by Jaime Lewis
A few seconds later, the room became eerily quiet. She was curled into a protective ball with her eyes closed. She cracked open her one eye that wasn’t as swollen and breathed in a sigh of relief when she saw the only person left in the room was Hill, who was standing by the doorway looking out. Thinking this could be her only opportunity, she had to try and do something.
She heard gunfire, which drew Hill out into the hallway. She inched her battered body closer to the legs of the table. She needed to cut the ropes around her ankles. Looking around, she didn’t see anything she could use. She knew there were some knives on the other table across the room, but even if she could make it over there on her own, Hill would be on her before she made it.
Think Alex!
Her eyes lit up when she remembered her necklace. They took her watch but never removed her necklace. Reaching behind her neck, she unclasped the chain. Pulling on one side of the silver leaf-like trinket, it opened, producing a sharp two-inch blade.
With a lot of effort, she sawed through the thick rope until her legs were freed. Using the table as a brace, she pulled herself up. She was breathing heavily and felt like she would collapse at any given moment. Sweat dripped down her back and seeped into the open wounds, bringing more agony for her. But no matter how bad she felt, her mission wasn’t over.
As fast as her feet could move her without alerting Hill, she walked up behind him. She eyed two knives lying on the table just behind him. Having a gun would have been a better choice, but beggars couldn’t be choosers in a situation like this, so she’d take what was given to her at present. With her training, she could incapacitate someone with a knife, but with her injuries, she’d be lucky to be quick enough to get a couple of good jabs in. She passed by Bert’s dead body and thought it was too bad Yaseen had grabbed the two guns off his body.
As her fingers wrapped around the handle of the knife, she managed a small smile for the first time since she had woken up in this nightmare. It was time to fight, or at least die trying to.
Chapter Seventeen
Six Hours Earlier
“This is ridiculous. Where the fuck could she be?” Ace said, shoving his hands into his hair as everyone in the packed room looked over intelligence reports and maps. It was all hands on deck, and everyone was doing whatever they could to get that one lead to where Alex could be.
Of course, everyone’s main concern was Alex’s well-being. She was tough as nails, but even the toughest have trouble adapting in captivity. Add in her being a beautiful woman, and it could be much worse. Ace closed his eyes, trying to block out the images he could imagine what she could be going through. He’d seen the conditions of what men like Ashraf put women in, and the thought of Alex experiencing any of it had him seething.
Without much information to go on, they were grasping at straws. The Commander was working diligently on his end to get all the information he could. They had the full support and any resources the U.S. government could offer them.
Everyone was spread around the room, some deep in conversation, others on the phone. Ace took a moment to sit down. Bracing his elbows on the table, he rested his head in the palms of his hands.
The hardest part had been watching his Commander deal with the situation. Derek had been busting his ass just like the rest of them, but there have been moments where Ace had seen him staring off as if he had completely shut down on the spot. But seconds later, as if shaking off the thoughts, the Commander he knew was back barking orders. Ace couldn’t blame him a damn bit either. They were all anxious.
He sat there for a few more moments; the chair next to him squeaked, pulling him from his thoughts. He looked over and was surprised to see Skittles sitting there. Skittles hadn’t left his computer since they started searching for Alex’s whereabouts.
“Anything new?” Ace asked.
“No, but a thought just occurred to me that none of us considered. Bear in mind; it’s just a hunch.”
Ace sat up straighter in the chair and nodded his head for him to continue.
“What about that location that Alex told us about? The one that her team never got clearance for. Now knowing Bert is involved, I started wondering if he may have been the hold up in that process. Maybe he never pressed the issue and just told Alex and her team that the government didn’t approve.”
“Did she mention where it was?”
“Just that it was in a valley near the base of the Hindu Kush mountain range.”
Ace considered what Skittles was saying, but then he reminded him that the gorgeous but treacherous mountain range spanned roughly five hundred miles between central Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. That was another possibility; that they’d moved Alex across the border.
“That’s a large area to cover, and without coordinates, we could spend days, even weeks, searching for possibly nothing,” Ace admitted, sounding defeated to his own ears.
“It may be, Ace, but what are the chances that she wrote those coordinates down or some other detail about that village in those handwritten notes she said she kept and brought with her?”
Ace’s eyebrows soared, and he slapped Skittles on the back. “It’s worth a shot. Where’s her bag? She kept everything for work in her backpack.”
Skittles pointed to the back of the room where Alex’s bags were lying on the floor. He hurried over and dumped its contents onto the table. Everyone gathered around the table while Skittles started explaining.
There were a shit ton of notebooks, all filled with Alex’s handwriting. Jesus, the way she kept notes, made Ace wonder if she had a photographic memory. He handed out the notebooks, instructing them to scan every page to look for any language referencing the location. It had been a godsend that she had neat and readable handwriting.
Within minutes, it was confirmed from a source within the agency that Skittles had been spot on and that Bert never requested the approval to enter the valley land.
Dino shouted that he’d found something, and all conversations in the room ceased. As Dino relayed the information, Ace felt like an angel was watching over them. Skittles was right; Alex had written down information, and the hell of it was the valley was only a hop, skip, and a jump from Bagram. The Commander was already on the phone, ordering up satellite images of the area. Ace felt the hope and confidence begin to rise, but he wouldn’t dare celebrate until Alex was found and safe. They had a starting point; now, they just had to wait for the orders to go and get her.
Two hours later and a call between the U.S. and the Governor of the Providence, they had confirmation. A young boy and his grandmother had been at the river yesterday morning. They saw a man carrying a woman who matched Alex’s description into a building that sat alone from the riverbanks surrounded by farmland. They had told the little boy’s father, who then went to the authorities.
This valley was one of the safest areas in Afghanistan due to the sky-high mountains surrounding it, along with the tight security in place at its border. As the area is considered a Green Zone, the U.S. government didn’t want to ruffle feathers and gave a courtesy call explaining the details. It was then the Governor’s office, and Afghan Police put two and two together and told the government official about the sighting of the mystery woman by villagers.
As the sun started to set, and the moon started to rise, the team gathered for one last discussion with base operations and their Commander. They were now joined by their buddies from Bravo team, who’d arrived about an hour ago and would be aiding in the rescue operation. They were just as upset and pissed when they were told about Alex’s abduction. An actual working surveillance drone with thermal imaging was sent to the location and detected multiple heat signatures, both inside and outside the building. All the heat signatures inside the building showed signs of active movement, so they were going on the assumption that Alex was alive.
Once all sixteen men were on board, the helicopter lifted into the night sky. Not a word was spoken as the sound of the rotors took over. Ace looke
d around at each of his teammates. Each one gave a slight head nod or chin lift as if saying, “We got this.” By God, he hoped they did. This is what they all lived, breathed, and took an oath for. They would search and overturn every rock until Alex was found.
◆◆◆
Alex took a couple of painful shallow breaths. Hopefully, she could get through this without passing out. Eliminating Hill would garner her another weapon, which is what she was going to need if she planned on surviving.
Just as she got into position behind Hill, gunfire erupted from another part of the building. Knowing this was her only shot, she gripped the knife in her hand and reached around Hill’s body, surprising him. He hesitated, which was his downfall. She used those quick seconds to yank his head back and ran the sharp blade across his neck, severing his jugular vein in one swift motion.
She let go, and his body dropped to the floor. She looked away from the gruesome scene, but that didn’t stop the coppery metallic scent of blood from filling her nostrils. If it weren’t for the adrenalin flowing through her body that kept her moving, she’d be down for the count. She was shaking and breathing heavily as she quickly tried pulling the AK-47 from under him, but it was no use. The strap was wrapped around his body, and she couldn’t move him.
The shouting and gunfire grew louder. They were advancing to her position quickly. A knife wasn’t going to hold up against the insurgence of multiple men armed with guns. Frantically, she felt around Hill’s body and found another gun hidden in his waistband. She pulled the pistol out and sent a silent thank you to the heavens when she saw it had a full round of ammo.
Suddenly, Ashraf barged through the door looking disheveled. He paused, shocked as he realized his son was lying dead on the floor. Then his wild, maniac eyes shot to her.
She was having trouble focusing. Her head throbbed so bad she was sick to her stomach. She needed a few minutes of reprieve, but she didn’t have seconds, let alone minutes. She was out of time, knowing the man in front of her was going to kill her.
“What have you done?” He screamed at her as he looked back at his son’s body. She didn’t hold an ounce of sympathy for him. They were evil people who deserved everything they got, even if that included death.
The smell of death mixed with the hot air made the scene much worse. Her body swayed just as Ashraf turned and faced her. He waved the gun in the air and began to shout at her.
“Letting you live was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, and I damn well won’t make that mistake twice.”
She gripped the gun in her hand tighter, knowing this was it. Sweat dripped down her face. She was going to have to make a move and prayed she could get an accurate shot. She was about to draw her weapon when another explosion detonated from somewhere inside the building. The blast was strong enough to cause sections of the ceiling to give way, sending chunks of concrete raining down on top of them. She got hit by a few small pieces but stayed focused on the target in front of her. Unfortunately for Ashraf, that split second he took his eyes off her to dodge a falling piece of concrete gave Alex the opportunity she needed. She took full advantage of it, pulling the trigger and sending a .9-millimeter bullet into the side of Ashraf’s head.
It was like watching a scene from a movie in slow motion as his head snapped sideways, and his body dropped to the floor. Alex couldn’t take her eyes off him, fearing he wasn’t dead. More gunfire shook her from her stupor, just as more of the ceiling fell, forcing her to move further into the room. The lone light in the room started to flicker, and smoke began to drift in.
Suddenly, three men burst into the room yelling something she couldn’t make out because of the gunfire happening behind them. Alex didn’t think twice and fired two quick shots taking out the first two guys. But when she aimed for the third guy, she feared her luck had run out. Her eyesight wasn’t perfect at the moment, but she knew the man dressed in black, aiming his gun at her was Yaseen. As she lifted the gun and fired, a warm sensation hit her chest, sending her backward onto the floor. Quickly, the warmth feeling morphed into a blistering pain that tore through her body, and she screamed. Her body trembled, and everything around her started to fade. As she floated on the brink of unconsciousness, heavy footsteps sounded next to her.
If it were the good guys, then great. If they weren’t, then all she wished for was a fast death. She couldn’t fight the battle anymore. She felt so cold and started to shiver, which only caused her pain to intensify. The only thing that kept her from succumbing to the darkness hovering over her was someone calling her name.
She blinked her eyes open as far as she could, which wasn’t much. It was dark and smoky, but the man staring at her wore a face mask like the ones she had seen the guys on the team wear. Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her, but he had fascinating grey eyes.
“Who are you?” She asked, but the man ignored her and began putting pressure on the wound to her chest. She felt a sting and saw another man removing a needle from her arm. Within seconds, the pain started to subside, and her body felt numb. Was this it? She wondered. Was this the beginning of her death? She heard the guy curse, and then he told someone they needed to move.
He brushed her hair from her face. “We’re going to get you out of here, honey. Your boyfriend is a bit impatient.”
Was Ace there? She needed to see him to tell him that she loved him. She didn’t want to die without him knowing that she loved him. Her eyes were becoming heavy, and it felt as if someone was pulling her under.
She touched the man’s face. “If I don’t make it before I can tell Ace,” her words started to slur, “please tell him…” before she could finish her sentence, her vision went black.
Bear cursed as he lifted Alex into his arms while Duke, his teammate, kept pressure to the bullet wound, and they both made a swift exit toward the awaiting team and helicopter.
◆◆◆
Ace stood by the helicopter. He and his team had cleared the area surrounding the building, and now they just were waiting for Bravo team to exit the building with Alex. When Bear came over the comms, saying they had found her, Ace wanted to drop to his knees and cry.
“Incoming, have the medic ready. Gunshot wound to the upper right chest, heavy blood loss,” Duke said over the radio.
Ace wasn’t sure he had heard it correctly, but when he saw the base medic start laying out medical supplies and even Stitch jumped up to help him, Ace knew there was nothing wrong with his hearing.
His eyes stayed glued on the building in front of him that was now burning. As seconds went by, he finally saw shadows moving through the dense smoke. As they emerged from the haze, he counted them off, one, two, three, four, five team members that had gone into the building. None of them appeared injured, which only left one person.
As Bear neared the helicopter, he knew it was Alex he was carrying while Duke applied pressure to her chest. Oh, God, no!
He jumped up into the helicopter with the rest of the team, and everyone hurried back, making room as Bear handed Alex off to Stitch and the medic on board.
The medic took over while both Stitch and Duke stood by to assist if needed. He heard the medic say her vitals were critical. She had lost so much blood that her body was going into shock. Duke kept pressure applied to the wound while Stitch started an IV line. The medic was looking over her body for any other significant injuries as he communicated with base doctors who were assembling their team for Alex’s arrival.
Ace shifted his position to where he was now by Alex’s head, but out of the way as to not interfere. As his eyes moved over her mostly bare body, he was able to see the full damage done to her by those monsters. He was overcome with such emotion that it was unnerving. Seeing her lying there bloody, bruised, and swollen from head to fucking toe made him furious.
He leaned down and brushed her hair back before placing a kiss to her forehead. Her skin felt so cold. In his career, he was prepared for anything and everything thrown his way. But the scene playing out
in front of him was a whole other ball game. They were all trained to keep emotions off the battlefield, but sometimes it was tough, and one of those times was now, and his heart was breaking. She had to live, that was all that mattered.
When his eyes slid over to Stitch, Stitch’s grim expression said it all. There was a chance they could lose her.
◆◆◆
The small waiting room at the base hospital was standing room only as everyone waited for an update on Alex’s condition. Both SEAL teams filled the small space along with Colonel Johnson and some of his staff. Derek was in flight and should arrive by mid-afternoon.
Conversation had been minimal since they brought Alex in, and the doctors had carted her away. They were all getting antsy. Over the last four hours, a nurse would periodically come out just to say she was still in surgery.
Bear walked over and sat down next to Ace.
“The guys picked up some video equipment at the compound. It shows everything that went down. We also got confirmation that Bert, Ashraf and his two sons, along with a few other followers were eliminated.”
Ace swallowed hard as he held Bear’s gaze. He knew that Bear and his team had disappeared for a little bit shortly after Alex was admitted for surgery. Hearing that those fuckers had met their maker was positive news, but it wasn’t the news he was looking for. The only real positive news he was anticipating was hearing a doctor say that Alex was going to live.
“You’ll never guess who one of Ashraf’s sons was.”
At this point, nothing would surprise Ace. “Who?”
“Staff Sgt. Hill.”
Ace’s eyes widened. “The dude that worked for the Colonel?”
“One and the same.”
“Holy fuck.”
Bear cleared his throat. “I know this may not be the most appropriate time to discuss this, but you need to know that your woman is a true hero. What she did to survive in the condition she was in is a fucking miracle in itself, and if I’m honest, I don’t know if I could’ve done what she did.”