Page 3

I grabbed his arm and followed as he led us back to the Humvee convoy on the edge of the market.

CHAPTER 2

Rose

I sat in back of the Humvee as it roared down the dirt road toward the Savage Soldier base. Warren sat in the passenger’s seat up front.

“You snuck out without your escort,” he said, bending his torso to look back at me. “You’re damn lucky. Those guys were about to take you to the desert and turn you into a sex slave.”

I took a deep breath and stared out the side window, my stomach churning. It was almost enough to make me forget why I’d come to Afghanistan in the first place.

“Are you even listening?” Warren asked, agitated.

“I am, but—”

“No damn buts about it. You made a bad situation worse. If Ryan and I hadn’t arrived at just the right time, I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

“Thanks, Ryan,” I said to the driver. Like Warren, Ryan was also a Savage Soldier. They both were among the soldiers relocated to New York that I had traveled with to Afghanistan.

“No problem,” Ryan said, calm as ever.

“Whatever,” Warren muttered. “It was foolish for you to even be here.”

“It’s not foolishness,” I retorted, offended. I’d always been bothered by the distorted view so many people had about war. It wasn’t foolish to want to shed light on such a dark situation.

“Whatever,” Warren said coolly, still wearing his helmet. His assault rifle was nestled in his arms as he scanned the horizon.

God, he was so infuriating.

“Thanks for saving me. I appreciate it,” I said blandly.

“Just doing my job,” he replied.

I sat back, wishing my head would stop hurting. “Were they Taliban?” I asked, although I already knew the answer.

“Damn straight they were,” Ryan answered.

The Humvee bounced and jostled as he sped down a dirt road toward our Savage Soldier base. After only being embedded with the forward operating base for two days, I wondered if they would send me back.

By embedding with the U.S. military through the Savage Soldiers, I had cut the costs for my Afghanistan trip down considerably. In exchange, I had agreed to let the army approve any articles I wrote before publishing them online.

They couldn’t stop me from reporting the truth though.

Nevertheless, the regulations and restrictions had turned out to be harsher than I ever imagined, which was why I’d snuck into Samangan on my own. Several sources had given me information about a huge smuggling operation out of Afghanistan that involved members of the U.S. Army. Personally, I suspected everyone at the Savage Soldiers base, including Warren and Ryan. The two were best buddies from what I’d been able to gather, although I knew all the military types were usually close-knit.

“Why do you have to be so damn secretive, anyway?” Warren asked, catching me off guard.

I blinked. “I’m a journalist. It’s part of my job.”

Outside, I noticed a tall metal fence surrounding the small military base, one of the few still in operation a decade after the war in Afghanistan had started.

“The CO will want to see you,” Warren said.

“I can handle him.”

“We’ll see.” He snorted. “You’ve got balls, though, Ms. Bennett.”

“Huge!” Ryan added, laughing along with him.