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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

G od, help me!

Alyssa dropped the laptop bag and searched for something, anything she could use.

Precious seconds ticked past. Seconds filled with the sounds of battle. Of landed punches and gasps.

And then she kicked something hard.

A thick branch poked from beneath dead leaves and pine needles. She freed it from the wet ground, ignoring the dirt and bugs. It was as long as a baseball bat, but thicker. A little unwieldy, but she’d wield it anyway.

Hurrying toward Callan and the guard, she glanced into the woods. Flashlights bounced in their direction, men calling to each other, some in English, some not.

Ignore them. One thing at a time.

She choked up on the stick like she used to playing softball with her cousins, aimed for Benson’s head, and swung.

The man toppled to the side. He wasn’t unconscious, but he was down, for now.

“Get up!” She spoke to Callan, who was moving too slowly. “Come on, come on! ”

She dropped the stick, found Callan’s bag, then grabbed his hand and yanked.

He seemed to come back to himself, blinking as he looked around. “Which way?”

She kept ahold of him and ran.

He stumbled at first but seemed to gain energy as they moved. They still had so far to go.

Shouts behind them told her the guards were close.

“They found Benson,” Callan said between huffs.

He understood Arabic?

She understood enough to know they needed to get out of there, fast. Her lungs were on fire by the time a low rock wall came into view. Beyond it, a house.

A nice, normal house, so incongruent with the situation.

Almost there.

Almost there.

A shout came from the side.

A gasp stole her breath.

She craned her neck and spied a woman running toward them. The housekeeper who wasn’t.

A little behind, but not far enough.

Alyssa had no energy, no ability to push faster or harder.

Callan overtook her and propelled her forward. But they weren’t going to make it, and even if they did, that rock wall wasn’t going to stop this guard.

She was getting closer. Alyssa could hear her breathing behind her.

A warm hand grazed her shoulder.

She yelped, stumbled. If not for Callan’s firm hold, she’d have fallen.

But the woman gripped her upper arm and yanked her around. Alyssa was falling, flailing.

Callan’s hand slipped away.

Her knees hit the ground.

The not-housekeeper shouted for her compatriots.

Callan was fighting her, but she was trained. And he was injured.

Alyssa had no breath, no energy to fight.

Suddenly, something dove over her. A blur that took both Callan and the woman out. Another guard. They were overpowered. Overcome.

She levered to her hands and knees, tried to get to her feet, amazed when nobody stopped her.

She was turning, hoping she’d be able to help Callan as she had before, when an arm hooked beneath her armpits.

A scream crawled up her throat, but a hand clamped over her mouth.

“I’m a friend.” The man’s voice was deep and unfamiliar. “Come on.”

What? Who in the world…?

“Where’s Callan?” She spoke through heaving breaths.

“Right here, Paris.” He took her other hand, and together, the three of them ran.

They’d gone too far before she remembered… “The bag!”

“I got it,” the stranger said. “Hurry.”

They scrambled over the rock wall, bolted across a backyard that held a swing set and a toddler slide.

Children inside, terrorists out.

She ran around the side of the house, still flanked by Callan and the unknown man. And then they were on the street and aiming for a sedan.

Callan scrambled into the backseat. “Hurry!”

She climbed in the front and slammed the door.

The other man settled into the driver’s seat and hit the gas. She studied him in the low dashboard lights. He was black, clean-shaven, with close-cropped hair. A few wrinkles fanned from his eyes. He gripped the wheel with pale knuckles.

She turned to peer behind, where guards streamed out from beside the two-story suburban colonial, watching them drive away.

They were free, for now.

How she wished she could believe this was over. But she knew better.

Dariush Ghazi had given her a glimpse of his plans. And he wasn’t about to let her go.