Julian was still getting used to not berating himself for his past. Mena was a big part of him moving on from the self-imposed exile he’d sentenced himself to after everyone in his SEAL team had been murdered with him and Broman as the lone survivors.
“You can’t help but see the best in me, can you?” Julian smiled at Mena, stroking a finger down her face.
“Kind of hard not to when you keep saving my life,” Mena said.
“I’m not doing that for you, I’m doing that for me. Told you I never want to know what it’s like to be without you again,” Julian said, placing a quick peck on her nose. “Come on, you need to get your clothes back on so we can head out. We’ve already been here too long.”
“Five minutes and I’ll be ready to go,” Mena said, slipping from his embrace and heading back to the bathroom where her clothes were discarded on the floor.
Julian glanced at his watch.
Two hours since he’d talked to Hakeem.
Shouldn’t he have heard back something by now?
A ringing pierced the air. “Speak of the devil.”
Julian answered the comms. “Hello.”
“You need to get the hell out of that house,” Hakeem said, his words rushing out in frantic bursts. “Sunny and ASF are trying to get to you, but they’re about twenty minutes out. Some rebel group is heading your way and almost at the house. Julian, they are heavily armed. Get the hell out now!”
Julian ended the call, then forced his body to relax as Mena stepped back into the kitchen, fully dressed.
“Everything okay?” Mena asked, emerging from the bathroom in her dust-covered button-down and dark trousers. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail at the back of her head. She looked refreshed and ready for whatever lay ahead.
Julian nodded. “Time to go.”
He slung the backpack over one shoulder and picked up the M16 from the kitchen table. Mena followed close behind him as he crossed through the living room and opened the door.
Stepping outside on the porch, Julian stopped. The air was laced with danger, tense and stagnant. He turned back to look at Mena, motioning for her to remain inside.
A sharp blow hurled into his back. Julian pitched forward, the ground approaching his face faster than he could brace himself for the fall. The M16 flew from his hand, bouncing forward out of his reach. As his head hit the hard-packed earth, an explosion of pain ricocheted throughout his skull. Julian blinked, trying to focus as darkness shrouded his eyes. With a last glance, he saw Mena, jerking against the men holding her, crying out as she reached for him.
Then his world went black.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Disoriented, Julian reached for a cup of water from the table next to his hospital bed. The plastic cup was out of reach. Stretching his fingers, he tipped over the water pitcher, sending it careening to the floor.
“Let me get that for you,” Sunny said, rushing to the side of the bed. “I didn’t realize you’d woken up.”
Julian didn’t respond, trying to swallow past the rough, dryness in his throat. Sunny squatted next to the bed, setting the pitcher upright then swiped at the water spreading across the floor with a small towel. Standing, she shook the container, then poured what was left inside the cup and handed it to him. Julian took a sip of the lukewarm water and gagged, but continued to drink until it was gone.
“How long was I out this time?” he asked. He’d regained consciousness briefly as the helicopter landed at the airstrip, and he was placed into an ambulance. As the EMTs rushed him to the hospital, he’d shared pertinent details with Sunny about Mena’s second abduction.
Sunny tilted her head, glancing at her watch. “Almost twenty-four hours.”
“Are you fucking serious?” Julian barked, leaning forward. A dull ache slammed through his head, making him dizzy, and he eased himself back against the pillows.
“You suffered a severe concussion, and considering that you had a fractured skull several months ago, the doctors weren’t expecting you to be fully conscious for a while,” Sunny said.
“Did you find Mena?” Julian asked.
Sunny shook her head. “Not yet. Glaze and Enzo are back in Wajir County, leading the TIDES search. ASF has two teams in the area as well, searching for Mena.”
Frowning, Julian read the name of the hospital on the side of the water pitcher.
“Where the hell am I?” Julian asked, feeling his anger building.
