I settle Joey against me, tucking her head under my chin. “Trev and I are going to have some serious words when we get back to the States,” I whisper in her ear.
“You can’t blame him.” With a sniffle, she turns slightly so she can rest her head against my shoulder. “They’re always…so real.”
“Your nightmares?” When she nods, I continue. “Tell me?”
“Ford—”
Stroking my hand up and down her back, I press a kiss to her temple. “No secrets, remember, buttercup? I can handle it.”
“I don’t know if I can,” she whispers. “For twenty years, all I’ve wanted…besides you…was one night where they didn’t come for me. And last night,” she tips her gaze up to meet mine, “I got it. My one night. It was…perfect. You were perfect. But what if that’s all I ever get? What if that’s my one good thing, and we don’t make it back to Boston? What if he finds us? What if I lose you all over again?”
Her tears stream down her cheeks, tumbling from her jaw to my shirt, and she desperately tries to wipe the next wave away before they can fall. Using the edge of my sleeve, I dry her face, then kiss her—a slow, deep kiss full of promises, full of hope, full of all my love for her.
“You won’t lose me.” With one finger, I snag the chain she wears around her neck and pull out the ring. “Did you mean what you said back at the safe house?”
Her gaze snaps from the ring to my face and back again. “We’re different people than we were back then, Ford. We’ve lived a lifetime of pain, changed in ways…we could never have imagined. But…you’re the only man I’ve ever loved. The only man I ever want to love. It probably won’t be easy.” Joey offers me a weak smile. “But I want to try.”
“I can’t put this back on your finger yet,” I say. “Not until we’re safe in Qarshi. If the guys Trev’s paying to smuggle us across the river see it, they might demand you give it to them.” Tucking the ring back under her shirt, I kiss her neck from her shoulder to her ear. “But soon…I will. If it’s okay with you.”
A single, fat tear hits her cheek, and her lips curve into a wide smile. “I’d like that. Very much.”
18
Ford
The boat glides across the smooth surface of the river, with only a gentle breeze stirring the edges of Joey’s headscarf. She leans against me, her eyes closed, as Trevor and the local he hired steer towards Uzbekistan.
The forty-minute drive from the clinic had us all on edge—except Nomar. Joey gave him a sedative before we moved him because he was in too much pain to lie still. But now, with Afghanistan behind us, I start to relax.
We’re going home. In a roundabout way. Qarshi, then Adana, Turkey, and then back to Boston. Joey keeps flexing her fingers like she wants to dig her nails into her palms, but each time I’m about to stop her, she blows out a slow, even breath and relaxes.
I have so many questions for her. So many things I need to know. Likes and dislikes. Does she still hate peas? What’s her favorite movie? Pizza or fried chicken? Summer or winter? I used to know all the answers. Now…?
“Mama,” Mateen whines, and Lisette claps her hand over his mouth.
“Shhh, my son. It is important to be quiet now,” she hisses. Glancing my way, she looks so ashamed, but he’s a kid. Hell, I’m surprised he hasn’t had a meltdown.
The boat jerks as our guide directs it onto the sandy riverbank, then hops out, grabs the bow, and along with Trevor, drags the boat up far enough up the shore that the rest of us can get out without landing in knee-deep water.
It takes both me and Trevor to haul Nomar’s unconscious ass out of the boat and get him into the back of an SUV. After another cash payment—the last five thousand dollars I have on me—the man hands over the keys.
“Well,” Trevor says as he pulls the vehicle onto the main road, “we made it. Another hour and we’ll be somewhere Faruk can’t touch any of us again.”
I hope to God he’s right.
Joey wraps her arms around me and buries her face against my neck. Her quiet sobs make me want to rip Faruk’s balls off and force them down his throat, but I’ll settle for him never touching Joey again.
Joey
The apartment complex looks new, and Ford holds my hand as he leads me up a set of stairs to the second floor. “JSOC—Joint Special Operations Command—owns this entire building,” he says quietly. “It’s swept for bugs daily. No cameras except at the entrances.”
He’s trying to reassure me, but I’m not sure there’s anything he could say to get me to relax right now. The doctors at the Qarshi hospital were able to stabilize Mateen’s kidneys after several hours of fluids, and a quick session with the blood chelation machine sent his iron levels back to something close to normal. He’s still a very sick boy, but at least for right now, he’s resting comfortably.
“I wish they had let us see Nomar,” I admit as Ford stops in front of Unit 201.
“Trev’s still there. And three of Nomar’s buddies are on their way. He’ll hate all the fuss.” Ford knocks on the door, a series of five light raps, followed by three heavier, and two light again.
I’m about to ask him what’s going on when the door opens and a handsome man with jet black hair peers down at me. “So you’re Joey,” he says with a smile and a thick British accent. “I’m Matt. And I’ve been hearing stories about you for three days. Come on in.”
