Sunday. Hôtel Tfeila, Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Felix snatched at Lemine, catching a bit of the man’s shirt, but his momentum carried him out the back of the truck.

“Damn it,” Isaac shouted. He pounded his fist on the tailgate, but there was nothing else to be done.

Adam pushed the truck, the engine roaring. They sailed through the gates of the hotel with only twenty yards ahead of them and a SUV. Armed men clung to the outside, guns braced on their hip.

“They aren’t firing. Why aren’t they firing?” Isaac asked.

“Because they don’t want to hit Jackie,” Felix replied. “Sort of like when your girlfriend took on half a dozen guys.”

“That was different.” Isaac braced his shoulder against the wooden slats on the side of the truck and lowered his gun below the tailgate.

Isaac could argue all he wanted that it wasn’t the same, but the way Felix saw it, they were the same. Just because Isaac’s girl had a different skill set didn’t make the two women all that dissimilar.

The back window to the cab slid open.

“I can’t get a signal. Can any of you?” Kyle called back to them.

Felix dug out his cell, but there were no bars.

“They must be using some sort of jamming device to make communication harder,” Isaac said.

“Which they?” Kyle asked.

That was a valid question. Before they’d been looking at two clashing forces; the PPM and the military. But now there was a third. Whoever the men in black were, they weren’t on either side, and that meant another potential threat to their asset.

“We’re taking the long route just in case,” Kyle said.

Felix grit his teeth.

He didn’t like the sound of that. His instinct was to get Jackie out of here as fast as humanly possible. At this point he was willing to stow her in a suitcase if it meant speeding the process along.

They needed a plan to get Jackie out. The rest of them could make a break for it on the water, or hit the road south like they’d intended before. If they were able to get Jackie out of here, the heat would be off them and they’d have more options. He might not like putting her in the air by herself, but so long as she got out...

It was maybe a six-mile drive to the airport if they took the most direct route. He’d studied enough of the maps to have an idea what they were facing if they opted to go by back roads and off the beaten path. Not to mention that if those ways were blocked, they’d be backtracking and pausing to remove debris.

“If you’d known this was what you were getting into, you wouldn’t have signed on would you?” Isaac shifted. The only place for them to sit was on the crates, which meant they were at least partially exposed.

“Shut up, Isaac.” Felix wasn’t in the mood to joke. He seemed to recall a rather irritated afternoon in London with Isaac when it was his girlfriend’s life on the line.

Adam turned the truck, and they moved at a good clip a wide street. Instead of heading north along the N1 they swung south, curving around the Presidential Palace.

“Shouldn’t there be more guards here? People? Something?” Felix twisted to peer into store fronts and buildings as they passed.

“Yeah, last night it seemed like everyone was packed in here. Where’d they all go?” Isaac glanced at Felix, his face contorted.

“Duke said something about the military pulling back to its headquarters,” Shane said.

“That’s...miles from here. Did they roll out all at once or something? Why give up the Presidential Palace?” A lightbulb flickered on in the back of Felix’s head. “Because the parliament building is right outside the military headquarters. We do not want to go there.”

If they had even the slightest suspicion that the military was in on this coup they needed to avoid them. Parliament was a wild card in all this they hadn’t factored in yet.

The truck slowed to a crawl.

“What is it now?” Felix turned and peered through the slats.

“Blockade line,” Shane replied. He slid the window to the cab open. “Guns down.”

“Tell Kyle to find us a different route.”

Felix slid his rifle to the bottom of the truck bed. While they’d been granted limited permission to carry inside the country, he was willing to bet that permission didn’t extend to the rest of their gear. Besides, depending on who controlled the perimeter now, they might be in danger of having their equipment seized.

The truck didn’t stop, but it did make a series of tight turns through the abandoned defensive line.

“Where is everyone?” Felix peered around the street. Two burned up cars blocked most of the road, but the people were gone.

“I don’t know.”

The lack of a witty comeback from Isaac was sobering enough.

It wasn’t just Felix who was concerned about their situation. Everyone was. It wouldn’t take much for this hostile situation to turn fatal for any of them. They’d been lucky that since Felix had joined the team their worst encounter was rolling a van. Most jobs weren’t exactly dangerous, but others—like this one—made being in active duty sound like a cake walk.

The truck slowed even more and Adam turned off the main road onto a smaller side street.

They saw a few people peer out at them from behind curtains, but otherwise the inner ring of the city was silent. When they’d landed a few days ago people were already leaving however they could. It was probably safe to assume that anyone who could leave, had. Those left behind either didn’t have the means or were here for a reason. Thousands of people had fled the city, and why?

Because someone wanted to be King of the Mountain. That didn’t even bring the jewelry maker into it. There were levels of human cruelty Felix couldn’t wrap his head around.

When he’d told Jackie that he’d joined the Royal Navy because it seemed like the thing to do at the time, he’d been lying. He’d joined because the Björns of the world needed to be allowed to flourish and make this life a bit better. The way Felix had seen things, this was his way of protecting his cousin and people like him. Because someone had to do the hard work. Someone had to take a stand.

Like Jackie.

They stood up to the evil and intolerance. They forced change when they could.

Felix didn’t know how to be like them, but he could protect them. He could make it possible for Jackie to keep doing the stuff she was good at.

The truck screeched to a stop so hard the crates shifted. Felix grit his teeth, one of the black boxes wedging against his calf, pinning him in place.

Men yelled in a language he couldn’t understand—but he didn’t need to.

Felix lifted his rifle, searching for the threat.

Men in black and red PPM uniforms rushed out from the alley they’d just passed, weapons raised.

“Don’t fire,” Kyle yelled.

Felix’s finger flinched.

“Don’t fire,” Kyle said again.

“I count a dozen,” Isaac said.

“There’s just as many in front of us,” Shane said.

“Fuck me,” Felix muttered.

“I’m pretty sure man-on-man is illegal here.” Isaac didn’t crack a smile or even glance at Felix.

The truck door opened and Kyle got out. He spoke loudly, his words confident and clear though Felix couldn’t understand him. Someone answered and for a few moments they went back and forth.

“Anyone got a grenade on them?” Isaac whispered.

“Nope,” Felix replied.

“I’ve got a flash grenade,” Shane said.

“If we had a grenade, we could throw it in that second floor window it’d blow the side out and probably take more than half of them out,” Isaac suggested.

“That’s if I can get the throw in,” Shane said.

“True.” Isaac glanced at Felix. “You’ve got a better arm. Think you could?”

Kyle turned and strode back to the truck.

“Kyle, what are we doing?” Felix called out.

“Nothing we can do.” Kyle’s voice was grim.

Jackie glanced back through the window, their gazes meeting. Her eyes were wide and full of fear.

“They need you alive and unhurt, Jackie. Remember that,” he said. “Do whatever they tell you to do. Don’t try to fight this.”

“What the fuck?” Isaac peered around the side of the truck.

“Chill,” Shane said.

Kyle helped Jackie out from the cab of the truck. Felix craned his neck, trying to catch a glimpse of her, but with his leg trapped by the crate there was only so much he could see.

“We’ve just spent days keeping that woman safe and we’re just handing her over?” Isaac gaped at them.

“Twelve guys we can see—with guns—against us? We’re sitting ducks,” Felix said, pitching his voice low. He twisted, pushing the crate back into place and freeing his leg.

He glanced at Shane.

There was no way Felix was letting them get away with Jackie.

“They aren’t going to let us just drive out of here,” Isaac said.

“Maybe. They have to weigh whether or not they want to piss off other countries out of the gate.” Felix grit his teeth at the sound of an engine starting up. “Shane, want to pass me that grenade?”

Felix wasn’t willing to use a real grenade, not if they were the least bit uncertain about people being in the buildings on either side of them. Shane leaned forward and pushed the cylinder between the crates and the side of the truck. Felix reached down and snagged the device.

“Wait. Not yet,” Kyle said.

The engine Felix couldn’t see rumbled, the sound changing as the vehicle rolled away.

Jackie hadn’t cried or begged or anything. She’d looked at him with trust and faith that it was going to be okay. And it would be. Felix wasn’t going to let them take her and use her.

Someone in front of their truck yelled something and two guys stepped forward, knives in hand. To slash the tires?

“Now.” Kyle’s voice was more a whisper.

Felix pulled the pin and threw.

Both Shane and Isaac ducked their heads.

There wasn’t time for the men on foot to scatter. The flash grenade detonated, the boom rattling windows and shaking the nearby walls. The burst of light wasn’t as effective in the daylight, but the smoke provided enough momentary confusion.

Adam slammed on the accelerator and the truck shot forward. Felix peered through the sides of the truck at men throwing themselves out of the path of their vehicle. They careened around the corner, putting as much distance between themselves and the men on foot as possible. It wouldn’t take them long to recover and then they could have twice as many obstacles between them and Jackie.

The biggest problem Felix saw was that they had no idea where PPM would take her. To their leader? Some other location? How fast would they move?

The truck turned onto the N2. For what was supposed to be one of the busiest roads in the city, it was almost empty.

Except for another truck moving at a high speed away from them, plumes of dust rising in its wake.

Adam pushed their truck faster—and gained ground. Felix stood on the cases and held onto the wooden sides of the truck bed.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Isaac yelled up at him.

Felix didn’t reply. They maybe had minutes before the other truck turned off the road, had backup arrive, or something else go wrong for their team.

He aimed at the back tires, and exhaled, squeezing the trigger.

The left rear tire popped like a balloon. The truck swerved, but didn’t slow much.

Shit.

“We’ve got incoming,” Shane yelled.

Isaac couldn’t spare a backward glance.

He aimed at the other rear tire and fired.

Something hit the back of Felix’s helmet. He pitched forward, slamming his chin into the top of the truck before his knees gave way and he fell for what felt like hours. The world tilted, and he blinked at the sky, but he didn’t really feel the impact of hitting the truck bed.

Was he dead? Dying?

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Shane jerked on the shoulders of Felix’s vest, hauling him to the side of the truck and leaned over him.

Felix stared up at the other man and blinked.

Shane glanced down at him, eyes wide in panic, his face gone pale.

Was it that bad?

What about Jackie? He couldn’t die before they’d rescued Jackie.

Jackie lurched forward. She hit the front of the truck so hard it knocked the breath out of her. Splotches of color blossomed behind her eyelids. The men crammed into the back of the truck yelled over each other.

What the hell had they run into? An elephant?

She pushed up to her hands and knees.

None of the guards paid her any mind. They were too busy staring out the back of the vehicle.

She grasped onto the cab of the truck and hauled herself to her feet.

The sides of the truck were patched together canvas. She grabbed the edge of the material and pulled, but it had no give. A man grabbed her by the arm.

“No,” she wailed. It was useless, but damn it, she was tired of being hauled around like this.

A hand reached out and jerked her toward the edge of the truck.

“Shane?” She yelped his name.

“Come on. They’d rather us have you than them. Move.” He practically hauled her off the truck with one arm.

“What’s going on?”

“Felix got shot.” Shane kept staring back the way they’d come.

“What?” Jackie’s blood went cold.

Another truck squealed to a stop.

“Go!” Isaac ducked around a stalled, empty vehicle, Felix leaning heavily on him. At least he was standing. It couldn’t be that bad if he were mobile, right? Or was this a case of adrenaline pushing the body harder than it should?

“We’ll buy you some time. Go,” Shane yelled.

Jackie grabbed Felix’s arm and pulled it over her shoulders. She couldn’t think. Now wasn’t the time to freak out. She had to run. To get away and take care of Felix.

“Run,” Felix choked out. His voice was raspy and strange, not at all like him.

“Come on. Not without you.” She jogged, Felix keeping pace. They bounced against each other awkwardly at first until she found his rhythm. His steps were wobbly and uncertain, but getting better.

Kyle’s voice mingled with that of the PPM patrol behind them. She didn’t know what she could dare hope accomplish on her own, without the others, but she had to try.

They reached the sidewalk and kept going.

“We have to get out of sight. Find somewhere to hide,” Felix said.

“I know. I know.”

At the first opportunity, they turned down an alley, then turned again, working their way south and west. It was the best direction she could come up with since they’d been heading to the airport, anyway.

“Did I get shot?” Felix hardly leaned on her at all now. His arm was lose around her shoulders, more guiding than leaning.

“That’s what Shane said, but I don’t see any blood.” She stared at the side of his head, his clothes.

“Keep going. Worry about it later.” He planted his hand in the middle of her back.

“But—”

“Kyle isn’t going to be able to keep them there for long. When they leave, both those groups are coming after us. We don’t have the luxury of stopping for a non-life-threatening emergency.”

But this was his life. And that mattered to her. On the other hand, she wanted to stay alive—and free—so she could make it to that date. Getting to know Felix out here was just one part of who he was. She wanted to meet his family, share fries, have more time to get to know him. And that wouldn’t happen if they were captured.

“Can you jog?” she asked.

“I can.”

“Come on.”

She took Felix’s hand and picked up the pace. The arid air burned her lungs, but she kept going. She had to.

They jogged through alleys and down streets. Occasionally they saw a face, but not often. The whole city seemed to have evacuated.

“Keep going. Don’t look back. Go.” Felix’s voice was more ragged.

How much farther could he go? How badly was he hurt? Just because there was no blood didn’t mean he was fine.

Jackie glimpsed a sign for the airport.

“Felix, I don’t hear planes, do you?”

“Doesn’t matter. Keep going.”

“But where are we going?”

“Just move.”

“Where? Which direction?”

They could either follow what appeared to be a side street to one of the busier roads, or a lane that went into a small, gated community of condo-like homes. “We can’t keep going without some sort of goal, Felix.”

He peered behind them. What did he hear she didn’t?

“What is it?” she asked.

“You can’t feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“The rumble.” He bent and placed his hand on the ground.

“Who are you? Tonto?”

“We need to get off the street.” He glanced at the buildings, his gaze narrowing as he examined and discarded one then the other. “That way. Behind those gates. Cut through those to whatever is on the other side.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

They plodded forward down the lane. Without water and shelter soon, they’d reach the end of their rope. And where would that leave them?

“Stay back. Let me go first. We don’t know if anyone is in here.” Felix pushed her behind him and edged toward the gate.

A flash of  movement caught Jackie’s eye.

“Felix!”

Two men armed with hand guns stood. They were older, darker skinned and wore identical daraas trimmed in navy.

Felix reacted faster than she did, raising his rifle in response.

“Don’t shoot,” Jackie said once in Arabic then again in English. She held her hands up. “We don’t want to hurt anyone.”

The two men glanced at each other, but didn’t say a word. If she had to guess, they were the descendants of slaves, if not slaves themselves. It stood to reason they were either protecting their families, or told to be out here.

“We don’t want any trouble. We just—we need somewhere to hide. We can go somewhere else.” She kept her tone soft and hands up. “Felix? Back up.”

The man on her right lowered his weapon and side-stepped toward the other. Both of them held the guns out to their sides as though they were uncomfortable with the firearms.

“What are they saying?” Felix asked.

“I can’t hear them.” She glanced over her shoulder. She didn’t need to feel the rumble of diesel engines. They were close now.

“Davis? Are you the daughter of the gold man?” The man with the lowered gun stepped forward.

“Yes.” Jackie suppressed a cringe. “I’m Jacqueline Davis.”

“Come in. Now. Quickly.” The man unlatched the gate. The other frowned at her.

“What’s going on?” Felix asked.

“They want us to come inside.” She grabbed Felix by the arm and pulled him forward. “Come on.”

They were escorted through an archway that led into a private parking lot full of expensive cars. Faces peered over the railings, mostly women and children.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“This is the home of our master, Yenna M'Barek.”

“What?” Jackie gaped at the man’s back.

“What? What did he say?” Felix’s growing frustration was evident in the lines in his face, but she needed a moment to process this.

“This, all of this, belongs to Yenna M'Barek. He’s currently one of the most influential members of parliament.” She quick stepped to walk alongside their guide. “Where is he? Is he here?”

“No.” The man’s curt nod and clipped tone told her she wasn’t getting more from him. “This way.”

He gestured for them to enter the structure via what appeared to be a utility entrance. The landing led down, and up. Their guide showed them the way down, under the building into what were the inner workings of the building.

“Jackie, what the hell is going on?” Felix demanded.

“Not now.”

The man leading them jerked a door open and gestured into the dark interior.

“They’re here!” A woman’s voice echoed down the stone and concrete corridor.

“Hide here. We will keep them looking elsewhere. Go.” The man waved them into the room.

“Thank you. If you have a medical kit, my friend is hurt. Thank you so much.” Jackie grabbed Felix’s hand and hauled him into the room.

The door shut hard and fastened behind them.

“Did they just lock us in here?” he asked.

“Probably. This is a storage room.” She glanced around.

The room had rows and rows of shelves, bins and stacks of dry goods. Cans, bags, boxes, enough to feed a small village. They could easily find a dark, sheltered corner in here.

“Jackie. What the hell is going on?” Felix demanded.

“We might have lucked into the best hiding spot possible. This house? It’s not a condo. I was here once. The property is huge. It belongs to Yenna M'Barek. He’s been sitting on the parliament for a while. He’s the loudest progressive voice. I’ve never met him directly, but if I had to put faith in anyone in the government, it’s him. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still conservative and has a black-and-white view when it comes to the religious application of laws, but in terms of who I’d root for, it’s him.”

“Okay, but that guy wasn’t Yonni.”

“Yenna.” She squinted at the shelves. The only light they had came through frosted glass tiles at the top of the room, likely ground level outside.

“Sorry.”

“I don’t know who that man was. My guess? An employee. Someone who works for him, maybe a descendant of family slaves. He recognized me. How, why, I don’t know, but they’re hiding us. Yenna isn’t here, but he wouldn’t say where he is, either. Part of me hopes he knows where the president is. Maybe he’s with him?” She peered down a row into darker shadows. Before they hid, she needed to check out Felix. “Come over here in the light. I want to see if you’re hurt.”

She stepped into the largest pool of light and held out her hand to Felix.

“We have bigger problems right now.” He crossed the floor to her.

“Like what? No one is shooting at us, chasing us or even knows where we’re at right now. Just—humor me, please? Shane said you were shot and all I could think of was...” Her throat constricted to the point she couldn’t get a word out and tears prickled her eyes. She’d been running on adrenaline and survival instinct up until this moment.

“Hey. We’re okay, Jackie. You’re right. See? I’m fine.” He turned in a circle.

“Oh, my God.” She stared at the back of his helmet.

“What?”

Felix turned to face her and frowned.

She could only stare.

How was he still alive?

He pulled off his helmet, wisps of hair sticking every which way.

“Holy...”

She swallowed and ran her fingers over the back of his helmet. A dent marred the green surface, but otherwise it was fine.

“No wonder it knocked me off my feet,” he said.

“What happened?”

“I took the shot at the back tires, I face planted on the top of the cab then the next thing I knew I was staring up at Shane.” He placed his finger in the dent. “The bullet must have ricocheted off. I bet it was the fall that rung my bell.”

“That could have been a bullet to your head.”

“Yeah, but the ACH is good.”

“ACH?”

“Advanced Combat Helmet. I’ve heard stories of guys taking a sniper bullet to the head and keep going. Never thought I’d see it happen myself.”

Jackie wanted to know who’d developed the helmet and where to send a thank you card. She wrapped her arms around Felix’s waist and squeezed.

“I’m okay,” he said.

“You don’t know that. Sit.” She pointed at a stool near one end of the shelves. “I’m not a nurse, but I’ve had enough head wounds I know the drill.”

Felix obeyed her order, which was smart. She wasn’t going to cry when she could do something, and anything else at this point was energy they could conserve for more running later.

She stood over him and Felix obliged her by turning this way and that. She parted his hair and felt around for any obvious injury.

“There’s still a bump, and this part is sore, right?”

“Yeah.” He winced.

“You might have a slight concussion, but other than that—nothing I can see. This helmet saved your life.”

“That’s what it’s there for.” He blew out a breath.

She bent and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, taking comfort that for now, they were okay.

“What about the others?” she asked.

“No idea. Kyle took up the comms. I could call them, but what if they were taken prisoner and they trace the call back to me?”

“No one had signal earlier, anyway. What do we do?” she whispered.

“Stick to the plan. If we can’t get out through the airport, we head south, across the border and into St. Louis.”

“But, what about the others?”

“We agreed that our priority was getting you out of here. That’s the most important thing. Once we do that, the rest can be negotiated and figured out.”

“They could execute them, you know?” She swallowed and glanced away.

“One problem at a time, okay?”

A man’s voice echoed down the hall. Jackie tightened her hold on Felix and strained to hear what he was saying.

“Jackie?” Felix whispered.

“They’re searching the building.” She glanced around the room. “We need to hide.”

“Go down this way.” He nudged her between the shelves.

“You, too. Don’t just stand there.”

She grabbed his discarded helmet and scampered down to the very end of the row of shelves. Felix followed her to the furthest corner of the room where several barrels of mystery liquid were stacked two high. They squeezed between the wall and the containers, finding a tiny hidey hole barely big enough for them to stand smooshed up against the wall.

Footsteps echoed down the hall, coming closer, almost drowned out by the sound of their breathing.

Doors banged open.

Someone pleaded with those doing the searching to stop, but it wasn’t working.

Jackie groped for Felix’s hand, clutching it tight. She closed her eyes and whispered a prayer to whatever god was listening.

The seconds ticked by. She flinched at every bang and raised voice.

All it would take was one, too-curious person searching to find them. A flashlight shining off Felix’s gear.

“These are our storage rooms,” a man said, his voice strained.

“Open it,” another man barked.

“What are they saying?” Felix whispered.

“Sh.”

The key scraped in the lock. She gulped down a breath. The hinges made only the slightest bit of sound opening.

“What’s in here? What is all this stuff?” the barking man asked.

“Flour. Coffee beans. Sugar. All manner of sundry items. I’m sure there’s an inventory somewhere if you’d like to count them, too?” The long-suffering sigh was just about perfect.

“It’s awfully clean down here.”

“Would you prefer sand in your tea?”

“Show me the next room.”

The footsteps faded, and the door swung shut. Jackie didn’t breathe an easy breath until the lock clicked and the people moved on.

“Oh, my God,” she whispered.

“What the hell were they saying?” Felix asked again.

“Room by room search. We’re good for now, but I wouldn’t make any noise if we can help it.”

“Agreed.”

They’d come so close to being captured, Felix getting killed, and worse today. If they could survive this, she hoped they could survive whatever came next. And that both teams were okay. Val was somewhere out there trying to help people who couldn’t get out. The rest of the Alpha Team might very well be dead or in custody. There was no telling. All she could do was hope.