Trinity: Military War Dog (26 page)

“His drool alone would wipe out the audience.”

Grinning, she flung a wad of MRE trash at him.

He caught it, his mind weighted by the profound conversation. One he’d never expected from Hogan. He’d underestimated her. And on every count, she was right.

Talk about cutting a man down to size. Big chunk of humble pie, hand-fed by a woman he’d detested a week ago.

Heath glanced at her. Looked down, ashamed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t thank me.” Arms stretched behind her head, she closed her eyes. “I’m trying to convince you to get out. I want your job.”

Parwan Province, Afghanistan

“Back.” Darci caught the edge of Badria’s shirt and tugged her backward. “Farther.” She bumped against Alice, who scrambled back into the gaping maw of darkness.

Darci’s world spun, a feeling of lightness and swimming all at once. She shook her head, strained to see. If her head felt so light, why did her legs feel like lead weights?

Stumbling, she gripped Badria tighter, tumbled into the cave wall. Fire lit down her arm again. Darci steeled herself against the wave of nausea and light-headedness that wrapped her in a tight cocoon. When was the last time she ate? Or had anything to drink? At this rate, she’d never get Alice and Badria to safety. Propped against the wall, her arms still around the precious girl, Darci swallowed and let out exhausted breaths.

“What—?”

“Quiet!” That whisper had razor-sharp precision, severing Alice’s question. Though guilt bit at Darci, desperation and pain chomped into that guilt. She rolled her head to the side, to the other route of darkness, knowing that a dozen feet that way were two more tunnels. Two avenues of escape. They couldn’t see the light beams, so they didn’t know if they were being searched. And in the cave, noise echoed and popped off every surface with maddening clarity, making it impossible to know from which direction the noise originated. To the right, the way back to camp. More than an hour’s journey. They couldn’t do that. She couldn’t do it.

Banging her head against the wall did nothing to shake off the haze. Panic fisted itself around her heart—if she was blacking out, she wouldn’t know till …

Well, she may never know if they killed her.

Okay, genius. Do something
.

To her left lay the dual tunnels. There people were searching. No doubt the Chinese. Nobody else would be looking for them, at least not on foot. Not this fast.

So, if she led them out the wrong tunnel …

Searing, an image of Badria soaked in blood popped before her.

Darci squeezed her eyes tight. Okay, no good. Why did it feel like a brick sat on her chest?

Shake it off, Darci. Get them out of here—alive
.

“Okay,” Darci said in a whisper to her right, to where she imagined Alice hunkered. “We have to split up and—”

“No!”

“Listen!” Darci took a breath. “I’ll distract them, then backtrack.”

Only heavy breathing met her words.

Arms trembling, she guided Badria over her legs and toward Alice. Cold fingers latched on to Darci’s, the tiny fingers digging into her flesh as the little one yelped.

“Shh, shhhh.” In Pashto, she explained to Badria that she needed to go with Alice to save the others, that they’d meet up at the foot of the mountain. “It’ll be okay,” Darci said with little confidence. “Alice, take her. Get down the mountain. Get to Bagram, ask for General Burnett. Don’t stop for anyone and don’t talk to anyone else. Burnett. Nobody else. Got it?”

“What about you?”

“What was his name? Tell me who you’re going to talk to.”

“Only General Burkett.”

“Burnett.
Nett
, Alice.”

“Right. Burnett.” She huffed. “What about you?”

“I’ll be right behind you. Even if you can’t see me, just keep going. I’ll find you at the base.” There was a greater chance of not being able to evade the Chinese, of getting drilled full of holes. “Okay?”

“I … yeah.”

Mouth drier than the land around them, Darci gulped. She didn’t have much time. And she had to
buy
them time. “Then let’s do this.”

“Darci, wait.” Alice’s fingers swiped over Darci’s side, then caught her arm. “Are you … what are…?” A weighted breath. “Please don’t do anything … heroic.”

“Who?” She winced at the knife that sliced through her courage again. “Me?” Slinking back into the somber glow, Darci looked for movement.

“I hear something!” a voice shouted.

Darci pointed to the other tunnel. “Go!” She nudged Alice to prevent her from arguing.

Wobbling into a crouch, Darci fell back against the tunnel wall. A gasp behind her told her Alice was hesitating. “Go,” she ground out and pushed herself off the rocks and toward the opening.

Her feet felt like writhing snakes, tangling and thick. She had a mission. She had to get this done. Had to protect the others. The river of light drew closer, spilling over the rocks and glinting in her eyes. No, not just glinting. Glaring.

Hand just inside the lip of the cave, Darci paused. She closed her eyes, shutting out visual cues that would deceive her and trained her mind on the sounds outside. Wind. Cold, bitter wind. The temperature had dropped since they’d entered. Would Alice and Badria be okay? Would the storm hit before they made it to the base?

A bird squawked in the distance, but she could sift no other sound from the surroundings. They must’ve—

Rocks dribbled against each other.

A grunt.

Darci smiled.
Ready or not, here I come …

She drew in a breath for courage and blew it out.
God, help me do this. Help me to not get killed, so I can go home and have tea once more with Ba
.

A rumble of noise and shouts froze her. But only for a second—they’d spotted Alice!

Darci stumbled into the open. A three-foot ledge provided minimal protection against a fifty-foot drop. Her stomach squirmed as adrenaline exploded through her veins.

She straightened and turned toward the noise. “No!”

Her panicked shout stopped several men.

She widened her eyes in a pretense of fear.

Though she pretended to scramble away, Darci glanced back. To her pursuers, she’d look like a terrified woman. But for her, it was her reassurance that Alice and Badria would get away.

“There! It’s her—Meixiang! Grab her!”

Yes, come and get me
.

She went down. Glanced back and threw her arms up to protect herself against their blows.

Two men still followed the girls.

“Please,” Darci said loudly. “Don’t take me to Colonel Zheng!” In her periphery, the other two hesitated.

“Please,” she said in a begging tone. “Jianyu will kill me.” Okay, there was too much truth to that for her to fake. They saw it, too.

With one last glance to Alice and the little one, Darci surrendered to her fate. The major towering over her leered, then raised the butt of his weapon and slammed it into her temple.

            Nineteen              

FOB Murphy, Afghanistan

S
tretched out on his back, Heath stared at the slats of the bunk above where Jibril slept, a snore filtering the awkward quiet.
Scritch. Scritch. Scritch-scritch
. Heath lolled his head to the side where Trinity lay pressed against him, her legs racing to an unseen dream destination. Maybe she was making the same route he was—straight to Jia.

Three feet away, Timbrel lay on her side curled into the fetal position. Vulnerability cloaked her in a somber embrace. But he knew better than to think that girl was vulnerable. Then again … maybe she was. That tough-mama persona, the GI Jane attitude, probably concealed wounds beneath that stone mask. He’d never tried to find out.

Good thing he hadn’t made it into the chaplaincy program—he hadn’t been able to look past big attitudes and loud mouths to see a person’s wounds.

Because, in truth, explosive anger and powerful defensive mechanisms served one purpose: to conceal and protect what lay beneath the surface of that superficial display of strength.

So, what’s eating at you, Hogan?

A swish of material drew his attention to the top bunk where Aspen dropped back against the gray mattress. She stared up. Her chest rose and fell unevenly. She lifted a hand to her face. Wiped something …

Concern pulled Heath up, his elbow under him for support.

Aspen glanced over—then jerked her gaze away.

In that split second, her watery eyes cried out to him. No way he could let that go. God had put him here. Didn’t Hogan say something to that effect—that he had a purpose for being here? Heath climbed off the mattress. As he slipped over to the bunk, he heard Trinity sit up and start panting. He touched Aspen’s arm.

A tear rolled down her face, and as she brought her gaze to his, the tear splatted on the mattress.

Soundless, he mouthed, “C’mon.” Heath lifted Trinity’s lead from the table and motioned for the door. Behind him came the sounds of Trinity’s nails clicking on the cement and the gentle groan from Aspen’s body scooting across the mattress. Then the soft thump of her landing on the floor coupled with a sniffle.

“Hey,” said a drowsy Hogan. “Where you … going?”

“Nowhere. Rest,” Aspen whispered as she eased out and pulled the door closed.