“In the meantime”—the angry SEAL looked at her from over his shoulder—“we do our best to keep our asses alive.”
Kaamisha watched as Logan and Chase held their weapons at the ready. A woman screamed, but they paid her no attention before opening the door leading to the narrow drive located directly behind the hotel.
Logan stopped just shy of walking outside, turning to Archer with his free held out palm up. “Keys.”
Archer didn’t hesitate before digging a set of keys from his jeans’ front pocket and tossing them to the man who was in charge.
“Boyer and I will go get the car and bring it around.” Logan’s intense gaze landed on her before sliding to Donovan with an added, “Keep her with you, and…make sure she doesn’t end up dead.”
Not dead. Yes, that sounds like a rather perfect plan to me.
Another bomb struck, and Kaamisha began to wonder how many more the building could take before it collapsed. She closed her eyes and began to silently pray, not only for herself but for the two men risking their lives to get them a means of escape.
Minutes ticked by much slower than seemingly possible. The lobby became filled with a mob of terrified people, both guests and employees of the hotel.
Her nostrils filled with the smell of burning wood as everyone around her moved frantically in every direction. A man bumped into Kaamisha so hard as he ran past, the collision nearly sent her tumbling to the ground.
With a low curse she could barely make out over the noiseof the chaotic scene, Donovan moved quickly to help keep her steady on her feet.
“Thank you,” she offered sincerely as her eyes lifted to meet his.
He simply grunted and looked away as the sound of tires squealing to a halt came from the other side of the door. In the blink of an eye, Kaamisha felt herself being pulled forward, her feet rushing over the metal threshold on her way outside.
She looked up and saw a black SUV waiting less than five feet away.
“Hurry the hell up!” Logan yelled from the partially lowered driver’s side window.
Lucky ran around the vehicle’s back bumper as Archer hurriedly opened the door behind where Logan sat. Donovan stepped up and slid his large form all the way over before turning and offering her his hand.
“Get in,” he ordered gruffly, the harshness of his tone the complete opposite of the kind gesture.
You don’t have to tell me twice.
Kaamisha took his hand once again before attempting to climb inside. She tripped on her dress but made quick work of her long hem, gathering up enough of the flowing material to finally get herself to relative safety.
As she slid to the center of the leathered bench seat, Archer climbed in after her and slammed the door shut.
“Go!” Van barked with Lucky settled in the third-row seat behind them.
A second later, the tires squealed again as they took off, driving as fast as they could as the building they’d just escaped exploded into a giant ball of flames.
CHAPTER 3
Four hours later…
“Excellent work, gentlemen.”Naval Secretary Michael Webb stared back at Van and the rest of the team from the small flat screen monitor mounted on the wall at the front of the Gulfstream G650ER.
On loan from a very appreciative—and extremely wealthy—Eagle’s Nest client, the impressive multi-million-dollar bird was equipped with a top-of-the-line electronic navigation and communications systems, enough fuel capacity to get them home without stopping, and several cushy leather seats, each of which probably cost more than Van made in a year.
While they’d been working the op in the city, the $70 million aircraft had been hidden in plain sight inside one of the Kandahar Airport’s private hangars. And since it was registered to their client’s company—and the flight plan had been filed by his personal pilot, rather than any of them—there was no way to trace it to the Eagle’s Nest team.
“The work’s only half-done,” Logan told the man they used to take orders from back in their days as Navy SEALs. “Having Kaamisha Dawari in our custody doesn’t guarantee her cooperation.”
A set of intelligent brown eyes met their former team leader’s focused gaze. “You still haven’t questioned her?” Webb’s dark brows dipped in the center.
Van stood in the center of the aisle, feet shoulder-width apart and his arms crossed tightly at his chest. With a hardened glare, he told the powerful man, “Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve been a little busy. You know, what with the whole trying not to get our asses blown to hell situation we had going on.”
He didn’t bother to hide his disdain for Secretary Webb. Unlike Logan and the others, Van had never much cared for their former boss’s boss. Not even back in the day.
