Page 26 of River

“I bet he hit you back.”

“Yeah, he did—then he laughed.”

A few hours later, the woman opened the wall. “You must go.” We grabbed our backpacks.

“Thank you,” I said, taking her hand.

“Lieutenant Kat, you saved my daughter’s life. You are my friend. Stay safe. These men are horrible, and they enjoy causing pain to women. Be careful,” she said.

We stayed close to the wall as we made our way out of town. I could feel it in my bones—we were being hunted.

We were still hiding two days later, the Taliban close on our heels.

“We have to make a run for it,” Steven said. “If they seeus and start shooting, I want you to keep running. If I get hit, don’t stop.”

“Will you stop running if I get shot?” I asked.

“I can carry you. You can’t lift me. I’m not arguing—just keep running.”

“Let’s go.”

We were almost out of town when they spotted us. Bullets started flying, but we kept running. I felt a bullet hit me, then another. I turned and saw Steven go down. I aimed and fired, hitting one of the men. Steven turned and shot the other.

I helped him into a nearby building. Inside, I noticed the people watching us. A man rushed over, checking Steven, then me.

“Both of you need to be in a hospital. They’ll be here soon, you can’t stay inside. They’ll kill you if they haven’t already. You need to leave right now.”

I watched them leave, forcing myself to concentrate. I needed to hide Steven and then go for help. Where could I hide him? I saw a door and checked—it was a small closet.

I dragged Steven over and got him inside, then cleaned the floor. Blood kept appearing, and I wiped it up again and again before realizing it was mine. I was losing too much blood.

“Kat, where are you?”

“Steven, don’t say anything,” I whispered. “I’m hiding you in this closet. Stay quiet, no matter what you hear.”

“Go. Get out now. They know we’re in here. Get out before it’s too late.”

“Promise not to say anything, and I’ll leave,” I pleaded.

My head was spinning. I piled more boxes on top of Steven, then left. I had to get help before I passed out fromblood loss. I stayed close to the wall, trying to stay awake. Where was I going to find help?

Maybe Captain Jackson would come back for us. I just needed a little rest. I knew it was over when I slid to the ground and blacked out.

12

River

“This whole placeis hunting for them,” I muttered, looking around. It had been a while since I’d been back to this hellhole. I glanced at the guys. “Where do we start?”

“Hell, if I know,” Gage replied.

“If she’s alive, she’s got to be somewhere in town. There are more places for her to hide there.” We took off walking and soon spotted the jeep with Gideon and Tag. He raised his arm as we approached, and I spoke before climbing inside. “Have you found her?”

“No, but we know they’re after her. This entire place is on the hunt. Some guy claimed they took his wife and granddaughter at gunpoint. We know that’s a fucking lie, but we played along like we were just two Taliban men on the street.”

“We have to hurry before the sun goes down. How the hell did we end up here? We had the best assistant, and now she’s turned into a damn mercenary? What is she thinking?” I demanded, more to myself than anyone else. “Why would she come here without telling anyone? Didn’t she realize how dangerous it would be?”

“How do we know she hasn’t done this before?” Gage asked.

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