best strategy, Jess. It’s not going to be easy. Will it be dangerous? Yes.” He caressed her cheek, watching his touch calm her. “We can do it. I’ve patrolled these mountains off and on for years. We just need to keep avoiding Taliban on horseback, is all.”
She felt abandoned in a way, by the military. All this technology and little of it could be used to help them escape Khogani. She knew it wasn’t Logan’s fault. Or anyone else’s. “I guess, I’m just scared witless, Logan. I want this to be over with…,” Jess admitted, giving him an apologetic look.
“I know,” he rasped, leaning down and kissing her wrinkled brow. “Just trust me and we’ll get out of this alive.”
“What can I do to help?” Jess wasn’t going to whine. That would just be one more pressure on Logan. He saw her give him a faint smile.
“Oh, don’t go there,” he teased, brushing his mouth against hers. He felt Jess respond, stepping toward him, her good arm sliding up around his neck. The H-gear prevented her from really getting as close to him as he wanted. Her lips were soft, welcoming, warm beneath his. It was a helluva invitation. One that neither could indulge in right now. Logan eased his mouth from hers, seeing the need for him reflected in her eyes. “You can just keep being strong for me, Jess. I know it’s tough to ride on a horse and you’re not used to it. Focus on staying loose and easy on the horse’s back. Don’t fight the mount’s natural rhythm.”
“I’ll try that,” she said, stepping away, her mouth tingling with the power of Logan’s kiss. “What else?”
“Just keep your eyes and ears open. Any sounds that are out of the ordinary, let me know? The horse is a damned good guard dog. He’ll hear and see things long before we do. And,” he kissed the tip of her nose, “just have faith in me. We’ll get to Bravo in one piece and alive. There’s a lot of cold weather out there. You’re not equipped to handle it.” And that worried Logan. He had a plan but wasn’t going to let Jess in on it yet. She was frightened enough. No sense in scaring her more.
“Let’s do it,” Jess told him grimly. “I don’t like the alternative.”
Logan nodded. “Neither do I. As long as I have that sat phone, we’re in good with Chris and everyone knows what’s happening. He’s already contacted the CO at FOB Bravo and he knows we’re going to head his direction. He’ll have Marine patrols out in the valley looking for us or, at least, providing us some cover. Or maybe causing distraction with the Taliban in the area, making it easier for us to slip by them, unnoticed.” Jess’s hair was mussed around her face and needed a comb. He had one in his ruck and walked over, pulling it out for her.
“Let’s eat. We can’t move until it’s completely dark. I’ve been cutting grass for the horse for a couple of hours, so he has some fuel to work with.”
“Thanks,” she murmured, gratefully taking the comb. “Are the Taliban closing in on the cave?”
Logan shook his head. “No. Chris and I both think that Khogani’s lost your track somewhere in this general vicinity and they’re confused. Like I mentioned, it looks like he’s forming a fishnet of sorts so we can’t get through it to reach the valley. It looks like he’s putting all his eggs in one basket. If that holds? That’s good news for us because it means all his people power is south, and we’re going north. It will be much safer for us, as a result.”
She pulled the comb quickly through her hair and then Logan tied it back into a ponytail for her with a rubber band. “Does that mean they haven’t put together that you came in on a horse to rescue me?”
Nodding, Logan leaned down and rolled the sleeping bag up and placed it with ties on top of his ruck. “Yeah, that’s what I think it means. We did a good enough job of wiping our prints here and there that they haven’t figured it out.” Yet. Logan knew the Hill people and the Taliban were not stupid. They knew SEALs, Rangers, Delta Force and Special Forces had snipers in the mountains watching for them. And they also knew that there would be a huge effort to find Jess. “The Taliban knows that US forces will be looking for you, too, so they know they aren’t out here operating with impunity.”
“They have to be wary of drones. Flyovers? Apache helicopters?” Jess asked, as he handed her a breakfast MRE to eat.
“Exactly,” Logan murmured. He invited her to sit down near the horse, who was hungrily nibbling up the last scraps of the grass Logan had provided him earlier. “Khogani knows we aren’t not going to search for you. He has to be scared of SEAL teams coming up from the valley and interdicting with his men as they lay their trap on the lower southern slopes for you.”
She smiled a little. “It’s a huge chess game.”
Grimacing, Logan said, “Yes, it is.”
“Do my parents know I’m okay?”
“They know you’re in US hands. We can’t tell them anything more. It’s top secret. They know you’re safe.” For now. But Logan didn’t add that to the mix, seeing her eyes fill with relief. Logan knew how many things could go wrong. Murphy’s Law, if it could go wrong, it would , was alive and well in SEAL ranks. There wasn’t one mission he’d been on where something hadn’t gone sideways. No matter how much attention SEALs paid to every little detail, the great unknown of the enemy was the chaos sitting out there, lurking to mix things up.
“My poor mom and dad, what they must be going through,” and Jess felt badly for her parents. Who wanted to know their child had been kidnapped and had been in Hill soldiers’ hands? The nightmares, the anxiety it had to be causing them. “My mother, once this is over, is probably going to chew my ear off about getting out of the Seabees to become a civilian and work with their company.” Her mouth quirked as she looked over at Logan quickly eating his MRE, “At least I’d be safe.”
“Yes, and that’s important,” Logan agreed. He could see Jess considering the nature of her military work. This situation had shaken her world view, no question. And, selfishly, he’d like to see Jess out of the Navy, safe in San Diego, working in her parents’ multi-million-dollar construction company. And, yeah, that was a selfish desire. He was willing to admit that to himself, but he didn’t care. He loved her. And never mind her possible future assignments, Logan wasn’t even sure if they were going to get out of this situation.
“Look,” he told her, “I want you to wear my Kevlar vest.” He saw Jess lift her head, shock in her eyes. “You’re sitting up in front of me,” he explained. “If we suddenly run into Taliban, and they fire at us, you’re the target, not me.” He hated saying it, but it was true. And Jess frowned, mouth tightening, and then she nodded.
“You’re right.”
“You know the drill: it’s forty pounds of weight with the chicken plate in it,” he told her. It wasn’t going to be easy to ride a horse properly with that heavy vest on her upper body, overbalancing her.
“I’ll manage it. Don’t worry.”
Now he was seeing her grit. And she was going to need every ounce of it. Logan knew no one else was trained to the high degree the black ops community was. Jess had no drilled-in muscle memory or reflexes to know what to do in a firefight. Yes, the military had taught her how to fire an M-16 rifle, and a .45 pistol, and hit the target. But this kind of situation wasn’t in her purview of experience, at all. That placed the weight of responsibility on him. He wished he could be the one riding up front on the horse, but his H-gear, massive around his torso, plus wearing the sixty-pound ruck on his back, wouldn’t allow it.
After they finished their MREs and tucked the leftover foil away in his ruck, Logan shed his H-gear and pulled off his Kevlar vest. Jess came over and he helped her into it. It hung on her frame. She was five inches shorter than he was, and half his muscle and bone mass.
Turning around, she smiled faintly. “Well, not exactly the height of fashion, Randall, but it will do.”
He grinned back and pulled the Velcro closed down her front, and then took off his gloves and told her to wear them. He took out the yellow-and-green-checked shemagh of hers that he had brought along, wrapped it around her head like a loose scarf, and then snugged it around her neck and shoulders. Jess knew the unique tribal colors of the shemagh shouted of its tribal lineage. Each tribe had its own colors and design. These were the color of the Shinwari tribe, prevalent where they were going. The Afghan tribesmen would recognize it, and see them as friendly, not Taliban. It was an easy way to identify a stranger and what tribe they were from. “How’s that shemagh feel on you?”
“Warm,” she murmured, “thanks.”
Logan nodded. “Now, you look more like a Shinwari tribesman. If the Taliban sees you, they might mistake you as one. Let’s get ready to leave.” Logan wished to hell they could go hajii ; meaning to wear full Afghan male clothing that would camouflage them completely. Normally, SEALs on sniper missions or long patrols, would go hajii , blending into the fabric of the Afghan desert and its people.
Jess glanced up at the slit in the ceiling. She could see dark grayness above in the sky. Feeling her adrenaline kick up as Logan led her over to the horse, she said, “I’m not walking out?”
“Not necessary. Gotta save your strength.” He cupped his hands together so she could slide her boot into his palms. “Grab the mane and I’ll boost you up.”
Jess found that, with sixty-five extra pounds, she was awkward and gawky as he easily hefted her up and over onto the back of the horse. Grabbing the mane, she saw Logan pull the NVGs down on his helmet rail and settle them across his eyes. He picked up the horse’s reins and led the gelding toward the tunnel. The horse’s back was warm. Jess worried if Logan would be warm enough. She knew he was trying to keep her from going hypothermic even as things were. And that pass they were heading for, was at eighty-five hundred feet . The winds blew down off the slopes of the Hindu Kush at night at up to a hundred miles an hour, in savage gusts, the temperature plunging thirty or forty degrees below freezing.
They left the tunnel, coming back out into the entrance chamber. Jess’s heart rate amped up as Logan cautiously looked around, leaving her and the horse at the back of the cave. He had crouched, M4 ready to fire, and disappeared into the night. She could see a few stars here and there through the cave entrance. And the wind was rising and falling outside. Already, she was grateful for the warmer vest he’d given her. She waited tensely, and Logan came back about ten minutes later, appearing at her side and scaring the hell out of her yet again. She had not heard him coming. The man was like a damn ghost. But the horse had pricked up his ears a moment earlier, looking pointedly in a particular direction. Jess realized she needed to pay a lot more attention to the animal. She felt Logan’s hand on her thigh. It made her feel a little safer.
“All clear,” he told her in a low voice. “Take my rifle for a minute. I’m climbing on board.”
Jess held his rifle, and Logan mounted the horse’s back behind her. It wasn’t easy, but he was so athletic that he made it look that way. The horse shifted. The animal was now carrying not only their combined body weight, but also a hundred and twenty pounds of gear. It was enough that the horse anchored itself on its four spindly legs to rebalance. Jess didn’t know how the tough Afghan pony was able to carry them at all. But he had already, after all.
Earlier, while Jess had been sleeping, Logan had carefully run his hands down every leg of the horse to ensure he was still sound. The deep cut on one knee was obviously still bothering the horse but, apart from cleaning it and applying some antiseptic, there wasn’t much else that Logan could do about it. He’d also cleaned out the frogs at the bottom of each hoof, picking out tiny stones or other debris that might cause the horse to go lame. Satisfied, he’d patted the stalwart gelding, tough as nails. The horse had gotten a good amount of food and water, too. And he’d been able to rest for twelve hours, often lying on the ground near the pool of water, dozing. He thought that all in all, the three of them were in the best possible shape they could be, under the harsh circumstances.
Logan took his rifle back, snapping its harness across his chest, slid his arm around Jess’s waist, and took the reins. He clucked softly to the horse, and the animal walked out of the cave. Logan guided it to the left, around the escarpment. As they traversed the steep hill, he watched the land right in front of their laboring mount through his NVGs. If it tripped, they could go down in a heartbeat.
“Listen,” he told Jess, near her ear, “if this horse goes down, I need you to tuck and roll. Can you do that for me?” He didn’t want to scare her, but he also didn’t want her not knowing what to do if it happened.
“Yes,” she said in a low voice, “I’ve got it.” Jess didn’t want to sound scared or unsure. Logan needed her confident. He had enough to worry about. She didn’t want to add to his load. Jess felt him give her a gentle squeeze and warmth fled through her. He was a hero in her eyes and heart. She knew she was a liability of the worse kind in a situation like this. She was never trained for escape and evasion. Logan had been. She was the weaker of the two of them strength-wise. But he knew what he was doing, and she had a fierce confidence in his knowledge. All the while, Jess fought the fear of something happening to Logan, of being spotted by the Hill soldiers or the Taliban. The wind roared by them and it was cold and cutting as they climbed higher and higher. Jess burrowed into the warmth of the shemagh , pulling it up across her nose so only a slit across her eyes went unprotected from the freezing, savage gusts.
Logan looked down at his watch. It was 0300. They’d been traveling nonstop at a lumbering walk across the rugged landscape for hours. At nine-thousand feet, there were ample trees to keep them from being spotted. The horse was tired, tripping regularly now, and he knew they had to halt and give the gelding a breather. He could feel Jess leaning against him, adapting fast to the mount’s gait, though the tension never fully left her body. But she was warmer than before, and wasn’t shivering, and that was good. Logan was comfortable, except that he could no longer feel the fingers of his now gloveless hands. They did not speak. Voices carried. For all he knew, there were Taliban nearby, hunkered down, sleeping. Their horses, however, would hear. And if they whinnied, it would alert the Taliban and they’d awaken and start firing their AK-47s indiscriminately into the blackness of the night, hoping to kill them.
The chances of any alerted Taliban actively chasing them were pretty much nil, and Logan knew it. They weren’t going to risk running their horses over unknown terrain they couldn’t see. They’d just scattershot the bullets, spray-and-pray. But Logan didn’t want to risk even that. He saw a thick grove of woods ahead and pulled the horse to a stop. Sliding off, he helped Jess to the ground. The horse groaned. Logan patted its neck and handed the reins to Jess.
“I’m going to scout around. See if I can find some water for the horse. Stay here and don’t leave this area.”
Jess nodded. She could see around her with the moon full in the sky. The horse was sweaty, and she felt sorry for the gelding, patting him gently on one damp shoulder, speaking softly to him. Roughly, Jess figured the horse was carrying around four hundred- and seventy-pounds total. No wonder the poor animal was weary. She heard the wind blowing through the trees. But the shemagh was keeping her head, neck and shoulders protected. She wasn’t shaking or shivering as before. Jess saw Logan melt out of the woods, M4 in hand.
He said near her ear, “There’s a pool of water about two hundred feet down this hill. Come on….”
The horse plunged its muzzle into the water, gulping it noisily. Logan stood with Jess nearby. He pushed the NVGs up on the helmet rail. His ears were freezing, and he wished he’d thought to stash a second shemagh into his ruck. They were handwoven by Afghan women out of wool and were damned warm and protective. Sliding his arm around her, he brought Jess as close as he could, kissing her hair. He felt her arm come around his waist, squeezing him. Jess never complained.
Logan searched her eyes and saw love shining in them for him. He smiled down at her, thinking how beautiful she looked. There was so much he wanted to talk with her about. A future. The two of them. Even through this whole mess, the thought of finding the right time and place to have proper downtime together was an ongoing priority for him, a brightness at the end of this dark tunnel. Something to aim for. Logan refused to bend to the fact of the military always playing havoc on love and families. They were secondary to his mission. Somehow, he was going to make Jess the priority in his life. Logan didn’t know how yet, but he’d figure out a workaround. This was the woman he wanted in his life forever. The only question left to answer was if Jess felt the same way about him. He’d said those three, irretrievable words, I love you ; she hadn’t. But he was going to hold out hope that Jess felt like he did and wanted something permanent and lasting between them.
After half an hour, they mounted up. Jess knew that the pass was nearby, above them. The stars glittered overhead, sometimes hidden by thick clouds rolling across the pass, hanging on the summits of the Hindu Kush. It was at those times, when the clouds embraced them, that she could feel Logan tensing. It was nothing obvious, but he pulled the horse down to a very slow walk, the clouds like thick fog; they couldn’t see even a foot in front of them. And where the horse placed his feet, that was imperative to their safety. When the clouds descended around them, it made Jess shiver. Dampness surrounded them and everything became muffled.
They were heading down a steep hill, coming out of the woods, inching toward the pass that Logan could see a thousand feet up in front of them. The ground was now nothing but rocks with very little brush and trees. He was looking around, seeing if he could spot any movement, when the horse suddenly grunted.
In an instant, Logan felt the gelding’s knees collapse, the one with the deep cut giving out first.
Jess was yanked forward. He gripped her waist hard, throwing her back up against him to stop her from tumbling over the animal’s head.
Everything became a blur. Logan released the reins, grabbing Jess’s shoulder as the horse fell hard. One moment they were on the horse, the next, they were tumbling through the air. He heard Jess give a cry. Damn! They were going to land on nothing but rocks! Logan twisted his body midair, hauling Jess up, above and in front of him.
And then Logan crashed into the rocks, his ruck taking the full, brutal impact. He grunted as Jess’s weight slammed down upon him. Logan instantly released her after she hit the front of his body. He hoped she’d roll free, rather than have his bulk roll over on top of her. The impact was so hard that his head smashed secondarily into the rocks, momentarily stunning him, even through his Kevlar helmet. And then, Logan was thrown up, spinning, into the air again. He tucked, keeping his head bowed against his body, his hands and feet tight against himself. Hitting the rocks again, he heard the horse nearby, and hoped like hell its flailing legs wouldn’t strike him. If they did, Logan knew a hoof in his face could kill him outright.
He bounced along, gritting his teeth every time he hit the unforgiving rocks. Finally, his ruck jammed between two larger rocks, stopping his rolling. Grunting softly, Logan blinked. He quickly assessed himself, feeling bruises, but nothing more. Jerking upward and to his feet, he frantically searched for Jess. She was up above him, slowly sitting up, holding her head. Below them, the horse lay sprawled out, unmoving. Shit!
Scrambling silently over the rocks, Logan reached Jess. He flipped the NVGs off his eyes, able to see her face in the moonlight. Her eyes looked cloudy with confusion, and she was holding her brow.
“Where are you hurt?” he asked, crouching in front of her, breathing hard.
“I hit my head,” Jess muttered dully. “Are you all right?”
“Bruised is all. Hold still,” he ordered, gently gripping her hand and easing it away from the side of her head. Logan saw a thin trickle of blood down the side of her jaw. “Look at me,” he commanded. He knew the signs of brain injury. When Jess lifted her face to his, he anxiously scanned her eyes. Both pupils were equal size, and he breathed a sigh of relief. No head injury. “Any dizziness?”
She shook her head. “No… just a little rattled is all. Give me a minute?” She felt Logan’s hands moving from her neck, across her shoulders and down her arms, swiftly examining her for any other injuries. Jess looked up and groaned.
“Our horse….”
“Yeah, probably broke a leg or his neck. I’ll check on him next. Any other injuries?”
Jess shook her head. “I’m okay.” She saw Logan give her a wry look.
“Now you sound like a SEAL.”
Touching her scalp, Jess felt the blood. “We’re sitting ducks out here on this rock slope, Logan.”
Nodding, he got up, squeezed her shoulder and murmured, “Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”
Jess watched him scramble effortlessly down the rocky slope. He knelt at the horse, who remained unmoving. She saw the grimness in Logan’s features as he patted the animal’s neck and rose. He had been right, the horse had broken its neck in the fall. She knew if Logan hadn’t done what he had, she might not be alive right now, either. Her heart bled for the valiant horse.
Logan leaned down. “Broken neck. He didn’t feel a thing. It’s a good way to die.”
Grimacing, Jess shook her head. “I feel so bad…”
“I know. So do I. He was a good horse. But there’s nothing we can do but move on.” Logan searched her sad face. “Do you feel like testing your legs? We need to get off this slope as soon as possible.”
Nodding, she held out her hand and Logan gripped it, standing and drawing her upward. For a moment, she was dizzy, but then it passed. “Okay,” Jess told him. “Just don’t let go of my hand?”
Logan placed her hand on his belt. “This is even better. Just like before. I’ll take it slow, but if it’s still too fast for you, Jess, speak up?”
Nodding she swallowed hard, tears in her eyes. The poor horse. She gripped his belt and followed awkwardly, around rocks large and medium, and stumbling over small. Some were sharp, others rounded. Jess felt her heart thundering in her chest and she worried if someone was watching them. Logan had said a drone had been following their movement, but that it couldn’t go over the summit of the mountains. Clear air turbulence, caused by the high mountains, would tear the drone apart. He’d said another drone from FOB Bravo would be put into place as soon as they were down off the pass. The only consolation Jess had was the fact that, as they got off the slope and Logan began a slow trot down a wide dirt path between the huge mountains, he was alert with rifle in hand.
Sometimes, dizziness would strike her, and she’d tug on Logan’s belt, asking him to stop. Jess felt nakedly vulnerable out on the trail. There was nowhere to hide. The feeling was wretched, and she tried not to slow him down, but she knew she was doing precisely that. If Logan minded it, he never gave a hint. He would take her hand, slow his pace, pull her close, and they’d do a long, fast walk with one another, instead. At other times through the one-mile pass, he would stop, offer her the tube to his CamelBak and insist she drink water. Jess felt incredibly protected by Logan regardless of them being two stark shadows, walking the dirt path, that could be seen from any direction in the moonlight.
Finally, they blended back into the tree line and Logan guided her off the well-used path. Jess knew he was angling toward another cave that was somewhere around seventy-five hundred feet. Chris had given him its GPS coordinates. He was taking them deeper into the quiet, dark forest. Jess felt relieved to be hidden by the trees once more. She tried to calculate what kind of time it would take now that they were on foot. It would slow their pace down a lot. Four legs were always better than two.
Logan located the cave. It was mostly hidden by thick brush across the front of it. He went in, clearing it first, and then gestured for Jess to join him. It was near dawn, and she could just barely make out the oval interior of the cave. The ceiling was barely eight feet tall. Logan picked up her hand, guiding her to the rear of it. Off to the right, there was a tunnel. It was much smaller than the previous; a horse would never have gotten through. The tunnel was short and narrow, leading into another chamber about the same size as the first. Jess heard water dripping somewhere, and hoped there was a pool nearby. She was sweaty, dirty, and longed to get clean. Above, she saw a jagged zigzag opening in the ceiling. The clouds were coming across the area again and she saw no stars, only murky thick fog and grayness.
Leading Jess to the pool near a rock wall with water leaking down it, Logan urged her to rest. Shrugging out of his pack, he knelt next to it, opening the outer pocket to retrieve the sat phone. He scowled, pulling it out in two pieces.
“Oh, no,” Jess whispered, her hand flying to her mouth. She stared in shock over at Logan’s dark expression. “The sat phone… It’s broken.”
Mentally cursing, Logan looked over the unit, trying to determine if he could fix it. But quickly saw there was no chance. Dammit! Without the sat phone, he had no direct line of communication to Chris or anyone else. He’d heard the terror in Jess’s voice. Shoving the useless phone back into the pocket, he searched the front of his H-gear, digging into the pocket where his SEAL radio was kept. It too, had been smashed as he’d tumbled down the rocky slope. Logan remembered hitting the front of the gear across his chest on a huge rock during the fall from the horse.
Jess stared in disbelief as he held the shattered radio in the palm of his hand. They had no radio. Nothing. Suddenly, they were abandoned without technology to aid their escape. She gulped, feeling panic. Without a radio, no one knew where they were. Worse, would Chris and the CO at Bravo think they were dead? Captured by the Taliban? Oh, God….