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She’d paced around the cave more than thirty times when she heard a rustling sound. Freezing in place, she lifted the gun, even though her hands shook. Looked toward the crevice she’d used to enter the room.
The rustling grew louder, and she realized it was coming from the tunnel. Jase was back.
She set the gun carefully on the floor and watched the opening. Suddenly he was there, facing her. He crawled out, dusted off his hands and stood up.
This time, Laila couldn’t stop herself. She threw herself against him and clutched him tightly. “I was afraid you’d gotten stuck,” she whispered into his neck. “That you couldn’t breathe. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
His arms curled around her, and he held her against his chest. She heard his heart pounding, beating as fast as hers. “I’m fine,” he murmured into her hair. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I am now. I was getting nervous. They’re getting closer.”
“Then let’s ditch this joint.” His arms tightened around her briefly. She pressed closer to him, relishing the feel of his chest against hers. The strength in his arms as he held her. Finally he eased away.
Holding her shoulders, he stared down at her. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from those golden-brown eyes that had fascinated her during her training.
Finally he let her go, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. “I hope you’re not claustrophobic,” he said.
Laila shrugged. “I’ve never been before.”
“This passage could make you that way,” Jase muttered. “It’s tight, but we don’t have a choice. They’ll get here eventually, and we can’t be here.”
He pulled out his phone and typed out a text. Then he shoved it into his backpack. “I’ll go first. I’ll push our packs and my gun in front of me. You’ll need to stay close behind me. When we get near the end, it’ll get tight. But I made it through, so you shouldn’t have any trouble.”
Laila swallowed. “What’s back there?”
Jase took a deep breath. “Another tunnel. Bigger. Barely high enough for me to stand up straight, but you should be fine.”
“Do you know where it goes?” she asked, desperate for some good news. “Will it take us to where the car is?”
Jase shrugged. “No idea. But once we’re safely away from this cave, we can explore a little. Figure out if there’s another way to the car.”
She nodded at his phone, which was still in his hand. “Did you just text Mel? Tell her where we are and what we’re gonna do?”
“I did,” Jase said. “Cody and Dev, too. Dev and Cody will check out the area tonight, after the Taliban are gone. They’ll let me know what’s going on.” He studied her for a long moment. “You ready to do this?”
She swallowed. Squared her shoulders. “Tell me what to do.”
“Give me your pack.” He held out his hand, and she gave it to him. Then he picked up his gun from the floor of the cave. Shone the flashlight around the room, the same way she’d done not too long ago.
“Okay,” he said. “Let’s go. I’m first. Your only job is staying close. Close enough that you can grab my leg. Do that if you need to stop. To let me know if it feels as if the walls are closing in. Let me know if you’re going to scream. Those are your jobs. Can you do those things?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I can do that.”
“I want you to touch my ankle every minute so I know you’re still behind me. Just count to sixty in your head, then touch me briefly. Okay?”
Laila licked her lips, and Jase’s gaze fell to her mouth. “I can do that,” she repeated.
“Good. Let’s get out of here.”
He dropped to his knees and shoved the packs and the gun into the hole in the wall. Then he began crawling after them.
Laila stepped to the opening of the cave and dropped to her knees. Took a deep breath. Another. You can do this. You have to do this.
Finally she started after Jase. Moved into the hole in the wall and found there was plenty of room on either side and above her head. Began crawling. Relaxed a little when she realized it wasn’t as tight as she’d feared it would be.
The rocks jabbed into her knees and were sharp beneath her hands. Ignoring the pain, she crawled after Jase.
“You there, Laila?” he said, his voice muffled ahead of her.
