She set aside her hurt feelings and focused on the present. She was in serious trouble. These men wanted to track down Hudson. They’d use her to recapture him. They’d harm her to make him suffer, and vice versa.
She had to escape before they got the chance.
Chapter 18
Hud jumped into action as soon as he caught sight of the gun barrel.
He swung down hard in a chopping motion, hitting the intruder’s forearms. The gun discharged with a loud blast and skittered across the floor. Hud struck again, pounding his left fist into the intruder’s rib cage. The man bent forward, stunned from the blow. Hud finished the job by slamming the butt of his pistol into the back of his head.
He slumped to the ground, unconscious.
Hud pointed the gun at him and checked the hallway for more assailants. They were alone. The man on the floor was the tall border guard Hud had tangled with yesterday. He was wearing his green uniform. Hud set aside his gun and stripped the man quickly. They were about the same size. Hud removed his own clothes, tossed them at the guard and donned the uniform. The boots didn’t work, but everything else fit well enough. Hud tugged on his green cap while the guard groaned and rolled over.
Hud trained the gun on him again. “Where’s Layah?”
He held up his palms in supplication.
“Where is she? Where is the woman?”
“No English,” he said.
Hud kicked him in the thigh he’d stabbed yesterday. The man screamed in pain and clutched his leg. “Answer my questions or I’ll shoot you,” he said with careful enunciation. “Where is Layah? Where is Al-Bayat? Where did they take her?”
“Jolfa,” he said. “Jolfa, Azerbaijan.”
Hud recognized the name of the border town. It was the location of the land crossing from Iran into Azerbaijan.
“Get up,” Hud said. “Get dressed.”
The guard muttered something in his native language and tugged on the clothes. He moved slowly, his jaw clenched. Hud grabbed a pillowcase from the bed while he was waiting. He also found a zip tie in the uniform pocket, which he used to secure the man’s hands behind his back. Hud dragged him to his feet and shoved him out the door. He covered his weapon with the pillowcase before they continued down the hall.
They passed the hotel clerk on their way out. Hud nodded politely. There was a Jeep with a government insignia parked on the street about a block away. Hud found a set of keys in his pocket. He moved toward the Jeep, his gun pressed against the guard’s ribs.
“Get in,” he said.
The guard climbed in the passenger side. Hud took a seat behind the wheel. He didn’t know how he’d save Layah, but he’d worry about that later. He traveled down the main drag and past the outskirts of town. Then he headed north, to the border.
He drove as fast as he dared, checking his rearview mirror for flashing lights. The hotel clerk might have called the police. Hud could get pulled over any time. Even if he made it across the border, there was little hope of a good outcome. But what else could he do?
Hud considered his options as he continued driving. He didn’t know who to turn to. Alerting the Iranian authorities wouldn’t help. They’d arrest him on the spot. He could stop the vehicle and try to call his commander, but he needed immediate assistance. The SEALs couldn’t mobilize quickly enough to save Layah. The nearest air base was hundreds of miles away. They’d have to deploy a Blackhawk, and they couldn’t even fly over Iran. It was a risky undertaking with astronomical costs, for a refugee of little consequence. His commander would never get clearance.
Yeah. Hud was on his own.
When he reached Jolfa, he followed the signs to the border. It was a small town with a land crossing in the form of a bridge. The layout was similar to what he’d seen in Nordooz. Security was tight on the Iranian side.
Hud had no idea if the guards here had been compromised by the Da’esh. He assumed there was a plan in motion that involved the Iranian police. They’d made a deal with the devil. Hud put the pillowcase over the guard’s head before they reached the checkpoint. He didn’t want anyone to recognize his captive.
“Stay silent or I’ll shoot you,” Hud said. He gave the guard a hard tap against the temple. “You got that?”
“Iaa.”
Hud honked his horn in greeting as they approached the bridge. It seemed like the thing to do, and it worked. He was in a border guard uniform, driving a government vehicle. The guards didn’t blink an eye at Hud or his hooded passenger. They waved him through without any hesitation. He accelerated across the bridge and kept going.
Then he was in Azerbaijan. That was it. He’d escaped Iran.
Hot damn.
He glanced in the rearview mirror, his blood pumping with adrenaline. No one was coming after him. There was plenty of trouble ahead, but none behind him. So far, so good. He reached out to tug the pillowcase away from the guard’s face.
“Now where?”
The guard gritted his teeth and jerked his chin to the right. It was in his best interest to cooperate. Hud was more than willing to shoot him in the leg or toss him out of the vehicle if he didn’t. The guard was at his mercy. Hud would try to exchange the man for Layah. He was a bargaining chip, nothing more.
If Al-Bayat was running the show, there would be no exchanges. Al-Bayat didn’t make deals; Hud knew that for a fact. The terrorist leader wouldn’t negotiate with him or release Layah for any reason. Hud wasn’t sure how to defeat him. He had no plan of action. He wasn’t used to flying solo, without a SEAL team to back him up.
The rendezvous spot was only a few miles from the bridge. The guard indicated a road on the right, which Hud followed to
