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Backing away from the entrance, she stayed close enough to follow the dust trail of Feroz’s car, reflected in the dim glow from the Milky Way. Sitting on the floor, she crossed her legs and examined the water bottles Bahram had left.
The caps on both bottles were too loose. She twisted off one of the caps and sniffed the water. An odd, chemical smell drifted up to her nose. Something had been added to the water.
She smelled the same odor in the other bottle.
Edging toward the cave opening, she poured both bottles on the ground. In the desert air, it would evaporate almost immediately. Then she re-capped the empty bottles and set them aside, next to Bahram’s flashlight. She wanted nothing to do with anything the two young men had given her. It wouldn’t surprise her if the flashlight carried a tracking device. Or, God forbid, an explosive.
Thank God she’d brought her own.
Digging through her backpack, she found the SAT phone and dialed Mel. When her handler answered, she said, “It’s Laila. I’m in a cave about four hours from Al Kamen. They built a cairn of rocks on the ground beneath it. Bahram and his friend Feroz are driving back to Al Kamen. They said they’d come tomorrow or the next day to take me to Baghlan. But I think they plan to make sure I’m dead.”
“Did they threaten you?”
“No, but there’s something in the water bottles they gave me. I poured them out, but I’m leaving the bottles in the cave for them to find.”
“Good. They’ll think you drank the water, then wandered off.”
“I hope that’s what they think.” She glanced at the bag of food that Feroz had left. “I suspect the food’s drugged, too. I won’t eat it, of course. I have five MREs and lots of water. I should be fine.”
“What’s your plan?” Mel asked.
“As soon as I can’t see the car any longer, I’ll leave this cave. I’ll travel as far as I can before it gets light and find another one. Stay inside it until your extraction team arrives. Then we’ll all drive back to Kabul.”
“I like that you’re such an optimist, Laila,” Mel said.
Laila shrugged. “If I sit here thinking the worst, it’ll paralyze me. Does the extraction team have the info from my tracking chip?”
“It’s on all their phones. So they shouldn’t have any trouble finding you. Get moving and find another cave, Laila. With a little luck, everything will go smoothly. Call me tomorrow and let me know.”
“Will do, Mel. Thanks.”
Laila stowed the phone in her backpack, drank a bottle of water and replaced it in the pack’s side pocket, then stood up and walked to the entrance.
The car was a tiny dot on the horizon. They wouldn’t be able to see her leaving the cave.
She took a deep breath and stepped onto the loose scree.
