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Chapter 19
Jase stopped the truck in front of a Quonset hut and turned it off. “You want me to introduce you to the guys doing the screening?”
Laila pursed her lips and nodded slowly. “That would be helpful. You probably know everyone here. I’m a total stranger to most of them. I think it would be better if the story came from you.” She smiled wearily. “You have more credibility than an unknown woman.”
“You’re a CIA agent, Laila,” Jase reminded her.
“Right, but how would they know that?” she replied. “They probably all know you.”
“They do. Let’s go talk to them before we get everyone out of the truck.”
“Can I talk to the families first? Just for a second, so they know what’s going on?”
Jase’s expression softened. “That’s exactly why I’m...” He smiled. “Why I’m happy you’re on this op,” he said. “That’s the considerate thing to do, and most people wouldn’t have thought of it.”
She was very sure Jase had started to say something else, but she nodded. “I’ll just be a minute.”
Hurrying to the back of the truck with Jase, she waited while he opened the door. Everyone stood up, but Laila waved them back. “We’re at the U.S. embassy in Kabul,” she told them. “Everyone okay in here?”
Everyone nodded.
“Good. You’ll all have to talk to the people who are processing requests to get out of the country. Jase and I are going to talk to them first and explain the situation. So sit tight and I’ll be right back. I’ll stay with you while you’re being checked in, then you’ll be taken to your rooms. There are people who’ll show you around and explain everything to you.”
Thirty minutes later, she and Jase returned to the truck. They’d left the door partially open for fresh air, and she could hear everyone talking. Not all of them sounded happy.
Jase lifted the door and Laila said, “Come on out. Bring your belongings with you.”
As the families lined up to be processed, Jase drew Laila to one side. “I have an errand to do, and it might take a little while. Then I’m going to talk to Mel. I’ll tell her exactly what happened, starting when I found you. That’s protocol on an extraction op. Mel’s my boss, and she needs the details. To make sure we do better the next time.”
“Better?” Laila frowned at him. “From where I stand, it went really well.”
“It did. But there’re always things than can be improved. Strategies that might work better.” He sighed. “Debriefing and going over every detail is routine after an op.”
“From my perspective, it was perfect,” Laila said. As she stared at him, a hint of red rose in his cheeks.
“Yeah, it was successful,” he said gruffly. “But we’ll still dissect it.”
“Okay, but when I talk to Mel, I’ll make sure she knows that you, Dev and Cody are heroes. That you likely saved my life.”
“We got lucky,” he said. “Didn’t run into any complications.”
“So don’t go telling her any unnecessary details,” Laila said. She stepped closer to Jase. “Yeah, we kissed a couple of times. But we didn’t have screaming sex in the cave with the Taliban close by. We didn’t take stupid chances because we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. What we shared was nothing more than a couple kisses.
“The Taliban didn’t get hold of me. Or you, Dev and Cody. So as far as I’m concerned, everything is good. it was a perfect op. I regret nothing about it.”
A tiny smile made his lips twitch as he studied her. “Good to know that you’re a risk-taker. A rule-breaker. A wild woman.”
She wanted to melt into him and show him exactly what a wild woman she was. Instead, she took his hand. “You are, too, or you wouldn’t have become a SEAL. Wouldn’t have signed on to the CIA’s SpecOps group.” She leaned forward and brushed a kiss over his mouth. “You wouldn’t have agreed to take me back to Al Kamen to save those families.” She nodded at the group of people near the Quonset hut. “I’d say we’re a matched pair.”
His eyes heated. “We are,” he said, his voice a low rumble. He pressed another kiss to her mouth and said, “I’m going to let Mel debrief me. If I don’t make it back here by the time everyone’s settled, go find Mel and do the same. Then come find me. I’m in room 15.”
“I will,” she said, anticipation racing through her blood. “I’ll see you soon, Jase.”
“I hope so.” He leaned toward her as if he intended to kiss her again but stopped and eased away. “Later, bae.”
“Yeah.” She watched him walk away. When he disappeared into the embassy building, pausing to look over his shoulder and catch her eye first, she turned back to the families from Al Kamen.
It took a long time to process everyone. Bahram got the most suspicious looks, along with the two fathers. Eventually, everyone had been cleared except Bahram. Nahid, Amira, Darius and Farah stood off to the side, watching.
