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She swallowed again. Nodded. “I know. It’s either shoot the gun or let them capture me. And I won’t let that happen.”
He squeezed her hand again and reluctantly let her go. “I won’t let that happen, and neither will Cody or Dev.” He wanted to press a kiss to her mouth before he left her alone.
What the hell? He’d resisted her for four weeks of training. And now he wanted to kiss her? Craziness. Adrenaline.
“Hang tight,” he said, instead of kissing her. “Back in a few.”
Tearing his gaze away, he turned around and crawled into the smaller tunnel. Pulled out his flashlight and shone it on the rock surrounding him. He got about thirty feet and came to the end of the tunnel. Using his flashlight, he swept it around and realized there was no exit. It was a dead end.
Moving backward, he went as fast as he could. When he emerged into the small room, Laila was standing in the corner, watching him.
“It didn’t go anywhere, did it?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Dead end. I’ll try the second one. The voices are closer, but we still have some time.” Jase crawled into the second opening. Holding his flashlight in his mouth, he crawled forward.
* * *
Laila watched Jase’s ass as he crawled into the larger tunnel. The beam from his flashlight bounced off the walls and the ceiling, and as she watched his body disappear, the light became dimmer and dimmer. Finally it vanished altogether.
Either the flashlight had gone out, or Jase had crawled around a corner.
Using her own flashlight, she swept the floor of the cave. She needed to put her stuff back into her pack. Setting the gun carefully on the stone floor, she folded up the blanket and her sweater. Shoved them into her pack and tightened the drawstring. Used the flashlight to scan the cave, making sure she hadn’t missed anything that could betray her presence in this cave.
Finally satisfied that nothing was left, she set the flashlight on the ground and picked up the gun again. Slung the strap over her shoulder, just as she’d done in those training sessions with Jase, then cradled it with both hands to take the weight off her shoulder. She was familiar enough with the gun that the moves were easy. Instinctual, just as Jase had explained.
Shooting at a target was easy. Everything had been hypothetical during her training. Aiming the weapon at a human being and pulling the trigger? That was a different story.
It was her or them. Any hesitation would be fatal. If one of those men began edging into the cave, she’d have to shoot him. And when he fell to the ground, she’d have to shoot the guy behind him.
She’d only have one chance and vowed to make it count. She’d have to kill all of them. Her stomach churned, but she ignored it. She had no choice if she wanted to survive.
Don’t think about seeing Bahram or Feroz in front of you.
It didn’t matter who came for her, even if they were only boys. If she was taken, the end result would be the same. Rape. Mutilation. Murder.
There was no room for fear or emotion. Only survival.
Time ticked away unbearably slowly. She could hear the men searching for her. The rattle of falling stones, the short sentences in Pashto were still some distance away, but they were getting closer. Where was Jase? Why was he taking so long?
Had he gotten stuck? Maybe so stuck that he couldn’t breathe? She sucked in a deep breath, as if she were breathing for him. She knelt and peered into the opening. Saw nothing but blackness. Heard nothing but the wind blowing through the outer cave.
What if Jase were dead?
It would be awful if he died while rescuing her.
Her breathing quickened. She recognized that she was panicking and tried to slow her breathing. Inhaled deeply. Let it out slowly. Did it over and over, until she felt steadier.
Jase wasn’t going to die. He’d be back soon. And if she told herself that often enough, she might even start to believe it.
She bent closer to the opening. Listened. Heard nothing.
“Jase?” she said softly.
No answer.
Holding the gun, she began to pace around the small room. The walls felt as though they were closing in. Getting tighter around her. She wanted to go into the outer cave and look out. See how far away the Taliban were. But she knew that would be stupid. Risky and dangerous.
As difficult as it was to stand in this cave and do nothing, that was her job right now. She had to wait here for Jase.
