Page 34 of Zain

CHAPTER 11

Black-and-white images flickeredthrough Zain’s brain like a broken video tape from the 1940s. Images of his mom and brother. His parents’ property near the water in Seattle. The warm, salty air on the breeze and the smell of...

God, that smell. So familiar. So comforting.

Home. No. Cherry blossoms.

His mind zapped as if he’d been tased, and he lifted his head.

Dana. Her fragrant cherry-blossom scent held the pieces of his shattered heart.

More information rushed back.

Ali. Brick. The IED he’d seen pointed at the car and—

Dana again.

She lay beneath him. The sharp angle of the SUV told him it was on its side. Smoke and debris filled the air, thick and pungent.

Urgency flashed through him, and he brought his palm to Dana’s cheek. “Dana, wake up.” Hecradled her face, pressing his thumb against her chin. He didn’t dare shake her in case she had brain trauma.

Blood trickled from her temple, but that was the only sign of injury he could spot.

“Dana!”

She dragged in a shuddering breath, and her eyes wobbled open. “Zain.” She coughed and choked on the acrid air. She looked past his shoulder, taking in their dire fucking situation. “What happened?”

“We were hit with a bomb. Are you hurt?” He spoke loudly, and the deafening sounds of fire and cracking metal made him reach for her seatbelt before she answered.

“I—No. I’m okay.” She lifted her head, and he watched as her gaze turned distant.

“Hang on, honey. Don’t pass out on me.” He needed to get her to safety, but first, he needed to make sure there weren’t any more threats out there. He glanced at the driver. His eyes were wide, staring straight ahead. A piece of metal had impaled his chest.

Zain unclipped Dana’s buckle and caught her waist. Men shouted, and the scampering of feet on gravel sent fury pulsing through his pores. Adrenaline lit his flesh. He snagged both their bags and tossed them over his shoulder. They couldn’t risk losing their passports and IDs.

He wrapped his arm around her. He had tostand parallel to the bench seat since Dana’s door was against the ground. “We’re gonna have to climb through my window. Can you stand?”

She nodded again.

He let her get to her feet and shimmied up the length of the bench seat, bracing his foot on the front passenger seat for leverage. Thankfully, his window had smashed; he wouldn’t have to break it. The temperature in the SUV was rising rapidly. Sweat dripped down his face, and the sharp, nauseating scent of gasoline hit him. Christ, it was going to blow up any second.

“Climb to me!” he shouted, extending his hand down to Dana.

She lifted her arm, and he clamped his hand over it. Then she placed her foot next to his on the side of the passenger seat and climbed her way up until she was sandwiched between the back of the driver’s seat and him.

“Hold tight. I might need to shoot. But I’ll get you out, I promise.”

Crack,crack!

Bullets tinged off the vehicle. Zain ducked his head and kept Dana away from the opening. Her small hands gripped his shirt. He steadied his rifle, lifted his head a few inches through the window, and spotted the shooters.

The two men who’d bombed them.

Zain aimed and fired. Down they went. He quickly scanned the road. Ali’s SUV was headingin their direction. It was likely bulletproof. But he’d shoot everyone in the vehicle if he could—Brick included if need be.

Slinging his rifle over his shoulder, he caught Dana beneath her arms and hauled her through the window, lifting her to sit on the edge. “Hang on. Let me get down first.”

He quickly heaved himself through the opening, then slid to the ground. With every second that passed he anticipated the explosion. Ali must have had the SUV built damn well. “Jump!” he held out his arms, and Dana leapt from the overturned vehicle.

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