Page 28 of ELITE Protection
One of the men boldly stepped out from behind a one-hundred-year-old tree and lifted his heat-shielding balaclava. Probably their entire suit was shielding their body temperature from the thermal satellite. It was no wonder the Atlanta ops center hadn’t detected them.
“Hannah, it’s time for you to come home and be with your husband.” The man’s gun was directly pointed at her.
Her jaw dropped and her eyes grew huge. “Aziz?”.
“Yes, my dear.” He chuckled. “You didn’t really think I was dead, did you?”
“But…but the colonel told me you were shot while trying to escape arrest.” Hannah’s face passed from confusion to anger and finally calculation.
“You can’t believe everything you hear.” A slash of white showed between his nearly black mustache and long beard. “Especially when it comes from a faithful follower of Al-Baghdadi. Part of what the colonel told you was true, I did escape…with his help.” Mockingly, Aziz asked, “Did you mourn for me?” He stared at her for a moment. “You did.” His smile was not one of pleasure but of satisfaction. “Good. I prefer my wives to love me.”
Anger flashed in her huge brown eyes. “I am not your wife.”
“The ceremony is only a formality. I claimed you over a year ago.” His gaze swept over her helmet, down her ski jacket to the snow pants. He shook his head. “You will need to learn to set aside Western ways. No man is allowed to look at my wives. It’s a good thing I brought you an abaya and niqab.” His gaze swept the area. “I will allow you to ski off this mountain in those clothes, but you will change into appropriate clothing before my men pick us up. We need to return to Iraq so I can properly bury my brother and take his place as Caliphate.”
Isaac watched in horror as the future leader of ISIS planned to kidnap the woman he loved.
Hannah shook her head. “That’s not going to happen. I’m not going anywhere with you, certainly not to Iraq. And you may think you have some claim on me, but you have none. I could never marry a man like you. My biggest regret in life was ever falling in love with you and, yes, I thought I loved you.” She looked directly at Isaac. “That was before I knew what real love was.”
Did that mean Hannah loved him? Isaac’s heart swelled.
“Snowman, Atlanta Center, what the hell is going on?” Karl’s voice sounded controlled, but concerned, in his ear. “Do you have company?”
Isaac didn’t dare speak. Although he had guns pointed at him, he certainly didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself than necessary.
“Blow once for yes, twice for no,” Karl ordered.
Through tight lips, Isaac expelled one burst of air.
Hannah’s hands were still in her pockets, and he saw the move. He needed to be ready for anything. They would take out the enemy and escape down the mountain.
Aziz slowly moved his head from side to side. “Oh, my sweet, innocent Hannah. You don’t understand. I will give you a choice, come back to Iraq with me. You see, with you as my wife, you can help me unite Syria and Iraq. Eventually, the land all the way through Afghanistan will be in my control. No one over there needs to know about your American citizenship. That will be our dirty little secret, but one we will use to get arms and billions of dollars in support from the United States to help establish my new government. Your politicians can all take credit for bringing peace to the Middle East, but we will both know it was you.”
Oh, fuck. Would she take the bait?Aziz would use her as a pawn in his game for power and domination while beating her bright spirit into submission.
But Isaac was not going to let her go without a fight. Very slowly, he moved his hand toward the small of his back where he’d tucked a .45 caliber pistol.
“Snowman, how many tangos?” Isaac was glad Atlanta Center was on board. He released three short bursts.
“And what’s my other choice?” Hannah’s voice was surprisingly steady. At least she hadn’t jumped on his first suggestion.
Aziz shrugged. “I kill you now.”
Bam.Bam.
“Not if I kill you first.” Hannah had shot Aziz in the thigh, very close to his manhood.
A second man crumpled to the ground.
Isaac had whipped out his gun and shot the other two men. One bullet went through the man’s helmet, and Isaac caught the second man in the shoulder as he fell to the ground.
“Go,” Isaac screamed to Hannah. She was ready to move but he didn’t even have on his skis.
“I hear gunshots,” Karl announced in his ear. “What’s going on?”
“Too busy to talk,” Isaac replied.
Hannah used her pole to knock Aziz’s gun out of his hand then dug both poles into the snow. She shoved off down the mountain, zigzagging through trees.
