Page 19 of Her Righteous Protector

“Are you done doctoring me?” Max asked Kane. “I want to check on Ezio.”

“The bleeding has stopped, and he’s conscious,” Kane said as he picked up Max’s shirt and helped him put it back on.

“Is he going to be all right making it to Kandahar?” Leo asked.

“As long as there aren’t any more hijackers,” Kane said.

“Is he going to need to rest when we get there? Should we suss out a friendly that he can stay with while we go find Ms. Sorensen?” Zed asked.

“Raiden will assess Ezio’s situation when we arrive. In the meantime, we got some intel from the States. Ms. Sorensen called her mother; she’s in Towri. Her mother said to save her cell phone charge and turn it on at midnight, oh-six-hundred, noon, eighteen-hundred, then midnight again, leave it on for half-hour intervals.”

“Smart woman,” Max said.

They all looked up as they heard Ali’s truck lumbering toward them. Good—Leo and Zed could use another pair of hands to pack up the plaster bags. They needed to get a move on to Towri.

* * *

Max finally breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Cullen, Asher, and Kostya show up on the second floor of the bombed-out building here in Towri. It was oh-three-hundred on Friday morning, and the trucks were parked miles apart from one another. Leo, Zed, and Ali were all staying with the trucks. There was no other choice, the plaster would be stolen otherwise.

Kostya strode up to Max. “What’s the plan?” he asked. The man was having a hard time keeping himself from growling. Kostya didn’t like not being in charge.

“Everybody, just huddle up. We’ve scrounged some food and water, let’s eat and I’ll fill you in.”

Kostya glanced down at the food lying on the plastic bags then picked up three of the figs and a handful of nuts.

Max waited until everybody had helped themselves to food before he explained what he knew so far.

“I talked to Lark Sorensen at midnight. She is going to have her phone on again at oh-six-hundred hours. But what she told me at midnight was that she is currently sheltered with Samira Nuri and her two small girls in a basement apartment in the center of the town. The apartment is owned by a member of the Taliban who died in the street fighting. She saw him die, but because he was shot in the face, nobody knows he is dead so she feels they are safe in his apartment.”

“Makes sense,” Kostya said.

“They’re out of food. Samira is not in the apartment right now; she’s been gone since last night.”

“Fuck,” Asher groaned.

“Lark missed two calls from her, to call her back. When she did at midnight, she didn’t reach Samira. Lark’s hoping that the next time her phone is turned on, she and Samira will connect. So here’s the plan.”

Max looked around the small circle of men.

“I have Samira’s number. I’ve called her, but from now on, Kostya, I think the calls need to come from you since you knew her husband better. Then we’re going to go and pull out Lark and the girls. If we’re lucky, Samira will have already arrived. Samira and the girls will go with Raiden.”

“Nope, they should come with me,” Kostya said emphatically.

“Absolutely not, they need to go with Raiden, he’s the medic. If something goes wrong, he can handle it.” Max glared at Kostya, who finally nodded in agreement.

“Kane, you’re going with Ezio, you’re another fully trained medic.”

“If I have to ride with Kane, so do you, Max,” Ezio smirked.

“He’s right,” Kane said.

Max shrugged. “Then I want Lark, Kostya, Cullen, and Nic riding with Leo. The rest of us will go with Ali. I don’t want anyone but the Nuri family and Raiden together; too many in that cage will scare the girls.”

Everybody nodded.

“How far are we from the apartment?” Asher asked.

Kane pulled out his bulletproof tablet and pulled up a map. “This is the best we had on Towri before we pulled out and the Taliban took over. Here’s where we are.” He pointed to a spot. “From what Max told me, I think this is where Lark and the Nuris are. It’s my best guess.”