AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So we’ll leave after dark.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Depends on what the guys out there do.” He reached for her, then drew his hand away. Stood up straight, and his head almost brushed the ceiling of this smaller cave. “Stay here,” he said. “I’m going to take a look and see what they’re up to.”
He slid sideways and bent his head as he walked through the narrow passageway, then angled through the slit and disappeared around the corner. He moved with that loose-limbed confidence that had always made her want to touch him. Feel the strength of his muscles. She hadn’t expected to see Jase again after she left for Al Kamen but thank God he showed up. She wasn’t alone inside this mountain.
When he disappeared at the other end of the passage, Laila couldn’t hear a thing. He might as well have vanished into thin air.
She drew another breath. Reached for a water bottle and drank from it. Thank God for the tracker that had allowed him to find her. With any luck, they’d get out of this cave tonight and head back toward Kabul.
No. Not Kabul. She gritted her teeth. Feroz’s announcement about the arrival of the Taliban in Al Kamen had changed everything. Everyone in the village, including Bahram and Feroz, knew which girls attended the school. They’d be the first targets of the Taliban. They’d make examples of those young girls as a warning to the rest of the village, and Laila wasn’t going to let that happen.
Her girls were in danger, and she had to go back to the village and rescue them. She’d insist that Jase, Dev and Cody take her back to Al Kamen. Once she was there, she’d figure out how to get all six girls and their families back to Kabul.
Jase, Dev and Cody would say it was too dangerous. That they couldn’t go back to Al Kamen. But Laila would insist. She hadn’t gotten this far by being passive and accepting what other people said she had to do.
Her mouth curved into a tiny smile. Her parents had learned that lesson when they’d pressured her to go to medical school and become a doctor like them and her brother and sister. When she’d insisted she was going to be a teacher, her parents had compromised by telling her she could get a PhD and teach in college.
She’d managed to put herself through college and get a teaching job in a high school in Madison. Her parents had finally come around, but they never missed an opportunity to tell her she was wasting her life. She’d learned to let their barbs roll off her shoulders instead of sticking to her skin.
She’d successfully stood up to her famous, accomplished parents. Convincing Jase, Dev and Cody to go back to Al Kamen would be a piece of cake.
But first they had to get out of this cave.
As the minutes ticked by and Jase didn’t return, uneasiness settled like a cold lump in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t heard any other voices, so she was pretty sure the Taliban weren’t near this cave, but Jase’s absence worried her. They were in a cave, and there was only one way out.
Finally, when her nerves were strung so tight that every part of her body ached, he appeared at the far end of the passage. As he edged his way back, she wanted to leap up. Throw herself at him when he stepped into this smaller cave. Wrap her arms around him in gratitude that he was okay.
That would have been a mistake, so she didn’t move. She’d crossed a line by hugging him when she’d recognized him, but it couldn’t happen again. She knew exactly what would happen if they were pressed together when she was wide awake. Jase wasn’t her training officer now. There were no reasons they couldn’t get involved.
Other than the Taliban searching for her.
So instead of reaching for him, she climbed to her feet. Waited until he emerged from the passageway and stepped closer. “What’s going on?” she asked quietly. “What did you see?”
“They’re searching all the caves and getting closer. Half of the group went right from the original cave. The other half are heading our way. We need to find a way out of this cave.”
“As far as I can tell, the only exit is the way you came in,” she whispered. “We’ll need to climb down the way you came up.”
“Not an option,” he said immediately. “The Taliban are too close.”
