Page 70 of Deadly Betrayal

Jake stood and hitched up his jeans by thebelt loops. “Too Nikita for you wimps? Me, I can handle her justfine.”

Kaden swatted at the kid, but Jake ducked,and Kaden’s swing went wide. Rising on the balls of his feet, Jakebobbed up and down. “Come on, old man. Show me what you’vegot.”

As Jake danced around the room, Nic stuck hisfoot out, sending the younger man to the floor. “It’s all abouttechnique and timing, Jake.” This advice was handed out as Niccasually stepped over the bodyguard.

Kaden swung his duffel bag over his shoulder.Puffing up his chest and putting on a stern face, he glared down atJake. “I taught you better than this. You need to be on your guardat all times. I don’t want either of you getting hurt while I’maway.”

Springing to his feet, Jake stood atattention. “Yes, sir.”

Kaden did a last survey of the room to makesure nothing had been left behind. His gaze landed on somethingblack in the corner, half hidden by a pillow. Azita’s medicalbag.

“Shit.” He crossed the room in two stridesand retrieved it. Inside were the antibiotics the German doctor hadgiven her, as well as the pain killers she needed and her passport.He had to get these to her quickly. “Let’s go.”

They hurried the half-block to the car. Kadendrove them to Camp Kunduz and waited while the gate guardquestioned Nic and Jake before waving them inside the compound.Kaden had grossly underestimated the difficulty of their mission.He hadn’t even considered the ramifications to the women. Or thevery real danger to his friends.

As he turned onto the A7 highway in thedirection of Kabul, his fingers curled around the steering wheel ofthe old Corolla. He breathed deeply to calm himself, and caught atrace of cardamom. Azita.

Assuming he could get her away from Khalid,he’d still have to face Tariq and his men. Kaden had envisioned amiddle of the night snatch and grab with Azita safely ensconced ina guesthouse somewhere close by.

Now all he could envision was an epicclusterfuck. He was going to need reinforcements. But who could hecall? His old unit was mostly dispersed, and even if it weren’t,this was far from being a government-sanctioned mission. And therewas still the issue that he didn’t know who the traitor was.Although he believed it hadn’t been one of his men, he didn’t knowthat for sure. Either way, best to keep his old unit out ofthis.

As he ran through his mental Rolodex, onename came to mind. Hassan. Quickly, he dialed his friend’s number,tapping the fingers of his free hand on the wheel as the phonerang. One. Two. Three. He squeezed the cheap plastic phone,stopping only when it groaned under the pressure. “Shit,” he swore,loosening his grip.

“Bale.”

“Hassan. Viking here.”

A deep chuckle rumbled across the line. “It’sgood you’re still alive.”

“Maybe not for long.”

Hassan’s tone turned hard. “Tell me.”

“You up for a mission?” Kaden waited out thesilence, a twitch taking up residence in the corner of his eye.

“Always. Shoulder to shoulder, mybrother.”

Kaden blew out in relief. “You’re agreeingwithout even knowing what this is about.”

“If it’s important to you, it’s important tome.”

Christ. Men didn’t come any more loyal thanHassan. When Kaden shared with him the purpose of the mission, torescue Laila, his response was immediate. “I have no respect formen like that. We’ll do what it takes to get that little girlback.”

Few Afghan men would stand up to a warlordlike Tariq, fewer still would do it to save a girl from an unwantedmarriage. Hassan was in a class of his own.

Kaden gave Hassan what he knew about Tariqand promised to get back to him by morning with specifics about thelocation and size of the force they’d be up against. By then Jakewould have had time to get in touch with his contacts. Everythingwas starting to fall into place: Jake was working on recon, andKaden had acquired an ally in Hassan. And that left him able tofocus on what was most important—getting Azita back.

Because without her, there was nomission.

Once again, Khalid checked his rearviewmirror. And again the road seemed empty. Was it really, though? Inthe dark, he wouldn’t notice a car following if its headlights wereturned off.

Azita whimpered in the back seat. The lowsound made him uneasy. She’d been shifting positions and sighingsince they’d left Kunduz nearly two hours before. He thought she’dfallen asleep. Was she having a bad dream? Better keep an eye onher.

When another pain-laced moan cut through thesilence inside the SUV, his gaze swung to his soon-to-bebrother-in-law. “What’s wrong with her?”

Keeping his eyes on the road, Shahram lifteda shoulder. “I imagine her head hurts.”

That’s when Khalid remembered the blood he’dseen on Shahram’s face when he’d run into him at the shop inPol-e-Khomri. He fought to keep his voice a whisper. “You nevertold me what happened to her.”