Qadir stumbled on a loose rock but kept his balance. It wasn’t easy considering his hands were bound behind his back. His head throbbed from dehydration and the blow to his temple he had received earlier. His ribs and a dozen other places hurt.
He gritted his teeth against the pain and scanned the darkness beyond. The drone of helicopters and aircraft had faded as darkness fell, and he knew that the search wouldn’t resume until dawn.
His thoughts went back to the attack earlier in the day. It began when their attackers shot a mine buried in the road and it exploded in front of his lead escort vehicle.
Qadir was grateful for the spectacle—it was the whole reason his Search and Rescue teams had galvanized so quickly—but he was also full of anguish. How many of his guards had died? How many were wounded? He hoped Tarek, at least, had survived somehow.
The lead vehicle had veered off the narrow road to avoid the explosion. Fortunately, a large boulder had prevented it from going over the edge and down the mountain side. Men in a Hummer had slid to a halt in front of them and opened fire on the crashed SUV. The driver and two guards had been killed.
Then their attackers fired at Qadir’s car, killing his driver. Two men in the SUVs behind them had been killed, and Tarek, who had been riding with Qadir, left the car, firing at the vehicles that had come up behind them as he raced over to one of the guards lying on the ground. The last Qadir had seen of Tarek was his bloody form falling over the road’s edge and down the mountainside.
It was not a confirmed kill. Missing in action, maybe, but not dead, Qadir told himself.
After the frontal and rear attacks, there had been another attack on the left, less steep side of the road. Qadir had fired several rounds from his position in the vehicle before a tear gas grenade forced him to dive out.
While he had lain there dazed, he was surrounded and then dragged away. Qadir was deposited in the backseat of a Hummer, and they swiftly retreated.
A black bag was forced over his head, and he was thrust forward in the seat as his hands were bound behind his back. Once he was secured, a rough hand pushed him back against the seat and the butt of a rifle struck his temple.
Everything went black then.
When he awoke he was lying on his side on a hard, sandy floor. The sounds he heard indicated that they were in a cave. The bag was still over his head.
He took shallow breaths. There were a variety of accents in the voices around him.
“Mr. Coldhouse,” a man had said.
Qadir had stiffened at the name.
“The Commander requests that we move out after dark.”
Qadir had listened, unmoving with his eyes closed, as the man explained that they must abandon the vehicles because the main road would be secured by the JRM, the Jawahir Royal Military. Reconnaissance could be done at night, but it would only be effective if a vehicle was traveling with its lights on. The terrain was deadly enough during the day, there was no way to navigate it safely at night, not even with night vision goggles. If they wanted to avoid the main road, the only way to traverse the area was by camel, horseback, or foot.
Nearly an hour had passed before the cover over his head was removed, and he found himself staring into a pair of cold dark brown eyes. He remembered the man as the detective from New York who had tried to frame Aimee and then killed her.
Qadir had lunged at the man, striking him in the nose with his forehead. Anderson Coldhouse fell backward with a loud string of curses. Then Anderson strode forward and kicked him in the chest, knocking his breath from his lungs.
He had struggled to sit back up, his eyes glued to Coldhouse as the man wiped blood from his nose. Qadir had flexed his numb fingers, desperately wanting to wrap them around the man’s throat. He would kill the bastard if it was the last thing he did.
“I see you remember me,” Anderson had replied.
Qadir had bared his teeth. “Untie me, and I’ll show you what I remember.”
Anderson had wiped at his nose again and looked at the blood on his hand. “Sorry, your Highness, you’ll have to live with the disappointment of not calling the shots here. You’ll end up dead just like the bitch from New York, only I might not put a bullet in the back of your head before I set you on fire.”
Qadir had lunged for Anderson again. A blow to his ribs knocked him back to the ground.
Anderson had squatted next to him and chuckled. “You know, I promised my brother I wouldn’t kill you. I never promised him that I wouldn’t make you wish I had.”
“Tell me again why we are on these filthy beasts?” Abdal complained.
“Horses are not filthy. Camels are filthy,” Selima stated.
“It is the best way to get through the mountain passes,” Aimee added.
Abdal shifted in the saddle. “I’m going to be sore for a week,” he grumbled, unimpressed with their logic.
Selima shook her head and looked at Aimee. “This is why you do not pull a nerd into the field,” she teased.
“I’m not a nerd, I’m a geek, and I have very specialized skills. I’d like to see you bring down half of Eastern Europe with one mouse click,” Abdal retorted.
Aimee pretended to lick her finger and held it in the air with a sizzling sound. Selima chuckled while Abdal muttered about geeks being highly under-appreciated. They fell into a comfortable silence as they continued along the well-traveled, narrow trail.
Aimee felt a little guilty, knowing that Abdal and Selima must be exhausted. She had slept for several hours in the back of the car on their journey. They had stopped at a remote farm five miles from where the attack occurred. Selima had paused and spoken to the farmer while his wife ushered Aimee and Abdal into the house. Aimee had changed into the outfit that Abdal brought for her and emerged looking like a young boy instead of a woman. She had grinned at Abdal when he did a double-take and shook his head.
“The joys of being small,” she had quipped.
The farmer’s wife insisted on packing a bag of food for them before they departed. Selima told Aimee that the government would ensure the farmer was rewarded for lending them the horses and providing food and hospitality.
“We will reach the nearest location circled on the map within the hour,” Selima said.
They were headed to a cave that was west of where the attack had taken place. Selima said it had already been searched, but perhaps they had missed something. This cave was on the map in Aimee’s possession for a reason.
“I don’t know why we didn’t just report the information Aimee gave us. If we had, the entire Royal Military could be swarming these locations on the map,” Abdal said.
“Surprise is on our side. We must use it to our advantage or Qadir will be dead before the cavalry gets to him,” Selima stated.
The thought of Qadir being killed pierced Aimee with despair. They had to rescue him before Coldhouse or Andrius did any more harm. She looked out over the landscape. It was rugged and beautiful even at night—and vastly different from what she was used to.
She looked at the sky, and her breath caught. She had never seen so many stars. Heck, in New York, she had never seen stars at all! Out here, where there were no lights except for the glittering balls of gas above, she could see them all the way to the horizon.
“It is beautiful here,” she murmured.
Selima reined her horse to a stop and dismounted. Aimee and Abdal followed suit. Selima motioned for Abdal to hold the reins of the horses. He took the leads and guided the horses off the trail.
“We will go on foot from here. I don’t want to risk the horses alerting anyone. Do you know how to use a gun?” Selima asked.
Aimee looked at the weapon Selima was holding out to her. She nodded. She didn’t like guns, but if it came down to their lives or Coldhouse’s, she wouldn’t hesitate to use one. She took the weapon, checked to make sure the safety was on, and tucked it into the waistband of her trousers.
Selima signaled Abdal to stay, and he nodded. If things went south, he would alert the Royal Military and convey their position.
Aimee and Selima covered nearly a mile at a fast pace before Selima stopped and signaled Aimee to be quiet. Selima pointed toward a cave and held out night vision goggles. Aimee nodded and took them.
They scanned the area, searching for any signs of life. After ten minutes, they cautiously moved in. Selima motioned that she would go first. Aimee swallowed and nodded when she saw the woman pull out her pistol. Aimee pressed herself against the uneven rock while Selima disappeared inside. Time slowed as she listened and waited.
“Clear,” Selima called in a low voice.
Aimee relaxed and entered the cave. Three Humvees were parked inside along with a cache of equipment and weapons. Aimee trailed a finger along several dents caused by bullets.
“Why would they abandon their mode of transportation?” she asked.
Selima was still searching the vehicles. “It would have been too dangerous. Coldhouse’s forces would probably have been seen by the military covering the main roads. Their best chance is to use the trails along the narrow passes.”
Aimee pulled the map out of her pocket, spread it out on the hood of the first Humvee and shined a small, red penlight on it. She traced a path heading north from their position. There was a small village between their location and the circle near the border.
“How far ahead of us do you think they are?” she asked.
Selima studied the map. “Three, maybe four hours. They are traveling on foot, and they will be carrying some equipment—and have a prisoner,” she said, holding up a black hood.
Aimee’s blood ran cold at the sight of the material. She reached for it, touching a stiff spot that felt like dried blood.
“Do you think he’s still alive?” she asked in a voice husky with emotion.
“Yes. I suspect they need him alive—at least until they get across the border. If we push the horses, we should be able to catch up with them by dawn,” Selima said, taking the hood from Aimee’s numb fingers.
“What happens when we do that?”
“If it is possible to make a safe extraction, we do so. If not, I will contact my superiors and advise them to send in a specialized team.”
“Will they be able to get here in time?”
Selima smiled. “Yes, I’ve been in communication with them since the moment you arrived. They’ll back us up when we confirm the targets and secure Qadir’s safety as well as we can.”
Aimee nodded and looked back at the map. They were so close and yet it felt as if they were a million miles away. She folded the map and slid it back into her pocket.
“We’d better get moving,” Aimee murmured.