With a scream, Jessica grabbed Ava’s right arm. “You have to walk!”
Ava moaned and doubled over. “It hurts!”
“Come on, Ava.” Jessica hitched the girl’s arm over her shoulder. The girl’s dead weight yanked against her arm, dragging her to a halt. She couldn’t lift her. “Kaleb!” Jessica screamed.
No response, of course. He could be anywhere in Mosul and she didn’t have either of their two mobiles.
With the sound of fireworks, a mortar shell exploded overhead. Jessica threw herself over Ava, pushing her down against the lip of the concrete block. Shrapnel mixed with concrete fragments rained down around them like hail back in England. The shadow of the high-rise towered over them. The fifty-foot-high walls quaked.
Debris hit Jessica’s back, rocks and pebbles digging through her robe into her skin before the rain of debris settled.
Then it stopped. The high-rise had stayed standing. The air was quiet. Beneath her, Ava moaned.
Jumping off Ava, Jessica pulled the girl’s black abaya up. Blood streamed down Ava’s leg, sticking to unshaven leg hair.
“Raja will divorce me! He said he would. I can’t lose our son.” As she lay on her back, Ava waved her hands, flapping the black robe around her wrists.
Miscarrying shouldn’t make this much blood, should it?
Panic rushed through Jessica. Spotting is normal in pregnancy, her OB-GYN had told her that three years ago before her son died. Jessica tried to calm her breathing.
Yanking away from her, Ava sat up and clutched her stomach. She cried out beneath her face veil.
Oxygen. That was important for patients and everyone in the mosque should be too busy to punish dress code violations. Jessica tore off Ava’s face veil.
“Try to breathe,” Jessica said. Her hands trembled, but she grasped Ava’s robe and ripped it farther up.
Blood soaked the robe, more than enough blood to explain the pallor on Ava’s face. More blood squirted down Ava’s thighs.
With a moan, Ava collapsed on the concrete.
Blood dripped from Jessica’s fingers, enough blood loss to kill Ava! Jessica’s veins constricted as dizziness overcame her. She hadn’t wanted Ava to leave America. Umm Sultan had ordered her to recruit Ava. She hadn’t thought Ava would actually come to ISIS territory, not now with the battle for Mosul raging. If Ava and Kaleb died, it would be her fault!
“You need a doctor.” Jessica grabbed Ava’s arm. “We have to go find Kaleb.” Bracing her legs, she tried to haul Ava up. The girl cooperated this time and Jessica got her balanced on her feet.
As her back broke beneath Ava’s weight, Jessica took a step. “Come on, Ava.”
Buzzing sounded overhead.
The girl moaned and took one step. The buzzing grew louder. As her arms tore from her sockets, Jessica rushed Ava toward the high-rise. An open car park ran underneath the building, giving them a tiny bit of cover on the way to the mosque. If she could just get Ava to the mosque!
Ava moaned and fell forward. Jessica tried to keep her head from cracking against the concrete in the high-rise’s half-empty car park. Ava collapsed against a painted parking space. A Jeep stood in the next parking space over, giving them a little cover from the flying debris.
“Don’t give up on me now!” Jessica grabbed Ava beneath her armpits. The girl’s weight yanked against her hands as Jessica’s arms strained uselessly.
Ava groaned, her eyes listless as more blood trickled down her legs.
Jessica shook her. The girl didn’t respond. She grabbed Ava’s hand. She couldn’t move her. Ava needed a doctor. Where was Kaleb? Rolling up Ava’s sleeve, Jessica felt for Ava’s pulse. It fluttered against Jessica’s hand.
Ava’s groans weakened as she slipped into unconsciousness. Through the open north side of the car park, Jessica saw the mosque. Debris rained down on the intervening meters, half the road on fire by now, but she had to get Ava help.
Throwing her face veil down over her head, Jessica ran into the street.
Mortars exploded. The hum of missiles filled the air. A building fractured in a burst of light. A buzzing noise sounded.
“Kaleb! Kaleb!” Jessica screamed as she sprinted for the mosque. Overhead, the buzzing noise grew louder.
CHAPTER 22
Hand on his AK-47, Kamal stared through the narrow slit in the mosque’s window, watching for any movement outside. Behind him, hundreds of other mujahideen filled this room of the mosque. The women and children were upstairs.
“Coalition forces are less than a hundred meters away.” An ISIS soldier dropped his gun and started wringing his hands. “They’re going to kill us all.”
The coward’s panic spread through the crowd of mujahideen. A dry breeze blew through the mosque’s windows, carrying with it the sound of the ever-increasing airstrikes and the pound of bullets as the holy warriors not a hundred meters away attempted to hold the line against coalition forces. “We’re going to die,” the ISIS soldier cried.
Whipping toward the man, the emir yanked a pistol out of his wide belt. He pulled the trigger and the man fell against the tile, his blood seeping out over mosaic designs.
“No one’s going to die.” The emir raised his voice above the noise of drones.
Men looked up from their scattered seats amongst prayer rugs and Korans. Behold how the abominable infidels were forcing Islamic State to turn even this holy mosque into a place of war.
“How do you figure that?” a man, whose arm hung limply by his side as blood seeped through his T-shirt, had the audacity to ask.
The emir met the holy warriors’ gazes. “We’re going to blow up this mosque.”
“We are Muslims. We do not blow up mosques.” Kamal took a sharp step back. His head cracked against a shelf of Korans. The emir couldn’t be serious. This was Allah’s sacred house. The hunchback mosque had endured for over a thousand years as a place of worship to Allah.
The emir shrugged. “We’ll blame it on an U.S. airstrike and make a propaganda video about how much Americans hate Muslims. In the confusion of the explosion, we can withdraw to a safe location and reorganize.”
Wow. Kamal rested his numb hands on his AK-47 as the emir’s words sank in.
“Quickly,” the emir said. “Those of you who have elected to send your wives and daughters out as holy martyrs in accordance with Kamal’s plan, get them suited up in suicide vests. The rest of you, help me finish wiring this mosque with C-4.”
Head pounding, Kamal turned back to the window and rested his AK-47 on the ledge.
A black-clad woman ran down the street, unaccompanied by her male relative, and with bare hands. A drone landed another hit behind her. The street exploded into flames. The woman dove through the door of the mosque into the room of men as debris projectiles smashed against the mosque’s walls.
The indecency! Kamal swiveled his rifle away from coalition lines to the woman. “Halt.”
“Where’s Kaleb? I need Kaleb Schlensky!” The woman wrung her hands, flapping her robe sleeves up over her wrist and exposing naked skin.
Kamal sniffed. “Go back to your home and be grateful Al-Khansaa does not beat you.”
The woman’s gaze fixed on Raja Khan. “It’s your wife. She’s bleeding. Surely you want to save your unborn son. Please send for Kaleb!”
“Kaleb’s not here. I will tend to my wife.” Raja swung his AK-47 over his shoulder.
“Ava needs a doctor. She’s in the car park in agony.” The woman’s panting breaths blew her face veil in and out, revealing slivers of skin as she struggled for oxygen. She should have acid thrown on her face by Al-Khansaa!
Turning from the immodest woman, Raja lowered his voice. “Give me one of those suicide vests. I’ll send Ava out the east side where our line is weakest.”
Good. Kamal rummaged inside the cardboard box by the prayer rugs. Red fuses jutted out of the carton he’d filled last night. Kamal yanked out a bag. “I’ll send the rest of the ISIS wives and daughters to t
he north and south sides.”
Stuffing the trash-bag-covered suicide vest under his arm, Raja turned to the immodest woman. “Take me to my wife.”
“You have to call Kaleb!” The woman lunged for the shiny black cell on Raja’s belt and dared to assault a holy warrior. Driving his elbow forward, Raja threw her to her knees.
The woman’s face veil flew up, revealing her flushed face and wide pupils. Oh, the immorality!
Raja shoved his AK-47’s barrel into her back. “You will show me to my wife.”
Thirst burned Jessica’s throat as she ducked back into the car park. “You have to call Kaleb!” She twisted toward Raja.
With a grunt, he knelt by his wife.
Ava’s blood pooled around her, such a deep red against the white concrete. The girl trembled, eyes lolling back in her head.
“You must call Kaleb.” Jessica shook as she eyed the mobile on Raja’s belt. But Raja clasped his other hand over his AK-47.
Grabbing Ava’s arm, Raja yanked a canvas vest out of a trash bag. He tore off her robe and shoved Ava’s arms through the vest. C-4 explosives covered the tan canvas.
“No!” Jessica cried, but her voice made no noise.
“Stand up, Ava,” Raja ordered.
“I can’t. I can’t, Raja.” Mucous dripped from Ava’s nose. Her entire body trembled.
Smack, Raja slapped his open palm against her cheek. “I said, ‘stand up.’ ”
Ava grabbed a concrete pillar by her head and heaved herself to a stand. Her knees wobbled. Her feet teetered on the concrete, her plastic sandals shifting as her ankles wobbled. Raja grabbed her beneath the shoulder blades. Ava’s weight crashed against him. “Stand,” Raja yelled.
Darting forward, Jessica ripped Raja’s mobile off his belt. She hit contacts. Nothing.
“You can walk,” Raja screamed as if his words would make it true. Face white, Ava took one unsteady step forward as Raja followed her.
Jessica scrolled to recent calls on Raja’s phone. Kaleb’s number popped on the screen. She hit Call.
Buzz, the phone rang. Raja twisted toward her.
Jessica leaped back.
With a curse, Raja lunged for her. The phone skittered from her hand, landing on the pavement.
“Kaleb! Ava’s dying,” Jessica screamed. “We’re at a car park in sight of the hunchback mosque.”
Raja threw her to the ground.
Her head split against the concrete. Blood spurted across her eyes.
“You’re the one who’s dying.” Raja pointed his AK-47 at her. He moved his finger to the trigger.
Jumping to her feet, Jessica ran at him. Across the car park, Ava screamed.
Raja’s gaze jerked to Ava as he squeezed the trigger. Something blasted through Jessica. She slid on her own blood. Her body crashed against the ground.
Crossing to Ava, Raja shoved the plastic vest buckles together around Ava’s stomach. He gripped the detonator that would explode the vest.
“I don’t want to die like Jessica.” Ava trembled. She took one halting step. Blood stained each of her footprints.
“You’re dying anyway. This way you will become a martyr.”
“I don’t want to die,” Ava moaned again.
With a groan, Jessica tried to stand. Blood streamed from her hip and pain radiated from her thigh. Her head ached, but she wasn’t bleeding into her eyes anymore. She felt for her heart. It seemed to still be beating. Excruciating agony pulsed from her leg into her entire body.
“I am your husband. It is haram forbidden to disobey me.” Eyes narrow, Raja glared at Ava.
Ava froze. Her tears ran down her naked face, her chubby cheeks dust-stained.
“I love you, Ava.” Raja bent and kissed her lips. “You are a beautiful daughter of Allah. Do this for me and our love will be great in the afterlife.”
“Really?” Ava tilted her face up to him, the rolls on her neck protruding from the abaya.
Outside the car park, the rattle of bullets intensified, proof that the coalition forces were pressing closer.
“Of course. Allah has prepared a great mansion for us. You will have servants and splendid parties and the finest delicacies. We will drink deep of love together in paradise.”
Face white, Ava blinked back tears.
“Go quickly now. You only need to walk across the street and I will do the rest.
“I’m weak.” Ava sniffled as she moaned.
“It’s only a few dozen paces, darling.” Raja pressed another kiss on her lips and pushed her forward.
Ava shook, but she started walking toward the coalition line, one step, two steps, a dozen meters, two dozen.
A smile spread across Raja’s dirt-stained lips as he held the detonator high. “Allah Ahkbar!”
The sight blurred in front of Jessica’s eyes. Blood gushed from her leg and the pain burned through her. No! She couldn’t let Kaleb’s sister die. Rolling to her knees, Jessica shoved her hands against the concrete and tried to stand.
Her hip gave out. She smashed face-first against the pavement.
CHAPTER 23
Ring. Kaleb’s phone buzzed on the counter as he stood over an ISIS patient who bled from a bullet wound to the leg. An AK-47’s barrel aimed at Kaleb’s heart and this time the ISIS soldier “supervising” him wasn’t leaving the room.
An arid breeze blew through the open window, partially alleviating the heat that the broken air-conditioner no longer cooled.
Ring. With his elbow, Kaleb pushed speaker. Words blared through the phone as he held the bullet he’d removed from the soldier’s wound in a bloody pair of forceps. Jessica’s voice carried through the cell. “Ava’s dying,” Jessica screamed. “We’re at a car park in sight of the hunchback mosque.”
No! Surely Jessica was exaggerating? Had Ava succumbed to heat stroke? He could hydrate her with IV fluid. “I have to go to my sister,” Kaleb said.
The man grunted in Arabic. Grabbing his medical bag of commandeered hospital supplies, Kaleb headed for the door. The ISIS soldier stepped in front of him and lowered his gun barrel. Raja had said he was too valuable to shoot.
Whipping on his heel, Kaleb sprinted to the window. About five feet below, the roof of a lower level of the hospital stretched out. He jumped.
With a thud, he landed on a rooftop.
Shouts came from the window. Bullets peppered the ground. Apparently, this soldier hadn’t gotten the memo about him being too valuable to kill.
The medical bag thumped against Kaleb’s shoulder as he darted in a zig-zag pattern. More shouts and ISIS soldiers vaulted out the window. He sprinted across the rooftop. It ended by a street. Cars roared two stories down. He whipped right. A pace from the end of the roof stood an apartment building. Through the haze of smoke that hung over Mosul, he could see the minaret of the hunchback mosque. Footsteps pounded behind him.
Kaleb leaped through the air. His fingers touched the fire escape of the next building. He clawed for a grip. Heaving himself over the stair rail, he launched himself onto the apartment roof. More gunshots at his back. Bullets struck the concrete ledge in front of him. Jumping over a raised grate, he cut behind the ledge.
He was never mocking downtown Denver’s parkour enthusiasts again. The buzz of airstrikes sounded overhead. Mortars exploded on the ground below. Kaleb scrambled over rooftops, ducking behind chimneys and electrical boxes.
The sound of running feet faded as the hunchback mosque’s minaret towered to his right.
With a lunge, he hauled himself over the fire escape of an apartment complex. The metal step shook beneath his feet as he ran down. He clasped his medical bag to his side and prayed the equipment hadn’t broken. Where was Ava?
Grabbing the end of the fire escape, he swung toward the ground.
A lump of black walked beneath the fire escape, one halting step after another. Was that Ava or Jessica or some other Mosul woman?
The woman staggered and her uncovered face turned toward him. Ava! Raja the Pedoph
ile sprang forward and grabbed Ava’s arm. The sun reflected off some kind of button that Raja held.
“I can’t.” Ava fell to her knees, voice a moan. Raja raised his hand high.
Kaleb’s boots hit the pavement hard as he landed in front of Raja the Pedophile. He grabbed the barrel of Raja’s AK-47.
With an Arabic cry, Raja spun toward him. Raja yanked at the AK-47’s stock and struggled for the gun. They wrestled for the weapon. With a crack, the barrel slid out of both of their hands. The gun slammed against the concrete. Raja sprang for it. Kaleb grabbed the gun and yanked the barrel level.
With a gasp, Raja dove behind Ava and yanked her body up as a shield. His right hand trembled as he held a detonator up above Ava’s head. “Step back or I’ll blow her up.” Ava’s robe fell open, revealing a suicide vest wired with C-4 explosives!
Kaleb met Raja’s gaze as Raja hovered his thumb above the detonator’s red button. Blood seeped from Ava’s legs, making a puddle around her robes.
The man was too much of a coward to blow himself up. Or at least, he was going to have to believe that, because if he let Raja live, they all died. Kaleb stepped around Ava. “Get. Your. ####. Hands. Off. My. Sister.” He lunged for Raja.
“Kaleb,” Ava screamed.
Dropping the detonator, Raja shoved his sister in her pregnant belly and whipped out his knife.
Kaleb leaped for Raja. His fingers closed on Raja’s wrist. The man plunged the knife toward him. Kaleb yanked the man’s arm around and twisted the knife toward Raja’s chest. With a sliding sound, the sharp blade dug beneath Raja’s second rib, severing his aorta.
The noise of pounding mortars covered up Raja’s scream. The pedophile fell face forward on the street as his blood oozed out over the debris. The buzzing of airstrikes sounded overhead.
Kaleb dropped to his knees and grabbed Ava. He hauled her up in his arms and headed for the parking garage behind them.
With a scream, Ava struggled against him. Sweat poured down her round face, her skin eerily white. “Is my husband dead?” The back of her hand struck Kaleb’s cheek as she flailed against him.
Veiled by Choice (Radical Book 3) Page 18