The Princess And The Mercenary

by Victoria Paige

  Garrison chuckled derisively. “No dice, huh?”

  “Sorry, Garrison, don’t exactly trust you.”

  “Fair enough. The bus schedule is iffy, plus it’s more prone to attacks on foreigners. Going around in a shared taxi is less conspicuous. And I repeat, Yara must be completely covered.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “Good luck, Spear.”

  He ended the call with Garrison and tried Bob again. Nothing. Losing their SUV was a big pain in the ass but might work for them in terms of passing checkpoints. He walked along the road for a mile from the descent to the cave he left Yara. He’d seen locals flag down intercity busses. He needed to check the vicinity and see where the taxi stations were.

  Kade had been gone close to three hours when he finally hiked down the mountain to their hideout. When he reached the mouth of their cave, Yara came into view—her face blotchy, eyes red.

  “Where did you go?” she cried, rushing him full tilt, he nearly lost his footing on the uneven mountain slope. “You’ve been gone hours!”

  “Talked to Garrison. Then went to look for transport.”

  “I thought something happened to you.”

  “I didn’t want to waste time coming back,” he clipped. “Look, we’re burning daylight. If you wanna take that shower under the waterfall, you need to do it now or it’s gonna get too cold.”

  Yara pulled back from him and glared, obviously still peeved at his lateness.

  Kade cursed himself inwardly. He wasn’t used to relationships but knew he messed up. He could argue that he needed this cold efficiency to keep them alive, but it was no excuse to callously dismiss her concern for him. He never had anyone worry about him in this way before.

  “I’m sorry I got you worried, babe.” He softened his tone. “We’re traveling tomorrow, Tink. Might be some time before you get running water again.”

  That did it. She marched back into the cave and returned with soap and shampoo. Kade grinned. Where they were stranded was ideal when it came to personal hygiene. Water was plentiful because of the thunderstorm the other night.

  But they were leaving the mountains soon.

  Kade laughed as Yara danced under the waterfall. “Oh my god, it’s freezing!”

  For two days, they survived on MRE rations and protein bars. He enjoyed having Yara to himself and surviving in the woods was something he could do, but she was having a difficult time of it. She had an aversion to bugs and anything that went skittering in the dark. After a large hairy spider fell on her that morning, she’d become more jittery than usual. Poor thing.

  Their LED lamp was also almost out of charge, so they needed to get out of here. Building a fire was out of the question after a group of locals passed close to their cave and enjoyed this very waterfall.

  As much as Kade wanted to join her under the waterfall, he needed to keep an eye out.

  “That must be the quickest shower ever,” Yara pranced up to him in her bra and panties. They dried their clothes on a bed of rocks in the secluded area where they ate breakfast every morning. Sunlight moved around the perimeter from ten until three and the residual heat from the rocks helped the clothes dry quickly.

  Kade wrapped her in their lone towel and walked her to the space between the rocks where she could warm up. Yara squeezed the water from her hair. “You were going to tell me about our plan for tomorrow.”

  “There’s a shared taxi service about forty-five minutes from here.”

  “Was that why you were gone so long?” she asked. “I was worried.”

  “Didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “Well, you did.”

  He reached out and hugged her.

  “Kade, I’m wet!”

  “Don’t care. I need to hold you.”

  “Well, I just showered, so no sex.”

  Chuckling at her annoyed expression, he kissed her nose. “Wanna bet?” They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Every time their bodies touched, they both ignited, each wanting to get inside the other, press against each other, skin to skin.

  “Kade … time for that later,” she breathed, but her body leaned into him. “It’s not like you’ve been deprived.”

  He stared at her face intently. “Your parents are in Ankara.”

  A worried look, mixed with guilt, marred her features. “Garrison told you that?”

  “Yes. It’s on the news.”

  “Sully and Mom must be worried out of their minds. I hate that I’m putting them through that. They must have canceled the band’s tour.”

  “Focus on the now, Yara.” Kade lifted her chin to him. “Al Qaeda,” he emphasized. “Is clearly on the hunt. You’re a big coup if they capture you.”

  “What you warned me about is coming true,” she whispered.

  “No,” he said furiously. “Not gonna let that happen.”

  A shudder rippled through her. “Don’t let them get me, Kade.” Her voice pleaded. “If they do …” Her eyes gleamed bright. “You know what to do.”

  “What the fuck are you saying?” he growled.

  “The torture, the rape.” Her voice was garbled. “Do you want me to go through that?”

  “Listen, Tink, and you listen well,” he said fiercely. “No matter what happens. You survive. No matter what you have to do or what they make you do—”

  An anguished moan broke from her lips and cut him off.

  “You survive,” he gritted. “Listen to me. You. Survive.” She nodded vigorously and buried her face in his chest. He cleaved her to him, swearing to her that he would never let her go. That they were going to make it.

  That night, Kade made love to his woman slowly and sweetly.

  That morning, they woke up and made love again. They visited their secret pond and lingered over breakfast. Afterward, they returned to their cave to get ready for their treacherous journey from Maqbanah to Hudaydah.

  26

  The taxi station at the Maqbanah city market was crowded with travelers. The hub had separate lines for each destination. Each taxi could seat nine adults and only left for its destination when all the seats were filled.

  Yara stood with a group of women while Kade made their arrangements with the taxi operator. She glanced and smiled at the lady standing beside her, then she remembered her face was covered and no one could see her smile anyway. Unlike its neighbor Saudi Arabia, Yemen wasn’t strict with the female dress code. Traditional Yemeni women’s clothes were colorful, showcasing beautiful fabric dyes, yet most chose to wear the traditional black abaya and full body covers especially in the bigger cities as a symbol of status and respect. Women in the villages tended to have more colorful head coverings, and some of them even wore dresses similar to Western clothing.

  Yara had wrapped her turquoise and orange scarf around her face and over her head and wore the black abaya. It was tricky enough hiking up the mountain in it, she wondered how women managed to carry things over their head as she’d seen some of them do. Her gaze wandered around her surroundings. Makeshift stalls interspersed with rock-and-mortar ones. Vendors laid mats on the street and displayed sacks of spices amidst baskets of garlic and shallots. Chickens squawked in their cages while a man led three goats around the corner. Kade told her food prices had come down in the main cities now that the blockade had been lifted, but Yemeni families who lived in more remote areas still had problems accessing the basic necessities. Her gaze drifted to Kade. He was talking on the phone, a dark look crossing his face. He glanced at her and then around the market, making her wonder if his conversation had anything to do with their situation. Uneasiness settled in her gut. She didn’t know where it was coming from. Was she afraid of the journey or the end of the journey? Was she worried about her safety, her life, or was it the uncertainty of her relationship with Kade that was bothering her? Was theirs a relationship that flared fast and would fizzle faster?

  Panicked chatter erupted beside her and her gaze followed the direction where the women in her group were star
ing. They were murmuring “milishia” while attempting not to ogle the group of armed men who jumped off the bed of a pickup. The newcomers walked up to vendors, exchanging words, and clearly harassing them.

  By the time her worried look returned to Kade, he’d clocked them, and tipped his chin at her. Yara understood his pointed stare and tried to shrink behind the group of women, but everyone was doing the same thing. A dark cloud shuttered the lively atmosphere in the market. Chatter subsided as everyone tried to conduct their business without calling attention to themselves which made the drop in decibels obvious.

  Kade’s tension bounced off her as he stared at the newcomers and then at her. His face was mostly impassive, but she knew his tells by now, the clenched jaw, tighter than usual, and the way he fidgeted with the zipper of his duffel containing his big gun.

  The militia guys glanced in her direction. Even from her thirty feet distance, their stares chafed at her and, when they looked at Kade, her instincts screamed that they weren’t there by chance. She moved behind the women. Kade and Yara had rehearsed an exit strategy and he was already walking parallel to the direction she was heading.

  Kade reached her side. “Militia. Keep walking. Don’t look back.”

  “They’re here for us.”

  He didn’t reply. Yara knew his pistol was tucked in the back of his jeans and covered with his checkered long-sleeved shirt.

  “There are too many people. Children. You can’t use your gun.”

  “Not if they fire first.”

  Kade stole a glance behind them and cursed.

  His pace quickened as they weaved in and out of the market crowd. When they reached the exit, similarly dressed militia confronted them.

  “Fuck.” And her fear turned to horror as she saw the hope leave his shoulders.

  “Kade …”

  Arabic words exploded all around her. Kade’s arms circled her protectively and he spun them around to assess the number of assailants. But it was hopeless. Before this new group confronted them, they were already outnumbered.

  It was hard to tell one militiaman from the next, dressed all in black, with the red-and-white headscarf. As the surreal scene unfolded, she had the hysterical urge to laugh feeling like they were in an Indiana Jones movie set with bad guys after them, but this was not make-believe.

  “Don’t give up,” he commanded fiercely. “No matter what happens. Don’t you fucking give up.”

  He barely got the last word out when he was ripped away from her. She screamed as five men jumped on him, but Kade refused to go down and they continued to pound him.

  Brutal fingers gripped her arm and dragged her away. “Stop it! Stop hurting him!”

  “Yara!” Kade had flown into a rage and was like an exploding volcano as his attackers flew off him, but one of them finally had enough and struck him across the back of his head with the butt of a rifle. He fell to his knees and they struck him again and again, sending him crashing to the ground.

  “Kade!”

  “Why are you letting this happen?” she screamed at the gathering crowd. “Why don’t you fight them?”

  What followed was a blur. Yara fought like a wildcat, scratching and kicking, her scarf came off, her hair a tangle over her face. They shoved her into the back seat of a waiting vehicle. The locks clicked and the vehicle screeched away, but her face was plastered against the window, her fist striking the pane in fury.

  They tied Kade’s wrists behind his back and four men hauled him off.

  “Stay alive, Spear,” she whispered.

  “Welcome, Ms. Emerson,” a voice said behind her.

  Yara froze and slowly turned before shrinking away from the man dressed in a Saudi uniform. The man she’d seen on the video.

  General Boustari.

  For a prisoner, hooded and taken to an unknown location, Yara had no complaints when it came to her accommodations. The single bed in the corner had clean white bedsheets, the mud walls were decorated with large, colorful tapestries. Her room had a simple desk and a chair. A pitcher of water and a glass sat atop it. A wide transom window was built near the ceiling to allow light in, but it was too high for anyone of her height to see outside. An attached half bath completed her room.

  Otherwise the room was bare.

  Hours passed. Finally, the door opened, and the general walked in, flanked by two soldiers. He was followed by … Stryker?

  What the fuck?

  Stryker … or Garrison.

  “You son of a bitch.” She glared at her former bodyguard and Kade’s friend. “You sold us out.”

  Garrison, who was always quick with a reply, said nothing.

  “I trust you are comfortable?” the general asked.

  “Where’s Kade?” she shot back.

  This man looked like a thinner version of Saddam Hussein, complete with the stupid beret. How could Kade, and now Garrison, have ever trusted a guy who looked like the infamous dictator?

  “We will get to that later,” Boustari replied. “If you want to return to your parents sooner, you will cooperate.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Boustari nodded to his men who produced the memory stick and Kade’s computer.

  “Have you seen the contents of the memory stick?”

  “Not really.”

  A slash of brow shot up. “Explain.”

  “Kade decrypted the file, but we weren’t able to see the contents.”

  “You’re lying.”

  She was totally lying. They’d fired it up in the cave for a few minutes. Boustari was the vilest scum of the earth. He was worse than Nasir whose only crime on video was stealing aid supply and using it to control his people. As for the general, he took part in tortures and killings. Bile rose in her throat.

  An evil grin curved Boustari’s mouth. “Ah, you have seen it. You know what I’m capable of, so be very careful how you deal with me. You will realize that your loyalty to Spear is misplaced.”

  Yara gave him a puzzled look.

  “Think, Ms. Emerson,” Boustari said. “How is it we got to you easily?”

  Yara glared at Garrison. “You betrayed him.”

  “Oh, really?” the general laughed. “I hate to disillusion you but, from the very beginning, Spear worked for me. When he mentioned the reporter sent you these videos, we changed our plans. His partner went after Nasir; he was to secure you. The only problem was Tariq Haddad and your friendship with him, so he had to back down.”

  Yara was confused. The videos of Boustari came from Garrison. She glanced at the CIA operative who gave her a warning glance. What was he playing at?

  Her chin lifted. “What’s to stop Elliot Denton from releasing these videos?”

  “The CIA assured me these are the final copies.”

  Rising hysteria bubbled up inside her; she tamped it down and turned once more to Garrison. “Oh, did Denton simply hand you all he had, John?” Her lips twisted for effect. “Denton isn’t one to be easily intimidated.”

  Garrison emitted a derisive snort. “We threatened to take away his travel visas.”

  “He wouldn’t fall for that,” Yara shot back. “He would have sued the government so fast for violating his first amendment rights.”

  The agency man smirked. “So, we held the IRS over his head.”

  Yara raised a brow as if impressed. “That would do it.”

  Having had enough of their banter, the general waved his hand. “Anyway, Spear went after you. He and Garrison always kept in touch. We knew where you were because the burners had GPS. It was his job to deliver the last copy of the video to me.”

  “You threatened Kade with me. That’s why he gave it up.”

  “That’s a romantic thought, Ms. Emerson.” There was a hint of pity in the general’s voice that raised her hackles. “Truth is … even now he’s doing a job for me.”

  “What?”

  “His company lost twenty million dollars because his partner Max Stein messed up the job.” The general’s nose
flared in disdain. “Spear promised to rectify the matter.”

  “What do you mean?” She did not like the malevolent gleam that entered into the general’s eyes.

  “He’s on his way to assassinate Nasir Haddad.”

  The first emotion that hit Yara was fear. “He’s dead. You killed him.” She turned accusing eyes on Garrison. “How could you let him do this?”

  Fury sent her surging toward the general. His soldiers caught her, but her nails caught Boustari’s face, nicking him under the eye.

  “Jesus Christ,” Garrison yelled and snatched her from them, shielding Yara’s body.

  “I got her,” he said over his shoulder, then he scowled at Yara. “Calm down.”

  She struggled. “He hurt Kade! Kade’s probably dying and you’re a bastard for selling him out!”

  “No one sold anyone out,” Garrison gritted through his teeth. “It was business.”

  “Kade’s life is a business transaction?”

  “Enough!” the general bellowed. “I am tired of women’s theatrics. Garrison, get Spear on the phone so he can tell this female the truth.”

  Wait, what? Her cloud of fury lifted as their words registered. Kade was alive? Garrison had a way of contacting him?

  “Call Spear so this woman would know her place!”

  “You’re going to distract him,” Garrison snapped.

  “Do it!”

  Letting go of Yara, Garrison slipped out his phone, thumbed a number and waited. It was several seconds before anyone answered.

  “Spear?”

  Yara could hear his voice, though muffled. “He’s alive,” she breathed.

  “Putting you on speaker,” Garrison said, jaw tight.

  “Yara?” Kade’s voice came over the phone.

  “You’re all right?”

  “I’m fine.” Why was his tone so cold?

  “Please don’t go after Nasir.”