The Princess And The Mercenary

by Victoria Paige

  His shirt had holes, some spots with more blood than others.

  Yara lifted his shirt.

  “Shouldn’t we stitch this one?” She pointed to a particularly deep gash. Kade was covered in shrapnel wounds, the fragments that caused them were either embedded deeply or had fallen off. No wonder his torso felt on fire, he thought it was from the percussive force of the bomb.

  “No time.” Kade picked up the first aid kit from his duffel and extracted a thick gauze to put over the one bleeding heavily, then he wrapped a bandage around, stabilizing the wound in case there was still debris in it.

  A movement at the door caused him to reach for his Sig. There stood Abdul, flashlight in hand with arms raised.

  “Told you not to move,” he growled.

  “I recognize two of them,” he said in Arabic. “They were with the Al Qaeda group who took my daughter.”

  “Any idea how they found us?”

  “Someone must have followed you from the town.”

  “Made sure no one followed us from there.”

  The old man smiled grimly. “Not the whole way. They work in teams. Relays.”

  Of course. How could Kade be so stupid? He let his guard down because he was so wrapped up with Yara.

  Yara picked up on his self-recrimination. “What did you guys say?”

  “I messed up,” he muttered, and then louder, “Fuck!” He snatched his NVG helmet and bounced it on the floor in frustration.

  “Spear!”

  “Pack what you need. We’re leaving.” He stalked to his bag and suited up his tactical harness, careful not to tighten it too much around his injuries. He slid in magazines, followed by clip-on grenades.

  “Kade, you’re scaring me.”

  “Look around you, Yara! This is only the beginning. Get moving.” She moved to the nightstand and grabbed her toiletry bag. “Stay away from the windows.”

  “Can’t help you clear out the bodies,” he told Abdul in Arabic, picking up his H&K submachine gun and looping the strap around his shoulder. He emptied the contents of the bag Bob had given him into his larger one.

  “I have friend. We’ll bury them in back,” the old man said.

  “This gonna get you in trouble?”

  “We’re a nation at war,” Abdul said. “How much worse can it get?”

  “Look. Give me a picture of your daughter and I’ll see what I can do.”

  Abdul smiled sadly. “I’m tired of hoping, Mr. Spear.”

  “There’s always hope, but I need a favor.”

  The man stared at him quizzically and Kade exchanged information with him as fast as possible.

  It took them seven minutes to leave the house. Since the metal door was heavily damaged and wouldn’t open, they exited the residence through the front door. Keeping Yara behind him, he made sure the coast was clear before they ran for the Patrol that was parked in the wooded area behind the house.

  After checking their vehicle for explosives, they got into the SUV. Kade lowered his submachine gun on the console and started the engine.

  “Seatbelt.” He strapped on his own and guided the Patrol down the road behind Abdul’s mud house.

  “Where are we going?”

  “Hudaydah Port. Two hours from here. We’re waiting for confirmation from Bob if he has an exit plan.”

  “When are you expecting it?”

  “If we don’t hear from him in two days, we’re on our own.”

  “Two days,” her voice quavered. “In the meantime, where will we be waiting?”

  “You’re gonna hack it for a bit, Tink. We might be living out of the car for a few days.”

  “Glad I showered before dinner,” she joked.

  Kade had to smile. As for him, he was glad he had a solid meal for tonight. Sounded like a last supper. He shut down that line of thought.

  “We still need to clean your wounds as soon as we can,” she told him. “If we’re going native for the next few days, the last thing you need is an infection.”

  He grunted his response and wished Bob had packed some whiskey in the trunk.

  Their headlights shone over dirt road. Road repairs ever since the war had been slow. He wondered if people thought it was a waste of money and time especially if it was going to be bombed out again anyway.

  Big drops of rain splattered on their windshield and the rumblings of thunder echoed in the distance.

  “God, if they could just collect this rain and channel it to the fields and water treatment plants.”

  “Heard Tariq has something up his sleeve.”

  “Nasir is against it.”

  Kade pressed on the brake to get over a particularly deep rut in the road. “Why?”

  “Because the greatest obstacle to progress is insecurity and fear. He thinks Nasir doesn’t want to fix the infrastructure because he can control the people by limiting their access to aid. Water is one of the most basic necessities. Once the people become more independent, he loses control.”

  “That’s sick. And he supports his uncle?”

  “He’s working to change his perspective. To show him that he can’t force loyalty. Loyalty is earned by a leader who is doing what’s best for his people.”

  “Why the hell is he not in charge?”

  “Because most of the people doing the work are not the ones in power.”

  Kade chuckled darkly. How right she was. Just look at the military. The politicians in Washington dictated all the rules of engagement, thousands of miles away from where the action happened.

  He checked the rearview mirror and his gut tightened.

  A vehicle with headlights turned off appeared to be following them.

  “Keep your head down—don’t look!”

  “Someone’s following us?” she slid down her seat.

  With the rain coming down harder, it was hard to tell, but the weather worked to their advantage because when visibility became difficult, the lights flashed on.

  “Yes—”

  Plink!

  A hole cracked their back window and spread like a spider web.

  Son of a bitch! Kade floored the gas. “Hang on!” Their vehicle jolted forward, bouncing on the uneven road. Rain slashed at the windshield, turning visibility to nil. Driving felt like a choice between being gunned down or hurtling off a ravine.

  He concentrated on the edge of the road, bouncing, skidding close to the curve of the road. The Patrol teetered precariously. It wasn’t designed to hug the terrain like a race car.

  “Oh my god, oh my god,” Yara chanted beside him.

  A T-intersection opening up to a field came to view, and Kade, seeing no traffic coming from the left, made a sharp turn to the right. The back of their vehicle fishtailed and the vehicle following them nearly overturned. A loud boom reached his ears and he glanced at the side mirror.

  Shit, there were two of them and one hurtled straight through the T and crashed into the crop field. They were in a part of Taiz where agricultural terraces were carved into the mountains.

  Headlights flashed in front of them.

  “Kade …”

  “I see it.”

  A roadblock. Goddammit. No other detour. There was a cliff on the right and farmland on their left. Even if the Patrol survived the dive into the pasture, the mud would slow them considerably.

  “Brace. Gonna get rough.” He rolled down the window and grabbed the submachine gun.

  “It isn’t already?” Yara shrieked. She was starting to lose it.

  When it was clear he wasn’t stopping, the people at the roadblock started scrambling. He stuck an arm out the window and sprayed the barricade with bullets.

  Moments stood in freeze-frame. Yara screamed, their back windshield shattered, the roar of live fire echoed in his ears. Then, as if in fast-forward, their Patrol zipped past the roadblock, grinding against the opposing vehicle; the left tires scraping the stone fencing on the shoulder of the road.

  Boom!

  The steering wheel pulled to
the right. “They shot out our tire.” His voice came out calm, but he was afraid. Afraid for Yara. Terrified for what could happen to her.

  No! He clenched his jaw as he fought for control of the Patrol, but the rain made it impossible. He grated against the guard rock barrier of the road to slow their vehicle.

  “They’re coming.” He watched their tail pass the roadblock.

  “Kade, what can I do?”

  “Do you know how to shoot?”

  “Not really.”

  Kade exited the SUV. “Come on.” Yara climbed out from his side. “Hide in the fields.” He handed her a gun, managed to grab her go-bag and handed it to her and slammed the doors. “I’m sorry, Tink, but if they get me, you run! Understand?”

  Yara shook her head, but he couldn’t look at her. Couldn’t stomach that he’d failed her. He helped her down into the field, then he faced their pursuer, shouldered the submachine gun, and started firing. The dark pickup screeched to a halt at the opposite side of the road fifty feet from him. Two men jumped from the bed of the truck and disappeared from Kade’s line of vision.

  They returned fire and Kade ducked behind the Patrol. Rounding the front of the vehicle, he made sure the engine block and tire were covering him.

  “Fuck.” Four men. Two were firing from behind the pickup keeping him pinned down.

  Shadows streaked across the road in the pouring rain and disappeared into the field about twenty feet from him. Kade jumped in after them, glanced frantically around, looking for Yara, but all he could see was pitch-blackness. Even if he had his night-vision goggles, they were useless in these conditions.

  A scream pierced through the night. “Let me go!”

  “Yara!”

  “Kade!”

  Three figures struggled ten feet from him.

  Bang!

  A burning sensation ripped through his side and he fell against a retaining wall. He grabbed his Sig from its harness and fired at the shooter who was standing atop of the ledge of the low road barrier. The man fell into the patch of reeds. Yara and her assailants disappeared. Spying movement right above him, Kade dodged the bullet spinning just past his head and dropped the other hostile with a blast from his pistol.

  Trudging through the shoe-sucking mud, he spotted two men hoisting Yara up to the road. She was kicking and yelling, her outrage drowned in the torrent of the storm.

  Afraid that the rain would muddle his depth perception too much to take an accurate shot, Kade went after the battling trio, the sound of his movements muffled in the pouring rain.

  He tackled the man holding Yara’s legs. He was a monster and barely budged, only releasing Yara because his partner had complete control of her.

  Kade’s head snapped back as a punch caught him on the jaw, but he evaded the second swing and caught the man in the solar plexus. His opponent grunted, bending forward and Kade followed with an uppercut. Hammering the man on the back with joined fists, he finished him off with a knee to the face. Kade backed away, drawing his Sig from his holster. The man came at him again and Kade capped him straight between the eyes.

  He picked up his submachine gun, slung it over his shoulder and heaved himself over the road barrier, eyes seeking his woman. She was being dragged down the road toward the pickup. Kade looked at the Patrol. All tires were shot out. He took a knee and aimed at the pickup’s tires and picked them off.

  Two rounds and two flat tires.

  The remaining hostile yelled in fury, turned around, and shot in rapid fire, sending Kade diving behind the Patrol.

  The barrage of bullets suddenly stopped. He looked past his vehicle and saw Yara and the man grappling for control of the gun. They were teetering perilously close to the edge of the …

  Fuck!

  Yara and her assailant fell over the cliff.

  His heart pounded like jungle drums amidst the roar of the deluge. Kade ran to the edge of the road but saw nothing.

  24

  Yara tumbled down the slope of the mountain, rolling like a log. She prayed to the gods of gravity to have mercy. Arms and legs went flying at first, but after a random jagged edge stabbed her head, she instinctively tucked her face in her forearms to protect her head. Her body rolled over brush and she wondered if the mudslide helped cushion her trip to the bottom of the hill.

  She landed on her back, trying to catch her breath, wondering if she was dead, but the incessant drops on her face told her she was alive. Realization hit her and she sat up on a deep gasp followed by rapid panting.

  Someone had been after her.

  Someone was … dead.

  Yara stared into the empty eyes of her attacker. The odd angle of his neck hinted that he’d broken it during the tumble down the mountain. Her stomach turned, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the shock of seeing a dead man or it was the aftereffects of trauma she’d yet to discover.

  Her eyes took stock of her body. The jeans were ripped at the knee and she’d lost a shoe. All her joints were achy, and she kept wiping her eyes from something that kept blocking her vision. Her hands came away with blood.

  She didn’t know how long she sat there staring at the dead man’s eyes, not knowing who he was, feeling guilty for the relief at being alive and glad that he was not. A chill skittered up her spine. She needed to move, get out of these wet clothes. She didn’t survive a death roll down the treacherous slope only to die of pneumonia.

  Yara attempted to stand and nearly buckled when her knee gave way beneath her. The rain had thankfully stopped, like a curtain of water suddenly pulled aside. Gritting through the pain, she got on all fours and using her good knee and arms, she managed to stand. Yara put one step forward and dragged her bad leg after it. She could do this. The clouds moved away to let the moon cast its pearlescent glow to the forest floor. Unlike the crop terraces, this side of the mountain had clusters of trees amid sections of dried brush interspersed with sections of rock outcroppings.

  Step. Drag. Step. Drag.

  Her knee appeared less painful. Maybe she’d shifted a joint back into place. She paused to gingerly wiggle the leg.

  Gravel crunched and pebbles sleeted down the hill. Heart racing, she looked behind her. Nothing. Was that sound behind her or in front of her? Yara tried to recall what wild animals were in Yemen. The Arabian leopard. Were there mountain lions? She wished she hadn’t lost Kade’s gun.

  Eyes seemed to follow her from the dark crevices of the rocks. Did snakes hunt at night or daytime? Her footsteps sped up, so did her breathing. She started running, ignoring the pain in her knee as adrenaline coursed through her system and her surroundings started spinning, closing in on her.

  Tentacles grabbed her from behind and she spun around and struck out blindly. She opened her mouth to scream, but a hand silenced her, and she was dragged into the darkness of trees and bushes.

  “Yara!” Kade’s voice came to her in her cloud of panic.

  “Spear?” she whispered.

  Hands cupped her jaw, hands that were shaking. “God, I thought I lost you.” He kissed her hard and brief then he looked deep into her eyes. “Are you hurt?”

  She blinked.

  “I twisted my knee. I’m okay.”

  He crushed her to him, a strong shudder rippling through him. “That’s twice you gave me a heart attack tonight. Do something about that, would you?”

  “I’ll try,” Yara laughed into his shirt, more from relief than humor.

  Kade pulled away and rubbed her arms. “You’re freezing. Let’s get you out of these wet clothes.”

  “And what? Walk naked in the forest?”

  “I passed by a place we can dry out.” Yara thought she heard him mumble hopefully. “Oh, I found this.” He produced her right sneaker and she could have hugged him right then and there.

  She settled for a whispered thank you as he knelt in front of her, wiping her muddy right foot with the hem of his shirt and fitting her shoe on.

  “Ready?”

  Yara nodded.

&nbs
p; He led her through the trees, heading up the mountain. The uphill climb stressed her leg. She bit her lip and blew out a breath. “Is it far?”

  “Not far.” Kade looked at her. “You’re hurting.”

  “I think I’ll survive another five-minute walk.”

  He didn’t say anything but guided her on a narrow dirt path along the side of the mountain that led to a rush of water down jutting rocks. A mini waterfall.

  A dark space seemed to break the bluish rock faces behind the fall.

  “Stay here. Let me check it out. Make sure it’s not inhabited.”

  Please do.

  The forest was quiet save for the chirping of frogs, probably relishing the recent downpour. Kade returned soon after.

  “The one behind the fall is hard to get to, especially with your bum knee, but I found another cave covered by tree roots. Bed of leaves inside are actually dry.”

  “No forest creatures?”

  “Just Tinker Bell, the forest sprite.”

  “Well, what are we waiting for?”

  “Jesus, you’re shivering.”

  Kade knelt in front of her and removed the Kevlar vest along with the long-sleeved tee she was wearing. “Bra, too, Tink,” he muttered, expertly snapping the hook at her back and slipping the soggy underwear from her. Yara instinctively covered her breasts.

  The cave was small enough to see every crevice with the emergency lamp Kade had set in the corner, yet she was feeling a bit claustrophobic, that it was too small, that even she couldn’t stand upright.

  “You sh-should t-t-take off your clothes to-tooo.” She was sitting against the smoother wall, teeth chattering.

  “Don’t worry about me.” He threw a mylar blanket around her and proceeded to take off her wet jeans. It proved a bit more difficult since the soaked denim clung to her skin. She winced when he got it over her injured knee.

  Kade leaned back to grab the light and held it over her bruised joint. “It doesn’t appear to be swelling. Might have clicked into place but may stay sore a while.” He lowered the lamp and removed her pants the rest of the way. He then checked her head. She had a bump, but it had stopped bleeding and he treated it with an antibacterial spray.