Tuesday. Presidential Palace Nouakchott, Mauritania.

“Felix? Felix!”

Jackie barely eased his fall to the roof. Between their weight and size difference, and her already being on the ground, he nearly flattened her.

“What happened? Roll him over.”

That voice, she knew that voice.

Val leaned over Felix, her face set in the hard lines and tight lips of the woman Jackie had first met. Together they got Felix lying on his back. Jackie ignored the burning in her side and instead felt of Felix’s chest.

He was soaking wet. With blood. His, hers, someone else’s? She was afraid of the answer.

“He wasn’t wearing a vest.” Jackie’s words were drowned out by the whine of the helicopter gearing up.

Val grabbed Jackie’s hand and stared into her eyes.

“I need you to focus right now. Those people are coming in this building and we can’t be here when they get here, understand? That is an angry mob, and they’re going to see any American as a mercenary. We’ve got to get Felix on that chopper.”

Jackie nodded and pushed to her knees. The first wave of dizziness smacked her nearly on her ass.

“I’ve got him,” someone yelled.

Kyle darted past her and scooped Felix up and over his shoulder.

“Come on.” Val grabbed Jackie’s hand and hauled her to her feet.

The pain stabbing up and down her side was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. She limped forward. Val wrapped her arm around and guided her toward the chopper.

“Are you hurt?” Val yelled.

“I don’t know.”

Whatever was wrong with Jackie, whatever injuries she’d sustained, were nothing compared with the sudden deathly pallor she’d seen on Felix’s face. Jackie stumbled into the helicopter and Val pulled her the rest of the way in so she sat above Felix on the bench while Val continued to examine his wounds. They were crammed into the chopper so tight there were men holding onto the sides of it.

The blades whined louder and her stomach did a summersault as the runners lifted off the ground and they were airborne. She glanced out the open doors, past the men holding on, at the sea of people pressing in around the palace on all sides.

Where had they all come from?

What was happening?

The fences were down in places, there were no guards to be seen. The few military style trucks the PPM had were rolled over onto their sides. And the great, Mad Max style bus sat in the middle of the roundabout, flames springing from the roof to curl toward the sky, sending plumes of thick, black smoke up to mingle with the clouds.

This was what greed did. It destroyed and killed.

She blinked back tears and focused her gaze on Val. Except a bit of pink caught her eye.

Zeina Razqa sat at the front of the chopper, a man next to her with a gun pressed to her ribs. She still had her nose stuck up in the air and no doubt thought she was due better treatment. Because she was rich or some other reason that had crawled in that rigid mind of hers. How could someone who created such beauty, be so ugly inside?

Jackie’s vision blurred, either from tears or the wind, it didn’t matter. The helicopter dipped and bobbed to the side on an incoming gust of desert wind. The man sitting next to her grabbed her around the waist. His hand clenched her side and the most excruciating pain radiated through her body. She gasped for air, sand getting stuck in her throat and blinked up at the face of someone she didn’t know.

The noise of the chopper was lessened and so was the wind. Instead people yelled. She pushed up, but the man leaning over her planted his hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

Jackie must have passed out. It was all a blur. One moment she was holding on and now she was lying down on the bench in the chopper.

“Felix? Is he okay?” She twisted and glimpsed his boots as he was carted off on a stretcher.

The red and white cross painted on the wall made more sense than the scrolling, Arabic print her brain was too muddled to understand.

“Okay, Jackie? They’re going to put you on the stretcher.” Val leaned into the chopper. “I need to go assist Dr. L, okay?”

Jackie held up her thumb.

The man at her side helped her up and out of the chopper. A stretcher waited just outside the reach of the blades for her, and a few feet from that, the still-standing Alpha Team members and what looked like some of Duke’s team had Zeina cooling her heels.

Jackie had so many questions.

Kyle peeled off and jogged to keep up with her.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Jackie,” he yelled.

“You keep saying that. I’m beginning to question your meaning of fine.” Her mouth was dry, her words hard to force out.

Kyle kept pace with her stretcher.

Despite being on the top floor of the hospital, patients lined the walls, sitting on the floor, makeshift pallets of linens, on extra beds. It was a miracle there was even a stretcher to get her off the plane. And she didn’t need it. Not like these people.

The men steering her stopped at what she’d consider the nurses’ station. It was the only empty place she’d seen.

“Where’s Felix and the others?” she asked.

“Okay, they’re going to assess you here, then decide where you’re going.” Kyle took up a spot next to her bed.

“I heard them. What about Felix?”

“I don’t know, okay?” Kyle focused on the nurse or doctor closing in.

The two of them cut the melahfa off her and lifted her shirt. She stared down at an open wound the size of her palm.

“The bullet must have gone through Felix and grazed you,” Kyle said, still in Arabic.

“Grazed?” She swallowed, tasting bile.

“When it left his body, it must have started to spin, churning up tissue.” Kyle pointed at the jagged bits of skin.

“That’s really shitty bedside manner.” She sucked down a breath, panic eating away at her shreds of calm.

“It’s superficial, right?” Kyle glanced at the doctor who agreed.

After a quick dressing and what looked like some over-the-counter pain pills Kyle helped her off the bed. Under normal circumstances, something as gnarly as her wound would mean time in the emergency department or more. But with so many wounded, there wasn’t time or space to give her the bed.

“Where’s surgery?” Jackie held onto Kyle. Whatever daze she’d been in since getting shot as wearing off and the pain setting in.

“Not sure. We’ll find it. Sit.” Kyle grabbed a clunky, old wheel chair for her and they set off.

“Where have you been? What just happened?” She glanced up at him. One moment everything was dire, and no hope existed. The next, well, she still wasn’t sure what she’d just seen.

“That’s a long story. The short version, well, Duke got plugged into a bunch of outspoken church leaders with the mosque and as it turns out they liked having a president they elected, who was not dead, by the way. Injured yes, but Val took care of him. They weren’t too keen about someone taking that away, so they did what people have been doing for hundreds of years. They fought back.”

Jackie closed her eyes. She had so many questions. How did Duke fit into this? What about the president? She couldn’t form the words, not with the sensation of bile slowly rising up the back of her throat.

“Surgery, this way. I think we’ve found it. Hey, look. There’s Adam.” Kyle eased her to a stop next to a line of chairs.

Unlike the rest of the hospital, the surgery waiting room was almost empty.

“Dr. L is working on Felix. Both Shane and Isaac are in prep and should go in soon,” Adam said.

“Who said that?” Kyle asked.

“The Canadian nurse.”

That should comfort Jackie. Dr. Lefebvre was a world class trauma surgeon. One of the best. But this was Felix. The man she hadn’t seen coming, and who’d put everything on the line for her and the man she still hadn’t gotten the chance to hash things out with. She slid further down in the wheelchair and stared at the tile floor.

She was going to lose her mom, she couldn’t lose Felix, too. She needed him.

“What happens now?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“We do what we always do.” Kyle grimaced. “We wait, and we hope the doctors can fix them.”

“I’m sorry.” Jackie sucked down a breath, causing a chain reaction of stabbing pains.

“This is not your fault.” Kyle went to a knee and took her hand. “None of this was your fault, understand?”

Then why did she feel responsible? If she hadn’t come here, if she hadn’t made herself a target, their team wouldn’t have been decimated. Her friends wouldn’t be trying to breathe life into the injured.

“You’re thinking right now how we could have avoided a lot of this, aren’t you?” Kyle asked.

Jackie nodded, too numb to answer.

“Look, if we weren’t here, Duke’s team wouldn’t have the intel they did to make the leaders of the mosque listen. They couldn’t have helped organize the people, find the president, or pull off that crazy plan of theirs. This could have been a completely different situation if it weren’t for you. Shit happens, and we deal with it. These are tough guys. They’ll pull through.”

Despite Kyle’s kind words, she didn’t feel any reassurance. These terrible and wonderful acts could have gone on without her. She should have waited, gone through the proper channels. But at what cost of life? All she’d tried to do was the right thing, but there was no one answer. If she hadn’t come when she did, more people would have died. People still might die today, she just didn’t know.

Wednesday. Al-Saddaaqah Hospital, Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Jackie couldn’t take her eyes off Felix for fear that if she did, he’d flat-line again.

Eight hours of surgery and all Dr. Lefebvre could say was he’d done his best. Jackie believed him. The man didn’t half ass anything. But this was Felix they were talking about.

She squeezed his hand, and still nothing happened. No response. Nothing.

They might never get the chance to butt heads and argue again. She could never tell him that this time he was right.

It’d only taken one bullet to topple the strongest man she’d ever met. One bullet to rip through his lung, nick an artery, and create enough internal damage that all they could do was hope, pray and wait. Val kept saying Felix would be fine that he was young and strong. But they’d almost lost him once, just after surgery when she’d been allowed back to see him.

That was hours ago.

She wasn’t yet convinced, but the longer they went without incident the better.

“Here they are.” Val’s English was strange after the near constant murmur of Arabic in the background.

Jackie glanced up. The curtain whisked aside and Val led some old and new faces all in her favorite color of green into the room.

“We’re running short on rooms, so we’re going to put Shane in here with Felix,” Jackie said.

“What about Isaac?” Jackie clenched Felix’s hand harder. She still had Isaac’s blood on her clothes.

“I’m here,” he called out.

A man Jackie didn’t recognize rolled him forward in a wheelchair while another kept a hand on his IV pole.

“Everyone’s okay then?” Jackie glanced at Val. She had her hundred miles a minute face on, hair up and wasn’t about to stop.

“Not everyone, but mostly, yeah.” Val glanced down at her. “Have you eaten? Showered? Slept?”

“No.” Jackie clenched Felix’s hand tighter.

“I’d suggest you do all three, and soon,” Val said.

“Why?”

“The Davis corporate jet should land any minute,” Kyle said.

“Of course it is,” Jackie muttered. Her Dad would no doubt be stopping here to head straight to his mines and check things out.

“Did we ever find out if they were cleared to bring blood?” Val asked.

“Wait—blood?” Jackie blinked up at Val.

“I have no idea,” Kyle said.

“Don’t quote me, but I think they are,” one of the newcomers said.

“Why is Dad’s jet bringing blood?” Jackie asked.

“When I made contact with Mr. Davis last night, he asked me what we needed,” Kyle replied. “I told him the hospital was in sore need of help. Blood, IV, short on staff, and he said he’d be here this morning.”

“Huh.” Jackie frowned. What was her dad angling to do?

“If that’s the case, we need a freezer truck to transport it.” Val closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t even know where to start with that.”

“I bet Duke can make that happen,” Kyle said.

“Have you seen him?” Val asked, her voice changing, going tight.

“No, not since yesterday. I’ll go make some calls, see if I can’t flush him out, or I’ll find a truck myself,” Kyle said.

“Let me know if you find out anything. I’ve got to get back down to surgery.” Val bent and gave Jackie’s shoulders a quick squeeze, then she was gone.

Jackie didn’t know what had happened to Val while they were apart, but Jackie would need to hear that story.

“Jackie?” Kyle knelt by her chair. “I’m going to hand you off to Grant and his team to get you to the airport, okay?”

“I can’t leave.” She clenched Felix’s hand tighter.

“Look, Felix is a fighter. If anyone can pull through this, it’s him. He’s got a lot to live for.” Kyle swallowed, his expression turning grim. “Your mom...”

God damn it.

How did she choose?

On one hand, her mom was mostly gone. The only thing left was her body. On the other hand, Felix could pull through and be fine—or he could die. There was no way to know.

If she stayed and Felix lived, she’d live the rest of her life knowing she passed up the opportunity to say her goodbyes to her mother. Felix had said one of his biggest regrets was choosing to not be there when his cousin passed. Was that a mistake she wanted to repeat?

“He’ll understand,” Kyle whispered.

“I just—what if I let go and...?” The flat hum of the heart monitor would forever haunt her.

“We’ll be here with him. He’s too stubborn to die with an audience.”

“Is there a direct flight I could take instead?” She didn’t want to leave Felix’s side to go cool her heels on an airstrip while Dad made nice with people.

“Your dad’s jet? It’s picking up a couple groups of Americans who got stuck here and Letpa’s going to hitch a ride home with him, too.”

“Oh.” Jackie frowned. “You mean he’s not here to do a walk through?”

“Look, none of us are your dad’s biggest fans, but I think you might want to consider cutting him some slack. He’s not you, but he’s also not Satan incarnate.”

“Are you sure?”

“Malick—the guy who brought you medical supplies and dinner—is driving you. Talk to him.”

“What about you guys?”

“Well, Felix and Shane won’t be able to travel for a few days. Isaac might go back with you if the doctor clears him. Adam and I are going to hang tight to pitch in where we can until they’re cleared.”

Jackie nodded. Her gut had decided her next move for her, but she didn’t like it. She squeezed Felix’s hand and eased it back to the mattress.

Val was right. Jackie needed to shower and eat before she was trapped on a plane for however many hours it would take them to get home.

“I’m going to go see about that truck.” Kyle straightened. “Grant only looks like he just ate lemons. Don’t let that sour face fool you, he’s a pretty alright guy.”

“Fuck you. Sorry, ma’am.”

Jackie barely registered Grant’s words. She leaned forward and smoothed Felix’s hair off his face. His braid had come mostly undone and she couldn’t fix it. There were so many things she couldn’t make right, starting with how they’d left off. Yes, she’d forgiven Felix for not telling her about her mother, but there was a lot left unsaid between them, a lot she wanted to work toward. Right now, she just had to hope they’d get the chance.

“Get better so we can go on our date,” she whispered for his ears alone.

She pressed her lips to his cheek, his cool skin sending a shiver through her. And not the good kind.

He had to pull through this. She was falling in love with him, and now she had to leave him.

A phone buzzed. She glanced at the man she thought might be Grant, who dug in his pocket and frowned at the screen.

“Looks like our transport is early, and ready to turn it around.” He glanced at her. “You good to go?”

“Yeah.” She nodded and glanced back at Felix.

Jackie would have to trust Kyle that Felix was coming home, and she’d get another go at this thing they’d jumped into.

She said her goodbyes to Isaac and Adam, then slid out past them with the rest of Grant’s team.

“Grant, right?” She glanced at the sandy haired man next to her.

“No, I’m Riley. Grant’s back there making sure our gear is ready to load.” He thumbed over his shoulder and winked. “Unlike Grant, I have a sense of humor.”

“I’m not going to remember your name.” Jackie groaned.

“We all answer to, Hey, you.”

“Oh thank goodness.” She followed a pair of the men in green down the stairs. What with the hospital packed, the elevators were only for people who needed it. Her legs worked just fine, so the stairs it was. “What is it you guys do?”

“We do the same thing as Alpha Team, but our client base is more corporate in nature.”

“I don’t think I understand...”

“Well, there are a lot of companies whose CEOs have to travel all over the world for business. Your dad for example. Their work takes them into places where they might be at risk, so the company can keep us on retainer. If something happens, we bring their person—or persons—home. We could have easily been the ones sent to retrieve you, but we were on a job already.”

“I see.”

She wove her way through the press of people in the main lobby, following the easy to spot Americans out through the front doors and into the blistering heat. The sun zapped what little strength she had and by the time she made it to the van she was ready to drop.

“In you go.” Riley helped her into the cool interior. A familiar face sat at the wheel, his wide grin infectious.

“Malick!” Jackie stared at the man who’d brought them medical supplies along with the food. Kyle had said he was here, but the fact hadn’t sunk in until she saw him. “What are you doing here?”

“Hello Ms. Davis. It is good to see you in better circumstances.”

“I’m so happy to see you.” Jackie grinned, grateful for this one bit of brightness. “How are you doing? Your English—it’s so good.”

“Thank you. Everyone in? Here we go.” Malick eased the van away from the curb. “My English is what got me this job.”

“What job?” It was so rare that Jackie got to meet people she’d helped, this was an unusual treat.

“I am an administrator in the trade offices.”

“That’s awesome.” She’d been eighteen, self righteous and stupid when she’d come face to face with the brutal reality of what life could be like here.

“Yes. Your father was doing his tour of the mines with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Your father looks at the minister and says—this is the kind of man you need running your office. Someone who speaks the language of the people you want to work with, and they hired me on the spot.”

“What?” Jackie gaped at Malick. Her dad had said that?

“Yes. Yes. Sometimes I miss the quiet life, but this? This is better for my family.”

Malick switched between Arabic and English, telling her stories of his wife and their children, their happy life. If she weren’t emotionally drained, she’d have cried to hear how Malick’s life had turned around. She had nothing to do with it. The only thing she’d done was open a door. It was Malick who’d worked hard to create a future for himself. By the time they reached the airport her side ached from laughing at the antics of his children, the quick wit of his wife and all the happy stories he had to tell.

They paused for the briefest of security checks before driving out onto the tarmac and the familiar Davis jet.

A refrigeration truck was busy being loaded by a few people while forklifts did the heavy jobs. The Lepta Team unloaded and quickly pitched in to speed up the unloading.

Jackie managed to get out of the van, but that was about as far as her reserves could get her.

Malick turned the van off and came around to stand next to her.

“Ms. Davis, would you mind if I said something?” Malick glanced at her.

“Not at all.” She’d spent the last hour listening to him.

“I came to know you, and then your father, through your family’s generosity to me. Over the years, I think I’ve gotten to know your father very well. When I left the mine, we only had our oldest daughter, but she made me think about you and Mr. Davis.”

“Oh?” She swallowed down her nerves, or tried to.

“You are a bright, burning star. You inspire people. You make change happen. But when you’ve done what needs doing, someone else has to carry the torch so we remember what the stars look like when they aren’t there to guide us. I wish I could show you the small ways your father improves the lives of those who work for him. He’s not you, but I can see where you get that spark from. I wish, as a father, you would give Mr. Davis a second chance.”

“It’s hard. I think about what I’ve seen him do, the things he won’t do, and it makes me angry.” She squinted at the plane. Yet here as an example of what Dad could do when he wanted to. It was no doubt a calculated move on his part, but it was the kind of thing that made a difference.

“It’s no secret you think your father should do more.” Malick leaned up against the van and turned to face her. “What I think you forget, if you don’t mind me saying, is that...our way of life here is simple. It doesn’t take much to make a difference, and Mr. Davis, he has to make that difference a thousand times over. I remember a meeting where a British businessman questioned why your father pays his miners more than the current going rate for physical labor. Your father said that he could get more work out of a happy man than a sad one. That the loyalty of his workforce was the difference. Jackie, I’ve known what it’s like to be a slave, and I know what it is to be a free man. Your father is a fair man. Maybe not a kind one, but he’s fair.”

Jackie could disagree with Malick’s estimation of her father, but not by much. When Dad said he would do something, he did it. His decisions might be based on calculated profit, but he’d never once been cutthroat or cruel—except at home. She didn’t need him to be perfect, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for a closer relationship with him either.

“Jackie.” One of the guys in green—Grant or Riley—waved at her from the top of the stairs.

“I guess that’s me.” She pushed off the van. “Thank you, Malick.”

He gave her a gentle hug and then she set her sights on the plane. She knew going to her mother was the right thing to do. Then why did the more distance between her and Felix coil the anxiety tighter around her stomach?