Page 67 of Her Tempting Protector

“We’re here to update you guys on a couple of things.”

Cullen handed over a burp towel to Drake, then ripped open the fast food bag.

“What info do you have?” Raiden asked.

“All Embassy personnel have finally made it out of the country on this last flight to Egypt. The airport is now tighter than a tick. We’re cleared for incoming flights and outgoing flights, our problem is just getting people into the airport.”

Cullen approved of the way that Drake swayed back and forth with Adam and lightly rubbed his back.

“How many people still need to be evac’d?” Raiden asked.

“We’re down to approximately two-hundred fifty Americans. About a quarter of them we’re having to go door-to-door to get.”

“Is anybody else helping, or does it all come down to us?” Kane asked as he handed a chicken sandwich to Raiden and offered one up to Drake who shook his head.

“Now that all the spec ops from the other countries are here, they helped to secure the airport, so some of the Marines that came from the USS Autry when the Ospreys landed are helping us. All-in-all, we have twenty-three of us on this project. Captain Hale is holed up with our two lieutenants—he wants every American out of Sudan by EOD tomorrow.”

The bite he had just taken turned to dust in Cullen’s mouth. Until they figured out how to ensure Shada and her children were safe, he didn’t think there was a chance in hell that Carys was going to leave.

* * *

Cullen woke up disoriented. Raiden crouched over him.

“Man, I’ve never seen you sleep so deep.”

“Is Carys out of surgery?”

“A nurse came out. She said things are wrapping up. Carys should be out soon.”

Cullen looked around and remembered that someone had pointed him to the relative quiet of the couch in the doctor’s lounge. God, he’d needed the sleep. For that matter, so did Carys. She had to be dead on her feet.

He followed his friend out to the waiting room. Kane, Jack and Drake were gone. “Where is everybody? Where’s Adam?”

“Drake went down to coordinate with the Marines. Jack and Kane are doing house-to-house sweeps for civilians to evacuate. As for Adam, you don’t have to worry about him, he’s asleep in the nursery with the other babies,” Raiden assured him. “I put an extra security guard on the floor and one right outside the nursery while I checked in with the lieutenant.”

He looked at Raiden for three extra heartbeats, trying to comprehend what his friend just told him. “Why the extra security?”

“Leila told the guy who tried to snatch her that her mom gave birth to a son. On the outside chance that her bastard of a father might want to get his hands on him, I didn’t want to take any risks.”

“Makes sense,” Cullen nodded. He still wasn’t firing on all cylinders as he looked around the ugly beige room where they forced family to wait for news about their loved ones. He longed for some coffee, but something else occurred to him. “Where are Leila and Aamira? Jesus, what about Farida, please tell me she’s all right. She is, isn’t she?”

“Whoa there,” Raiden said as Cullen grabbed his shoulders. “I’m not keeping them from you. The two oldest girls are at a hotel with Faizah, and Farida is actually here. They ended up having to remove her spleen.”

Cullen knew that wasn’t too bad, he’d had friends who did just fine without a spleen. But he could tell by Raiden’s expression there was more. “Out with it,” he demanded.

“They found an old fracture on one of her ribs. That bastard had had his hands on her before this.”

“And the other girls? They were looked over too, right?”

“Yes,” Raiden assured him. “They’re fine now, but x-rays showed that they had old injuries. Besides Aamira’s arm not being set properly, they found a hairline fracture on Leila’s skull. These girls have been used as punching bags. Thank God we got Leila away from her father’s lackey before she could be taken back to that bastard.”

“As long as the girls are safe now, and Farida is on the mend, that’s what matters.” Cullen felt some of the weight he’d been carrying lift. But he knew there was a lot more that Raiden had to tell him.

“Tell me about Carys’ team and do it quick. I want to be the one who breaks the news to her.”

“I told you about the list that the RSF had with Carys’ name on it, right?”

Cullen nodded.