“What about a helicopter?” I turn to Darius. “Are there any SOG teams in the area?”
“Perhaps you did not hear me before,” he says, his eyes flashing with anger. “The United States cannot put boots on the ground anywhere in Afghanistan. We would start a war.”
“Who said anything about yourbootslanding anywherenearthe ground? We don’t need the bird to land. Just give us a ride.”
Griff stares at me. “Tell me my glasses are malfunctioning. Because it sounds like you want Darius to commandeer a SOG team, ask them to risk their lives—and a thirty- to forty-million-dollar aircraft, so we can all jump out of the damn thing into the middle of the most heavily fortified fortress since…the dawn of time?”
“Yep.”
“With atmost, eight people.” He scoffs and looks to Austin. “You’re not seriously considering this, are you?”
Pritchard sinks down into the single chair with a heavy sigh. “You have a better idea? The sun’s been up for half an hour. My guess? Raziq sends someone to check out last night’s fireworks soon, and he’s going to figure out pretty damn quick that we’re not dead. After that, our job gets a hell of a lot harder.”
Darius mutters to himself as he paces the room. “They could have picked anyone else for this. Saxon. DeMarche. Williams. But no. They pick me. Because my skin is brown. Because I made one mistake that I will never be able to make up for.”
Leo starts for the man, but I slap my hand to his chest. “I got this.”
The look Darius gives me is nothing short of murderous, but I’m beyond caring. “Follow me, boy scout. Outside.”
The second the door closes, I lay into him. “What the fuck are you even doing here, Darius?”
“Saving your ass,” he snaps.
“No. That was Shapur. All you did was call him. Could have done that from Langley. Instead, you flew halfway across the world. For what? Just to get in our way? Because that’s a shitty fucking thing to do if you ask me.”
Darius leans against the carport and stares up at the bright blue sky. “My first year at the agency, I wrote a paper on Amir Abdul Faruk. My SSO decided he hated me the moment he found out I was Muslim, and I had to prove my worth.”
I gesture to my face—dark eyes, light brown skin, distinctly Latino features—and sigh. “My first couple of years, they only sent me to Mexico and South America. I speak six languages. But not a word of Spanish.”
“Do you think that makes us equal?” He shakes his head. “The prejudices against you do not stem from a terrorist attack that killed three thousand people.”
Shit.
“I’m sorry, man. You’re right. That was a stupid fucking thing to say. About as stupid as lumping all Muslims in with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban. I’ve been in and out of this region for more than twenty years. I should have known better.”
He studies me, still wary, but appears to accept my apology.
“Faruk was highly intelligent. Perhaps even a genius. His brother makes him look like an idiot,” Darius says. “I flew to Oxford to interview Raziq—I paid for the ticket myself—”
“Wait. You’ve met him?” Of everything I expected him to say, that was nowhere on the list.
“Yes. I wanted to know what he thought of his brother’s endeavors. Even then, he was…fanatical. Extreme in every way. I remember thinking, ‘It is good he is a doctor. If he were ever to join his brother, they would be unstoppable.’”
“Fuck. Why did he come back to Kabul, then? He’s not running drugs, guns, or women. I’d know.”
Darius holds my gaze, the gravity of his stare a physical weight pressing down on my shoulders. “Power. Money. Control. With the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan is becoming the country he always wanted it to be. One where men are revered, women are invisible, and he who has the most cash is treated like a king. Raziq could destabilize the entire region with a single word. He does notneedto traffic in any of the usual ways. He controls those who do. Shapur is the lone holdout, and why the CIA is so interested in keeping him safe—and doing his job.”
An uncomfortable silence stretches between us. Shapur won’t be doing his job much longer. No wonder the man swore me to secrecy.
“If you’re here to protect Shapur, get us that ride. It’s the only way we live through this.”
Hell, even if we could somehow teleport into the house and right back out again, we might not survive.
Darius rakes his fingers through his dark hair. “If the operators engage, there will be hell to pay.”
“They won’t. I’ve got an idea that should keep Raziq’s men distracted. Make the call.”
He nods and pulls out his phone. “The Viper’s reputation is legend. As is yours. But my trust only goes so far. Break it, and you will find out who I truly am.”
