“Please! You are hurting yourself more, stop!” Fadiyah cried.
Jet dropped back onto the bed, gasping at the pain the jarring caused, her eyes were wide with fear. “Don’t you understand? I can’t stay here! They’ll kill you all, I can’t stay here… please… just let me go…” Her voice faded as she grew weak again. “You’re Shia…” she whispered just before she lost consciousness again.
Fadiyah looked down at the woman, shaking her head sadly. She knew what the soldier meant and what she was worried about. They were in occupied territory, Raqqa. The city just down the road from where they lived was occupied by ISIL, an extremist group that was known to execute Shia, also known as the Shiites.
ISIL were Sunni and the Sunni wanted nothing more than to exterminate the few Shia left in the country. Being caught hiding an American military soldier would give the ISIL a perfect excuse to slaughter the whole family.
Fadiyah took heart in the fact that the soldier seemed to be afraid to cause that fate for her family. It meant that her father had been right about trying to save this woman. She was honorable and deserved their help.
Jet started to wake, seeing an older man standing over her.
“What… who…” Jet said, her voice soft as she looked past him to the woman again.
“He is the village doctor,” Fadiyah told her.
“Jesus… no…” Jet said, shaking her head. “No, you can’t…” she gasped.
“He is Shia, he will not tell anyone,” Fadiyah assured her.
Jet shook her head, shifting in the bed and gasping for air at the same time.
“Please let him help you…” Fadiyah said, her voice beseeching.
Jet was feeling light-headed again, so she didn’t respond. She felt the man’s hand on her shirt and the sound of cloth ripping. His fingers touched the ripped and bleeding flesh where the shrapnel had cut into her skin, Jet jumped in response wincing in pain.
The man uttered something in Arabic as he turned to draw out an object that resembled a scalpel.
Jet gave a short guttural laugh, glancing at the woman. “He said this is going to hurt, right?”
“Yes,” Fadiyah replied.
Jet took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she knew was going to be painful. She had no idea how right she was. As the scalpel slid across her skin it felt like it was on fire. She gripped the sheets under her, groaning loudly. She could feel the blood sliding down her sides as he reached for another implement. As he probed for shrapnel Jet did everything she could to keep from screaming. Biting her lower lip, she drew blood, gasping and groaning she squeezed her eyes shut, her entire body shaking with the effort not to scream. She knew that making too much noise could bring people and that would be disastrous.
Fadiyah watched the soldier writhing in pain and she couldn’t stand it, she reached out to try and take the woman’s hand.
“No!” Jet exclaimed. “I’d break your hand…”
There was one last jolt of pain that seared through her as the doctor probed deeper. Jet came off the bed a few inches, giving out a short scream and then mercifully fainted again.
“Okay, I gotta hand it to you,” Skyler said, grinning over at Jet, “it’s a damned hot car.”
They were in Jet’s car on their way to the store for Devin. It was the first time Skyler had been able to get Jet alone to try and talk to her.
Jet smiled, nodding. “Yeah, I know.”
“So, how much did it cost?” Skyler asked, there’d been a lot of debate among their friends.
“One eighty,” Jet said, looking over her shoulder and changing lanes.
“Thousand?!” Skyler exclaimed, her eyes wide.
Jet laughed. “No shit,” she said, shaking her head.
Skyler shook her head. “Son of a bitch. How the hell did you afford a hundred and eighty thousand dollar car?”
Jet grinned again. “Outside contractor with the Army.”
“Son of a…” Skyler muttered. “I heard it was good money…”
“Oh yeah,” Jet said, nodding.
They were both quiet for a bit, Jet tapped on the wheel, her music on, but not loud. She knew what was coming, she was dreading it.
“So tell me,” Skyler said finally.
“I’d rather not,” Jet said.
“Tough,” Skyler said simply, her light blue-green eyes brooking now argument.
Jet blew her breath out. “What do you want to know?”
“Tell me what happened,” Skyler said.
“We were headed back to Balad, from Tikrit,” Jet said, knowing that Skyler would know the landmarks. “We were just outside of Raqqa when we hit the first one.”
“First?” Skyler choked out.
Jet grimaced at Skyler’s tone, but nodded. “The Vee caught fire, we got out, and that’s when the second one blew.”
“Oh my God…” Skyler said, swallowing against the feeling of nausea that wanted to push up her throat. “How bad were you hit?”
Jet looked over at Skyler, feeling bad for putting her through this. Blowing out her breath, she pressed her lips together for a moment.
“If it hadn’t been for a family in a village outside of Raqqa, I’d have been done.”
Skyler blinked a couple of times, shocked at how badly this hurt to hear. But she knew Jet needed to get it out.
“A village…” Skyler said, her tone appalled, knowing that meant Jet was in a house with no running water.
Jet knew what Skyler was thinking and she couldn’t tell her she was wrong.
“How long were you there?” Skyler asked, desperately wanting to hear that the Army had stormed in and taken her to a hospital.
“About three weeks,” Jet said, laying waste to Skyler’s hope.
“Jet…” Skyler said, shaking her head sadly. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there…”
“You were long home by then, Sky,” Jet said, shaking her head.
Skyler looked back at her, knowing she’d heard the slightest edge to Jet’s voice. She blew here breath out, shaking her head.
“I left you there…” Skyler said, her tone sad.
“Sky, you went through hell,” Jet said. “You couldn’t worry about me.”
“But I should have…” Skyler said, her voice gravelly suddenly.
“You almost died, Skyler!” Jet exclaimed. “You almost died. Two of your crew did die. I wasn’t that important, Jesus!” There were tears in her eyes now, fortunately hidden by her sunglasses, but Skyler had heard it in her voice.
Jet refused to admit that she’d been completely lost without Skyler there, especially knowing that Skyler would blame herself. That’s how Skyler was, always taking everything onto her shoulders. Skyler saw Jet as her responsibility, just like she’d seen her crew as her responsibility.
Skyler looked back at Jet, knowing that her leaving had affected the girl. It had affected her too, she’d missed Jet like crazy, but she’d felt that it wasn’t something she had the right to miss. Her men had died, one had died trying to protect her. She didn’t have the right to miss the woman who’d shared her bed for two years. It wasn’t as easy to justify to herself now though, not seeing that girl now, and knowing what had happened in her absence.
“I should have been there,” Skyler said, simply.
“You couldn’t have done anything.”
“I would have come looking for you.”
Jet didn’t respond. She remembered having that thought at some point during her time with the Antars, that she wished she’d hear a Blackhawk overhead. It had been a ridiculous dream and it irritated her now that she’d even thought about it.
Jamming her foot down on the accelerator, the Maserati shot forward. Jet drove expertly, zig zagging in and out of traffic. Skyler refused to put her hand out to indicate her alarm. She knew Jet needed to get it out of her system, she’d felt the need to risk her life so many times after the crash. Part of Skyler wondered if it would be what she deserved, getting killed in an accident with
Jet.
When Jet slowed down, Skyler looked over, and saw a single tear slide down Jet’s cheek. It made Skyler feel like crap, but she knew there was nothing she could do to change the past. All she could do is control what happened now.
“So, I take it this is how you’re dealing with it?” Skyler said, gesturing to the car.
Jet shrugged, then picked up her cell phone, tapping a couple of keys and then handing it to Skyler.
“What’s this?” Skyler asked, looking at the phone and seeing a map.
Jet looked over at her, and reaching over, she touched a spot on the phone to zoom the map in. Skyler saw that it was a Google map of the area around Raqqa, Iraq.
“What are you trying to do?” Skyler asked, mystified.
“To find them,” Jet said.
“Who?” Skyler asked.
“The family that saved my life,” Jet said, her look serious.
Skyler blinked a couple of times. “Raqqa is ISIS controlled right now…”
“And they’re Shia.”
“Holy shit,” Skyler said, knowing the gravity of that problem right away.
“It was bad enough when ISIL was in control, they at least needed an excuse to kill Shia. ISIS doesn’t have that problem.”
“What do you think you can do?” Skyler asked, her tone both shocked and exasperated.
“I want to go back and get them out,” Jet said, her tone serious.
“You…” Skyler began, her voice trailing off as she realized how crazy that idea was. “How the hell do you think you’re going to do that?”
Jet pursed her lips in disgust. “That’s been the problem so far,” she said. “I can’t figure out how to get back, not even the Reserves will let me.”
“It’s ISIS fucking controlled Jet!” Skyler exclaimed. “The Army isn’t going to send you back there so you can get slaughtered on Al Jazeera TV!”
Jet winced at not only the volume of Skyler’s voice, but her words as well.
“I can’t leave them there, Sky…” Jet said, her voice tremulous.
“Jet, they might be dead already…” Skyler said, her voice gentle.
“I know, I know,” Jet said, nodding. “But I need to know. I’ve reached out to every contact I still have over there, and nothing… Raqqa’s gone completely dark.”
“That’s what ISIS does, Jet…” Skyler said, her look searching.
Jet shook her head, swallowing against the lump in her throat.
“You don’t understand…” Jet said, her tone more dismal than Skyler had ever heard it.
“Help me understand,” Skyler said.
“They had a daughter,” Jet said. “She took care of me. They’ll rape her until she’s dead.”
Skyler closed her eyes against the image that Jet’s words image conjured. It was true, young women would be gang raped by ISIS members until they literally died. It was a fate worse than death for any woman.
Taking a deep breath, Skyler looked over at Jet.
“Who have you talked to?” she asked.
“Everyone I can think of,” Jet said. “The Army, the State department, the American embassy, the fucking Iraqi embassy… No one will listen.”
“Maybe we need a bigger stick,” Skyler said.
Jet looked over at Skyler as she pulled up to the store.
“What kind of bigger stick?” Jet asked.
“Like an Attorney General that hates the idea of women being targeted,” Skyler said, starting to grin.
“You think Midnight Chevalier would do anything?” Jet asked, not daring to hope at this point. “She doesn’t even know me.”
Skyler shook her head. “No, but your boss knows her. Hell, the way I hear it, Kashena saved Midnight’s life once… So, she might just listen.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I really think we need to find out.”
Jet looked back at her friend, astounded as she realized her fight for the last year had just become Skyler’s fight too.
Chapter 5
Jet returned from her ride with Skyler her mind going in a hundred different directions. Pulling into her garage, she took off her black cover shirt, exposing the black tank top underneath. She then pulled the holster and holstered gun out of the small of her back and set it aside. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she set it in the iHome in the garage and cranked the music. She then popped the hood on the Mustang and spent the next two hours working on her car, letting her mind go over everything, allowing herself to remember…
Jet came to slowly, the first thing she noted was that she was breathing easier. The pain was still there, but she could breathe easier. She opened her eyes slowly, staring up at the ceiling for a long moment; she tried to reconcile her situation. She was at least forty clicks from her base and she was fairly sure that her two other team members were dead. She was in a primitive part of the country, where there were no hospitals anywhere close, and even if there were, an American soldier would be reported immediately and God only knew where she’d end up then. Essentially, she was screwed.
There was movement to her side, she turned her head and was shocked to see a young woman looking back at her. Jet figured she was in her early twenties, she was definitely Iraqi with olive skin and dark eyebrows, her hair was covered by a hijab, but her eyes were what had Jet captivated, they were almost silver.
The young woman smiled, and then she spoke. “You are awake.”
“You?” Jet asked, surprised that this was the young woman who’d been the veiled presence before.
Fadiyah smiled softly, inclining her head.
“But your veil…” Jet said, knowing that she was breaking every rule the Army had given her about communicating with the female population of Iraq.
“I felt that what we just went through,” Fadiyah said, gesturing to the bandages on Jet’s chest, “would equate to a formal meeting.”
Jet gave a short laugh in response, which unfortunately resulted in a coughing fit which left her weak and hurting desperately again.
“I am sorry,” Fadiyah said, looking contrite.
“It’s okay,” Jet said, her voice weak, as she breathed heavily.
Fadiyah picked up a cup and moved to help Jet take a drink of water.
“Shukraan,” Jet said, nodding.
“You speak Arabic well,” Fadiyah said, smiling.
“I’m still learning it,” Jet said. “You speak pretty good English.”
Fadiyah nodded. “I learned at the university, before they closed it.”
Jet’s lips twitched, it annoyed her that ISIL was purposely making it impossible for young women to improve themselves. It was part of her biggest issue with being in the Middle East, the way women were treated.
“What were you studying?” Jet asked.
“Nursing,” Fadiyah said, smiling.
“Well, good thing for me, huh?” Jet said, grinning.
They were both silent for a few minutes, then Fadiyah looked at her for a long moment.
“You are called Mathews?” she asked, pronouncing the surname like “mat-hues.”
“Mathews,” Jet pronounced. “And that’s my last name.”
“What is your given name?” Fadiyah asked.
“Jet,” she replied.
“Jet?” Fadiyah repeated, emphasizing the ‘t’.
“Yeah, like the plane,” Jet said, grinning.
Fadiyah smiled, nodding her head.
“Fadiyah!” called a man’s voice, making Jet jump which had her hissing in pain again.
“It is my father,” Fadiyah said, moving to stand and walked out of the room.
Jet overheard part of the conversation spoken in such quickly spoken Arabic she could only catch a few words.
She heard words like “safe” and “honor.” She also heard Fadiyah’s father ask about her veil and heard Fadiyah tell him that since Jet was a woman, she had no need of the veil. Jet rolled her eyes thinking, ‘good thing they don’t know I’m gay.’
> Fadiyah returned to the room, smiling at Jet.
“My father wanted to know how you are doing,” she told Jet.
“Yeah, and when the hell I’m getting out of his house,” Jet said, grimacing when she realized she’d cursed. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly.
Fadiyah smiled at Jet’s grimace. “It is okay. He is not asking when you will get the ‘hell’ out of his house.”
Jet grinned at the way Fadiyah had repeated her words, but then she drew in a deep breath, blowing it out, her look becoming serious.
“This really isn’t safe for your family, Fadi,” she said, shortening the girls name unconsciously. “If they find me here, they’ll kill all of you.”
Fadiyah looked back at Jet, her face composed. “You and your fellow soldiers come to my country to try to help us fight extremists who would destroy us all. You risk your lives for all of us, this is the least we can do to repay that sacrifice.”
Jet stared back at the girl, unable to formulate a sufficient reply. She had no idea how old Fadiyah was, but what she did know was that this girl had grown up in a country torn apart by war and hate, and it had definitely had its effect on her.
“You must rest, Jet,” Fadiyah told her then, seeing that Jet was fighting to keep her eyes open.
Jet nodded, allowing herself to fall asleep again.
Ashley found Jet in the garage, having heard the music and a few swear words. Walking out into the garage, Shock Top in hand, Ashley waited until Jet moved to get another tool and saw her.
Ashley offered Jet the beer.
“Thanks,” Jet said, smiling. She took it gratefully and took a long drink.
Ashley watched her; things between them had been strained since the day before when she’d asked about the tattoo.
Jet caught Ashley’s look, knowing that she’d been a little hard on her and feeling bad for it. Leaning in, she kissed Ashley’s lips, and then pulled back to look down into her eyes for a long moment.
“I’m sorry,” Jet said, her look contrite.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Ashley said softly.
“I know, and you couldn’t have known,” Jet said.
“Will you tell me about it sometime?” Ashley asked, her tone cautious.
Jet Blue (WeHo Book 5) Page 8