Page 128 of The Unlikely Pair

“You got the phone?” I ask.

Harry pats his coat pocket. “Yep.”

“Great. Now, let’s make like a tree and leave.”

Harry seems to have no problem with that suggestion, and together, we belt through the forest.

Elation races through me. I can’t believe we pulled off our plan. Well, with a few minor adjustments anyway.

My throat has stopped bleeding, but my shoulder is still tender from where Kade’s watch dug into it.

“Do you think they’ll be all right?” Harry asks suddenly.

“What?”

“Well, we’ve just left three men incapacitated, having attracted wolves into the near vicinity.”

I roll my eyes. “Fuck, what a time for a Conservative to develop a conscience.”

“I was thinking more that we want to keep them alive for our security agencies to interrogate them.”

“I think they’ll be fine. The wolves will be more afraid of them. They just don’t know that fact.”

It’s not until we make it up to the crest of the hill that we stop. Harry crowds close to me.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” His fingers come up to gently touch my throat, where the blade nicked my skin.

“Yes, I’m fine,” I say impatiently. “We need to make that call. Just in case they manage to get out.”

Harry retrieves the satellite phone from his pocket, and we both stare at it.

The idea that help could be just a phone call away feels surreal.

It’s been so long since we’ve had any technology that the idea we can simply punch in a few numbers and talk to someone hundreds of miles away feels like a form of black magic.

I’m suddenly seized by a new fear. “Who are we going to call? It’s highly likely someone on one of our teams betrayed us to the terrorists, remember?”

I’m suddenly suspicious of everyone. Anyone could have conspired with the terrorists against us.

How do we know who to trust?

“I’ll call Prunella,” Harry says definitively.

That’s right, Harry has a wife.

Someone he stood with at an altar in front of hundreds of people, pledging to love and cherish for the rest of his life.

My intense flash of jealousy seems ridiculous, given our current circumstances, but I can’t help it.

I watch as Harry punches in the numbers, his fingers steady despite the gravity of the moment.

My heart is in my throat as Harry waits for the call to connect.

Ring, damn it. Please, just ring.

Each second feels like a lifetime. The phone remains silent, mocking our hopes. I’m opening my mouth to voice my fears when a sudden crackle emanates from the speaker. My eyes widen, locking with Harry’s. A tinny voice sounds, distant but unmistakable.

“Hello?”