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Her chest tightened. “So, we just have to wait until then?”
“We can eat something, then rest up. We move at dawn.”
His eyes were back on the map, but he wasn’t focused. His hand had stilled.
“I appreciate everything you’re doing for me,” she said quietly.
He looked up, slow and deliberate. “You don’t have to thank me.”
“I do. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for you.”
He didn’t reply.
She moved closer to the table, close enough to see the flecks of green in his otherwise dark eyes.
He stood abruptly, scraping the chair on the floor. “We should get some food in you. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”
They talked over dinner,finalizing the plan for the morning.
“We’ll need to move at first light,” Tom said, biting into a piece of flatbread stuffed with seasoned lamb, roasted vegetables, and a swipe of tahini. It wasn’t much, but it was warm, fragrant, and exactly what she needed. After the day they’d had, it might as well have been a feast.
“Prince Hakeem’s men will have eyes everywhere. So we keep our heads down, stay alert, and move fast,” he added, tracinga route across the map with one blunt fingertip. “If we head southwest, we can intercept this arterial road out of town. From there, we follow it until we’re within a few miles of the U.N. airbase.”
She frowned, chewing slowly. “Won’t they be watching the roads?”
“Yeah, but they’ll be looking for a blonde American moving solo. Not a local couple.” He paused and gave her a look that warmed her cheeks. “You can wear your souk outfit and scarf, plus you speak the lingo. It is still risky, but there isn’t time to go cross country.”
Her appetite dulled as the weight of the plan pressed in. “How long did your CO give us?”
“Three days. Tops.”
Her heart stuttered. “That’s… not a lot of time.”
“No, it’s not.”
He looked at her again, his expression thoughtful. The soldier in him wanted the intel now. She could tell by his calculated gaze.
Part of her wanted to hand it over.
“You know, you could give me the safe house locations now. That way we could send in a strike force to capture Hakeem. We’d cut off the head of the snake. We could end this now.”
She wanted to, she really did, but once she told him what she knew, she was expendable. The rebels were a real threat. If they took her, he wouldn’t hesitate to terminate her. He’d be duty-bound, and duty came first. It always did with men like him.
If she still held the information, he might try to rescue her instead.
Might.
“What are you going to wear tomorrow?” she asked instead, pushing the conversation in another direction.
Tom didn’t fight it. He let the subject drop, for now. “Not this.” He glanced down at his fatigues. “I’ll pass for a rebel sympathizer headed to Al Teham. It’s crawling with freedom fighters. They’re all toting guns and rifles, so I won’t stand out.”
“Al Teham?”
“It’s a village outside of Syman City. That’s where the rebels are regrouping under their leader, Abu-al-Rashid. From there, they’ll attack the head of Hakeem’s organization.”
“The Royal Compound?” she whispered.
“Yeah. The seat of power.”