Page 68 of Sweet Betrayal

She watched as a small group darted forward to the concrete blocks. They hunkered down, weapons pointed through the cracks.

“Abu-al-Rashid and his men are farther forward. There’s another barricade closer to the enemy line. We need to see if we can reach it.”

Hannah felt her pulse jump erratically. “Are you sure?” She couldn’t even see beyond the concrete blocks. Who knew what was out there? Bombs, snipers, enemy fire.

“There could be snipers out there,” she whispered, worriedly.

“There probably are,” Tom confirmed with a shrug, as if it was inevitable. “We’re going to have to take our chances. Stay low and against the walls, and you should be okay.”

“I don’t know if I can do this, Tom.” Her legs refused to move.

“You have to.” He faced her. “This is the only way.”

She reached under her robes and pulled a piece of paper out of an inside pocket. “Here. I want you to have this.”

He frowned. “What is it?”

“You know what it is.”

Last night, before she’d gone to bed, she’d found a pen and a piece of paper and written down the addresses of all five of the safe houses mentioned in the official memo.

He stared at her. “You didn’t’ have to.”

“I did. If anything happens to me… if I don’t make it out… you can still stop this war.”

She couldn’t live with herself if it had been in her power to do something to save these people and she hadn’t.

He touched her face. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“You can’t make that promise.”

“Get down!” yelled Jamal, as a high-pitched whistle cut through the air.

Tom threw his body on top of hers just as the building next to them exploded in a ball of fire.

CHAPTER 27

Afierce gust of hot air engulfed them, singeing their hair and clothing. Chunks of concrete, glass, and metal tore through the street. Her ears rang with the shock of impact.

Hannah lay still until she felt Tom shift above her, then she exhaled.

Thank God, he was okay.That was the second time in as many hours that he’d taken the brunt of an explosion.

He lifted his head. “You okay?”

Trust him to ask her that. “I’m fine. You?”

“I’m good.”

Slowly, they sat up. Tom was covered in a fine layer of dust, a cut seeped on his forearm where something sharp had nicked him, and there was a graze on his cheek, just beneath his eye. Still, she drank in the sight of him. Once again, he’d saved her from harm.

“What was that?” she asked, wondering if she really wanted to know.

“Felt like an RPG.” He got up, shook himself off, then helped her to her feet.

Jamal darted over, looped his arms around both of them, and led them to the safety of the barricade.

“Get down.”

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