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“Take your time getting used to the light,” Jase murmured into her ear. “The flashlight’s on its dimmest setting, but it’ll still feel too bright.”
Laila nodded without opening her eyes. Finally she cracked her lids, just enough to see the halo around Jase’s face. Cautiously she opened her eyes wider, until she could look around at the dark walls of the cave. Study Jase’s face.
She couldn’t read anything in his expression. “What did you hear? Any take-aways?” she asked.
“Why did the kid say the passageway was too small?” he said immediately. “You think he was just freaked out by the darkness and the narrowness of the tunnel?”
“Maybe,” she said slowly. “But maybe not.” Laila swallowed. Ran her tongue over her suddenly dry lips. “That boy was Bahram, the kid who made contact with me in the village. The guy who told me I had to leave because the Taliban were coming to the village tomorrow. I’m sure of it. I listened to him for hours in the car.”
Jase’s jaw clenched. “The kid who set you up.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Him. But now I’m not sure what to think about that. Did he really think the tunnel got too small at the end? It did narrow, but we both got through. He’s not as big as you, so Bahram should have been able to get through it, as well.”
“I don’t give a damn how big he was, or whether he could fit through that narrow passage.”
In the faint beam of the flashlight, Laila saw Jase’s jaw clench as he continued, “Bottom line? He drove you to these caves, knowing he was giving you drugged water that would knock you out. Make it easy for the Taliban to grab you. He’s on my shit list forever.”
Laila wanted to lean against him. Wrap her arms around him and thank him for being on her side. For being blunt about Bahram’s involvement with the Taliban. Instead, she nodded. “Yeah. I get that.” She sighed. “I should feel the same way, but...”
You’re too kind-hearted, Laila,” Jase muttered. “Me? I’m not worrying about some Taliban-wannabe kid. Not wasting an ounce of energy figuring out how to save him. Because that’s what you were leading up to, wasn’t it?”
Laila stared at the M4A1 carbine draped over Jase’s chest like it was part of his body. Lifted her gaze to his hard, implacable face. Finally nodded slowly. “I was wondering how to get a message to his mother, telling Nahira to send Bahram to relatives in another village.”
Jase shoved a hand through his short hair. “Jesus, Laila! Didn’t the CIA train that shit out of you?”
“They tried,” she said softly. “But it didn’t take.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “Are you for real? After all you’ve seen and heard in Afghanistan, you still sympathize with a kid caught up in the lure of the Taliban? Someone who tried to have you killed?”
“I know his family,” she said, her voice quiet in the heavy air. “His sister. His mother. His little brother Darius. Teen-age boys are impulsive. Easily led. I’m guessing Feroz pressured him because he wants Amira.”
Sighing, he pulled her against him after slinging the gun onto his back. “You don’t belong in this business,” he said, his voice gruff as he spoke into her hair. “There’s too much goodness in you. You care about these people.”
“All I was supposed to do was teach the girls and collect intel by talking to people.” She sighed. “An easy job.”
“You spied on a meeting the other night,” he said quietly. “Saw a stranger arrive in the village. Mel told us about it.”
She shrugged, her shoulder bumping into his. “It felt like an opportunity to get information, and I’m glad I was there. A man arrived and something about him seemed... wrong. He didn’t walk like a farmer. And when he opened his mouth to speak, the light flashed on his full set of teeth. Bright white. Everyone in the village has missing teeth. The ones they have left are yellowed. I’m not sure what that means, but the guy who showed up was recruiting for the Taliban.”
Jase frowned. “You think he wasn’t from around here?”
“He wasn’t a farmer,” she said immediately. “He didn’t look or move like the men in Al Kamen.”
“There are Taliban in the smaller cities,” Jase said slowly.
Laila nodded. “I wondered if he was a Taliban bureaucrat. They must have some of them. Every army needs guys who keep the supplies flowing.”
“That’s possible,” Jase said. “And they might send a bureaucrat to recruit for them.”
“Yeah. From what I heard, he spoke Pashto fluently. Other than that, I’ve got nothing.”
“Any idea why the Taliban are recruiting in Al Kamen?” Jase asked.
Laila shook her head. She’d been wondering about that since the meeting. “No idea. I don’t remember anyone in the village besides Bahram and Feroz talking about the Taliban. And if there had been rumors, I would have heard them. I was always listening. Maybe it’s not just Al Kamen. Maybe they’re going to all the villages.”
Beside her, Jase’s body vibrated with tension. “Possible,” he allowed. “Something bad is coming. We all feel it. The reports from Mel’s other agents confirm that the Taliban is getting stronger. More organized. I’m guessing Mel is preparing to extract all her agents. Get them out of the country.”
“So I’ll be sent back to the States?” Laila asked. She was both relieved and disappointed. If Afghanistan was devolving, she didn’t want to be here. But she didn’t want to leave her students and their families at the mercy of the Taliban. Everyone in Al Kamen knew which girls had attended her school. If the Taliban took over the village, those girls as well as their families would be punished. And the Taliban wasn’t known for their mercy.
