Danger Close by Kaylea Cross Read Free Book Online

doing everything she could to mask the terror trying to wind its tendrils up her spine. Keeping the light steady, she carefully picked her way down the tunnel. Don’t think about it, don’t think about it , she repeated to herself. “How far?”
    “Until we get to the cave on the other end. Few hundred feet or so.”
    Great , she thought sourly. She pushed away the panicky sensation in her chest and kept going, reminding herself that she wasn’t trapped in here. Yet. “You trust that guy?” she made herself ask.
    “No reason not to. They’ll keep us hidden and come for us once the soldiers leave the area.”
    No reason not to? “How do you know?”
    “Pashtun tribal code. It’s an honor thing.”
    “You believe him enough to risk our lives, waiting in here?” Being trapped in this tunnel with only two possible exits, in what could be a hostile village.
    “Yes.”
    His immediate response surprised her. Since she didn’t have a choice but to go forward now, she made herself walk on. The air in here was chilly, the stygian darkness ahead making her heart pound. Knowing Sandberg’s and Thompson’s big frames blocked the exit behind her intensified the fear. She was all too aware of the seconds ticking past, of the rock squeezing in from all sides, making her throat tighten more and more. Only she must not have masked her fear very well, because Sandberg’s low voice broke the silence.
    “You okay?”
    Not even close. “Yeah.” There was no help for it; she’d have to keep going until they reached the cave.
    It seemed to take forever for her to inch her way through the rock tunnel, her heart pounding a painful rhythm against her ribs with every step, but finally she noticed a lightening up ahead. She picked her way over the uneven ground and the crushing fear began to recede as the tunnel finally widened a bit. The light ahead grew stronger and stronger until she was able to see well enough to turn off her flashlight. At last the tunnel took a slight turn. Their footsteps began to echo slightly, alerting her that a larger chamber lay ahead.
    “Stop here,” Sandberg whispered.
    Without feeling like she was entombed in a rock sarcophagus, Erin was at last able to draw a full breath as she hunkered down and pulled off her ruck. “You hanging in there, Thompson?” she whispered.
    “Trying to,” he answered, his voice strained.
    Sandberg shifted behind her and lowered the other man to the ground. “Aim your flashlight on him and let’s check the wound.”
    She did, liking that he wasn’t pulling alpha male bullshit and actually treating her like an equal in the process. In the beam of light, Thompson’s bandages were soaked through with blood. Sandberg peeled the tape away from the edges to pull it back. The clotting agent was still doing its job, because the wound was only bleeding sluggishly despite all the stress just placed on it. Thompson was shivering as she added more Quick Clot gauze and re-bandaged the wound.
    Once she was done she switched off the light, reassured by the faint natural light seeping in from ahead. “Now what?” she whispered to Sandberg.
    “We wait for them to come get us.”
    Though she understood the basic tribal code and the sense of honor that ran deep among these people, she still thought it was a huge mistake to trust them with their lives. Honor was one thing, but she’d been over here long enough to know that allegiances here shifted as quickly as the weather. But if they left the cave now, they’d be exposed to the men now combing the hills for them. In the expanding silence she was aware of the thud of her pulse in her ears. “What happened at that checkpoint?”
    He shifted but didn’t answer.
    “It was you they were after, wasn’t it?” It was the only thing that made sense.
    He grunted.
    “Why?” she pressed, growing frustrated. After what they’d been through, she and Thompson deserved to know the truth.
    A deep sigh filled the space. “Long