No Turning Back (30 page)

“You will go home,” Rhys vowed. “What about your friend there? Can he walk?”

“N-no. In sh-shock.”

Yeah, and so was she.

“It's okay. Help is coming. We'll carry you both out.”

Her eyes darted past them into the other room and Ben could almost smell her terror. “Th-the others... ”

Ben pulled off his own balaclava so she could see his face. “All dead,” he told her, deciding it was better to tell her the truth. “None of them can hurt you anymore.”

A small sob escaped her. She bit her lip and lowered her head. Ben saw the fat teardrops falling into the dirt beneath her.

“You're safe now,” Rhys murmured.

Still crying softly, she leaned forward and lifted her arms to wind them about Rhys’ neck. Rhys gathered her close, and to Ben's surprise, ran a hand over her snarled, matted hair. Jesus, she was filthy. The whole place reeked of shit and the oily sweat of terror.

“I'm going to pick you up now, okay?” Rhys said.

She nodded against his shoulder, hiding her face.

Rhys scooped her up like a child and carried her outside where Davis was waiting. He went to his knees in the snow and sat her down, but Neveah pressed close against him and he kept running his hand slowly over her hair and down her back.

Feeling like he was interrupting, Ben came out with the pediatrician over his shoulder and laid him on a blanket, then covered him with another. The guy looked like hell, his face gray, eyes sunken from dehydration.

Rhys bundled Neveah up to get her warm and bent his head to her ear. “We need to get some IV fluids into you.”

At her nod, he lifted her and stretched her out beside her friend. Her eyes seemed a bit clearer as she looked up at him. She hadn't let go of Rhys’ hand, and he didn't seem like he was in any hurry to pull away.

“Let me get this line in,” Ben said. He swabbed the back of her hand with alcohol and tightened the tourniquet before slipping the armed IV into her vein. She didn't even twitch. He taped the thing down and started the drip, then handed the bag of fluid to Davis.

Climbing to his feet, he looked out into the still night. “I don't like the feel of this,” he said, scanning the barren terrain through his NVGs. “Makes me twitchy that the bastard's not here. It's like they wanted to draw us up here so they could get away.”

Rhys nodded and stepped away to take his own look. “Any word from command on the other frequency?”

“Yeah. Helo's inbound, ETA eight minutes.” A shitload of time to kill if Tehrazzi and his bodyguard were in the area with an unknown number of Taliban fighters.

“How is she?”

Ben glanced down at Neveah, lying so still and pale against the rough blanket. “Dehydrated, but not injured.”

Well, not physically, so far as he could see, anyhow. Psychological damage was another story. Being held in that shit-hole while listening to your friends being slaughtered and wondering if you were next would wound anyone's mind.

Neveah turned her head and looked at him. Her eyes were alert. “You look like Rhys. Are you brothers?”

“Yeah, I'm his twin, Ben.” He gave her a reassuring smile. “Sam's beside herself about you, and said to say hello.”

“She did?”

“Yep. She's waiting back at the command post right now.” He checked the IV one more time and did the same with the pediatrician, but couldn't help noticing how Neveah kept watching his brother.

“Hey, Rhys,” Ben called. “I need you over here for a minute.” He nodded toward her.

Rhys came over and got down on his haunches next to her. “Hey,” he said. “Feeling any better?”

She nodded, and Ben was glad he'd called his brother over because the lines of exhaustion and strain around her mouth and eyes seemed to lessen. Still, she was so pale she looked translucent. Neveah's hand crept over to Rhys', her fingers curling around to grip his palm.

Her unspoken plea for comfort made Ben's lungs ache. He sent Rhys a sharp look.
Come on man, say something to her. Or better yet, pick her up again and hold her.

“I'm here,” his brother answered instead.

She tried to smile in reply, but the effort fell way short of convincing. “Yes, thank God. Sorry, I must smell pretty ripe, but I don't want to let go of you right now.”

Rhys actually smiled at that. “I don't mind. We have some time until the chopper comes in anyway. Close your eyes and let yourself go for a few. I'll stay right next to you.”

But she didn't close her eyes. She kept looking straight at Rhys, and Ben gazed pointedly elsewhere.

“Thank you for coming for us,” she said.

Her gratitude made Ben uncomfortable, and Rhys muttered, “You don't need to thank us.”

“Thanks just the same. You said Sam's here?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah, with our boss. She'll be glad to see you.”

Nev shook her dark head. Her long hair was greasy and matted, coated in dust and God only knew what else. Jesus, how could someone have mistreated her so badly?

“Damn that girl. She's almost as stubborn as I am, coming out here.”

“Almost,” Rhys agreed, and laid his fingers over her eyes so she'd close them. “Rest for a while.”

Ben ran his gaze over her. She seemed so fragile without her eyes revealing her razor sharp intelligence and fierce will to survive.

Rhys stayed where he was, trusting Ben and Davis to guard his back as he knelt beside Neveah, holding her hand. A few minutes later, the clap of rotors in the distance broke the silence and then the Pave Hawk came into view, its distinctive chin mount silhouetted against the starry sky.

When it landed, two Special Air Force Pararescue Jumpers leapt out and ran over with stretchers. Half commando and half trauma paramedics, they operated behind enemy lines to rescue downed pilots and other high priority targets. The fact that the higher ups had sent PJs on the mission told Ben just how important rescuing Neveah and the other doc was to the US government. While Davis provided cover, he and Rhys helped load her and the pediatrician into the chopper, expertly handled by its famous Night Stalker crew.

With Ben and Davis manning the doors with the PJs as they lifted off, Rhys sat next to Neveah and maintained the connection with his hand on hers.

Once they cleared the hostile area, Ben relaxed his vigilance and glanced over at them. Part of him had trouble believing what he was seeing. His steely twin knelt on the helo's deck holding Neveah's hand, his eyes never leaving her pale face.

They touched down at a rendezvous point about fifty miles from the CP, a spot predetermined to be free of Taliban fighters and one of the few places the bird could land and take off safely amongst the unforgiving canyons and sheer faces of the Hindu Kush.

Rhys was supposed to go on to the CP to get Luke and Sam, but Ben hated like hell to take him away from Nev when she so obviously wanted him with her.

Before Rhys could withdraw his hand from hers, Ben stopped him with a nod.

“You stay with her and Davis. I'll go back for the others.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Looks like you'd be doing her a favor, anyway,” he said of Nev, who was awake and listening to them. “Or are you worried I can't handle it?”

“No. I know you can.”

About goddamn time, Ben thought with a smile. Together they offloaded their human cargo, and Rhys stayed close while the PJs took a closer look at Neveah and her friend.

Ben started back to the helo with a grin. “Sam's going to be real happy we got her cousin out okay.”

A wry smile spread across Rhys’ face. “You're so done, man.”

Ben held up his middle finger. “Bite me, tight ass. Your time will come.”

Rhys made a face. “No thanks. Say hi to Sam.”

“Will do.” He climbed aboard.

The whine of the rotors got louder, the wash getting stronger as the engine fired up and the chopper lifted off the ground.

As it soared through the sky, Ben found himself smiling.

Yeah, his uptight brother could be a pain in the ass, but you know what? Ben kind of liked that about him.

Command post

Watching Rhys tend to her cousin on the screen had tears burning Sam's eyes. Nev was right there, alive and whole. The mission had been an unqualified success so far.

Nev was safe
.

She did her best to hide the fact she was wiping away tears as she stared at the blank screen in front of her. She'd seen her cousin in Rhys’ arms when he'd carried her out of the hut, hadn't taken her starved gaze off Nev until they boarded the helo and took off, taking them out of the range of the satellite. They'd gotten her out, just as Ben had promised they would, and no one on the team had been injured. Pretty goddamn miraculous considering the group they were up against. And now it was all but over. In a few minutes, Ben would come for them and take her to the RV point, and then she'd get to throw her arms around Neveah. Within an hour of that, they'd be back in the relative safety of Kabul and the morning after that, they'd be going
home
.

Wiping her face, she pushed that all aside and focused on the task at hand. With a few typed commands she accessed another intelligence satellite to survey the surrounding area and make sure no one was coming after them.

“How're we looking?” Luke asked beside her. He placed a hand on the rock wall and leaned in for his own assessment.

“Still clear.” Her heart raced with excitement. Almost over now. Just one last task to complete. Luke walked away, dialing someone on his phone.
I promised I'd find a way to save you, Nev.
And she had.

The instant the lone figure appeared running over the open ground on the screen in her lap, Sam zoomed in with the satellite link. Behind her, Luke was speaking to someone in Pashto on his cell phone, and she signaled for his attention. He set the phone against his shoulder and laid a hand on her shoulder as he peered at the screen.

“Karim?”

“Yes,” she replied, fingers racing over the keyboard to bring the picture into higher resolution. “But what he's in such a hurry about I have no idea. Think everything's okay?” Unease crept in.

“We'll find out soon enough. He alone?”

“As far as I can tell.” But the satellite wouldn't be in range for too much longer, and once it swept past, they'd have no way of knowing who else was out there. Her muscles tightened.

“What's his ETA?”

She glanced at the computer image map. “About three minutes if he stays at that clip.”

Luke ended his call, then got busy getting a rifle and pistol out of the gun locker.

Her gaze jerked to him. “Expecting trouble?” They were alone out here. Ben was still any number of minutes out, and the others were too far away to get to them if they needed help.

“Not particularly. Just taking a few precautions.”

If that's what you called an M4 and a loaded Glock with two extra clips. A tingling of alarm touched her. If something happened and they had to defend themselves, she wasn't going to be much of a help. Her firearms training was almost nil, and even if she remembered how to load and fire a weapon, the chances of her hitting what she was aiming at were less than that. If things got ugly, Luke would have to hold the enemy off while she called in for air support and prayed it got there in time to do them any good.

Don't overanalyze. Nev's safe, the guys are safe. Ben's coming for you.

An instant later, Karim burst around the corner of their hiding spot. He was flushed and sweaty, panting in great gusts of air, bareheaded from losing his hat in his haste.

“Salaam, Karim,” Luke said.

“Tehrazzi,” the boy blurted, doubling over to catch his breath.

Luke's face transformed into an expressionless mask and he demanded something in Pashto.

Karim wheezed in a few more lungfuls, divided his gaze between her and Luke before answering, but Sam didn't understand anything except “village.”

Frowning, Luke handed him a bottle of water as he asked something.

Karim nodded, chugged half the bottle. “Many thanks.” He took a deep breath, wiped his sleeve across his upper lip. Then he continued with something about Tehrazzi.

Luke's breath caught and he looked at her. “Tehrazzi's been wounded.”

She gasped. “By whom?”

“His bodyguard.”

What? Sam held Luke's gaze for another instant, then said of Karim, “Is he sure?”

“His father heard it from an elder.” Luke folded his arms and asked the boy something else. When Karim answered, Luke translated for her. “There was a fight. Tehrazzi was stabbed in the stomach.” The tension in Luke's muscles had gone up perceptibly.

“When? Tonight?”

“A few hours ago. The villagers have taken him in.”

Sam sucked in her breath.

“Where,” Luke demanded, grasping the boy's slim shoulders. “Which village?”

Sam couldn't make out Karim's answer.

Luke looked at her. “They've called in a doctor visiting from Jalalabad. Transmit that to Kabul and Langley.”

Damn right. She scooted over to the first laptop, typed in a couple of commands and finished the e-mail as fast as she could. They were so close to nailing Tehrazzi. He could be mere miles from their current position. Certainly within helicopter range, and if he was as badly wounded as everyone thought, the only way he could move would be by vehicle or aircraft, both of which could be tracked. If they could get any clear intel on his location, Tehrazzi would be in US custody by morning. A hard smile stretched her mouth. After what she and Nev had been through, Sam would love nothing better than to put that jihadist asshole in the deepest, darkest hole on earth and leave him there to rot.

Movement from the computer screen on the far right caught her peripheral vision. She turned her head, some instinctive warning making her skin prickle. Shadows. Four of them. Four men, creeping into range of the satellite.

“Luke,” she said, and he followed her gaze.

“Shit.”

The soft expletive made her stomach drop like a rock.

“How far out are they?”

She calculated the distance. “Less than a mile.” But they were coming up a steep hill. Moving fast, she zoomed out with the satellite to see if there were more. “Looks like just the four of them.” She swiveled around. “What do you want me to do?”