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She was sheet white, pain and shock setting in now that she was still and no longer enfolded in complete terror. He couldn’t risk shock. Not yet.
He dug in the med pack again and pulled free the potent pain pills he carried. “Take this. ” He pushed it into her mouth and lifted the canteen to her lips again.
She sipped and then leaned her head back against the dirt wall behind her.
Silence filled the hole for long moments. Her breathing was short and erratic, and every few seconds she would flinch or grimace just enough that he caught the wary movements in her expressions.
He wanted to hold her. She was almost broken, maybe not physically, but mentally at the least. She had endured this far, he had to get her just a little further.
“The trucks are getting closer. ” Th
ere was weariness in her voice, but no fear yet.
“They’ll search for a while. I’m good at this. Don’t worry. ”
He checked on Faisal’s hole. It was silent. Faisal knew how to hide; it wasn’t his first time, probably wouldn’t be his last. He had everything he needed to stay secure as long as no one identified the hiding place Natches had made.
“How did they get you?” he finally asked her when she said nothing else.
“Dragged me out of my car outside Baghdad, threw me in a van, beat the shit out of me, and played with some torture. ” She shrugged, but he heard the echo of horror in her voice.
“What do you have that they want?”
She was an American woman and she had enough strength to strip a dead man and get his clothes on in the time it took him to pop a few heads and get to her location. She was an agent; he knew that from the comment she had made about needing to let someone know about Nassar. That was going to take a few hours at least.
“I don’t have anything anyone wants,” she said tiredly. “I’m a relief worker. I was working in Baghdad. ”
“Don’t pull no shit with me, sugar. ”
“Then don’t pull none with me. You know how it goes. ” She copied his accent exactly. “I have to get out of here. ”
Yeah, he knew how it went. She couldn’t disclose and he shouldn’t be asking, but he was a nosy bastard and that was the truth.
“Won’t be long now. I’ve already missed my bus,” he stated. “When I’m not at extraction, they’ll send a team out for me. I’m important, you know. ”
“Obviously more important than I am. ” She sighed. “Can I take a nap?”
“No naps. ” The helicopter was getting closer. He hoped Faisal had his deflecting blanket over his head. “Come here; we gotta hunker down. ”
Fear flashed across her face for just a second as he unfolded the light, silver-backed blanket and pulled it over their heads, tucking it in carefully around them. So much as a foot sticking out from beneath it would allow any heat-seeking equipment to pick them up.
He had no idea what that helicopter was packing, and he wasn’t taking any chances.
He was wrapped around her like a possessive lover now, and he could feel her fear as easily as he could feel the heat building beneath the blanket.
“You know, if I was back home, the ladies would be purring at being here with me,” he pointed out to her as he smiled against her head. “They like my hard body. They think I’m sexy. ”
A nervous laugh parted her lips as he rested his cheek against her hair.
“I can’t see if you’re sexy,” she reminded him, and he hated that quiver in her voice.
“Oh, you’re missin’ out. ” He sighed pitifully, his voice whisper soft. “I’m damned fine, Chay. Green eyes and a nice tan. I got hard abs. Black hair. The women drool over me. ”
He smiled, listened carefully, and was thankful to feel a small measure of the fear ease from her. He didn’t consider himself particularly handsome, but he knew what the ladies said. He had to distract her though, and this was all that mattered.
“Conceited, too. ” Her hands were clenched tight around his lower arms, broken nails digging into his flesh.
“Hell yeah, I am. I’m spoiled as hell. ”
