Lexi stepped out of the tent behind Colton and Issa into almost total darkness. The moon was temporarily hidden behind a row of clouds and the only light was coming from a few stars overhead. But it wouldn’t stay hidden for long. She could feel the breeze and see the break in the clouds above her. If they were going to do this without being seen, they were going to have to hurry.
Colton took her hand as they darted behind the tent. She had a dozen questions for Issa, but knew she was going to have to wait until they were away from the compound before she got any answers. And for the moment, they were going to have to trust him. Because every second it took them to escape was another chance to be discovered.
A shadow shifted to their left. One of the guards was making his way toward them. She glanced at Issa. He had his weapon, but they would be no match against the dozen armed men in the camp if they were caught trying to escape.
Issa held up his hand, motioning for them to pull back into a small alcove between the tents. Lexi drew in a lungful of air and held her breath. Footsteps came toward them. She glanced up at the sky. The moon was beginning to slip out from behind the blanket of clouds. In another few seconds its white light would cover the camp, leaving them vulnerable if they didn’t cross over the ridge behind them and disappear from sight.
Lexi pressed against Colton’s chest and let him wrap his arms around her as they waited for the man to pass. She could feel Colton’s heart beating. Feel his chest expanding with each breath...
The guard paused a dozen feet from where they stood. Close enough for her to see the silhouette of his weapon across his shoulder and the glint of a knife in his belt. She couldn’t move. Colton’s arm tightened around her waist. All the guard had to do was turn around and he’d see them...
But he only hesitated a moment longer, then kept moving in the other direction.
Lexi let out a sharp sigh of relief as he faded into the darkness. “There are three other guards patrolling,”
“Then we need to move now,” Issa whispered. He started toward the open desert, in the opposite direction of the camp, as another cloud rolled by, concealing the moon once again.
Lexi’s lungs threatened to burst as she ran beside Colton up a slight ridge of sand. She glanced back, expecting to see someone coming after them. She’d been this close to freedom before only to discover it was nothing more than a mirage and she’d been forced to go through it all over again. But this time...
Please, God. Let this be over.
Because if they came after them now... She’d seen Salif’s eyes. He would kill them.
Issa topped the ridge, then scurried down the other side of the sand dune before pausing to let them catch their breath. “I don’t see any signs that we were followed, but we must leave quickly.”
“Where’s Bret?” Colton asked.
“Just over the next ridge,” Issa said, jutting his chin away from the camp. “I couldn’t drive the vehicle close to the camp, and we decided he wasn’t strong enough to make the trek here and back. So I came alone.”
“But he’s okay.” Colton asked.
“He’s going to be fine. He’s just weak.” Issa started walking again. “Can you both make it? The Jeep’s about half a kilometer out.”
“Yeah. Of course,” Colton said. “Lexi?”
Her heart was still pounding and the adrenaline had yet to stop flowing, but she was okay. “I’ll be fine.”
“Salif implied that his men had found you and Bret,” Colton said, as they hurried across the sand.
“Then that was what he wanted you to believe. We saw them searching for us several times, but managed to evade them.”
“I still don’t understand where you went,” Colton said, asking one of the questions she wanted answered.
Issa paused and caught Colton’s gaze. Even in the darkness she could see the confusion in his eyes. “You thought I betrayed you?”
“I honestly didn’t know what to think. I know you have always been a faithful friend, but when the two of you disappeared...”
“Do not blame yourself,” Issa said, walking again. “I took my gun, and left the car with your brother-in-law. If I run the scenario through my mind, I might have come to the same conclusions as you did. There are men who would betray another for a lesser price.”
“So what did happen?” Lexi asked, hurrying to keep up with the men.
“During the sandstorm—after the wreck—Bret woke up and was confused. The car was filled with sand and the sounds of the storm. When I realized he was getting out of the car, there was nothing I could do but go after him, knowing how quickly he could get lost out there.
“I grabbed my weapon for safety, knowing you had one as well if you needed it, and went after him. I didn’t expect him to go far, but adrenaline must have been working with the storm, and I struggled to keep up with him. He finally collapsed about a kilometer from the vehicle. By the time I finally managed to get him to come back with me and to tell you what was going on, they were leading you to their car. But I was afraid to risk leaving Bret alone and come to help you, because if I had gotten caught—”
“You would have left Bret exposed in the middle of the desert, and he could have died,” Colton finished for him.
A wave of guilt flooded through Lexi. She never should have doubted the man’s innocence. Since he and his caravan first came upon them at the wreckage site, he’d done everything he could to protect them.
“Issa... I’m sorry,” she said.
He shook his head. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”
“I was the one who doubted your loyalty. Not Colton. You’ve done nothing but help us, and now you have risked your life to come back for us. You didn’t have to do this.”
He paused beneath the ribbon of stars shining above them. “But you are wrong. Colton and his team saved my son’s and my wife’s lives. I would do anything to repay that debt.”
“There is no debt,” Colton said, gripping the man’s shoulder. “Only friendship.”
The shadow of the Jeep appeared as they topped another ridge of sand.
“Here we are,” Issa said, as they hurried down the mound. “Thankfully, they left the vehicle fairly intact after only stealing some of my supplies. The wind had completely died down, so after I finished changing the tire, I was able to follow the tire tracks to the camp.”
Bret was sitting in the front passenger seat with the door open. He still seemed a bit pale, but looked far better than the last time she’d seen him.
Colton leaned inside the car and grabbed his brother-in-law in a bear hug. “Bret! You don’t know how happy I am to see you. How are you feeling?”
“Honestly, I haven’t felt this good in weeks. Partly because the pain from the scorpion bite is gone, but mainly because I’m closer to being back with my family again.”
“We’re going to get you home,” Colton said, squeezing Bret’s shoulder.
“I hate to break up the happy reunion,” Issa said, “but we must hurry. I have a feeling it won’t take them long to discover you are gone. And once they do...”
Lexi glanced at Colton. Issa didn’t need to finish his sentence. The men from the camp would come after them, which meant they needed to put as much distance between themselves and the camp as possible.
“So what do we do now?” Lexi asked as she climbed into the backseat of the vehicle beside Colton.
“We need to make it to the Moroccan border,” Issa said. “I’m hoping the three of you will be safe there, and it will be easy to catch a flight out of North Africa.”
Lexi felt her stomach churn. Crossing the border wouldn’t be easy under the best circumstance, but unlike Colton and Bret, she didn’t even have her passport. And they’d never be able to smuggle a passenger across the border, where armed guards patrolled day and night. These uniformed men had the right to search any vehicle and were not above using intimidation and demanding bribes.
We’ve come this far, God, but I don’t see how this is going to work.
How was she supposed to leave the country without proper documentation?
“I don’t have a passport,” she said above the rumbling of the vehicle. “They’ll never let me through.”
“She is right,” Issa said. “Not without paying a bribe or managing to convince someone of your story and the need to get to your embassy.”
Colton reached out and squeezed her hand “We’re going to get you home. We’ll find a way. I promise.”
She nodded, hoping he was right, but the sick feeling in her stomach refused to dissipate.
* * *
An hour later, Colton glanced out the back window. A puff of dust hovered on the horizon behind them, a sign that someone was following them. Again, he weighed his options, but they were driving across open desert. The track Issa was following in his 4x4 was eroded and more often than not obscured by dirt and sand, but it was the only route to the border.
And that wasn’t the only issue they faced. He’d caught the worry in Lexi’s voice when they’d discussed the border crossing. He hoped he sounded more convincing than he felt. Walking across the border without a passport wasn’t an option. If discovered, they’d arrest her, unless they offered the authorities a bribe. He had a little cash that might buy her way across, but was it going to be enough? It was going to depend on who was there, and what kind of day they were having.
He blew out a sharp huff of air. There was nothing they could do about it at this point. With Morocco their quickest way out of Africa, they were going to need to take their chances.
“They’re behind us, aren’t they?” Lexi asked, breaking the long silence.
“Someone’s back there,” Colton said.
He’d caught Issa looking out the rearview mirror every few minutes, but hadn’t said anything. So far, it didn’t seem like their pursuers were gaining on them, but how long could Issa maintain his distance from vehicle. And what was going to happen once they got to the border?
Lexi glanced out the back window. “I don’t understand how they keep finding us.”
“It’s not necessarily Salif’s men,” Bret said.
“True, but neither can we assume it’s simply a group of tourists,” Issa said, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel as they flew across the desert. “Salif has proven to have far more resources than I expected.”
“And you’re sure we’re going in the right direction?” Lexi asked. “It just feels as if we’re going in circles.”
He’d felt the same thing. The terrain had become an endless monotony of sand and scrub bushes. The hot sun simmered above them in a cloudless sky. There were no visible landmarks. Nothing distinguishing their route beyond the faint tracks they followed.
“My father taught me to read the desert like you read a map. At night we followed the stars. In the daylight, I learned every tree, every ruin and every shadow. This after years of driving across this desert from Timbuktu to Nouadhibou.”
“What did your father do?”
Issa chuckled. “That is a question better left unasked.”
“How close are they?” Bret asked.
“It’s hard to tell.” Colton glanced behind him again at the flat expanse. “At least a kilometer. Maybe a bit more.”
“We’re going to need to stop,” Issa said. “The fuel tank’s almost on empty, and I need to check the water. The terrain is brutal on the vehicles and this one tends to overheat, which we can’t allow to happen. Thankfully the men missed one of the jerry cans of fuel under the backseat.”
Issa glanced at Colton. “I’m going to need you to stand guard.”
Colton glanced behind him.
“What can I do?” Bret asked.
“I’ve got a second weapon,” Issa said. “A small handgun.”
“Then let me have it. If nothing else, I can fire a gun. You might not remember, Colton, but my aim’s pretty good.”
He knew Bret had military training, but still... “You’re in no condition to—”
“We’re going to need all the help we can get,” Issa said, interrupting Colton. He nodded, hating the fact that Issa was right. But if they ended up having to face off with Salif’s men, they were going to need Bret.
“And I can check the fluid levels,” Lexi offered.
“Okay,” Colton said. “Then I’m guessing we’ve got about one minute. A minute and a half at the most.”
“Agreed,” Issa said. “And we won’t be able to stop again until we get to the border.”
Colton grabbed the weapon sitting beside Issa, his body pumping with adrenaline. They had to do this, but every second they were parked, meant a second gained on them by the car following them.
He turned to Lexi. “You okay?”
She glanced at the weapon he was holding. “Not really.”
He reached out and squeezed her hand. “Just keep praying. We can do this.”
He could see the fear in her eyes as she nodded, but he also didn’t miss the determination.
I don’t know how this is going to end, God, but protect her, please. Protect all of us.
“Everyone ready?” Issa asked.
The vehicle ground to a stop, and the four of them jumped out. Lexi popped the hood while Issa grabbed the jerry can and started filling the tank. Colton and Bret flanked the back of the car, ready to stop whoever was coming toward them.
Fifteen seconds passed.
The dust cloud along the horizon grew larger as the other vehicle rushed toward them.
Thirty seconds.
Adrenaline soared. He glanced at Bret. His skin was pale, but there was a resolute set to his jaw. They could do this. They had to do this.
Forty-five seconds.
He called back at Issa. “How much longer with the fuel?”
“Thirty...forty seconds.”
Colton glanced back as the oncoming car came into view and felt his stomach knot. They didn’t have thirty seconds.
“Water level’s fine,” Lexi said, slamming down the hood. “But I found something else. They strapped a cell phone to the inside of the engine.”
“Why would they do that?” Bret asked, keeping his weapon steady on the oncoming car.
“They wanted to find you and knew you’d come back to the car,” Colton said. “If they can trace the phone, they can trace us.”
“They can do that?” Issa asked.
“They already did,” Colton said. “They might be a band of opportunists, but they’re also smart.”
One minute. Colton kept his aim on the vehicle. They were running out of time.
A bullet pinged off the front bumper of their Jeep. Colton jumped back. There was no question any longer who had been following them.
“Everyone get back in the car,” Colton shouted. “Issa? How much longer?”
“Almost done.”
But there was no more time. He could see the passengers in the Land Rover. In another few seconds he’d be able to read the license plate.
Colton waited until the last second, when he knew he could make an accurate shot, and fired off a bullet, hitting the other vehicle’s front tire.
The car spun out in a swirl of dust.
They’d just bought themselves some more time.
“Go...go...go...” Issa shouted at the two of them to get into the car as he tossed the now-empty jerry can into the back of the vehicle, then jumped into the driver’s seat.
“Everyone okay?” Colton asked, as Issa started the engine, then slammed on the accelerator.
Bret and Lexi nodded. But while they all might be fine for now, this still wasn’t over.
“Are they coming after us?” Issa asked, his gaze straight ahead.
“They’re not moving,” Colton said. “For now.”
He pulled the battery out of the back of the phone Lexi had found and threw it out the window. “This is definitely how they found us.”
Irritation burned through him. He was tired of the cat and mouse games. They needed to find a way to end this once and for all.
“They have to know we’re headed for Morocco,” Lexi said. “If they get that tire fixed they’ll be after us again.”
“Agreed,” Issa said. “But I don’t see any other options at this point. And there will be dozens of armed guards at the border. I can’t see them trying anything there.”
Colton wanted to agree, but these men were ruthless and didn’t play by any rules. Plus they had no way to know whose pockets they had lined with bribes, or how far their influence reached. Issa believed they’d be safe crossing into Morocco, but what if he was wrong?
“What’s this border like?” Lexi asked.
“It’s typical for Africa. Passport checks, customs checks and vehicle searches,” Issa said. “There will be armed patrol guards, along with a barrage of people bombarding you for money or trying to sell you something.”
“But you still believe we’ll be safe once we cross into Morocco?” she asked.
Issa hesitated a second too long, confirming his own uncertainty. “I believe so. But we’ve already discovered that these men have spread across the desert like a virus.”