Degree of Risk

by Lindsay McKenna

  “Ah, that got your attention. I thought it might. Do you think I am going to torture you to find out you are an Army officer? A helicopter pilot?” He waved a finger toward her uniform. “You have nothing I want, Chief Benson, from a military standpoint. If you were a man, we’d have shot you where we found you this morning. No, you are far more valuable to me alive and looking beautiful.”

  An icy terror jagged down her spine. “Slavery?” she choked out.

  He shrugged, as if bored. “I have a very high al Qaeda official in Pakistan who is already offering me one million U.S. dollars in cash for you.”

  Stunned, Sarah’s mouth fell open. “What?” She’d heard of girls, boys and women being kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery. Is that what he was talking about? She tried to appear disinterested and snapped her mouth shut, forcing herself to eat more.

  Mustafa sighed and looked around the cave. “You are very beautiful, Chief. If I didn’t have other interests, I’d keep you for myself.” He showed his broken, yellowed teeth.

  Sarah shut her eyes, shuddering inwardly. She could only guess what his other interests were, aside from selling her for a high price.

  “You sick son of a bitch.”

  Mustafa slapped his knees, laughing deeply, a pleased look coming to his dark face, which was lined by years of being out in weather and the elements.

  Sarah wanted to kill him, most of all so that he wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else. But there were no weapons around. Everyone ate with their fingers. Breathing hard, her chest rising and falling in anger, she felt her head clear.

  “Fire! You have fire! I like that in a woman! You’re not afraid to talk back. Of course, you are military, so why wouldn’t you have fire slumbering somewhere beneath that rumpled uniform of yours?”

  Sarah glared at him. Khogani grinned like an idiot, clearly enjoying taunting her. Screams from her own mouth as Bill had dragged her into the bedroom, reverberated through her skull.

  “So,” he murmured, his smile disappearing as he stroked his beard, “you have a soft spot for justice and innocence? Well, why wouldn’t that be so, eh? You are a woman, after all.” He studied her for along time, the silence lengthening and thickening in the cave.

  “You will talk to me, Chief Benson. I prefer a civilized conversation with you.”

  “Go to hell,” she spat.

  His mouth thinned. His brows drew down on his hard, narrowed eyes.

  “You leave me no choice, then. By your own decision, I will bring a child in tonight, just after dinner, and you will watch what happens.”

  Sarah’s heart shattered. “You wouldn’t!” she snarled. Her hands opened and closed. She saw the soldiers at the entrance walk toward her, guns pointed at her.

  Mustafa stood up, stretched languidly like a snow leopard awakening from long nap. “Then, perhaps you will hold a civilized conversation with me after dinner? That child’s fate is in your hands, Chief.” He looked up at the guards. “Take her to the prison cell. Two soldiers guarding her at all times,” he snapped, and then whirled around on his boot and stalked out of the cave.

  *

  Ethan felt some of his brittle tension sloughed off as a Chinook landed and fifteen SEALs, led by Master Chief Hunter, ran toward where they stood on the hill top. The chopper roared, the double blades turning, kicking up mountains of dust clouds, twigs and small rocks that pelted the awaiting group.

  Ethan and the rest of his team turned away as the CH-47 took off into the late afternoon blue sky. Urgency ate at him. Hunter appeared out of the clouds of rolling dirt, his face grim, kitted up like all the other SEALs. The master chief was considered one of the best combat SEALs ever, and Ethan was grateful he was heading up this mission.

  The team gathered behind a large group of rocks that would protect them from Taliban snipers and enemy eyes. Hunter knelt, pulled out a map and placed it on the ground. Ethan knelt opposite him with his team. The rest crouched or knelt nearby to hear his orders.

  “The CIA is picking up radio and cell-phone chatter between Pakistan and this mountain to the west of us. Khogani is on his radio doing a lot of talking. The CIA is getting it translated after they decrypt it.”

  Ethan said nothing, feeling as if his chest was being shredded by invisible talons. His mind, his heart, his soul were oriented on that cave where the drone saw Khogani take Sarah hours earlier.

  “Here’s the mountain we’re going to infil,” he told everyone. He jabbed a finger at the black-and-white illustration. “There are three entrance-exit tunnels to this cave system. I want the three teams of snipers, two men each, to position themselves as soon as I’m done with this briefing.” Hunter looked up at Dusty and Dagger. “You’re assigned tunnel C.”

  They nodded.

  “You snipers are not to engage until or if you see Sarah Benson being taken out of one of those exit points. I’ll give you the order to fire.”

  Hunter looked around at his men. “What the rest of us are going to do is enter here with two flashbangs.” He pointed to the original tunnel Sarah had been taken into. “We want to herd however many tangos there are in there, to exit points B and C on the other side of the mountain. We’ll clear each cave as we come to it, pushing them further and further toward the western end.”

  Reza moved in beside the master chief and knelt by him. “There are fifteen caves in there. Did you know that?”

  “No,” Hunter said. “But that’s helpful. Do you know their layout?”

  Reza nodded, a serious look on his face. “I can draw them exactly.”

  “Get this man a paper and pen,” Hunter ordered. In seconds, a notebook and pen magically appeared before Reza. The Afghan took it, opened it up and laid it over the map. He quickly sketched the entire inner layout, showing how the caves connected to one another. When he was done, he said, “Here is where there is a cell to hold prisoners. The main room where Khogani stays when he is in this area is the largest cavern. There is a cave to the south of it, fifty feet, perhaps, that Sarah will probably be held in.”

  “How many do you think are still left in there?” Hunter asked.

  “We saw ten men ride out after an hour,” Ethan told the master chief. “But Sarah wasn’t with them.”

  “She’s in the cave complex,” Reza said apologetically, holding Ethan’s anxious gaze.

  Reza turned to the master chief. “Khogani travels with a group of ten servants and a guard of ten men.”

  “Will they all be armed?”

  “Just the guards. It is the duty of the servants to arrive days earlier, bring supplies and all the amenities that Khogani demands, such as Persian rugs, food, sleeping bags and—” he scowled “—children.”

  “What?” Ethan rasped. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Rubbing his face, Reza muttered, “Mustafa has his men kidnap the children from villages. They are kept at certain locations by the servants until he arrives. I’m sure you can imagine the atrocities….” Reza hesitated, closing his eyes. “Many die. Some do not. But most do, within hours or days.” He opened his eyes, tears in them. “By all that is holy in Islam, this man is a devil, not a Muslim. Our Koran teaches tolerance, respect and love of our wives and children.”

  Nausea rolled through Ethan. “Reza, can we herd this group to these two exit points from what you know of the caves?” Hunter asked.

  Reza nodded. “Yes, the servants will be terrified. They’ll run. The guards will fight back. If you throw a flashbang grenade into the cave first, it should be easier kill the soldiers as you clear each room.”

  “What will Khogani do when this happens?”

  Reza traced the shortest tunnel, B. “He will go there. The horses are always kept in a cave over here.” He pointed to it. “If you could get there quickly before Khogani can stampede the horses, this will leave him little choice but to run out one of these two tunnels.”

  Hunter looked up. “You snipers, when we come in the front door, that’s your signal to take out
anyone coming out of exit B or C. If you spot servants and they aren’t armed, grab them and put them in flex cuffs. You shoot only if you see someone with a weapon.” He saw all heads nod. “We’ll have our two breachers enter after throwing flashbangs. Half of you will peel off to the right and the other to the left. You will clear every cave and then move on.”

  Ethan asked, “Master Chief, where are you at in all of this?”

  “Here,” Hunter said, pointing at the map. “There’s one tunnel that leads straight ahead. It goes directly to Khogani’s main cavern and is the fastest way to reach Sarah. We have to be there to protect her.”

  “Then I’m going with you,” Ethan said, not arguing the point. He saw Hunter’s hard face soften a little.

  “Yes, you and Trace will be with me.”

  Relief, sharp and serrating, bolted through Ethan. They’d be the first to reach Sarah.

  “As soon as we can get to our package and defend her, I’m calling in a medevac and an MH-47 to pick us up,” Hunter said. “They will offload another team of SEALs from a platoon coming out of Bagram. They will stay behind to secure prisoners, count and search the dead, search every cave for intel, maps and anything else they can find. When they’re done, they’ll call another MH-47 to pick them and the prisoners up and they’ll head to Bagram. Any prisoners will be immediately handed over to the CIA for interrogation.”

  “And Khogani?” Ethan demanded.

  “Hope we catch the bastard. If we can take him alive, we will. If not,” Hunter shrugged, “he can go to hell where they’re waiting for that sick son of a bitch.”

  “When do we go in?” Ethan demanded, not wanting to waste a moment.

  “When it’s dark.”

  That was hours away. Ethan felt his throat close up. “But—”

  Hunter stood up, his hands resting on the H-gear around his waist. “Son, you’re going to have to trust me on this one. I know you’re worried. We all are. I know Sarah loves you, but every man here is thinking the same thing I am—it could be our wife, our girlfriend in there instead of Sarah. This is personal for all of us. We can’t go in during daylight, it works against us and you know that. The night belongs to SEALs. We’re trained in it until it’s like daylight to us. Let me do my job to get Sarah out of there alive and one piece, all right?”

  Ethan swallowed hard. He knew the master chief was right; Ethan had nine years of experience to know it. “Yes, Master Chief,” he rasped. He felt Trace grip his shoulder to give him comfort.

  Hunter’s green eyes narrowed, his voice deepened. “You snipers get into position now. Give us radio intel as to what you see coming and going from those cave exits. If any of you see Sarah Benson, tell me immediately and we’ll spring into action.”

  Reza cleared his throat. “Right now Khogani is most likely sleeping. Afternoons are a time of rest. He won’t eat until dark and he probably won’t bother Sarah until after dinner.” He looked at his watch. “That would be 9:00 p.m. or 2100 to you.”

  “Good to know,” Hunter growled. “All right, let’s do a last-minute weapons and gear check,” he ordered.

  The SEALs moved away, each seeking out shade from the burning sun. Ethan stood, numb with grief. He saw Gil Hunter hesitate.

  “Help me with comms, Quinn. You need to keep busy and I need to hear from my snipers.” And then, he said more gently, “We’re going to get Sarah out of there alive.”

  *

  Sarah lay on the floor of the cell. Two guards were outside of it, AK-47s across their shoulders. The cell had a pot to relieve herself in, a small table with a jug of water on it and the ratty, flea-infested rug. The cell was small, perhaps six feet by five feet. There were stout wooden bars and a door across the front of it dug into the earth and jammed into handmade holes in the low ceiling of the cave. There was bare, gray light from the main cave where Khogani had eaten and she had been cared for by the Saudi physician.

  Sarah had no idea of time. They’d taken her watch from her. She’d been searched briskly for weapons of any kind, held so she couldn’t lash out or fight when she was frisked. They’d found Ethan’s poem in her pocket, pulled it out and shrugged. It was in English and they couldn’t read it. The guard had dropped it to the floor, muttering in Pashto, his eyes filled with hatred. Once she’d been frisked, they took her to the cell.

  Sarah tried to sleep, but Khogani’s words filled her with revulsion. Twice, she’d heaved. All the food she’d eaten had come up. A time when she needed food the most, and she’d gotten sick. Damn. The water she could keep down.

  Closing her eyes, Sarah desperately wanted to connect with Ethan. She pictured him smiling at her, those gray eyes of his warm with love for her. She saw him watching her as she read his poem to herself for the first time. She remembered, intense longing in her heart, how he held her after they made love. She hungered for his rough voice, always deeper, more emotional when he held her in his arms, cherishing her. How desperately Sarah needed to feel his arms around her right now.

  Their conversations moved gently through her traumatized mind. Lashes falling against her cheeks, her hands beneath her head, Sarah curled up and lay with her knees tucked up against her body. It was the same position she’d taken when Bill looked for her as she hid in the closet. She was barely breathing.

  Khogani was a monster just like Bill. A shudder worked through her. Sarah could never subject an innocent child to Khogani’s hands. She’d talk. She’d lie. She’d do whatever it took to make him keep his filthy hands off that child. Tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, trailing hotly down her face.

  Ethan’s searching conversation about their post-military lives felt like a warm, protective blanket coming over her, lulling her into a deeper, healing sleep. San Diego. He would become a mechanical engineer, building things, making things better for people. She would fly a helo for a hospital and rescue those who might have died without her being there to swiftly transport them to help. And children? Yes, children. Sarah loved them with a desperation, but had been so afraid that she might harm them as Marg Caldwell had harmed her.

  Ethan’s softened, impassioned words had lifted the blinders off her, helped her see she already had been mothering children in many different ways. She had not harmed them, she had loved them. And Sarah would love their child. Her womb felt warm and she felt strong, nurturing feelings soothingly flowed through her, dissolving her fear, her anguish.

  The one stanza of Ethan’s poem kept gently whispering to her, slowly rebuilding her destroyed hope of rescue.

  You are my immortal beloved

  And even if I should have to journey

  To the gates of hell,

  I would never abandon you

  No matter how harrowing,

  I will keep you well

  I am your staff and your rod and I will nurture you

  As your wellspring for gladness and your promising future.

  God, how she wanted, craved, needed a future with Ethan. Sarah felt more tears falling, leaking into the corners of her lips. The SEALs knew she was alive. They’d almost rescued her this morning. They would try again. Slowly opening her eyes, Sarah turned over the possibilities. She was in some sort of major cave complex. She had memorized one way out. There could be more. And there was no way she could get out of this cage. There was a chain and padlock around the door. The one guard had the key on him.

  Time, Sarah thought, the SEALs would need time to create a plan of attack, to gather and then execute it. And save her.

  Wearily, she knew she needed to stall Khogani for time, as well. She needed to protect that child. Were the SEALs nearby? Did they have a drone that had tracked her here? Her fingers curved into her palms. That was her last thought as Sarah spiraled deeply into an exhausted, fevered sleep.

  Chapter 11

  “Get up!” the Taliban guard growled at Sarah. He savagely kicked the wooden bar near where her head rested in sleep.

  Sarah jerked awake, disoriented, her mind sluggish. She fel
t hot, but not as hot as before. Maybe her fever had broken? Sweaty, she wiped her brow as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She looked up at the guard, whose hatred was palpable.

  Dr. Anas appeared from the other cave.

  “Ah, how are you, Chief Benson?” he asked, clasping his hands in front of him.

  Sarah looked up. The Saudi doctor was now wearing a long white robe of cotton, not a spot or wrinkle on it. He was wearing a white turban. What a change.

  “What time is it?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

  “It is time to eat. Lord Khogani has set up a special feast for all of us tonight. Are you feeling better, I hope?”

  Sarah nodded. “I think my temperature’s down.”

  “And your leg?”

  She grimaced. “I can’t walk on it.”

  “Hmm, yes, well that is to be expected.” He turned to the guards and ordered them in Pashto to open the cell.

  The door swung open.

  Sarah saw the pleasant Saudi’s face become stern. He ordered the two guards away. They gave him dark looks but obeyed. The physician must rate in Khogani’s superstructure, Sarah thought. She saw him look over his shoulder and then quickly walk into her cell.

  He leaned down, offering his hand to her. “Chief, I must beg a personal favor of you?”

  Blinking, Sarah said, “What?” She saw the sudden agony in the doctor’s eyes. She took his hand and he was stronger than he looked, bringing her to her feet.

  He leaned forward, whispering, “Please, save this child tonight.” His light brown eyes were suddenly moist. Pressing his hand to his heart, he said in an emotional tone, “I am a Muslim. The Koran does not tolerate those who would harm women or children. I beg you, answer Lord Khogani’s questions tonight and he will not harm this sweet child he’s captured.”

  Sarah leaned heavily on the doctor, testing her wounded leg. The heat and swelling had gone down considerably. She saw the anxiousness in the doctor’s face. “He’s a sick monster,” she hissed. “Why can’t you stop him?”

  Fluttering his hands, Anas looked warily across his shoulder, afraid their voices would carry. Or a servant would overhear them. “I’m sorry, I have spoken to him before. He will not listen to me.” He wiped the tears from his eyes. “You must help this child.”