by Mary Alford
Capturing al-Qaeda second in command alive could bring them within striking distance of breaking the back of one of the largest terrorist cells and almost guarantee a huge win in the war of terror.
Now, with Booth missing, the trail had gone from cold to non-existent.
“You okay?”
Michael stirred himself from his thoughts. Sam obviously had been trying to get his attention for a while. “Yes, of course.”
“You’re sure?” Sam was a good man, but this was his first mission abroad. He wouldn’t be learning from the master. Under Booth’s tutelage, Sam could have been one of the best. No other agent in the field had Booth’s skills and intuition. Instead, Sam would be stuck with learning the ropes from men like Sheridan and himself, people who were little more than pencil pushers for the agency.
“Yeah, sure, what’s up?”
Sam lowered his voice. “We have a hit on Rachel’s phone. She placed a call less than two hours earlier from here.”
Michael closed the laptop and sat up straighter. “Where?”
“Satellite link has it less than three kilometers from Bel-Ahzar.”
“She’s going after our woman there. I need to know if there’s been any new contact between this Rahab and Rachel.”
Sam glanced discreetly around the vehicle’s interior. “I checked. Two messages.”
“Can you get me their context?”
Michael knew what Sam’s answer would be. “I’d need a court order for that.”
“This is a matter of national security. Do it. I’ll deal with the consequences should they arise.”
“Okay. It could take a while.”
Michael turned away, glancing out the window as night descended rapidly on the desert outside the Suburban.
He had less than half a day’s time to fix this thing before Hughes’ paranoia took over and he put the command out to take care of Rachel--and Booth, if he was still alive.
His last hope was the man still had something resembling a moral conscience left in him. The only thing Hughes was guilty of thus far was sanctioning the covert mission that had possibly cost Booth his life. If he followed through with what he’d threatened, he’d be guilty of murder. Unfortunately, Michael had no solid proof and Hughes was good at covering up or burying evidence.
* * * *
“You always did look good in jeans. They show your softer side, unlike those stiff business suits you’re always wearing. And you do have a softer side, Rachel, no matter how hard you try to deny it these days.” He still looked the same. As he had that final night three years earlier. His smile still possessed the power to draw me to him like a moth to flame. Charming and annoying.
“Booth. Dear God, Booth.” I breathed in the familiar scent of him. I touched his face, my fingers stroking the scraggly stubble that shadowed the hard planes of his cheek. I knew every line, all the dimensions of him.
He closed his eyes and nuzzled warm lips again my hand. His feel--alive, electrical. Reassuring. Then as quickly as it emerged, his smile disappeared. Booth suddenly grew serious. I’d seen that look before. He was here to warn me of something.
“You shouldn’t have come here.”
“Why? What are you involved in, Booth?”
“You’re in danger here, Rach. You’re out of practice. You can’t help me, Rach. Let me go.”
“No, I can’t. Booth, I have to help you for--”
“Our daughter needs you. Go home to her. Now. Tonight. Before it’s too late. Don’t go out there tonight.”
My next breath lodged in my throat at the mention of Ava. He knew about Ava. “How did you know?”
His image dimmed. His hand on my shoulder turned colder as he shook me hard. “I’m dead, Rachel. I know because I’m dead.”
In an instant, I awoke. Fear and adrenaline propelled me into a sitting position. In those first cloudy minutes between the clarity of the dream and reality, I could almost believe Booth was real. Almost. Until I spotted Khalid standing next to the bed, watching me with what was quickly becoming a familiar look of concern.
I forced myself to speak. Try to appeal normal but the racing of my pulse had to be evident to anyone within five feet of me.
“What time is it?” I pushed the words out.
After a lengthy expanse of time, he chose to answer me. “Late. The moon will be rising soon. I’ve been trying to wake you for a while. We should go.”
I swung my feet to the ground. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”
Khalid’s hand was firm on my arm. “Are you? I wonder. Do not make me regret this decision, Laura Ingalls.”
He turned on one booted heel and left me silently watching him go.
* * * *
Khalid reined in his mount once we reached the outcropping of rocks close to The Well of Jacob.
“You have the phone on silent?” he asked for the third time.
“Yes.” I knew his concern was for me as well as his men.
“You know what to do?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
Khalid and his team would remain here, hidden within the shelter of the rock formation. With any luck, no one had been close enough to witness our arrival.
“I’ll be fine. I can handle myself. If this thing goes south, you need to get your people out of here as quickly as possible.”
While he agreed, I knew better. Khalid would be there for me at risk of his life.
When the men were in position, I nudged the mare’s flanks and she began a slow canter.
Still in the protective shelter of the rocks, I pulled out the night vision binoculars and trained them in the direction of the well. Someone was there.
I’d tucked my Glock inside a hidden pocket of my jacket. Its cold metal somehow comforting.
As I moved in close to the well the person leaning against it still hadn’t moved. I reined the mare to a halt and dismounted with weapon drawn.
“Rahab?”
The woman dressed in dark clothing from head to toe didn’t move. Piercing fear and adrenaline swept through me like a slug of alcohol. I hit the talk button on the phone and dialed the number Khalid gave me before creeping close enough to feel for a pulse. The moment I touched her she toppled over. She was dead.
I had just enough time to see that the woman’s throat had been slashed.
Then I heard a noise behind me. As I turned, a heavy object hammered against my left temple. Then blackness.
* * * *
He took my hand and led me a little way from the rest of the team. Something troubled him tonight. I could see it in him.
“Booth, what is it?” I shivered at the lost look on his face. I’d never seen him so serious before.
He stared into my eyes for the longest time then shook his head leaving me with the feeling that something important had been left unsaid.
Booth drew me into his strong embrace and I went willingly in spite of the strain that existed between us. I still loved him after all.
He held me close and we stared up at a multitude of stars above. The desert held its own form of magic and the night should have been perfect, but I couldn’t let go of my fears.
“What’s troubling you, Booth,” I asked again because I had to know. I desperately wanted him to share his thoughts with me.
He watched me for the longest time before he drew me closer and kissed me like only Booth could. Had it been my imagination or had I really heard him whisper, “I love you”? I stopped and stared up at him, but nothing showed. Regret was hard to swallow. Booth couldn’t give me his heart because it belonged to the job. I’d known this and accepted it in the beginning. I couldn’t any longer.
“I should go back first. We don’t want the rest of the team getting ideas.” He tried to make a joke, but there was something in his voice that sounded sad.
Once he left me, I didn’t return to camp right away. I couldn’t, because if felt as if my heart had shattered into a thousand pieces.
* * * *
I o
pened my eyes with difficulty and felt the sting of bittersweet tears close by. I remembered the time in the desert with Booth as if it were yesterday. The heartache, the love I felt for him was still there in my heart. In spite of everything he’d put me through, I missed him terribly and I’d give just about anything for one more moment with him.
Excruciating pain shot down the left side of my face. I winced and tried to focus. All around me was a thick darkness that seemed to seep inside my head. And cold. The air was heavy with a musty smell and something familiar and foul. Death.
I realized I was standing. My hands tied above my head tight enough that the circulation had left them. I tried to move them and pins and needles shot down my arms.
The darkness around me was impenetrable. I couldn’t see an inch in front of me. Surprisingly, my feet were not bound. I tentatively moved one. I appeared to be standing on something concrete. I extended my foot as far as I could reach but didn’t find an end. I was in a building, possibly a bunker. I had no idea how big my prison cell was or how deep it might be buried.
Behind me, something scurried and I fought the urge to scream.
Panic welled from deep inside of me. With all my strength, I forced it down, training my mind back over the things that I knew. Best to concentrate on facts and not let my imagination run rampant.
The person I believed to be Rahab was dead. I’d managed to get a call off to Khalid, but it had not been in time to save me from the trap I’d walked into.
I could only hope the signal had gotten through and that Khalid would come for me. Hopefully, he would have some idea where I’d been taken. I prayed he wasn’t in on it all along.
I stretched my fingers as far as I could reach and tried to determine the type of restraints I was up against. A thick rope bound my hands.
My head throbbed from the blow I’d sustained. I wondered how long I’d been unconscious. Hours? Days?
Please, God, no. The longer I’d been missing without an attempt at being rescued, the greater my chance of not walking out of this thing.
I tried to keep my fear in check. Panicking now would almost guarantee death. I took a deep breath and remembered the things I’d learned from Booth about survival. I wasn’t a rookie. I’d been in this situation once before. But that time I’d had Booth’s expertise to get me through. First and foremost was the need to know my surroundings. I listened to the subtle sounds around me, trying to sift through the overwhelming silence and pick up something that might give me an idea of where I was being held.
Instinct told me it would be an underground bunker. If I’d been right and I’d managed to place the call to Khalid, then whoever took me would have known how to disappear quickly. Khalid and his team would have been there within five minutes tops. I’d panned the surrounding area with my night vision goggles and hadn’t seen another outcropping of rocks. No other building. Only desert. Somehow, there had to be an entrance in the desert to this place. Would Khalid suspect the same? I could only pray he would.
I listened to the scurrying sound behind me. It sounded as if rats were moving around on something. Boxes maybe?
The place smelled dank and sour, like rotting fruit. I twisted around so I could get a 360-degree view, but nothing but darkness could be seen. I froze in place at the sound of footsteps nearby. More than one set, judging from the sound of it. I could hear their quiet bits of conversation. Arabic. While I understood the language, they were just far enough away so that I understood only every fifth word or so.
The sound of someone fiddling with a lock above and to the left of me, then the sound of rusty hinges protesting as they were forced to open.
A piercing beam of a flashlight momentarily blinded me. But not before they saw that I was awake.
One of them spoke, eliciting laughter from his cohorts. The flashlight never left my eyes. Someone stepped close and yanked my head back. I could feel the sharp edge of a knife nick at my throat.
My assailant said something to the others. My Arabic was rusty, but I’d picked up enough to know my fate. They wouldn’t kill me yet. They needed information. The knife dug deeper into my neck. At this point, I was almost certain the fate I’d be forced to suffer would make my death seem like a welcome release.
* * * *
“She’s...gone? Where? How?” Michael wasn’t sure he’d understood the tribesman’s dialect clearly enough. After being told about the botched meet, Michael insisted the team divert to the location. They’d arrived in time to see total chaos unfold.
Someone had killed Rahab. Slashed her throat from one end to the other. Michael swallowed back regret as he looked at the woman he’d once loved. That piece of truth was best left buried in their pasts.
One of the local agents traveling with Sheridan’s team knew the tribesmen living in the region.
“They’ve worked for us in the past. We can trust them,” Sheridan assured him. At this point, Michael wondered if there was anyone in this God forsaken land who could be trusted.
The nomads searching the area had acted as Rachel’s backup. They’d left her alone for less than a handful of minutes and she’d vanished into thin air. The leader, a tall and deceptively thin man with cunningly sharp eyes and known as Khalid acknowledged Michael’s question with a slight bow of his head. “That is correct. Whoever took her may still be close, I believe. With miles and miles of desert, what we are looking for will be like searching for a needle. Especially at night.”
“Then why’d you let her come here in the first place? You had to have known the outcome?” Michael fired back the question only to have it met with stony silence.
Angering the tribesman was a bad move on his part. Khalid and his men were vital to the operation. Calling for backup at this point would be ridiculously slow. “I’m sorry. No one’s blaming you. We appreciate your help. Tell us what you need.”
“Do you have flashlights?” Khalid asked after another stony beat passed between them.
Sheridan affirmed with a brief nod.
“Then we need to search the desert floor. We’re looking for an underground entrance. If we’re lucky, we might be able to find their footsteps still in the sand. But time is running out. The wind has picked up. We have only a matter of minutes left to find any trace of them.”
Michael nodded to Sheridan. “Make it happen, now.”
The team of tribesmen and agents searched more than an hour without any luck.
“This is pointless,” Michael admitted at last. “We’ll need to wait until morning. I’ll call for more men to help with the search.”
Khalid reluctantly agreed. “All right. We’ll camp here. I’ll send one of my men back for help as well.” He dispatched one of the younger tribesmen, a relative, giving the order to take his own mount, a sleek black stallion that looked faster than the night.
With the man riding at breakneck speed into the distance, Khalid turned back to Michael. “Maybe you can tell me why this woman was out here in the first place. When the man she is searching for’s own team has left him here to die.”
Michael took his time answering. He couldn’t reveal too much to this man. He’d been almost relieved by the news of Rahab’s death though her memories were not all troubled ones. Now Rachel was gone, possibly dead and his chances of containing this thing grew more distant with each new death.
“You’ve clearly worked with our government in the past. You know what’s at stake. You know sometimes sacrifices have to be made for the greater good. The man Laura is searching for was here to kill someone. Someone big.”
Khalid watched him without speaking. The man had perfected the stare down. It was certainly working on Michael. “And now he is missing. This woman is dead and someone else might be soon. Is this someone big worth it?”
Michael’s gaze never wavered from Khalid. “Yes. For my people as well as yours.”
The silence following Michael’s declaration made it clear what Khalid’s opinion would be.
“You’re thi
nking they’ve taken her underground?” Michael forged on. He didn’t care about Khalid’s opinions. He cared less for his judgment. He needed a plan. Needed to get Rachel back and prayed this wasn’t the work of his own people.
“Yes. There are virtual miles of underground passages throughout this desert that date back more than a thousand years. They’ve been added to through the ages. It could take days, perhaps weeks, to find her. If ever.”
Michael turned to one of the agents from Kabul. “Do what you have to do, but get me as many men as you can here by daybreak.”
When they were alone again, Khalid pointed to Rahab, who mercifully someone had covered with a blanket. “Who was this woman that someone would want her dead? She played some part. She knew something. Important enough for Laura to risk her life to find out. She had information about your missing agent. You know her, don’t you?”
Michael didn’t look at Khalid, but he knew the tribesman had seen the truth. It was time to do some damage control. “No, I don’t know her.” That much was true. He hadn’t spoken to her in years. The last he’d seen her he barely recognized her. This time was no different. Their time apart hadn’t been kind to Rahab and she was Booth’s contact.
He trusted her. Michael did not. “How do you know the person missing is an agent of my government?”
Nothing showed in Khalid’s blank expression. “The time for playing games is over, my friend. You need my help. And I want to know what I’m getting myself and my people involved in.”
Michael took his time answering. To confide in someone outside of the Agency was as close to treason as it got. Booth had confided in Rahab and look where that had gotten him. But was keeping the Agency’s secrets worth any more loss of life? He was almost certain Rachel had little time left before she, too, became another victim of this secret war. He feared he’d lost his best friend to it already.
Michael stepped away from the other agents and motioned for Khalid to follow. Resentment trailed in the wake of each of Khalid’s steps.
“All right. I’ll tell you what I believe you need to know. You’re right. The man missing is one of ours.”