down Alexa’s back and crawled like spiders down her spine. And with every burst of gunfire outside, she felt the urgency for something to happen.
“I’ve got the shot. Just say the word.” Jessie clenched her jaw and aimed her weapon at Sayed’s head. “I can drop him before he even knows he’s dead.”
Jessie knew their objective was to keep Sayed alive. She was only bluffing, making the man feel the pressure of others in the room. But if Alexa gave the order, she had no doubt Jessie wouldn’t hesitate to crack open the man’s skull like a ripe watermelon.
“Take me. You don’t need to hide behind that woman. Take me instead.” Kinkaid said it, and there was no going back. His offer was on the table. And for good measure, he embellished his convincing argument.
“You said it yourself, I killed your men. And if it’s money you want, I can get it. But the nun is freed unharmed. That’s the deal.”
“Kinkaid, you have no authority to do this,” Alexa argued, keeping her eyes alert and her rifle on the target.
“You’re in no position to make deals. I decide,” the terrorist yelled. Adrenaline pumped through his body and made him jumpy. “…but what you say…I agree.” After consideration, the terrorist nudged his head at Kinkaid. “Drop your weapon and walk toward me…slowly, with your hands up.”
For once Kinkaid did as he was told. He laid his rifle on the floor, unsheathed his knife, shed his handgun, and took off his com link. Kinkaid had given up his store of weapons, but he was lethal without them. She only hoped he’d get a chance to demonstrate.
“Jackson, please don’t do this, not for me,” Kate pleaded with tears in her eyes. She reached for him, but Sayed twisted her arm and made her cry in pain.
“You sorry son of a…” Kinkaid lunged for the terrorist, but Ghazi sucker punched him in the gut with his rifle, cutting off his attack. When Kinkaid doubled over in pain, Alexa saw blood drop to the floor as he gripped his belly. He was bleeding again.
“Jackson, please…” Alexa wanted to help him, but the best way to do that was to keep her cool. “We could have worked it out. This didn’t have to happen. You should have trusted me.”
“I still have faith in you, Alexa,” Kinkaid said. “You’ll find Waldo. You always do.”
Sending her a message, he stared at her with his mesmerizing green eyes one last time. He’d given her the same look before he kissed her. A lifetime of regrets swelled to the surface and gripped her heart. She had a strong feeling this would be the last time she’d see him.
The exchange was made as Kate stepped toward one of Alexa’s men. Adam Booker grabbed the nun and pulled her behind him.
“And Kate?” Kinkaid called out to her. “Put in a good word for me with the man upstairs. I’ll need all the help I can get.” He forced a beleaguered grin and winked. His gesture brought on more tears from the exhausted nun.
“There’s nothing more I can tell him about you that he doesn’t already know, Jackson.” Kate wept. “God knows your heart. And that’s what matters.”
Before he could say anything, Kinkaid was yanked backward toward the doorway. Sayed had traded his knife for a gun and had him by the neck, with the weapon pointed to his head.
“If you try to follow us, he dies,” the terrorist warned.
Along with three armed guards, Sayed and Ghazi hauled Kinkaid up the stairs. Alexa searched her memory of the schematic that Father Ignatius drew of Ghazi’s compound. They were headed for the rooftop, but she had no idea why. What was up there?
“I’ve got activity on the roof, Martini One.” The voice of Manny Rodriguez, her sniper on the ridge, came on the line. “Not enough light to see.”
“Our target released the woman, but he’s got a new hostage. Our FNG is with him,” she told him. “What’s happening? Talk to me, Lone Wolf.”
She ran toward the stairs that led to the rooftop and peered around the corner, half-expecting to hear a burst of automatic gunfire aimed at her head. When that didn’t happen, she crept up with her eyes alert, taking a step at a time. Jessie and two more from her team followed. The others stayed behind to watch her back.
Alexa had her rifle clutched in her hand, ready to shoot. At the first landing, she crouched low and looked up the next flight. She heard a door close above her, but she resisted the urge to run toward the sound. Moving in too fast might get her killed. As she made her way up the next set of stairs, Manny came back on the line.
“The rooftop is lit up now. They’ve got a helicopter.” His voice sounded more urgent. “And they’re ready to take off. What’s your order, Martini One?”
Sayed had too many armed men with him to make this an easy play for a sniper. And with Kinkaid as a hostage, she didn’t have much choice but to say, “Stand down, Lone Wolf. I repeat, stand down.”
At the sound of the helicopter engine revving up, Alexa hit the last flight of stairs with Jessie and the others close behind. She rammed a shoulder into the metal door and dropped to a knee, taking cover by a mechanical housing unit. Jessie ducked near her and aimed her weapon. The helicopter sat on a helipad in a circle of lights. A sturdy brick wall near the aircraft gave them cover. That was why Manny hadn’t seen what was going on.
Why hadn’t the priest told them about the helipad?
When they realized they’d been followed, two of Ghazi’s men turned to fire. One dodged right and the other dove to the left. Alexa and her team opened fire as the rotors of the helicopter ramped up speed. The craft kicked up a stiff breeze and blew dust into her face as she returned fire. Sayed and Ghazi loaded Kinkaid into the helicopter. She had no idea how many were already on board, but the two men shooting their weapons had been left behind.
The helicopter lifted off the helipad. In seconds, it was airborne.
“Damn it!” she cursed.
Gunfire had them pinned down until Jessie wounded one of the gunmen. When that happened, the other man stopped firing and gave up. He raised his hands and shouted his surrender, but it was too late. Jessie and her team rushed by her to subdue the two men, leaving Alexa alone to watch helicopter lights fade into the distance.
She ached inside with frustration. Jackson had felt the need to control the hostage situation because of his lack of trust in her. And she had no one to blame except herself. Alexa understood him wanting to protect Kate at all cost. Had their roles been reversed, she might have felt the same, but comprehending his actions didn’t make the pain go away or the guilt disappear.
Kinkaid was gone. And her best hope of rescuing him alive had vanished too.
CHAPTER 21
The rooftop had been dimly lit until a brilliant display of lights blinded Sayed. High beams switched on and blazed in a circle beneath a helicopter with its rotor blades in motion and its engine whining. He had kept close to Jamal Ghazi, outpacing the men behind them. As they neared the craft, two of Ghazi’s men had opened fire. Sayed scrambled into the helicopter and hauled Jackson Kinkaid in with him at gunpoint. Only one of Ghazi’s personal bodyguards remained with them. With bullets whizzing by Sayed’s head, he ducked and used Kinkaid as a shield.
“Hurry,” he remembered screaming at Ghazi. “We have to leave…Now!”
Inside, Sayed cowered in the shadows with his gun still on Kinkaid. When the bodyguard shut the compartment, Ghazi yelled an order for the pilot to take off, then found a seat and buckled in. Sayed slammed the butt of his gun against the head of his captive until the man blacked out. He didn’t want to bother with restraints. He knew Ghazi’s man would secure Kinkaid once they got under way. Sayed rushed to a spot next to Ghazi and fastened his seat belt. He heard the bodyguard do the same.
As the helicopter lifted off the ground and lurched forward, bullets hit the fuselage. Rounds battered metal in a series of thuds. He ducked for cover. The sound reverberated through the passenger compartment, dulled by the roar from the turbine engine and rotor blades. When the assault from the ground ceased, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He had narrowly escaped. Allah had been with him. It was a sign. After several minutes, he took a deep
