No Turning Back by Kaylea Cross Read Free Book Online Page B

the last bite of stale bread down her tight throat. Pulling a thin sweater from her bag, she extinguished the reading light, plunging the tiny room into darkness and settled on the dirty floor with her lumpy pack as a pillow. Shivering in the cool night air, she closed her eyes and sent out a prayer that all this would be over soon.
    Hang on, Nev. I'm coming.
    She'd start by getting over the Iranian border someplace and then make her way overland to Afghanistan. Then she'd hit Kabul. That's where she'd start her hunt. On her own, or maybe with one of her teammates if she decided it was worth the risk to contact them. She wasn't sure how she was going to get there, or what she was going to do once she did, but... Somehow, she would get there and find a way to free her cousin. Nev would have done nothing less for her.
    The next morning, Ben went through the market one last time hoping to find Sam, and had to hold down a growl of frustration when he came up empty. He'd gone to the alley she'd sent the latest text from. She'd left nothing behind except that signal and vanished like smoke. He was disappointed, but not surprised she hadn't left any further clues for him to follow. Although why had she let them trace it at all, if she'd turned it off before they found her? She'd asked for help, he'd answered by telling her they would if she came in, and then hadn't heard anything back. Why was she still running?
    It bothered him that she'd disabled the tracking device. It smacked of subterfuge. Since he knew firsthand how good she was with electronics, he had to assume she hadn't done it by accident. They were dealing with one smart lady.
    He and Davis had been out here for hours now, trying to find any sign of her, but so far they'd both come up empty. Why wouldn't she have just come to the TOC, or called one of them to meet her and escort her there? Why all this paranoia, unless she was guilty? Even Rhys didn't have an answer for that, and he had an answer for everything. Almost always the right one, too, which annoyed the ever living shit out of Ben.
    His phone beeped. He snatched the thing from his belt and waited for the text message to show up. The digital display hit him like a punch.
    Will come in. When and where? S.
    Thank Christ . Letting out a relieved breath, he dialed Rhys back at the TOC. “Hey,” he said when his brother picked up. “Sam just texted me. She's going to meet me. Can you trace the signal so I can find out where the hell she is?”
    “Just a sec.”
    Watching a robed woman pass with three youngsters in tow and a baby on her hip, Ben could hear the keyboard clicking away in the background. His gaze darted around. Come on, he thought. Just one break.
    “Got it. Ready?”
    “Yeah.” Yet as Rhys relayed Sam's location, Ben's heart started to pound. “Christ, I'm about two blocks from there,” he said, already running in that direction. The market was crowded, slowing him down, but once people saw him coming wearing a tense expression they made room real fast. He had to find Sam before she took off and got lost in the sea of people. Surveillance and counter-surveillance were two of his specialties, so if she was out here, he'd find her eventually.
    Dodging a truck full of fruit, he tore around the last corner and scanned the alley where she'd sent the text from. No Sam.
    Swearing, he whipped down to the next intersection and searched up and down the street. He caught sight of a woman struggling as a man dragged her into a waiting car. His heart hammered. She was the right height, the right build to be Sam, and it was too much of a coincidence she would be accosted in that location. Then she screamed. In English.
    “ He-e-elp !”
    “Sam!” he yelled, but she couldn't hear him.
    She flailed against her attacker, but he manhandled her toward the back of the vehicle. Fear for her made Ben's stomach knot.
    “Jesus.” He sprinted down the street, trying to get the license plate as the man shoved her