Isaad nods, then gestures for us to follow him through the dark shadows to the back of the compound until he comes to a wooden trapdoor. “The tunnel leads under the wall. I will give you a two-minute head start, and then I will send the guards to the east wall. After that, I will have to tell Faruk the doctor is gone and the cameras were shut down. And if I am lucky, I will be able to kill him before he kills me.”
Trevor nods at Isaad, and I whisper, “Thank you.”
11
Ford
Joey waits for me to climb the ladder, then guides my arm back around her shoulders and lets me lean on her again. Just ahead of us, Trevor mutters, “Blow it and get out.”
Five seconds later, an explosion shatters the air. Joey jerks against me, and I pull her closer as we start to run down the hill. She winces more than once, tension pulsing through her muscles every few steps, and I glance down at her feet. Shit. One of them is bare, the other…that can’t be more than a glorified slipper.
“Joey, let me carry you, buttercup.”
“I can run,” she says through clenched teeth. “He’ll come after us…”
Trevor tosses a glance over his shoulder. “Hard right. Now!”
We veer between two darkened houses and press our backs against the wall. The sound of an engine grows louder, and Trevor signals for us to stay low and head for the barn fifty feet away. We don’t have much time if we want to stay ahead of Faruk’s men, and I haul Joey into my arms and carry her the rest of the way.
“Where the hell are you, November?” Trevor whispers over comms. “November?” A few seconds later, he turns to me with a worried frown. “Nomar’s gone dark. Whatever his ‘complication’ was…at least he disabled the gate. You two get to the Jeep and haul ass to the Mazari Sharif safehouse. I’m headed to the backup rendezvous point.”
Trevor removes the saddlebags from his horse, clips them together, and throws them over his shoulders. Joey’s shaking against me, and as much as I hate this plan, I have to get her somewhere safe. Fast.
“Trev?” He meets my gaze. “I’ll never be able to pay you back for this.”
Striding over to us, he claps his hand on my shoulder and leans in. “Family doesn’t collect debts. Family does what needs to be done. Now get her out of here. And remember…if you don’t hear from us by thirteen hundred tomorrow, and I mean on the fucking dot, you and Joey get out of there. Matt and his team will take care of your transpo back to the States.”
“I won’t leave—”
His face hardens, and all the emotion drains from his gaze. “You will. If you don’t hear from us—at all—we’re dead.”
Joey gasps. “Trevor—?”
“I mean it.” He holds out his hand to her, and she stares at him a moment before taking it. “I won’t let him capture me, and neither will Nomar. We’ve been in this business too long. You make sure he does what I told him, okay?”
She nods as a tear trails down her cheek. “Don’t die.”
Trevor laughs, though even that holds little mirth. “Do my best, doc.”
Before I can say a word, he slips out the barn door and into the night.
I don’t want to let Joey go, but we’ll be a hell of a lot faster on two horses than one. “Can you ride?” I ask.
“Pretty sure if you asked, I could fly.” She offers me a weak smile, and all I can see is how she looked on our third date when we watched The Princess Bride. I started calling her buttercup after that, and when I wanted to tell her I loved her, but was too afraid to say the words, “as you wish” was all that came out.
Lifting Joey into the saddle, I frown when I see how bloody her right foot is. Ripping a long strip off my tunic, I tie it quickly before adjusting the stirrups for her. “You ready?” As I swing up onto the second horse and gather the reins, I meet her gaze for a brief moment. “Joey? Buttercup, I need you to stay with me for an hour. After that, we’ll be safe.”
“I’m not sure I believe in safe anymore,” she says quietly, and we dig our heels into the horses’ flanks and set off for the city.
By the time we reach the Jeep, Joey’s half bent over in her saddle, and she keeps shaking her head like she can’t stay awake.
It’s only a little after one in the morning, but I don’t know what she’s been through the past ten days, and though she claimed to be fine every time I asked, I haven’t believed her once.
As I reach for her to help her down, she collapses into my arms with a moan. “Joey! Talk to me, baby.” I cup her cheek, a yellowing bruise still swollen under my palm.
“Do…do you have any food? I haven’t eaten in…a long time.” Her eyelids flutter as she tries to keep them open, and she doesn’t protest when I carry her to the Jeep and buckle her in.
Digging into my pack, I pull out a protein bar. “Four hundred calories of pure, unadulterated pine tar. At least that’s what it tastes like. But it’ll keep you going until I can get you an actual meal.”
