Meant to Be (28 page)

But what could she do about it? He had
the money and the power to fight her and could close all avenues to
future employment if she pushed him. He knew it. And he knew she
knew it. The quieter they both kept this, the better off both of
them would be.

Angela’s mind drifted back to Rad. She
would be a free woman. And he was an unattached man. Very
unattached if what her husband just told her was true.

She smiled to herself, walked over to
the bar, and poured herself another drink.

Chapter 26

Lauren thought she heard
Rad’s voice, and then watched him come into view, calm and
unruffled, as if daring anyone to halt or delay him. Dressed in
camo and armed to the teeth, he was all manhood and muscle, the
very picture of a soldier. When his eyes met hers it was with an
intensity that made her blush and a fearlessness that left her
enthralled.

He held out his hand. “I told you I’d
come.” His voice was smooth and measured and deep—the voice of
authority. She took his hand and suddenly he was no longer a
soldier and they were no longer in Pakistan. They were walking
along a lonely stretch of beach with water tugging at their ankles,
talking and laughing and embracing life.

Running her tongue across her dry,
cracked lips, Lauren swallowed the iron-tasting glob in her throat
and awoke from the dream that had seemed so vivid and real.
Breathing was difficult—and painful—so she tried to focus her
thoughts on a part of her body that didn’t hurt. But if there was
an inch of bone or muscle that didn’t involve a pulsing nerve
screaming with pain, she couldn’t find it today.

Despite the hurt, she lifted her hand
to touch her eye, wanting to see if it was open or closed. The cell
she lay in was dark and her face numb, making it impossible to
tell. When her hand was almost there, it was forced to a jolting
halt by a chain attached to her wrist and the floor. The pain that
flashed through her when she got to the end of its length was
excruciating, causing her to groan out loud.

She lowered her hand to her cheek,
which felt swollen and pulpy beneath her touch. It struck her as
funny that she wished no one would see her like this—hair dirty and
stringy and caked in blood. She accepted that her death would be
messy, but had hoped it wouldn’t be public. The fact that her
interrogations had been in English with a video camera running had
pretty much dashed that hope.

Lauren sat up with great effort and
leaned her back against the wall. The floor of the place where she
sat must have been concrete once, but now only a few broken patches
remained. For the most part, she felt only dirt and grime beneath
her hands. The stench that emanated from the filth suggested this
was not the first time it had been used as a prison
cell.

But the nauseating aroma
did not stop Lauren from attempting to take deep, slow
breaths.
Mind over matter
she kept telling herself. The fact her cell was
practically devoid of light provided some relief—no walls could be
distinguished. For all she knew, the room was huge… perhaps even
opulent and luxurious. She envisioned it as she wished it to be
until at last the claustrophobic panic subsided.

Lauren tried to count the number of
days she had been here. Two? Three? More? Time was lost to her now.
But what did it matter? She had won. The man who had been
responsible for planning the deaths of countless Americans had been
eliminated. Her goal had been accomplished. Knowing no American
lives had been lost in the effort and future lives would be saved,
made her feel fortunate, not sorry, for her current circumstances.
When she added up the lives avenged, the future lives that would
never be lost, and the terror network reeling from the removal of
their leader, she felt the tradeoff a fair one.

Added to that positive outcome was the
intelligence likely gained by Rad and his men when they seized
computers and communications from the house of a most-wanted
terrorist.

At the thought of Rad, a
tear unexpectedly squeezed through her eyelid to slide down
Lauren’s cheek. She remembered the briefing for the mission when
her eyes had first fallen upon Pops.
Why is
he here
? she remembered thinking. As
realization set in, her eyes had sought Rad’s and found them
waiting. They were not carefree and relaxed as she had remembered
them at the beach, but strong—so strong. Even from across the room
she felt the intensity, the concern, the solemnity of his
gaze.

Lauren laid her head against the wall
and closed her eyes as the recollections rocked her. Despite her
circumstances, she recalled the sensation of being held against his
strong body; of his kiss, so slow and thoughtful—and surprisingly
gentle. It was his ruggedness and vibrant power that had first
attracted her to him, but his tenderness and calm authority had
kept her entranced.

Drawing a deep breath, Lauren felt an
agonizing twinge in her lungs. It wouldn’t be long now. It couldn’t
be long—for the simple reason she couldn’t take much more. With her
vitality failing, a new pain ripped through her with an intensity
that closed out all else.

Not willing to succumb to the pain,
Lauren concentrated instead on the memory of Rad’s shirt on her
shoulders, the smell of it, and clung to that thought as she would
a life preserver in a stormy sea. It would be a sweet consolation
if she could have something of his to hold and feel—to die with—but
she knew memories would have to sustain her now. Anyway, she could
feel him with her. Feel him to the very marrow of her
bones.

A sudden peace washed over Lauren,
filling her heart with gratitude that God had shown her the path of
duty and given her the strength to follow it. All the vitality and
courage she would need for what was yet to come flowed from that
Source. She’d asked to serve and she’d served. She felt the pride
of it—and the weight of it.

Lauren drifted off while listening to
the wind whine through the crevices of the walls. But as her
thoughts returned to that distant beach, she recalled eyes full of
expression and a gaze that felt like a caress. The roar of pain in
her ears became the gentle roll of waves, her unconscious moans of
agony, the gentle call of sea gulls.

Yet when she heard the voices of her
captors approaching from outside, her body involuntarily shook
despite her mental composure. She did not fear what was to come,
but she wished it were over. No matter what happened in the hours
or the days ahead, she held onto her one consolation.

One life in exchange for the hundreds
saved.

I won.

“Our greatest glory is not in never falling,
but in rising every time we fall.”

—
Confucius

Chapter 27

Rad heard his phone ring
and blinked until he could make out the time—0200.

He closed his eyes before
reaching for it.
This can’t be
good
.

“
Radcliff
here.”

“
It’s McDunna, Rad. Get
dressed and get down to HQ. We’ve got a meeting in twenty
minutes.

Rad looked again at the time and tried
to clear the sleep from his brain. “With who?”

“
All kinds of high-ups…
CIA mostly.”

Rad sat straight up in bed. “They got
something?”

“
Apparently.” McDunna was
quiet for a moment. “I don’t know if it’s good or bad, Rad. You
need to be prepared for the worst.”

Again there was silence.

“
You still
there?”

“
Yeah, I’m still here.
I’ll be there in fifteen.”

Rad was already sliding into a pair of
pants before he even hung up the phone and was in his truck and on
the highway shortly after that. The crystal clear vibrancy of the
sky drew his gaze heavenward, and he couldn’t help but notice all
the stars shimmering against the velvety blackness.

Please don’t be up there,
Lauren
, he thought to himself as he
remembered her words about angel eyes.
You
can’t be up there.

No one introduced Rad when he entered
the conference room or even seemed to notice he was there. There
were ten men, most of them whispering in groups until one of them
cleared his throat and told everyone to take a seat.

“
Gentlemen, as you know,
we are in a precarious situation here with an asset in a sovereign
country and a fucked up mess for a press.”

No one said anything or even cracked a
smile.

“
The pressure on Pakistan
seems to be working. Of course, publicly they refuse to cooperate,
which they have to do to appease the fanatics. But secretly they
know they stand to lose a whole lot of money from the United States
if they don’t cooperate.”

He stopped and took a drink of water
from a bottle before continuing. “The Pakistani police raided a
house along the border last evening and found the video I’m going
to play for you. The CIA has a copy in Langley and is going over
every image to see if they recognize anything. I ask that you do
the same.”

With that he picked up a remote
control and hit the play button before walking over and dimming the
lights. All eyes went to the small projection screen at the head of
the table.

Rad’s heart thumped once in his throat
as he saw Lauren, sitting calmly at a table in a small, dimly-lit
room. She wore a brown and tan headscarf, which accented her dark
eyes and long lashes. Her arms were lying casually on the table
before her.

From off camera a voice could be
heard. Lauren answered the questions addressed to her in an
indifferent tone and appeared relaxed and confident, seeming to be
free of all knowledge or suspicion that any evil or danger
confronted her.

Name. Aminah Umar.

“
What do you do in
Pakistan, Aminah?”

Before she could answer, the camera
zoomed out so now both Lauren and the interviewer were in the
picture. The man had a long, scraggly beard and dark, angry eyes.
Rad gazed around to see if anyone at the table appeared to
recognize him, but their faces were blank as they concentrated on
the screen.

“
I’m the Lady Health
Visitor for this region.”

“
I see.” The man’s voice
changed and sounded strangely cold now. “And how long have you been
in this position?”

“
A little over a year.”
Lauren sat back in her chair. Her relaxed posture spoke of boredom,
but Rad knew the casualness on the surface masked something far
more complex. “I volunteered at first because I—”

The man held up his hand and cut her
off. “I see.” He chuckled and began pacing in front of her. “Well,
Aminah. I apologize for the inconvenience, but we cannot be too
careful… you know?”

“
Perfectly
understandable,” she said as she began to stand. “I assume I may
return to my home now.”

He studied her with slant-eyed hatred
that he did not try to hide. “Not so fast. First my men must
process your belongings.”

The video flickered and went black
before coming back to life. Rad’s eyes narrowed as he stared at the
image. There was a different interviewer standing in range of the
camera now. It was impossible to tell how much time had elapsed,
but Lauren’s clothes appeared wrinkled and stained as if she had
slept in them. Her hair was disheveled, and lines of fatigue marked
her face. Never had he seen anything so frail and
indomitable.

“
Aminah Umar.”

“
Yes.” Her voice cracked
with exhaustion.

“
What are you doing in my
country?”

“
I’m the Lady Health
Visitor for this region.” The words sounded mechanical, as if she
had already repeated them a hundred times.

“
And you take
pictures?”

“
Yes, sometimes I take
pictures.”

“
Why is it Aminah Umar,
you have pictures of these buildings?”

The man threw a stack of photos in
front of her.

She did not waver or hesitate. “I like
the architecture.” Her eyes went down to the table as if looking at
what he had thrown there. “I take pictures of unique…”

He cut her off angrily. “Why is it
Aminah Umar that this one—” He threw a photo on the table in front
of her. “And this one—were attacked by your government’s
forces?”

“
General Mohammad, I have
attempted to explain to you that I…”

His voice rose with fury. “Do not say
my name on video! Do you hear me? No more say my name on
video!”

“
I’m sorry,” she replied,
looking down. “I forgot.”

There was no doubt she had overheard
his name and said it on purpose, and that she did not think she was
getting out of Pakistan to tell it to anyone in person. She was
meeting her fate as Rad knew she would, demonstrating utter
coolness in her hour of deadliest peril. Her emotional resilience
was admirable… but it terrified him.

Lauren appeared to gaze down again at
the photos before her. “But this one, sir… this hospital we are in,
was not attacked.” She held it as if to show him, but as she handed
it to him she tilted it toward the camera. He grabbed it and ripped
it to shreds.