Loe raamatut: «Deadly Memories»

ONE

They were coming. She could hear them arguing as they neared. After all these years, they still didn’t have a clue she spoke fluent Dari.

Ella listened closely. The reality of what they said threatened to crush her. It was the last thing she expected. They were planning to kill her.

What had changed in the past twenty-four hours? Alhasan’s orders had been clear yesterday. The men were to escort her to the location. She was being transported to the United States. She had a job to do. As long as she did it, he would let her live...along with the child.

The American. He’d visited her prison cell a handful of times, and in spite of Alhasan’s bragging, Ella believed he was the real person in charge. He’d spoken like someone who wielded a lot of power when he’d made it clear to Alhasan that he didn’t believe she would follow through with her orders in spite of Alhasan’s assurances.

If he’d ordered her death, where did that leave Joseph? She couldn’t think about what might happen to the child and not go crazy, and she couldn’t lose it. Joseph’s life depended on it.

For most of the day, she’d heard them moving things from the prison. She hadn’t seen Alhasan or Joseph again and her fear for the boy’s safety mushroomed.

Now, as the young men grew near, a new uneasiness boiled in her gut. Their conversation had become increasingly agitated. Someone was coming. They were in a rush to leave. Tying up loose ends. One of Alhasan’s young flunkies had decided she wasn’t worth risking his life to save hers.

Immediately Ella’s fighting instinct kicked in. She wasn’t about to die here in this cell. Not after all she’d given up to him. She needed help. God’s help.

Please give me strength, she prayed with all her heart as the key slipped into the lock and the door to her cell flew open, slamming angrily against the stone wall.

“On your feet.” One of the young men shouted the order at her.

Ella’s heart slammed against her chest. She slowly rose to a sitting position; the effort left her struggling for breath. Despair was close and she clamped down hard on her bottom lip until she tasted blood. She wouldn’t show weakness in front of them. Wouldn’t beg for mercy. She’d go out fighting for Joseph and for herself.

The yelling one moved closer. He had a knife in his hand. They were both so young. Barely teenagers and clearly new to Alhasan’s cause.

“I said on your feet,” he snapped as if trying to rally his confidence. He grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. A tidal wave of pain tore through her. She slumped against her captor, unable to stand on her own.

Her weakness took him by surprise. He shoved her away. “Turn around,” he demanded while slapping the knife against his leg. She was pretty certain neither of them had killed before. They didn’t have the look of hardened killers.

Concentrate!

She struggled to clear her jumbled thoughts. She would have only seconds to disarm them both and run for her life. Otherwise...

“Did you hear something?” the teenager standing guard asked in an uneasy tone. His partner didn’t respond. “I’ll check it out. You take care of her.”

Left alone, the young man grew increasingly anxious. “I said turn around.”

Ella slowly faced the wall, her pulse hammering in her ears. He moved closer. This was it. Her whole existence came down to just a handful of seconds.

He grabbed her and pulled her close. She slumped against him once more. This time it was all part of the ruse. She suppressed the revulsion she felt at being near him. She wanted him to think she was too fragile to fight back.

He raised the knife. With a final prayer for strength speeding through her head, Ella grabbed the hand holding the weapon. Surprised, the young man hesitated for a beat. It was all she needed.

Before he realized what she’d done, Ella twisted his arm behind his back. He yelped in pain as she squeezed his arm with all her remaining strength until the knife flew from his hand.

Acting on an instinct she didn’t know she possessed but could only believe came straight from God, Ella wrapped her arm tight around his throat and choked him. With every second ticking by feeling like an eternity, the young man finally lost consciousness and slipped to the floor at her feet.

Ella grabbed the knife and stumbled for the door. The effort of disarming her captor had greatly depleted her small amount of strength. Leaning against the door frame for support, she sucked in air. She had to find Joseph and keep moving. She had to get them both out of here before the partner came back. Because they would eventually kill her for failing Alhasan’s mission. Her gut instinct told her she couldn’t do what he wanted. She wasn’t the killer he’d tried to convince her she was.

Slipping from the cell, Ella eased along the dank, foul-swelling hallway that oozed water. Nothing more than a single lightbulb kept the darkness at bay.

She headed toward the right at a frantic pace, all the while hoping she wasn’t walking straight into the enemy’s arms. This was a part of the prison she’d never seen. On the rare occasions she’d been allowed to shower, her captors had insisted she wear a blindfold. Still, her sense of direction was keen. She was positive they’d taken her down the hallway and deeper into the depth of the prison.

The hall was lined with doors containing what appeared to be more than half a dozen cells just like hers. Was Joseph in one of them? Would she find him alive? Her stomach clenched at what those two young men might have done.

She tried the first door. It swung open freely and she stepped inside. Within the cell’s dark bowels she could see a crumpled mass on the floor. Joseph! She raced toward it and found the lifeless body of a man. It wasn’t Joseph. Relief rushed over her and threatened to buckle her knees.

Slowly, she knelt next to the man. He’d been dead long enough for rigor mortis to come and go. A single gunshot to his head.

Ella touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” She could only imagine what he’d gone through during those final moments before death.

A quick check of the rest of the cells proved they were empty as well, and her concern for Joseph’s safety intensified. Had Alhasan taken the boy with him to ensure her cooperation? She’d hold on to the hope that he would keep his word and she’d find a way to save Joseph.

With every move making it harder to breathe, Ella continued slowly down the hall while holding the wall for support. In her best estimate, the man she’d disarmed should be waking in a matter of minutes. Where was the second man? Time was critical. If they captured her again, she’d be dead.

The hall took an immediate ninety-degree left turn. Ella flattened against the wall and eased along until she could see the next passage. On her right was what looked like a rudimentary office. She slowly advanced toward it. Windows! They reflected a night sky filled with stars. She hadn’t seen stars or the moon or felt the sun against her skin in so long.

As she moved cautiously toward the exit, her legs were so weak she wasn’t sure how far they would carry her. Her hands weren’t much better. They shook with such tremors that it took several tries before the door opened in her hand. Alhasan had ensured that she had just enough food to keep her alive. But not enough for the possibility that she’d be strong enough to escape. What he hadn’t counted on as her uncrushable will to live.

She stepped through it feeling like a child on Christmas morning.

Ella glanced back at the prison that had been her home for more years than she remembered. She’d suffered greatly here. She’d barely been alive when she’d first arrived. The head injury she’d sustained when captured was so severe that she’d been in and out of consciousness for weeks after she’d arrived. When she’d woken up, she was in her prison cell, her memory gone. She hadn’t even known her name. The scar across her face and the one that parted her hair were permanent reminders of how close to death she’d come.

Ella was positive she wouldn’t have survived if it were not for the gentle care she’d received from the woman who’d shared her cell. She’d been barely hanging on to life, yet she recalled the woman talking to her about God. Praying for her. Singing soothing songs.

But her memory of how the woman had looked was fuzzy. Sometimes, if she closed her eyes, Ella could almost remember the woman’s face. She’d looked much like herself—or maybe it was just her memory playing tricks.

What she could recall with clarity was the day Alhasan took the woman away. After that, Ella never saw her again. She wasn’t sure how long it was before Alhasan brought her Joseph. Weeks. Months, even.

Her love for Joseph soon became the only thing that kept her going through the years. Leaving the prison without him now felt like she was deserting him. She didn’t know what to do. The thought of such an innocent child subject to Alhasan’s cruelty ripped her heart out. But she’d searched the cells. Joseph wasn’t there.

She would have to survive long enough to find him. To do that she had to keep moving. Put space between herself and the prison.

Ella dug out her necklace from where she’d hidden it years ago inside the small pocket of her jeans. Each time they’d given her new clothes, she’d carefully hid the chain in the same pocket while terrified that Alhasan or one of his men would find it. Always surprised when they hadn’t.

A simple silver ring with two entwined hearts dangled from the chain. She couldn’t remember where it came from, but through the years she found a small comfort in knowing it belonged to another lifetime. A happier time. Ella put the necklace on for the first time and started walking.

The simple act quickly took its toll on her weak body, forcing frequent breaks just to catch her breath. After she’d covered some distance, she took stock of her surroundings. All around was desert. To her left, mountains loomed against the night sky.

Where was she? Like she’d done endless times, she tried to recall the slightest memory of being captured, but it was useless.

Fighting back the hopelessness, she headed for the mountain range. At least they would provide some cover. She could watch the prison and surrounding area safely from there. Her gut told her Joseph was still nearby. She wouldn’t leave until she found him or she died trying.

That she’d escaped at all was a blessing. She would do everything in her power to save Joseph, and she’d leave the rest of it in God’s hands.

Ella had barely covered a quarter of a mile when something unsettling caught her attention. The ground beneath her feet rumbled with the sound of an approaching vehicle. She could see its lights. There wasn’t as much as a bush to hide behind. She was in the open and exposed. What if it was Alhasan? The thought threatened to take away what little bit of courage she possessed.

She was still standing, frozen in terror, when a Humvee came to a screaming halt in front of her.

The driver jumped from the vehicle with his weapon drawn. “Get your hands in the air,” he shouted.

His voice...his voice. She recognized it!

Ella sucked in a shocked breath, imprisoned by the intimate sound. Had she heard correctly? Maybe she was delusional and this was all part of a dream?

Fragmented recollections flew through her head. No, she was positive she knew his voice. She struggled to hold her focus.

“I said get your hands in the air,” he ordered once more. Ella hesitated for a second longer then lifted her hands, the knife she’d taken from the camp soldier still in her left hand.

This new threat quickly spotted, his tone turned deadly. “Drop the weapon. Now.”

She hurriedly let it go. The man moved closer and kicked the knife out of her reach.

“Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head,” he demanded while keeping his weapon trained securely on her head.

The faintest of memories teased her briefly then disappeared. How did she know him?

She silently prayed for the strength to do as he asked. Ella dropped awkwardly to her knees. Bile rose in her throat and she swayed back and forth, fighting to stay conscious.

She squinted through the headlights. If she could just make out his face...

The man shifted on his feet, and then she knew. With a mixture of shock and horror, her suspicions were confirmed. She definitely recognized him. She’d seen his face dozens of times in the photos Alhasan had shown her. This was the leader of the elite CIA team known as the Scorpions.

She’d seen photos for each of the team’s eight members. Alhasan had told her that Kyle Jennings had created the Scorpions after the war to fight the rising number of terrorist groups in Afghanistan and in an effort to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands. He’d raged on about the Scorpions’ interference in his activities and bragged about taking out key members in the past. Then he’d laid out what was expected of her if she wanted to save Joseph.

“I can’t believe it’s you,” she whispered in total disbelief, still not certain she wasn’t hallucinating.

This was the Scorpions’ leader. The man she was supposed to kill.

* * *

Somehow, Agent Kyle Jennings managed to hang on to his composure. Even weak and raspy, when she’d spoken she’d sounded exactly like...Lena. The thought struck home like a lightning bolt and he immediately rejected the notion.

Impossible. He’d buried his wife almost seven years ago when her badly burned body was discovered in the desert close to this same area. The overwhelming grief and heartache he still experienced every time he thought about losing her assured him there was no coming back from that. Lena was gone. And he had a purpose to fulfill.

He’d come here to meet Hadir after receiving an ominous text message from his asset. She was unexpected. What was she doing out here anyway, in the middle of a territory the military had nicknamed no-man’s-land for good reason? This Afghanistan desert terrain was under the control of the Fox, the CIA’s most wanted terrorist target.

Kyle recalled something disturbing Hadir had told him recently. The man had said the Fox had bragged about grooming a female operative for a critical mission that would shock the world.

And he was certain this woman recognized him. The only question was how? Because of the criticalness of their missions, anonymity was key. The Scorpion team members’ names and personal information were closely guarded. There were no pictures of the team in circulation. Their background files were kept in a safe at Scorpion headquarters in Painted Rock Valley, Colorado.

How would she know him?

With the lights at his back, he moved a little to the left so that he could see the woman’s face more clearly. Through the dust motes caught in the headlights, what he saw just about took his legs out from underneath him. She looked like Lena. Her hair—raven black—was the same color as Lena’s, although it was much longer and looked as if it hadn’t been cared for properly in a while.

But it was her eyes that really got to him. They were dark brown and soulful, like his wife’s had been.

His mouth twisted involuntarily at a memory. He recalled how he used to joke with Lena that at times it was as if she could look right through him. He saw the same expression in this woman’s gaze and it was gut-wrenching. Shocking.

He crushed the tiniest bit of hope taking life inside his heart. He couldn’t go there.

Kyle struggled to pull his thoughts together. “You recognize me?” The question came out sharper than he intended, mostly because everything about her unnerved him.

He waited for an answer she clearly had no intention of giving. She shook her head and stared at the ground.

Frustrated, Kyle glanced around the area. It was just the two of them, but clearly she believed she recognized him.

I can’t believe it’s you.

It didn’t sit well. Had she escaped from somewhere or was she part of a trap set by the notorious Fox? Her appearance certainly seemed to confirm someone who had been imprisoned. She was disheveled, her clothes tattered. Still, he didn’t like the fact that she’d appeared out of nowhere.

“Answer the question. How do you know me?” he barked, and she flinched as if he’d struck her. Kyle didn’t let up. He had to know. “What’s your name? Why are you out here alone?”

She closed her eyes. She appeared so frail—barely hanging on—so unlike his strong, confident wife.

Until he knew her true identity and why she was wandering the desert, he had to treat her as a hostile.

She swallowed visibly. “My name?” she managed, as if confused.

“Yes, your name.” Kyle didn’t try to hide his annoyance. She was fading fast and he needed answers.

“It’s...Ella...Weiss.” She didn’t sound very positive. “Please, you have to let me go. I have to find him.” Helpless tears filled her eyes. He watched her clench her hands into fists until the tears disappeared.

“Who do you have to find?” he asked, even more concerned. What was she doing out here alone? Who was she searching for?

She moaned softly, and it captured his full attention. He was losing her. Kyle rushed to her side. He wasn’t in time to catch her before she slipped to the desert surface.

He knelt next to her and felt for a pulse. It was there but weak. She had a scar that ran the length of her right cheek and another far more severe one that parted her hair. Someone had hurt her badly. He couldn’t imagine the pain she’d suffered. He turned her hands up and swallowed back anger. Her fingerprints had been deliberately burned off. They didn’t want her identified.

He couldn’t stop his thoughts from wandering back to Lena. He’d known the moment he met her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. They’d dated only a year before he’d asked her to marry him. Their five-year marriage had still been in the honeymoon stage when she’d disappeared. He shivered as recalled the horrible night he’d learned of Lena’s death.

Because of the effects of the fire, her body had been unidentifiable except for the wedding ring still on her left hand. The inscription “To the love of my life” was on the inside of the band. There had been no mistaking the ring he’d given his wife on the day they’d wed. But knowing she’d been wearing it was the most confusing part.

Lena had never worn her wedding ring on a mission before. As a seasoned operative, she knew better than to wear anything that might jeopardize her cover story. When he’d seen the band, he’d been shocked. It was a rookie mistake and one he was sure Lena never would have made. But then again, she hadn’t been herself in the days before she left for the mission. Something had been wrong, and yet she’d refused to talk to him about it.

Now, the similarities between his wife’s death and this woman left him unsettled. They’d both been found in the same area, and someone had gone to great lengths to keep their identities a secret.

Something around the woman’s neck caught his attention as it glistened in the headlights. A necklace. He lifted the chain in his hand. A small silver ring caught the light.

“What’s happening out there, Kyle?” He barely registered Sam Lansford’s voice coming through his radio. He couldn’t move. His body glued in place.

“Kyle, come in. Are you okay? Is that Hadir?” Sam said in a frantic tone. Sam had been the one to alert him to Ella’s approach.

As a former CIA agent himself, Sam was highly skilled, and Kyle trusted him to have his back. Sam’s hostage-retrieval team had been in Afghanistan on assignment when Kyle enlisted Sam’s technical expertise as a pilot so he could have a real-time view of the entire location in preparation for his meet with Hadir.

It had been through Hadir’s intelligence that they’d been able to confirm that the man in the photo that former Scorpion team member Eddie Peterson had smuggled out of a war zone was indeed the person Hadir knew as Alhasan. And the man they believed to be the Fox. For the first time they had a name attached to the notorious terrorist.

Kyle couldn’t get the last conversation he’d had with his asset out of his head. Hadir had told him Alhasan was preparing to move his entire operation. Their window to capture him was closing quickly. Was this the reason for tonight’s meet? Did Hadir have the location for the move? His asset’s message was so unusual that it had sent up all sorts of warning flags.

Kyle pulled his straying thoughts together. Too many people were counting on him staying alert.

With one final glance at the woman, he snatched up the radio. “It’s not Hadir. It’s a woman...” His voice trailed off. Although Lena and Sam had never met, Kyle had told him everything about his former CIA agent wife.

“A woman?” There was no mistaking Sam’s surprise. “Who is she? And more important, what’s she doing out here alone?”

Kyle wasn’t able to voice his suspicions. “I have no idea,” he managed while trying to shut out painful memories of his final moments with Lena. The argument they’d had. If only he’d known it was the last time he’d see her alive.

“I don’t like this.” Liz Ramirez, Kyle’s second in command came on the radio. “Something’s wrong, Kyle. Why would she be wandering around in the desert? This feels like a setup. We’re on our way.”

As much as he might agree, he couldn’t allow it. Hadir had been very specific. “No, Liz, I’ve got this. I need you to stand down until I give the order.”

Liz didn’t respond, but Kyle could read all her doubts in the silence. He shared them.

He scrubbed his hand over his eyes. Being back in the field had opened up old wounds.

With Jase Bradford running the day-to-day operations for the team, Kyle had realized he missed the action of the field and wanted to be there when the team brought down the Fox once and for all. He had a personal stake in capturing the formidable enemy—he believed the Fox was responsible for Lena’s death.

Still, nothing he’d seen to date prepared him for running into a woman who so strongly resembled Lena. He slammed the door on that possibility. He couldn’t go there and survive having his heart torn to shreds again, because not a day went by that he didn’t miss Lena terribly. Longed to have just another moment with her. Seeing this woman had brought all that back.

“Kyle, we’re picking up at least four vehicles west of you. They’re heading your way. Get out of there now,” Sam yelled into the mic.

Kyle grabbed the binoculars and spotted dust boiling up on the western horizon beyond the compound. Liz was right. It felt like a setup.

He raced back to the unconscious woman and scooped her into his arms. He’d managed only a couple of steps before an explosion split the night and shook the ground beneath his feet. The blast dropped him to his knees. Shocked, he glanced at the compound near where he was to meet Hadir. It had exploded in a firestorm.

There was just enough time to cover Ella’s body with his before a rush of ash and debris chased past them. Kyle could feel the heat from the explosion blast his back and embed bits of shrapnel into his exposed flesh.

In an instant, his misgivings for Hadir’s safety doubled. If Hadir had been anywhere close to the compound, he wouldn’t have survived...unless... An uninvited thought popped in his head, but he couldn’t let it take life. He knew Hadir. They’d grown close through the months of working together. Hadir was desperate to get out of the life he’d lived in the past. He wouldn’t sell Kyle out.

Kyle stumbled to his feet. Hauling Ella up with him, he charged for the Humvee. He deposited her in the seat, got in next to her and engaged the vehicle’s starter. It didn’t respond. He tried the radio, and his worst nightmare was confirmed. The explosion had taken out the Humvee’s electrical system. They were now sitting ducks.

“Hurry, Liz,” he murmured with urgency. Sam’s team would have picked up the explosion and Liz would dispatch a rescue team. Still, in the best-case scenario, it would take Liz twenty minutes to reach them from Bagram Air Force Base. That was the equivalent of a lifetime when facing off with an enemy. Anything could happen. He’d need some advantage to buy them time.

The woman beside him moaned softly and opened her eyes. She glanced around her surroundings and then to him. The second she saw him, she scooted as far away as possible. She was terrified.

I have to find him...