Final Vow (15 page)

“ETA of bird?” Ahmed heard Bridget ask while he cut back into the shadows and made his way arou
nd Sergei's suspected hiding spot.

“Fifteen minutes. Evacuate now.”

“Negative. Wait for my word.”

Ahmed smiled in the darkness
when he heard Bridget over his coms. His girl was breaking orders to make sure he had enough time to take care of Sergei.

“
Lion, forty seconds until the guard becomes visible.”

“Get your ass out of there,
Eagle. That’s an order from the top.”

Ahmed stopped and listened
for movement inside the tent. Nothing, dammit. He pulled out his knife and cut two of the ropes holding the flap down.

As he rolled under the flap
, his eyes widened at the colorful language Bridget used. Who knew this quiet woman could cuss like that. He particularly liked what she told them they could do with that drone if they didn’t wait for her order.

“I’m in,” he whispered and the voices in his ear quieted.
“It’s empty.”

“Get out,” base ordered.

“No. There’s things here,” Ahmed whispered as he pulled out a small red light to examine the papers on Sergei’s desk. “Base, do you see this?” Ahmed asked as he flipped through the pages of the ledger.

“Negative.”

“Sergei just bought a bunch of bomb-making material.”

“Does it say what it’s for?” Bridget’s hushed voice came through the coms.

“No, but there are empty cases of new guns as well, courtesy of your Russian friend out there. They’re planning an attack,” Ahmed said quietly as he scanned more of the room.

“Turn off the light and take cover. The Russian is coming your way. Do you want me to take him out?” Bridge
t asked in a cold, steady voice.

“Negative. I’ll handle it.” Ahmed crouched behind the empty crates and waited
. He was glad that he’d be able to talk to Boris.

The flap to the tent opened and an oil lamp was lit. The room was encased in a soft g
low of light as Ahmed hugged the shadows and watched Boris make his way to the desk. The big Russian moved papers around and started to look worried when he couldn’t find what he was looking for.

Ahmed stood and stepped from the shadows. “Are you looking for this?” He held up the ledger stuffed full of documents
and a pistol aimed right at Boris’s heart.

“You’re that guy from before. What are you doing in here with my books?” Boris put his hand on his gun.

Ahmed let his lips curl into a cold smirk. “I’m Ahmed. Now grab your gun with two fingers and toss it here.” Boris lost some color and did what he was told. “Where did Sergei take the bomb he made?”

“I don’t know. You don’t ask too many questions in my business,” Boris said as he rela
xed and rested on his ego.

“What kind of bomb was it?”

“The kind that goes
BOOM
,” Boris smiled cockily.

“
It’s too bad you can’t remember more. I do not give second chances.”

“You better hit your mark on the first shot. They’ll hear you. You’ll be de
ad in seconds,” Boris taunted.

Ahmed shrugged
. “Do I look like someone who would miss? Or someone who would care about a few drunken soldiers? Either way you will be dead, so I wouldn’t worry about it.” Ahmed pulled out a silencer and attached it to his 9mm. Ahmed’s lips curled as he saw Boris break out in a sweat.

“Okay. We talk,” Boris said as
if he were a salesman negotiating a deal.

“Bomb specs and location or you die in fi
ve seconds,” Ahmed said calmly.

“
Seventy-five pounds of Semtex. Like C-4, yes?”

“A half a pound is enough to take down a plane. What’s he going to do with
that much?” Ahmed held his gun steady even through his shock. He heard Bridget curse in his ear and knew the military would be scrambling for intelligence on this.

“I don’t know,” Boris shrugged.

“Wrong answer.” Ahmed lowered his gun a bit and shot.
Pfft
. The silenced shot hit Boris right in the knee. He screamed and fell to the ground. “Tell me now or I shoot again.”

“The scream has gotten you some attention. They’re not moving fast, but they’re cautiously
gathering their arms. Eight total heading your way slowly,” he heard Bridget say calmly.

“Bor
is. Tell me what I want to know.” Ahmed strode forward and placed his gun to Boris’s head.

“It was
to be broken up for multiple smaller explosions set off by remote. That’s all I know.”

“Drone ETA eight minutes and ten seconds. We’re lighting it up. We can’t risk anyone getting a phone call off to Sergei to alert him that we know
he has bomb materials,” Ahmed heard the base commander say into his earpiece.

“Did you kill the U
.S. ambassador to Yemen?” Ahmed asked as he dropped his gun to his side.

Boris gulped. “Why do you care?”

“I heard about it and was curious. It was a good shot from what I read.”

“Thank you,” Boris relaxed and Ahmed felt the anger coiling in his stomach. Boris thought the danger had past. “I’m sure you can appreciate the difficulty of such a shot. It was one of my best jobs. That and th
e bitch inspector from England.”

“The
nuclear inspector in Iran? The mother that led to a temporary suspension of further inspections?” Ahmed asked as he listened to the sounds of men’s voices growing closer.

“Yes,” he smiled. “
That shot was taken from almost a mile away.”

“This shot isn’t nearly
as impressive, but I feel pretty good about taking it.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Bridget
set her sights on the man closest to Alpha tent. The guards were armed with high-power rifles and were spreading out to surround the tent. It couldn’t wait any longer. “You done with Boris?” she asked as she checked the wind and made a slight alteration to her scope.

“Yes.”

“Good, you've got company. Two to the west, one to the east, two to the north and three getting ready to knock on the front door.”

“You promised to go. It’s time to keep that promise.” Bri
dget heard Ahmed say seriously.

“I lied,” Bridget told him as she placed her finger on the trigger.

“ETA six minutes, forty-three seconds. Thanks for the info from Boris, but it’s time to clear out now.”

“Walk out the front door in five seconds,” Bridget ordered him.

“Bridget!” She heard him say her name instead of using code but ignored him as she gently squeezed the trigger. Three quarters of a mile away, Yasin fell to the ground. Moving steadily, she squeezed the trigger two more times.

“Go! Go! Go!”
she yelled as she scanned the camp one more time, taking out a guard on patrol rushing toward the fight. Ahmed burst from the tent running full speed past the campfire. “You've got three at six o’clock and two more sleepyheads coming from Omega tent at your eight.”

Ahm
ed turned and threw a fragmentation grenade that had the mercenaries scrambling for cover. Bridget leapt up and grabbed her equipment. “Take the road. I’ll pick you up,” she yelled into her coms as the rocks and dirt caused her to slide down the path.

The ghillie suit was heavy, but she refused to let it slow her down as she sprinted for the car. She grabbed the corner of the tarp and pulled it off enough to leap into the driver’s seat. She looked like a desert ghost sitting behind the wheel as she floored th
e gas pedal. The SUV took air when she didn’t bother to slow down for the little dips and hills.

“I don’t have eyes on you. Where are you?”

“A quarter-mile from the camp.”

“Base to
Lion. Are you being followed?”

“Yes. After the explosion
, most stayed but two got into a jeep. They’re gaining,” Ahmed told them, his breath finally labored although completely in his control.

“I’ll take care of it. Be there in thirty seconds. Run faster.” Bridget thought she had a heard a chuckle before gunfi
re erupted.

“S
hit,” she screamed as she took the turn onto the main dirt road. The car slid on the loose dirt, but she was able to get it back under control in no time.

Up ahead she saw Ahmed coming over the hill with a jeep close on his tail. One man was leaning out the open door
shooting at Ahmed with a rifle. Ahmed didn’t bother to look over his shoulder. Instead he just raised his M4 and fired off several shots.

Bridget slammed on the br
akes as she opened the sunroof. The second the SUV came to a stop, she grabbed the military machine gun and stood up so that the top part of her body was sticking out of the sunroof. She opened the stand attached to the gun and set it on the roof while she locked the ammunition into place.

“Get down
,” she yelled to Ahmed. He dove to the side of the road and hunkered down against a boulder as she opened fire. The shells spit out the side as she shot at the jeep. The windshield shattered, the tires popped, and when she hit the gas tank, the jeep exploded with a
whoosh
.

Ahmed slammed his back against the rock and ducked his head. Within seconds, the night wakened to the sound of a fully automatic M60. He glanced up and the sight left him speechless. Bridget, still dressed as a desert monster, stood out of the sunroof feeding ammo into the machine gun as she shot at the jeep.

Suddenly, Ahmed felt a little foolish for worrying so m
uch about showing her his dark side. And for telling Bridget he was trying to protect her. He had been a patronizing idiot, he thought as the jeep exploded. She was the most amazingly beautiful warrior woman Ahmed had ever seen.

“
Lion, get your ass in the car.”

Ahmed pushed himself off the rock and
sprinted the short distance to the SUV as she pulled the machine gun back inside. She gunned the gas as soon as he was in the Range Rover. He held on as she spun the car around and took off.

“Time,
” she said calmly into her coms as her eyes focused on the dark dirt path.

“Sixty
-four seconds. Are you clear?”

“Yes. We’
ll be two miles out by then,” she answered. He eyed the speedometer and saw her approaching one hundred miles per hour on the flat dirt road

“
Are there any stragglers?”

“No.
Eagle took care of them. I grabbed as much documentation as I could find.”

“Roger that. We appreciate the as
sistance on this. Drive to Quseer. There’s a fishing boat ready to bring you to us.”

Ahmed looked behind them in the
side mirror and saw the camp go up in two explosions. Bridget didn’t bother to slow down but did release a breath.

“Visual confirmation of d
rone strike. We’ll see you soon,” she said.

“Looking forward to it. Base out.”

Ahmed felt like growling. Passion mixed with the adrenaline hit him so hard that he had to have her now. Bridget had seen his dark side and didn’t even flinch. In fact, she’d protected him. Ahmed was experiencing freedom for the first time in his life and he didn’t want to restrain himself anymore.

“Stop the car,” he ordered.

Bridget gave him a confused look but slowed to a stop. “Everything okay?” she asked as he ripped the helmet from his head and tossed it in the back with the communication gear. He grabbed her and dragged her across the console to kiss her hard, causing her to let out a quick yelp in surprise.

Bridget clutched her
shaky hands into his chest and held on as their tongues sparred. She felt him release her helmet strap and pull it off along with her coms. Ahmed reached blindly for the door and opened it. In one swift move, he picked her up and set her down outside.

When she reached frantically for
him, he lost what little control he had. She was his as he got her out of the ghillie suit. He didn’t bother to unbutton her camo but instead pulled it and the T-shirt underneath off in one motion.

“I can’t be gentle this time,” his voic
e rumbled.

“Neither can I.” S
he shoved him against the car and attacked his clothing. He’d never needed someone so badly before and he didn’t think he could wait one more second to have her. As soon as his clothes were on the desert ground, he had her naked with her legs wrapped around his waist.

“
You’re mine,” he hissed into her ear.

“That ma
y be, but you’re mine as well.”

Ahmed groaned as she bit
his lip and let his beast free.

* * *

Bridget couldn’t wait to get back to Keeneston. It had taken them almost a day to get to the base in Djibouti where Mo’s plane waited for them. It also didn’t help that the officers kept hitting on her. She thought Ahmed would snap; instead he seemed at peace while she nearly lost it.

After hours of
debriefing and examining the documents, she had had enough. Ahmed excused them from the fluorescent-lit room and ushered her into an empty office.

“Ready to go home, my dear?” Ahmed asked as she sat down on the bare desk in the middle of the room.

“More than anything.” She hadn’t slept in almost forty-eight hours and the only things keeping her going were Ahmed’s ge
ntle touches and stolen kisses.

“Let’s go. We’ve answered all we know and I already made copies of the documents.” Ahmed wrapped her in a hug and she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes for a moment
to enjoy the soothing sound of his heart.

“I somehow don’t think it will be that easy.”

“I’d do anything for you, my love, including breaking us out of this base.” Bridget looked up at his smiling face and raised her lips for a kiss. Ahmed immediately complied. His large, slightly rough hands gently cupped her cheeks as he brought his lips to hers. “Let’s go home.”

Ahmed led her from the room and stopped at the door to the interview room. “Gentlemen, we’re going home. Contact the
prince of Rahmi if you need to speak with me further.”

“You can’t go yet,” o
ne of the offensive officers said as he stood up, clearly ready to act important.

Ahmed’s face hardened and she saw the officer swallow hard. “Yes
, we can. If you want to ensure cooperation in the future, then you’ll thank us and let us go. Otherwise I’ll call the royal family and the media to let them know what really happened and that we’re being held against our will. I’m sure King Ali Rahman would gladly take credit for the mission.”

“Don’t forget I can make a little call as well,” Bridget smiled sweetly. “We really appreciate all the help
and the hospitality. Goodbye.”

She turned and w
alked down the hall with Ahmed not giving the officers a chance to argue. They wound their way through the base and out to the plane where Mo’s pilot was ready to go.

Ahmed held out his hand and helped her up the first step. Bridget felt her body relax
, knowing she was headed home. By the time she made it to the top of the stairs, she was half-asleep.

“Come, my dear. Let’s get you into bed.” As the plane took off
, Ahmed helped her undress and slide between the fresh sheets on the bed in the back of the plane. “I love you.”

Bridget rolled on her side and felt him kiss her temple. “I love you
, too,” she murmured. Ahmed slid one arm under her pillow and wrapped the other around her waist as he curved his body to hers. The warmth of his body and the quiet sound of his breathing soothed her to sleep instantly.

* * *

Sergei ignored the woman huddling naked in the corner of the room as he pulled up his pants. A message had arrived that had him worried. No one had been able to reach his compound for over a day. He didn’t bother putting on a shirt as he stalked over to the trembling woman.

He reached down and grabbed her brown hair in his fist and pulled. Sergei closed his eyes and tried to calm down. This bitch’s cries were getting on his last nerve. He pulled her across the marble floor to his door and flung it open
to where one of his men stood.

“Get rid of her and hurry back. We have an issue,”
Sergei ordered as he tossed the woman into the hall before slamming the heavy wooden door.

He strode to his desk and dialed the phone. Anger built as he waite
d for the phone to be answered.

“Hello, sir.”

“What the hell has happened?” Sergei barked.

“I was called this morning when Boris didn’t return to Russia. The boss is pissed,” Sergei’s man told him.

“Screw him. Why can’t the compound get in touch with us?”

“We tried everything to find out what was going on, but got nothing. Then just five minutes ago we found out why. Turn on the news.”

Sergei grabbed the remote and flipped through the satellite channels until he came to one of the twenty-four-hour news stations. He felt his blood boil as he saw images of Boris and Ghali on the split screen along with an aerial image of his compound decimated.

“Who did this?” Sergei screamed as he
smashed his fist into his desk.

“The Americans say it was an undercover operation,” his man told him.

“But you don’t sound so sure. Why?” Sergei asked as he tried to take a deep breath. He needed to focus and figure out a way to retaliate.

“
Because one of our men was in Quseer getting supplies when he saw a man and a woman get out of a Range Rover loaded with weapons. They torched the car and walked to the fishing docks.”

Sergei knew
who it was instantly. A man and a woman. “Shit,” he screamed as he threw the remote control into the plasma television so hard that the screen shattered. “Where are they now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Listen to the damn bug and find out,” Sergei shouted.

“They’re down. I mean, they’re working, but I think there was a short or something. We can’t hear anything clearly enough to make out what’s being said.”

“Are you stupid? They found them.” Sergei looked up at the ceiling and counted silently to ten. “Okay, here’s what we are going to do. I’m sending you a picture of the woman involved, Bridget Springer. If she’s not in Keeneston yet, then she will be soon. Send some men to pick her up and bring her to me. I don’t care what you do to her, just as long as she’s alive when she gets here. Barely alive counts.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sergei hung up and looked down at the devices sitting on his desk. Sergei’s mind was spinning with ideas of what to do to her. She hadn’t been deemed a threat, but he must have been mistaken if she was with Ahmed at the compound. He had completed five bombs so far and while this was an unwanted distraction, it played into his master plan. One thing he knew for certain. If he got Bridget, then Ahmed would follow.