by Elle James
“This is C4. It’s harmless by itself. All you have to do is stick it on what you want destroy, jam this little device into it and walk away.” He handed both to her.
Nora’s frown deepened. “Will it blow up when I put the device in the C4?”
“Not until I hit the remote detonator.” He held up a little thing that looked like nothing more than a button. “And I’ll have the safety on until you get far enough away you won’t be hurt.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Okay. My life is in your hands.”
He nodded, his face grave. “And Pazir and Gulpari and their baby’s lives are in ours.”
She nodded. “Does it matter which truck?”
“The one in front. Stick it on a wheel, that way it will disable the axle. It won’t be going anywhere after that.”
Nora drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’m ready.”
“You don’t have to do this.”
“With as many men roaming the streets now, none of us will get out of here without drawing attention. We need the diversion.”
“Just don’t walk down the main street.” Rucker pointed to the road he’d come up. “Go back that way. Keep your head down.”
Nora had observed the Afghan women. They scurried away from the men and kept their heads down. Considering she was shaking already, that wouldn’t be too hard. Avoid the men with the scary guns. Yeah. Easy. Plant the C4 on the wheel of a truck. Even easier.
As she turned away, Rucker grabbed her arm. “I’ll watch for you. When you get close, I’ll make my move. You’ll know it when you hear me.”
“Oh, Rucker.” She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly. “Please don’t get yourself shot.”
“Same goes for you. See those hills?” he pointed to the northwest where hills rose up on the edge of the town. “I’ll meet you there.”
She nodded. “I’d kiss you, but this darned burqa is in the way.”
“I’d love that kiss, but I’ll collect on it later.”
“Rucker?” Nora said, her heart pounding hard in her chest.
“Yeah, sweetheart?” he held her at arm’s length.
“I loved last night,” she whispered.
“I did, too,” he said and stared down at her.
Then as she turned away, she added beneath her breath, “I love you.”
Behind her she could swear she heard him reply in an equally quiet murmur, “I love you, too.”
Maybe it was wishful thinking, but it warmed her heart and gave her hope for a future outside this small town in Afghanistan.
She hurried to set her charge and get back to her man in the hills northwest of the town. Everything had to go well. And when it did, they’d figure things out on the other side. Where there was a will and love, there had to be a way.
Chapter 14
He watched Nora as she headed back into the lion’s den of Akund’s men. As soon as she’d left his side, Rucker regretted letting her go. They could have made their way through the streets to the hills and hidden until his team could come to his rescue.
They could have gotten away, but Pazir, Gulpari and their baby would still be at risk.
When Nora reached the alley across from where the trucks had stopped, she turned and gave him a thumbs-up.
God, he hoped she’d be okay. He had to trust that the burqa hid her well enough and that she was able to set the charge without being caught.
Knowing he was setting himself up to be target practice for the Taliban, Rucker sucked in a deep breath and turned the opposite direction from Nora. He didn’t mind being the diversion, as long as it drew attention away from the woman he was growing to love more with each passing moment.
He slipped through the alley Gulpari and Nora had come down from the main street running through town. In just a few short strides he’d be at that street where the trucks had parked, and the men had dismounted.
“Sloan, this is Dash, do you copy?” a voice said into the earbuds he’d almost forgotten he’d worn.
“Dash? Where are you guys?” he whispered.
“We set down on the other side of the hill from the town we located you in. I take it you still have your tracking device in your pocket?”
“I do.” He’d come to the corner of a building on the street. Men were working their way toward him, going into houses along the way, rousting the inhabitants. “How many you got with you?”
“Our eight-man team and a backup of a dozen Rangers. As we were coming over the top of the hill, we noticed a couple of truckloads of Taliban heading your way. I take it they made it to town?”
“They did. We were just about to light up their lives.”
“We?” Dash asked.
“Me and Nora,” Rucker said. Having over twenty men there to support them changed everything.
Except one thing.
Nora would be getting close to the main street waiting for him to start the show.
Damn.
He had no way of telling her to abort the mission. If he didn’t create a diversion immediately, the Taliban insurgents would question why she was hanging out on the streets. They’d find it odd when she didn’t answer and figure out that she wasn’t an Afghan woman after all.
Damn. Damn. Damn.
“About to stir up a hornets nest. You guys close enough to cover my ass?”
“On the northwest edge of the town now, moving in.”
“If all goes according to plan, you should see me and Nora running your direction and hear a big bang.”
“Gotcha.”
“Send a squad to the south side of town. A young couple with a baby need your help. The man’s name is Pazir. They helped us get here, now they’re in trouble. If you could pick them up, you’ll save their lives.”
“Sending a squad their way,” Dash said.
“Thanks.” Rucker glanced around the corner at the six or more men heading his direction. “Going in.”
Holding his rifle in his hands, he flipped the safety switch off and tapped the thirty-round magazine for luck and ran out into the street, yelling and firing off several rounds into the air
He didn’t spend more than a couple of seconds crossing the road before he ducked back into the alley on the other side and ran for all he was worth.
“Fuck, Rucker, what the hell are you trying to do?”
“Creating a diversion,” he said, running to the next street where he turned right and cut around the next walled home and turned left and circled back toward the trucks and Nora.
Shouts echoed off the buildings behind him. The diversion had the men racing to find the American shooting at them.
They wouldn’t expect him to run back in the direction of their trucks. At least, that was what Rucker was banking on.
He made it all the way back to the alley crossing that led to the trucks when he saw a blue burqa turn into the same alley.
Nora.
A rush of relief was quickly followed by a punch in the gut of fear. A man wearing the black garb of the Taliban insurgents, topped by a black turban with a red-checkered cloth woven into it, lunged from around the corner. He grabbed Nora’s arm, pulling her to a stop. Then he ripped off her head covering, exposing her blond hair.
She struggled to shake free of his grip, but he held tight.
The man shouted, raising the alarm, and wrapped his arm around her neck in a choke hold. It all went down so fast, that by the time Rucker raised his rifle, he couldn’t fire on the man without hitting Nora. And if he wasn’t mistaken, the man was the one they’d been after since they’d arrived in country.
Abdul Akund.
“Do it!” Nora yelled.
Rucker reached into his pocket for the detonator. If he didn’t set it off, any of the men Akund had with him would surround him and keep him safe, taking Nora with him.
If he set it off, Nora could be hurt in the explosion. She was too close to the trucks.
The options w
hipped through his mind in milliseconds.
Nora shouted again. “Do it!” Then she rammed her elbow into Akund’s gut.
He bent double, loosening his hold on her long enough for her to run deeper into the alley, dive to the ground and cover her head.
Akund pulled a handgun from a holster at his side.
With the detonator switch curled into his palm, Rucker aimed his rifle and fired at Akund, striking him in the chest.
The man fell backward, his gun falling from his hands.
Knowing he only had seconds before Akund’s men appeared in the alley, Rucker flipped the safety switch on the detonator and pressed the button.
The explosion shook the earth beneath his feet. The concussion rang in his ears, but it couldn’t be helped.
Debris from the truck and the building around them blasted into the air and rained down on him.
Covering his head and neck, Rucker ran to Nora, helped her to her feet and raced back the way he’d come, heading for the northwest side of the small town and his team of Delta Forces.
He swung wide of the main street, hoping to avoid most of the Taliban insurgents.
“I take it that was your party you started,” Dash said into Rucker’s ear.
“Yup. On our way to intercept the team.”
“Do you have your nurse?” Dash asked.
“I do.” Rucker responded.
At that moment, a Taliban soldier ran out in front of him, headed back toward the center of the explosion.
Rucker aimed and fired before the other man had a chance to pull the trigger first.
Nora stumbled, and would have fallen, but he reached out with one hand, steadied her and kept running.
“We’ve engaged,” Dash reported. “Four down and counting.”
“Swinging wide to avoid getting caught in the crossfire,” Rucker said.
“We’ll be watching for you.”
“We’re easy to spot. The nurse is in a blue burqa.”
“Good to know,” Dawg said. “Got you in my sights.”
Even knowing their best sniper was covering them, Rucker still didn’t slow down until he was certain they were well behind friendly lines.
“Got you in my sights,” Tank said. “Take cover! You have a bogey on your left.”
Rucker grabbed Nora’s arm and dove behind a building, taking her with him. A bullet hit the dirt and stick corner. Dust and chinks of mud hit them, but the bullet missed.
“Got him. Keep coming, you’re almost there,” Tank said. “I’ll cover from the ground.”
“And I’ve got you from above,” Dawg said.
With his team looking out for him, Rucker ran with Nora at his side until they reached the northwest edge of town.
For the last hundred yards, they hadn’t run into any of the Taliban insurgents.
Rucker pulled Nora behind a building and stopped.
She doubled over, struggling to catch her breath. “We did it,” she said between gasps.
Rucker nodded and tugged her hand, dragging her into his arms. Then he kissed her hard, every emotion roaring through him into the meeting of their lips. He understood that this could be the last time they shared a kiss.
She clung to him, her chest heaving, breathing with him. When they both had to fill their lungs, she flung her head back and sucked in air.
Rucker held her for as long as he could while gunfire sounded. It started off as a barrage, tapering off to the occasional burst until the noise stopped all together.
“We got Pazir and his family,” Dash reported. “Arranging for extraction now.”
Rucker kissed Nora’s forehead. “Pazir and his family are safe. We’ll transport them out with the rest of us.”
“I’m so glad.” Nora smiled, tears welling in her eyes. “But what will happen with them now? The Taliban will know they’ve betrayed them.”
“They’ll be taken back to the base where we’ll provide them protection until we can figure out how to keep them safe,” Rucker said.
The Rangers stayed in the town to help the locals clean up.
The Delta Team loaded into a Black Hawk with Nora, Pazir, Gulpari and the baby. As they waited to take off, Dash said, “We have a positive ID on Abdul Akund’s body,” he grinned. “Good job, Ruck.”
“It was him or Lieutenant Michaels.” Rucker shook his head. “It really wasn’t an option.”
“Considering he was our mission, I guess we’ll get clearance to return to Texas,” Lance said.
“Where in Texas?” Nora asked.
“Fort Hood. The armpit of the Army,” Blade said.
“You’re leaving soon, aren’t you?” Dash asked.
She nodded. “Going back to Fort Carson, Colorado.”
Blade moaned. “Sounds like heaven. We’re going from one hot location back to another.”
Fort Carson did sound like heaven to Rucker. Anywhere Nora was sounded like heaven. Too bad she wasn’t going to Fort Hood.
Rucker wondered if he could get reassigned to a Delta Force team out of Colorado. He’d have to check into that. Then again, he’d hate to leave his team. They were like brothers to him. He wondered how hard it would be for Nora to get orders to come to Fort Hood.
Would she do that for him?
Hell, he’d better start looking into Fort Carson. It wouldn’t be fair for her to make sacrifices for him. He had to be equally willing to make sacrifices for her.
Hell, he didn’t even know if she was that interested in continuing a relationship with him. What they’d shared could just have been a fling she had no intention of extending past the borders of Afghanistan.
That was a depressing thought. Especially when their time together was quickly coming to an end. He had to get her alone and ask her what she thought of them. Did they have any kind of future? Did she want to see him again? He sure as hell wanted to see her.
The thrill of achieving their team goal paled next to the thought of losing Nora. He couldn’t let that occur. If she was willing, he’d move heaven and earth to make them happen.
Nora sat in the back of the helicopter, leaning against Rucker’s broad shoulder. She laid her hand on the seat between them, and he covered hers with his, their gear and clothing hiding the fact. It would be bad if they were caught, but after what she’d been through and what she’d experienced with Rucker, she was at the point of not giving a damn about her Army career.
She wanted to be with Rucker. Too bad they were both heading back to different forts in the States. Fort Carson was a long way from Fort Hood. How could they see each other? Long distance relationships were difficult for people with established commitments. They hadn’t even been on a date.
When they landed at the base, they met with Central Command’s Special Operations commander where they debriefed him on the operation that had resulted in the neutralization of Abdul Akund. Nora was included in the debriefing since she’d been there through it all, and she had more to add.
“When the children and I were held in that building by Akund’s men, another man came to inspect the children the Taliban leader had procured. He was purchasing them.”
“That sounds like Akund’s modus operandi,” the Spec Ops commander said. “He made good money with human trafficking and bounties on our American special operations men.”
Nora frowned. “Who paid him to do that?”
“We don’t have proof, but we think it might be the Russians,” the Spec Ops commander said. “What can you tell us about the man who came to make the purchase of those children?”
Nora’s frown deepened. “He was a westerner. By his accent, I’d say he was either American or Canadian.”
The Spec Ops Commander exchanged a glance with the base commander. “Sounds like we have some intelligence gathering to do. This is the closest we’ve gotten to finding out who the buyers are for the people being sold.” He turned back to Nora. “Can you describe him?”
She shook her head. “It was dark in the building, with only Aku
nd’s flashlight to go by. And the man wore a safari-style hat pulled down low over his forehead. Wish I could help more, but he was only there for a short time. You might try tracking the men and vehicles he sent to collect the children.”
“Funny thing about that,” the Spec Ops commander said. “By the time we got back to the building site, those vehicles were gone.”
Rucker’s brow twisted. “After we disabled them with our grenades?”
The commander nodded. “Gone. With nothing left to give us a clue as to where they’d come from or where they’d gone.”
“Whoever it is has some resources if they were able to get those trucks out of there that quickly,” Rucker said.
The Special Operations commander reached out a hand to Rucker. “Good job, Sergeant Sloan, on bringing down one of the Taliban’s ugliest leaders.” He turned to Nora. “And thank you for your part in that. Your actions were commendable. If there’s anything I can do for you, you let me know.”
She nodded. “Thank you, sir. Right now, all I want is a shower and something to eat.”
He laughed. “That can be arranged.”
Nora left the briefing room alone while the Delta Force soldiers continued the rest of their debrief. After all that had happened and being with Rucker for more than twenty-four hours, it was a bit of a letdown to walk back to her quarters alone. When she pushed through the door, Beth was there, decorating the room with a homemade chain garland of white printer paper and a big sign taped to the wall.
WELOME BACK AND BON VOYAGE.
“Nora! I’m so glad you’re back and okay.” She rushed to Nora and hugged her tight.
Tears slipped from Nora’s eyes and down her cheeks.
“Oh, sweetie. You’re okay, aren’t you? Those bastard Taliban assholes didn’t hurt you, did they?” Beth set her at arm’s length and studied her face.
“No. I’m okay, other than a few broken fingernails.” She gave her friend a weak and less convincing smile. “It’s just that I’m leaving, and I won’t see…my friends anymore.”
“You mean, you won’t see that hot Delta you’ve been mooning over since you met him.” Beth raised her eyebrows. “Did I hear right? You two spent the past day and night together…did things get serious between you?”