Hallowed Ground

by Mary Alford

  The closest spot was a good five miles away. He hoped they were making the right decision because by taking this route, they’d be adding more miles to their journey and they were already exhausted.

  “We should be there by daybreak,” she said and managed a semi-smile. “It’s worth a shot.”

  Erin extinguished her flashlight, but Jax didn’t move. “Let’s rest for a little while longer,” he told her, then studied her silhouette in the darkness. “How’s your wrist?”

  “Better. The salve really works, despite the strain of the hike.” She flexed her wrist for him to see. “I think I can lose the sling for now.”

  As glad as he was that she was feeling better, he surmised that they were going to need all their strength and wits to survive this journey.

  “Do you think it’s possible that Coleman has gone rogue?” she asked, her question mirroring his previous thoughts.

  Jax shrugged, his heart weary. “I don’t want to believe it, but we can’t take the chance of contacting him after what happened the last time, which means we’re on our own for now.” Jax strapped on his backpack and gathered his waning strength. They had to keep pushing forward if they were going to reach the village by first light.

  With a bone-weary sigh, Erin clambered to her feet then shouldered her backpack.

  He wished he could reassure her that everything was going to be okay, but from where they stood right now, nothing could be further from the truth.

  As they headed for the first abandoned village, an unsettling thought niggled at his brain. The attack on the Afghan ambassador didn’t make sense. If Coleman was behind the attacks and he was smuggling heroin out of Afghanistan, why would he attack his friend, and possibly his business partner? Unless . . .

  He shared his fears with Erin.

  “You think it’s possible that the ambassador is connected to all of this?” She stopped walking, sucking in a breath. “What if he’s the one responsible for getting the heroin into the US?”

  Jax peered into her eyes, shock plastered on his face. “He and Coleman have been friends for years. If Coleman is responsible for this, it makes sense.”

  “Maybe Coleman was working with the ambassador and something went wrong in the relationship. Perhaps the ambassador threatened to turn Coleman in and . . .” she left the rest unsaid, but he knew what she meant. Coleman tried to kill the ambassador and may have succeeded. If this were true, then Coleman was covering up his crimes. Tying up loose ends. And they were the next loose ones on his list. He couldn’t allow them to live.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Her legs felt like rubber. She wasn’t sure how much farther she could go. They were both working on next to zero sleep. Lack of proper food and fear was affecting her rational thinking.

  The woods they’d been traveling through had begun to thin as daylight drew near.

  “We should be getting close,” Jax said. “Let’s take another look at the map.”

  Erin dug it out of her backpack, and he flicked on the light. “We’re almost there. According to the map, we should be right on top of the village.”

  Nodding, he eased ahead while Erin followed close behind. The trees cleared away. Shadows still covered most of the land, making it impossible to see anything. Jax took out his binoculars and switched them onto night vision capability. “There it is.” He pointed straight ahead, handing her the binoculars.

  Erin zeroed in on the location. The village lay inactive, like a pile of debris. Nothing stirred, not even an animal.

  “It doesn’t look as if it’s ever been rebuilt,” she told him, a little doubtful. “I sure hope it’s safe there.”

  He drew in a breath and gripped her hand. “Lord, we’re asking for Your protection,” he prayed and then stepped out into the open, drawing his weapon.

  Erin did the same, fear slithering down her spine as she scanned the filmy darkness, expecting trouble. What if the men coming after them had anticipated their next move and were waiting for them in the village? If it were true and they were being chased by fellow CIA agents, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Before they reached the first building, Jax stopped and waited for her to draw near. “Let’s stay as close to the edge of the buildings as possible,” he whispered. “We don’t know what to expect. They could have snipers set up.”

  The reminder of what might be waiting for them had her on full alert.

  Jax headed forward with Erin glued to his side. Even in the semi-darkness they’d be moving targets to anyone using night vision.

  At the edge of the building, Jax surveyed the area, uncertainty written on his face. “So far so good. I don’t see anyone. Let’s go inside and search the place.”

  She nodded, and they eased inside. The four walls held nothing but rubble. Not exactly ideal for shelter.

  “It doesn’t look as if it’s inhabited. No doubt, the villagers moved on to some place safer. Let’s see if we can find a better spot to take cover,” Jax said.

  A half dozen buildings littered the area, most in the same state as the one they’d entered. “We’ll have better luck if we split up,” Erin said. She could tell he didn’t like the idea, but they needed to search the village quickly to determine if it were safe.

  He finally gave in. “All right, but keep your eyes open and get out of there if anything looks hinky. The people coming after us might not be here, but we don’t know if the place is deserted.”

  As daylight continued to break, Erin pointed to the opposite side of the street running through the village. “I’ll start over there. If anything comes up, yell.”

  She hurried across the road, her heartbeat drowning out most sounds. The hair on the back of her neck stood at full attention. They were being watched, she could feel it.

  The first building she came to had standing walls and a roof. At least it was something. Inside, it appeared to have once been a living quarters. The damage sustained wasn’t nearly as extensive as the previous building. She glanced around, her weapon drawn, an eerie feeling of being spied upon pervading her senses.

  Struggling to keep paranoia at bay, she searched the few rooms of the place. There was a stove they could use to keep warm. The owner of the place had left little else behind. A few bowls in what served as the kitchen. A couple of pillows in the living area. No food.

  Two more buildings were on the same side. Keeping her weapon at the ready, Erin made her way to the next one, slightly bigger and appearing to be some type of business. She was almost inside the door when a shot ricocheted inches from her head. She ducked as another shot pinged, equally close enough to leave its ringing in her ears. The flash came from the building on Jax’s side.

  “Erin, are you okay?” He called out, unable to disguise the fear in his tone.

  “I’m okay, but there’s a shooter on your side, one building over.”

  “Stay where you are.” He skirted the wall then disappeared into the building.

  She didn’t obey. He could be walking into an ambush, and she had to have his back.

  Firing off several rounds to put the shooter in retreat, Erin sprinted across the street, pasted herself against the walk, then slipped inside.

  Jax was nowhere in sight. Her pulse went crazy, making normal breathing an impossible task. She searched the first room. Nothing, but there were obvious signs someone had been living there. Shoes close to the door. Mismatched furniture formed a makeshift living space. Clothing was strewn over the dirt floor.

  She was ready to move on to the next room when the sound of scuffling reached her ears. She ran toward the sound.

  Jax and another man wrestled on the dirt floor. Erin charged for them, her weapon aimed at the man fighting with Jax.

  “Get your hands in the air,” she ordered. The man broke free and pushed past her. She grabbed him by the collar before he could get away. “Oh no, you don’t,” she said and shoved him against the wall. With her weapon pointed at his head, Jax yanked the man around. Once she caught a go
od look at him, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was a boy, barely a teenager.

  Erin glanced at Jax’s surprised face. “Who are you?” she asked the boy, whose huge, fearful brown eyes darted between her and Jax.

  He seemed incapable of speaking.

  Erin let the boy go. “What’s your name,” she asked in a gentler tone.

  “My name . . . Dawoud.” he stammered.

  “What are you doing here, Dawoud, and where did you get that weapon?” Jax pointed at the gun.

  The boy’s eyes were as large as globes. “I live . . . here,” he said in a whisper. “This is my home.”

  Erin stared at the boy, trying to decide if he was telling the truth. “Where are your parents . . . mother, father?”

  Dawoud swallowed, his gaze dropping. “They dead. Airstrike. All my people . . . killed. Everyone in the village.” Tears brimmed his eyes as he spoke of his family. Erin couldn’t imagine how difficult it was to lose his entire family and be left alone to survive.

  “Why were you shooting at us?” she asked, pointing at his weapon.

  Dawoud’s eyes shot to hers. He shrugged. “I think you were . . . them. I . . . afraid.”

  Jax’s gaze sliced to Erin. “Them?” he repeated.

  “Drug runners. They . . . store drugs here. They left gun. I take.” Dawoud insisted, shaking his head.

  Shocked, Erin couldn’t believe what the boy said. Dawoud confirmed what Al Hasan told them. “How old are you?” she asked. He didn’t appear old enough to be a teen, much less someone who could live on his own.

  “Me fourteen,” the boy said defensively, his chin jutting up.

  “And you live here?” She pointed at the boy, then at the ground. “How long?” She wanted to believe him, but they couldn’t afford to take unnecessary risks.

  “Four . . . how you say . . . years since airstrike.” He pointed at the ground. “I stay here . . . all alone,” he said proudly.

  “How did you learn to speak English?” Erin asked.

  “Before airstrike . . . I watched CNN. After village destroyed, I listened to the men.”

  Erin swiveled to Jax and motioned outside. Then she whirled and held up the palm of her hand in Dawoud’s direction. “Stay here and don’t try leaving. We’ll be right back.”

  Jax followed her outside. Once they were out of earshot, he asked. “Do you believe him?”

  Of all the things they’d fought their way through, all the lies they’d been fed, Dawoud was the first person they’d run across recently that she truly did believe.

  ◆◆◆

  “I do. I think he’s telling the truth, and he may be able to shed some light on the people moving the drugs through here.”

  Jax glanced back over his shoulder. He thought the same thing. “Poor kid. I can’t imagine what he’s been through, losing his entire family like that. Living in fear for years.”

  Erin touched his arm. “Me neither. I want to find a way to help him. He deserves a chance at a normal life, and this isn’t it.”

  Jax squeezed her hand and turned back to the door. “Let’s go see what he knows.”

  Together, they went back inside. Dawoud sat on the floor close to the same spot where they’d left him. When they came into the room, his head shot up, fear in his eyes. He appeared ready to bolt.

  “Relax, son, we’re not going to hurt you,” Jax assured him and knelt in front of the boy. “But we need you to tell us everything you know about these men who routed drugs through here.” When he saw the boy didn’t understand, he said, “Men . . . drugs . . . where? Who?”

  Dawoud’s eyebrows formed a vee. “Why trust you? I trust drug men, then they try to kill me.”

  Jax leaned back on his haunches, unable to hide the shock. “Those men tried to kill you? Why?”

  He lifted his shoulders. “Men angry. No trust me. Treat me like . . . how you say . . . slave. They shoot me here.” He pointed to his right side.

  Jax couldn’t believe what he’d heard. “How’d you get treatment for the shot?” When it became clear Dawoud didn’t understand Jax said, “Doctor? Hospital?”

  Dawoud shook his head and pointed to his chest. “Me the doctor.” He acted out pulling the bullet out with his fingers then lifted his shirt to show them the wound.

  Jax took a closer look. “You did a good job, Dawoud.”

  The boy beamed.

  “Can you tell us what those men looked like?” Erin asked, kneeling next to Jax. She pointed at her face and repeated the word men.

  Dawoud hesitated then held up two fingers. “Two Americans. Others Afghan.”

  Jax pressed for answers because time was running out for them and for Dawoud. “Can you tell us exactly what the two Americans looked like?” He pointed at his face and repeated the word “Americans.”

  Dawoud shook his head, distrust in his eyes. “Don’t know. Covered faces.”

  “Then how did you know they were Americans?” Erin asked, baffled by his answer.

  “They talk American, like you.”

  Jax’s head whipped around so that he could see Erin’s reaction. She was just as surprised as he was. “When was the last time the men were here?” Jax asked. He felt bad for the boy, all alone and barely surviving. He repeated the words “last time.”

  Dawoud thought about the question for a moment. He searched through the rubble on the floor and found a calendar written in Pashto. He pointed at a specific day and said, “Today.” Then he flipped through the pages and pointed at different periods of time. From that, Jax gleaned that the drug runners showed up every few months and the last time they’d been there was over a month ago.

  Which meant the men could return at any time.

  “Dawoud, we need to get you out of here. It’s not safe for you to stay here any longer. If those men come back, they might try to finish the job.” Then he reduced what he’d said to a single word, “danger,” then added, “you must leave.”

  Dawoud shook his head vigorously. “No. This my home. They come, I hide in woods. No leave.”

  “How do you stay warm? It’s freezing in here,” Jax glanced around the room. There was no stove in sight. He demonstrated rubbing one’s arms to get warm.

  The boy got to his feet and disappeared into another room. Exchanging a look, Erin and Jax followed. In what appeared to be a bedroom, on the dirt floor, a pile of wood burned. Dawoud sat down next to the fire and added some additional sticks from a pile close by.

  Erin went over to the fire and warmed her hands. “No family?” she asked.

  Dawoud shook his head. “No. My mother’s family in Peshawar. I not see them.”

  “Maybe we can help you find them?” Erin said, but Dawoud didn’t appear open to the idea.

  “How are you surviving here on your own? What do you eat?” Jax asked when the boy refused to make eye contact. Jax demonstrated eating with his hands.

  Dawoud glanced up. “I hunt. Wild goat.” His fingers flailed on his head, describing an animal with antlers.

  Jax smiled at the boy’s passion. “You wouldn’t happen to have some of that goat meat lying around that you could share with us, would you?”

  Dawoud hopped to his feet, his brooding mood lifting. “Yes.” Once the boy was gone, Jax went to where Erin stood.

  “The poor kid. If they find him here again, they’ll kill him,” she said. He could read her thoughts. She wanted to help Dawoud find his mother’s family.

  “We can’t force him to come with us,” Jax said and had a thought. “But if we can get the name of his relatives near Peshawar and see if we can have someone look them up once we’re safe. Maybe they can rescue the boy.”

  She faced him, her eyes shining with tears. He drew her into his arms and held her close. He loved her so much. Wanted her to feel the same way about him. At times, he believed she did. At others, he wasn’t so sure.

  If this mission had taught him anything, it was that this was his final one. He’d lost too many good men to this war.
Blake. Peter. Sam, Dylan, Tyler. Kabir. The names were mounting. So many gone before their time. It wasn’t worth it to him any longer. And he’d do his best to convince Erin to get out before it cost her life as well.

  She touched his face tenderly, a smile playing on her lips. “We’re going to get through this, Jax. I know we are. We have to trust God to bring us home safely.”

  He clasped her hand in his. He so wanted to believe her, but it felt as if they’d been fighting alone for so long, and they still had no real idea how they were going to get back to the States. And even if they did, he didn’t know if the information Blake left in the safety deposit box was still there. Without it, how would they ever clear Erin’s name?

  As he continued to watch her, the strength he saw in her had him relinquishing his own fears. She was right. God hadn’t brought them all this way to let them down. He needed his faith to be stronger than his fears.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Someone’s coming!” Dawoud shook her arm hard. Erin’s eyes flew open. She stared into dark eyes filled with real terror. “We leave. They kill us.”

  Erin jumped to her feet, aware of Jax getting up.

  “How many?” she asked the boy.

  “Don’t know. Five? Six?”

  “How close are they?” Erin asked, grabbing her backpack while Jax extinguished the fire.

  “Very close to village.” Dawoud was shaking.

  “We have to get going. If they find us, we’ll all be dead,” Jax said. “Show us the best place to hide.”

  They followed the boy out of the house. He pointed to the left. “They are coming from there,” he whispered.

  “Then we need to head in the opposite way,” Erin said then headed right toward the trees one hundred feet away, her breath chilling in the night air.

  When they reached the last building, Erin flattened herself against it and peeked around the side. She didn’t see anyone. Time was critical. The men were coming through the woods fast.