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Dangerous Attraction 13
Hunter slid his hands into his cargo pant pockets, his whole demeanorsoftening. She didn’t want his pity, but his concern felt nice. “Nothing further that I’ve heard, but he’ll be conferencing with the rest of us during the briefing. And if he heard anything, either you or I would be the first to know. Tom’s good that way. He’s got lots of connections to call on so he’ll be digging right now along with the State Department, don’t worry about that.”Why shouldn’t she? She was already worrying about another thousand things anyway. What was one more? She forced herself to nod.“Briefing’s about to start,” he said, assertive and self-assured. “I’ll check back in later.”“Okay,” she answered dully.He started for the door, waving at Ray to stay where he was. “I’ll let myself out.” His gaze cut to her again and she couldn’t help but respond to the kindness she saw there. “Try to get some rest if you can. I promise you we’re on top of everything. You’ve already come this far, right? You can
Dangerous Attraction 14
The four men with her in the vehicle seemed relaxed enough once they passed through the final military checkpoint in their journey, but Khalia’s stomach was in knots as they drove deeper into the northern part of the infamous Swat Valley. Hunter had come to her room late last night to give her a brief rundown of emergency and safety procedures for the school. He’d listed them quickly and calmly, stressed he was only reviewing them all with her as standard procedure, and when she didn’t have any questions for him, he’d left. Surprisingly, knowing the procedures ahead of time actually made her feel more secure and she’d managed to sleep until her alarm woke her well before dawn.Once known as the Switzerland of the region, it was easy to see why. If she hadn’t known it was Pakistan, she’d half expect to see Julie Andrews come running over the hill at any moment, dressed in a nun’s habit and singing her heart out. The high mountain peaks soared skyward, yet untouched by the coming snows,
Dangerous Attraction 15
Khalia went around the room to help some of the students. After they overcame their initial shyness about Zaid speaking to them, they listened carefully to her instruction. Straightening at one girl’s desk, a sense of unreality hit her. Miss Patterson, teaching arithmetic in an outlawed school in the tribalregion of the Swat Valley. Who would ever have thought that would happen?By the time they broke for recess she felt much more relaxed. The small windows set into the cinderblock framed distant craggy peaks that towered over the valley. Hunter and the others were out there somewhere, keeping watch over them all. At least for today.In the afternoon session she joined a primary class in their reading circle. When Khalia was invited to sit in the circle, one little girl around six years old came over and climbed into her lap. The trusting gesture completely melted her. When the student beside her took her turn reading aloud from the book, Khalia leaned over to look at the foreign scr
Dangerous Attraction 16
Through his high-powered binoculars, Hunter tracked the students’ steady progress across the grassy plain. Khalia was bringing up the rear, carrying a little girl. When she at last reached the emergency bunker and disappeared inside it, some of the tension in his shoulders eased. Good girl.“They’re secure,” he said in a low voice to Gage over the squad radio. “Let’s move.” Grabbing his rifle, he climbed to his feet and prepared to make the fifty yard run across the open space to a clump of bushes he’d chosen for his next cover.Currently making their way down the hillsides on two sides of the valley wall, the Taliban fighters seemed to be converging. So far Hunter’s team had spotted fourteen in total. That didn’t account for any others hidden from view or possible reinforcements coming in from other areas.Charging over the grass to his new position, he dropped to one knee and took another look around. “I’m in position. Dunphy, give me status.”The spotter’s steady voice came through
Dangerous Attraction 17
A new burst of gunfire suddenly broke out on their far left. The Paks, finallygetting into the fight. Hunter stayed flat on his belly and waited for the remaining targets to come close enough.“Three tangos down here,” Dunphy reported, confirming Ellis had already taken out three of his own targets. “Looks like reinforcements are coming down that trail. Four so far.”“Team leader copies,” Hunter replied, readying to fire his weapon at the next enemy. Bullets slapped into the cinderblock beside him, showering him with dust. His vision zeroed in on the closest man’s chest, sighting down the length of the rifle barrel.“RPG, incoming!”At Dunphy’s warning, Hunter and Gage simultaneously flattened against the ground and covered their heads a second before the round whistled over them and hit the north wall of the school with a loud bang. The ensuing explosion blew apart the cinderblock and shook the ground. Hunter grunted as the blast wave rolled through his body and chunks of debris rai
Dangerous Attraction 18
The sound of the gunfire was terrifying, but it was the sudden silence that filled Khalia’s veins with ice. A deathly stillness now engulfed the underground shelter as everyone held their breath. Only a single dim emergency light shone in the far corner, casting shadows on the rear walls. The front half of the enclosure was swallowed in blackness, increasing the sense of claustrophobia.Khalia clutched the little girl, Aisha, to her chest, struggling to stay calm in the suffocating tension. Everyone was totally still, afraid to move. She cut a glance ahead at Ray, who stared up at the trap door that led to the emergency shelter that had been built at her father’s insistence. The end of the firefight meant one of two things. Either Hunter and the others had eradicated the threat, or the Taliban had overwhelmed them and were coming to kill them next.Khalia swallowed hard. There was no place for them to go. Nowhere to hide but here.Hold it together. The girls are looking to you for a s
Dangerous Attraction 19
“We’ve gotta go,” Hunter said impatiently, dragging her forward.Khalia resisted, reluctant to leave them until she was sure they would be okay. “How will they get home? How do we know they’ll be safe?”“The military and police will handle it. We have to go,” he repeated. This time he jerked her forward hard enough that she had no choice but to follow. The sound of Aisha and her mother crying followed them down the hill to where a familiar black SUV was roaring toward them.Breaking into a fast jog, Hunter towed her toward it and yanked open the back door for her when it stopped. She barely had time to register that Gage was at the wheel before Hunter slid in beside her, pushed her across the leather and slammed the door shut. Zaid jumped in the front passenger seat. The tires spun as Gage hit the accelerator.“She okay?” Gage asked.“Yeah, but let’s get outta here,” Hunter muttered.“What’s going to happen to them all?” Khalia demanded, twisting around to look out the rear window at
Dangerous Attraction 20
They ate together without talking until the silence began to feel brittle. Watching him in between bites, she again marveled at his composure. Didn’t anything bother him? Unable to stay quiet any longer, she laid her fork aside and blurted, “How do you do it?”He looked up at her, white plastic fork poised halfway to his mouth. “Do what?”“Cope with all…this.” She waved a hand around to convey she meanteverything. “Compartmentalize terrible things so they don’t affect you.”Something flickered in his eyes at the last part and he looked back down at his container of rice and veggies. “Training and experience, mostly. I learned real quick that dwelling on things doesn’t do any good because it won’t changeany of it.”The decidedly cryptic edge to his tone made her certain there was a story behind the words. A thousand thoughts flooded her mind, none of them good. By comparison he’d gone through much worse than her today and yet he acted as though nothing out of the ordinary had happene
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