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“We’re friends of Kaiya Pawar,” Kodiak said.
Afsoon’s face broke into a huge smile, joy lighting his eyes. Kodiak felt the same way about her. It was clear she’d made quite an impression on Afsoon. “Is she safe? Is she well?” he asked rapidly.
“Yes, she is thanks to you. We’ve come to take you out of Afghanistan to the safety of Australia to fulfill the promises they made to you when you decided to interpret for them,” Kodiak said.
“I see. This is the best news I could hope for. We want to leave, but it is so dangerous. I fear for my family.”
“Leave your safety and the safety of your family to us,” Iceman said.
Afsoon took a hard breath and said, “When will we leave?”
“We’ll plan to go tonight. Firash will get you here to us. We’ll take it from there.”
He nodded, donned the burka, and said, “We will be ready.”
And they were. Afsoon, Taara, his wife, Khudeeja, their daughter, and Jahan their son, arrived under the cover of darkness. They loaded the family up into the truck that had a false wall where they would hide. On the trip to Kabul, the team had to fight off several bandit attacks.
That started their four-and-a-half-hour drive from Kabul to the Torkham border crossing by way of Highway 7 through Jalalabad, which was the most dangerous first leg of the journey. Nevertheless, the first four hours were uneventful. Their slow, deliberate pace allowed them to keep a watchful eye across the barren wilderness with their night vision goggles and thermal scopes. While the terrain was flat and they could see for miles in every direction, the tension was high. Other than several sightings of bandits, and several checkpoints with many bribes, they made it without incident to within twenty miles of the border.
Then up ahead a group of men blocked the road. Kodiak downshifted the truck but kept his foot on the gas.
“Ice?” he said.
“We’re not stopping. This doesn’t look like a welcome party to me. Punch it.”
Kodiak meandered along until they were almost on top of the men. They started to flag them down, waving their guns in the air. That’s when Kodiak floored the gas, shifted, and blew through the group. Most of them jumped out of the way, but he clipped one on the right front fender.
Outraged calls came from the surviving men, and they open-fired. The guys in the back returned fire, and Kodiak drove without stopping until they got tangled up in the traffic at the border crossing.
They were almost home free. The Aussies were waiting for them just on the other side of this crossing with a helo to airlift them to Islamabad where Afsoon and his family would be processed through the high commission and then escorted to the airport where they would buckle in for their flight to Sydney.
The team would then head to the airport separately and board their flight for home.
Iceman kept a vigilant surveillance in the rearview, getting periodic updates from the guys in the back. Kodiak’s hands were tight on the wheel as they inched forward. When they finally reached the last stretch of road to enter Pakistan, they found the official who would wave them through. He came up to the driver’s side of the truck with a big grin. “It’s good to see you back this way,” he said. “Move on through.”
Kodiak nodded, put the truck in gear, and drove over the border. He looked over at Iceman and grinned. Damn, but it felt good to do something for Afsoon and his family, but also for Kaiya. She would be overjoyed that her friend and the man who saved her life was finally safe. When they turned the family over to the Aussies, one of the officials said, “You are a popular guy. Most of this plan was in place to get you out. Kaiya was most insistent and determined. Welcome home, Mr. Haydar.”
So, Kaiya had started the ball rolling on her side of the ocean. He grinned. She was a pistol. It was enough for now. Not enough to quell the hollowness in his heart for Kaiya, but enough for now.
* * *
Kaiya set down her suitcases,her townhouse feeling strange after almost four months away from Sydney. Her assignment with Europol had ended and, in fact, she’d spent the last two weeks of it with the American FBI Fly Team in Budapest, helping them with a case Kaiya had been instrumental in solving, garnering praise and thanks from the FBI director himself.
She was just about to unpack when there was a knock at the door. She frowned. Only Tessa knew she was back, and she doubted it was her boss. She wasn’t due to resume her duties at the AFP until the beginning of next week.
She walked out of the room and toward the door. She heard the sound of small children as she grabbed the handle. Pulling the door open, she gasped, her heart contracting hard.
“Oh, my God! Afsoon!” she cried as she threw herself at him and wrapped her arms around him in a huge bear hug. “I’m so happy to see you.”
“Kaiya. It is a pleasure to see you, my friend,” Afsoon said softly.
He hugged her back just as hard, and her vision blurred as she hung onto him. Finally, she let him go, tears slipping down her cheeks. She brushed them away, her gaze connecting with the lovely woman, then two children, a boy and a girl. “Come in, please.” She ushered them all inside and they settled in the living room. “Is this your family?”
Afsoon beamed. “Yes, this is my wife, Taara, our daughter Khudeeja, and our son Jahan.”
“It’s such a pleasure to meet you all. How did you get here?”
“We were rescued by Americans. I was told to tell you that Kodiak sends his love.”
