He nodded. “Once we’re farther from port, we can go out on the deck. It’ll be windy, since by then they’ll be running at about eighteen or twenty knots.”
“Is that fast?”
“For this size vessel, yes. But comparatively, no.” He planted his hands on his belt and scanned the sea. “The Coast Guard has Fast Response Cutters that do twenty-eight knots and above. Defender Class boats, however, easily handle forty-six.”
It sounded incredible, but she had no understanding of the speed. Instead, she focused on the water that stretched as far as she could see. Unfathomable. “I have been to lakes and even rivers, and there the water seemed incredible. But this …” She shook her head, taking it in. Impressed. In awe. “I did not imagine it to be so beautiful and … freeing. And yet, it seems so vast and terrifying.”
Beside her, Range had something odd in his expression as they shared a glance. Sunlight reflecting off the waters made his eyes sparkle. “Most people see one side or the other, not both. ‘The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.’”
“I am definitely in its spell,” she said with a laugh. “Who said that?”
“Jacques Cousteau. Plato said the sea cures man of all ailments.”
“Including yours?” she asked, feeling bold. Wanting to know him better.
Folding his arms, he scanned the glittering waves. “I’m not sureallailments, but at least some. On the water—like you said??—I feel free. Like I can breathe.”
“Then why did you leave the Coast Guard?”
He smirked. “Sitting on a boat, interdicting with drug runners or human trafficking, did little for the rage that I felt. I was recruited, told I could do more against smugglers by leaving. The opportunity presented itself, and I seized it.” His brow furrowed in what appeared a moment of sadness.
Which did something odd to her heart, twisting it and clenching it. “I, for one, am glad you made the change.”
He hesitated, then skirted her a glance.
“It brought you to … Afghanistan. To Roud.”
This time he grinned. “You weren’t happy the night we raided.”
She laughed. “I was furious! For a year, I had worked to arrange that escape. For the girls to be free. It had taken months of preparation. Talking to the right people. Saving every afghani I could. Going without so there would be plenty to pay thecouriersand Taweel.”
Range shifted, putting his back to the wall as he cocked his head. “After ten years and all the people trafficked, you suddenly decided to try? Why?”
Defensiveness rose through her, and she angled back to the window, not wanting to tempt his disgust again. “I think I plotted it from the first day I stepped inside the brothel and met Taweel. Then Razam came and swiftly became someone I could depend on. He dared whisper that I did not belong there. Oh, I was furious the first time he spoke those words. I had worked so very hard to convince Taweel that Roud was under good management and feared his dangerous words would cause me to make a mistake.”
“How did you do that, convinceTarweed?”
At the way he said the name, she nearly laughed. Made her want to tell him the truth of it. “Since I was in charge, I had an allowance. It mortified me at first to take the money, so I simply lived as the others and hid the money. Little by little, I secreted girls away. Used what I had saved to make up the difference in profits. One of the girls I helped escape later started a jewelry shop. She sent money every month to help free other girls.”
His brow knotted. “You were helping girls escape?”
She had said that before, but apparently he had not understood. “So few, it seems insignificant, really.”
“Not to the girls who got away.”
It was kind of him to say so. “There were many I did not help. So many who had to endure being forced to have sex. Get raped. Beaten.” Tears slipped down her cheeks, and she thought somehow they would blend with the ocean. “There was nothing I could do but train them to be smarter than the men. Teach them things to make their livesless miserable, yet not too brazen or repetitive that it would draw Taweel’s attention and fury. One slip, one mistake, and someone died.”
“Did he kill many?”
“Too many.” Kasra took in the sea, its choppy blue-green waters ever reaching for the shore. “At least a dozen that I was aware of. There were girls who vanished, but I could not swear he or his guards were responsible.” She sighed. “I blamed myself for each one. Thought if I had just trained her better, or done more …”
“That’s how I felt patrolling with the Coast Guard. Too many bodies found adrift. Once, we found a floating container full of bodies—idiot smuggler didn’t think through the heat of that thing in the baking sun. Turned it into an oven.” He shook his head. “It’s why I took a more active role in hunting those responsible for trafficking.”
She met his gaze and held it. “Me.”
Range considered her for a long moment, then slid his focus to the waters. “When I got word that we finally had clearance to hit Roud, I …” He shook his head. “I thirsted for vengeance against you.”
It hurt, so terribly, knowing she was someone he had aimed his skills and anger at. “I hate that. That you … that I was your target.”
