Three Courageous Words
Elle James
Once, he had to leave her behind . . .Will she now trust him with her life?The woman he just rescued is the one "Buck" Graham Buckner lost when he had to pull a vanishing act. Now the Navy SEAL has to get Angela Vega out of Sudan before danger comes for them. But will he lose his heart in the bargain?
Once, he had to leave her behind...
Will she now trust him with her life?
The woman he just rescued is the one “Buck” Graham Buckner lost when he had to pull a vanishing act. Now the navy SEAL has to get Angela Vega out of Africa before the warlord he came to the continent to find kills them both. But the beautiful physician has children in her care, so they embark on a treacherous journey to protect them. Now Buck has a new mission—rekindling the love he never forgot.
Mission: Six
ELLE JAMES, a New York Times bestselling author, started writing when her sister challenged her to write a romance novel. She has managed a full-time job and raised three wonderful children, and she and her husband even tried ranching exotic birds (ostriches, emus and rheas). Ask her, and she’ll tell you what it’s like to go toe-to-toe with an angry three-hundred-and-fifty-pound bird! Elle loves to hear from fans at ellejames@earthlink.net or ellejames.com (https://ellejames.com).
Also by Elle James (#ulink_a147e6ba-da34-5edb-a765-5479b7e9c489)
One Intrepid SEAL
Two Dauntless Hearts
Hot Combat
Hot Target
Hot Zone
Hot Velocity
Navy SEAL Survival
Navy SEAL Captive
Navy SEAL to Die For
Navy SEAL Six Pack
Discover more at millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Three Courageous Words
Elle James
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
ISBN: 978-1-474-07915-0
THREE COURAGEOUS WORDS
© 2018 Mary Jernigan
Published in Great Britain 2018
by Mills & Boon, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. This edition is published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, locations and incidents are purely fictional and bear no relationship to any real life individuals, living or dead, or to any actual places, business establishments, locations, events or incidents. Any resemblance is entirely coincidental.
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www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
To my husband, who swears he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body, for giving me the idea to have a villain warlord who conscripts young boys into his terrorist army. When I ask my husband for help brainstorming, I see the fear in his eyes.
This time, he came through!
Contents
Cover (#udaed709e-f64e-55bd-b3fb-f6314e1bb358)
Back Cover Text (#u14f1c43f-25bf-559e-b60c-fd1ba36b62ca)
About the Author (#u302d65b9-9fb1-5aa7-ad1e-89b6d52c3d73)
Booklist (#ulink_4d7b1064-d982-5fb5-87df-7ab2d7c368e2)
Title Page (#u7d301bd6-0752-59c4-94a6-8f7b883e11f1)
Copyright (#uc0bd550b-228f-5a9b-b0a9-2da47bcc0ff6)
Dedication (#u25c4e6a7-cc0d-52cb-abc9-1a0e84bd4472)
Chapter One (#u7b25da64-0ecd-5fed-a2f1-b333014b16ad)
Chapter Two (#uf1808ed5-46ff-564d-a3c7-651b12076671)
Chapter Three (#u87fba72f-cc93-52db-a547-6728c7c6c864)
Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One (#ulink_1d1987c8-64a3-5d4b-b003-7defe763a6ec)
“R&R is over, team.” Navy SEAL Corpsman Graham “Buck” Buckner clapped his hands together as he walked across the fourth floor of the bombed-out apartment building in Bentiu, South Sudan. “It’s time to do what we do best.”
“Yeah, Buck.” Diesel lay prone, staring through the sight of his M4A1 rifle with the SOPMOD upgrade. “And what’s that? Lying around in the heat, waiting for something to happen?”
“Men, we’re here on an important mission.” Buck grinned. “So what if it’s hotter than Hades outside and we haven’t had a breeze in over a week? We’re here to get our man. Let’s do this.”
“Shut up, Buck,” T-Mac said. “Nothing’s stirred in this godforsaken town since we got here.”
“That doesn’t mean it won’t. The intel guys said we’d find Koku here. My gut tells me it won’t be long before something happens.”
“Your gut is telling you that you’re hungry.” Pitbull tossed a packet of meals ready to eat at Buck. “Feed your gut.”
Buck ducked, letting the MRE packet fall to the floor, unheeded. “Seriously, we’ve been in worse situations where we all almost died. This isn’t that bad.”
“At least our enemies weren’t boring us to death,” Pitbull said. He pulled a photograph from his pocket and stared down at it. “We could have spent two more days at the All Things Wild Resort, enjoying our last little bit of rest and relaxation.” He sighed. “I wonder if Marly’s packing her apartment in Nairobi right now. I’d like to have been there to help her.”
Harm snorted. “You’re just afraid she’ll say, What the hell was I thinking, falling for a navy SEAL? She might change her mind and stay in Africa.”
Pitbull’s lips twisted. “Yeah. I guess I am afraid of that. Why would she give up her life here in Africa to be with me?”
“Yeah, who’d want to give up a life in Africa?” T-Mac quipped. “It’s such a bowl of cherries, what with pirates, warlords and tribal wars everywhere you turn. Think of the excitement she’ll be missing.”
“And why wouldn’t she want to be with you?” Diesel asked. “Some women like ugly mugs like yours.”
“Hey, you found a woman here,” Pitbull reminded him. “And you’re no Mr. GQ yourself.”
“Ha! Wait until she realizes he snores like a freight train,” Big Jake murmured from his position on the other side of the room, holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes. “You and Diesel are just mad you didn’t get to spend more time with your women—now that you have women.” He glanced back at them. “Get over it. Like Buck said, we have a job to do. Let’s do it.”
Buck crossed to where Big Jake leaned his elbows on the rubble that had once been a wall. “Anything?” he asked, staring out at the buildings they’d been surveilling since they’d arrived.
“Not much,” Big Jake said. “Our old man with the mule cart is passing in front of the compound now. You could set the clock by that man. Same time every day.”
“I’ll take watch for now,” Buck offered.
“Good. My eyes are crossing.” Big Jake handed the binoculars to Buck. “If you’re not going to eat those MREs, I will.”
“Knock yourself out.” Buck rubbed a hand over his flat abs. “My belly isn’t over the brisket with au gratin potatoes I had for breakfast.”
“We tried to warn you about them,” Harm said.
Buck couldn’t deny it. Harm had told him it would mess him up. His stomach was still burbling four hours later. “Yeah, well, I’ll listen next time.” He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and focused on the structure on the other side of the bombed-out marketplace.
The intel guys had identified the compound as one that General Ibrahim Koku frequented—a local government facility where he had friends conspiring with him to make life hell for the people of Sudan and South Sudan.
The general was a defector from the South Sudan Army and the self-appointed leader of the Sudanese People’s Resistance Army, which had been terrorizing South Sudan for the past fourteen months, killing entire populations of villages and conscripting children to be part of his army. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he was also the primary reason US aid wasn’t getting to the starving people in refugee camps in Sudan’s Darfur region, or anywhere else, for that matter. He’d stolen food, medical supplies and even the vehicles transporting them.
And when US money was being thrown away on aid, the American government sent in their boys to fix it. So, instead of enjoying a full week off for much-needed rest and relaxation, the SEAL team had been called back to duty from their Kenyan safari vacation two days early. And for what? To sit in the heat of the sub-Saharan desert and roast like pigs on a spit.
They didn’t know when the general would show up, just that their mission was to take him out when he did.
Buck expanded his view to take in more of the surrounding area. A couple blocks to the south, a crowd of women gathered, growing in number as the woman in the center raised her fist to the sky, probably shouting something. From the distance, Buck couldn’t hear what was being said, but the crowd responded, chanting something he couldn’t understand. As one, the crowd turned and marched down the middle of the street, headed north on the same boulevard where the general’s compound stood.
In the opposite direction, a number of blocks away, a motorcade of black SUVs sped south, on a collision course with the women staging a protest.
“Heads up,” Buck said to his teammates. “Things are about to get interesting. Motorcade coming from the north.”
Diesel shifted his body and weapon. “Got the vehicles in my sights.”
“And what looks like a riot coming from the south,” Buck added.
“A riot?” Harm asked and hurried to where Buck stood to see for himself.
Big Jake, T-Mac and Pitbull took up positions against the crumbling walls.
“Holy crap, if those women are on a mission to protest our favorite general, they’re going to be slaughtered.”
“What can we do?” Buck asked.
“Nothing,” Big Jake said. “We’re not here to stop them from protesting. We’re here to take out Koku.”
Buck glanced toward the oncoming motorcade. “Yeah, but—”
“No buts,” Big Jake said. “We’re here to stop Koku’s reign of terror. The end. No side trips to the mall, no flirting with the local girls.”
Buck lifted the binoculars again and focused on the woman leading the march. Unlike the others, who were dressed in brightly colored head scarves and dresses, the woman’s head was bare. She had dark hair, dark eyes and much lighter skin than the other women marching. And she wore faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt with a red design and black lettering. “Guys, is that woman wearing a Doctors Without Borders T-shirt?” He handed the binoculars to Harm.
“Damn. She is,” Harm said. “And she’s not Sudanese.”
“What the hell is she doing?” T-Mac asked.
“I don’t know, but I’m going to get closer before all hell breaks loose,” Buck said.
“Stand down, Buck,” Big Jake said.
“If that woman is American, she’ll be worse than killed,” Buck said. “Let me get close enough to find out. If she’s American, I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Big Jake shook his head. “You can’t jeopardize this mission because some do-gooder has decided to march against a murdering terrorist.”
“I can’t do nothing.” Buck lifted the binoculars again. Something about the woman seemed familiar. Maybe it was the way she walked or flipped her hair back over her shoulder, but whatever it was brought back memories he’d thought long forgotten. “I’ll get her out of the way before the motorcade gets there.”
Big Jake’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t do anything to make us miss this opportunity to take down Koku.”
Buck stood and held up his hand as if swearing in court. “I promise.”
Big Jake jerked his head to the side. “Go. But don’t do anything stupid, and don’t give yourself away. We’ve got your back, but don’t force us to expose our position. There’s too much riding on this mission’s success.”
Buck pulled on one of the long white robes called a dishdasha, worn by Sudanese men, and settled a white turban on his head as he ran for the stairs leading to the ground. He only had a couple minutes to get to the marching women and decide what to do before the motorcade arrived.
Keeping to the shadows, he ran along the walls of the bombed-out building between their hideout and the compound. If he were spotted, his white skin would stand out, even though most of it was covered. His tanned face and hands were not nearly dark enough to match the skin of the Sudanese men.
As he arrived near the street where the women were marching, the motorcade of black vehicles rolled into sight.
Buck cursed. If he made any kind of move to get out in front of the mob of women, he’d be picked off immediately.
Instead, he waited in the shadows for the leader of the march to pass. As she neared, a knot formed in his gut next to the one created by the MREs.
He knew her. Buck knew the woman leading the march. At least, he’d known her back in Chicago, what seemed like a million years ago.
How in the hell did she get here, half a world away from where he’d first met her?
Now more than ever, he had to get to her, to pull her out of harm’s way before the motorcade reached them.
Women in brightly colored clothing passed him, filling the streets, all chanting. Some were carrying signs Buck couldn’t read.
Ducking low, Buck melted into the crowd, working his way to the front where the woman led the march, yelling loud and clear in that voice he’d recognize anywhere.
When there were only two people between them, he made his move. He dashed up behind her, spun her around and threw her over his shoulder, then ran back through the women in the crowd. He did it so quickly, the women didn’t realize what was going on until he had her back by the building, in the shadows, yelling at him.
He shot a glance over his shoulder at the women who’d been marching. They’d stopped shouting and were scattering in all directions as the black vehicles rolled up to the compound.
“Put me down!” Buck’s captive said. She pounded his back and kicked her legs, squirming so wildly he all but dropped her on her feet.
As soon as she had her legs under her, she cocked her arm and smacked him upside the head.
She hit him hard enough to make his ears ring.
With the motorcade so close to where they stood, Buck didn’t have time to explain. He spun her around, her back to his front, clamped a hand over her mouth and dragged her deeper in the shadows.
She fought, kicking, scratching and finally biting his hand so hard she almost drew blood.
“Damn it, Angela! It’s me,” he whispered. “Graham.”
* * *
DR. ANGELA VEGA STILLED. Her pounding heart stopped for a fraction of a second before racing ahead, for an entirely different reason than fear. “Let go of me,” she demanded.
“Only if you promise not to run,” he said in that deep voice she remembered all too well.
She hesitated a moment, her pulse pounding, and then said, “I promise.”
Her captor released her.
Angela spun to face the man who’d turned her world upside down years ago, while she’d been in medical school. So many questions ran through her head, like what was he doing here? And why was he dressed like a Sudanese man? But she had more immediate issues. “Why did you stop me?” She spun toward the road he’d yanked her off. “I was leading those women in protest. I need to be out there.”
His lips thinned. “They scattered. You won’t get them back together any time soon.”
“Damn it, Graham. They need food and medicine. We needed our voices to be heard by the local government officials.”
“Not there, you don’t.” He gripped her hand in his. “Come on, we have to get out of here, ASAP.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you. I work with those women. They need our assistance. Their entire families need help. And the local government is working with Koku, a bastard of a warlord, stealing the aid packages that are supposed to be going to the refugee camps.”
“And you think a protest is going to make a difference?” Buck shook his head.
“We had to do something,” Angela said. “The local government wasn’t helping.”
“I’m not here to argue with you. I’m just telling you that you’re in danger.”
She jerked her hand free of his and squared off with him, her shoulders back, her chin held high. “We knew that when we started. It was a risk we were all willing to take.”
“Yeah, well, the only way to reason with a man like Koku is with force.”
“We were protesting the local government, not Koku,” Angela insisted.
“Since they’re in cahoots with him, it’s the same thing.” He narrowed his eyes and took a threatening step toward her. “Now, are you coming with me peacefully, or am I going to have to carry you out of here?”
Angela backed up a step, then another. “I don’t have to go with you. I have to get back to my practice.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me until we know what’s happening. And the longer we stand here arguing, the greater chance there is of one of Koku’s men finding us and settling our argument with bullets.” He lunged toward her, bending as if to scoop her up.
“Hold it right there, buddy,” she said. “You don’t have to carry me like a Neanderthal.”
Sounds of gunfire erupted.
Angela ducked, her heart pounding. Maybe he was right. Now wasn’t the time to argue. “Fine. I’ll go with you. For the time being...”
Graham grabbed her hand and ran, leading her away from the street and into the shadows of a crumbling wall. They followed the wall until they came to the back of the building, which was no more than a pile of rubble.
“Where are we going?” she asked. “And what the hell is happening back there?”
He nodded toward the damaged apartment building. “We’re going there. And I don’t know what’s happening. Hopefully, we’ll find out when we meet up with the rest of the team.”
“Team?” she asked but was cut off when he practically yanked her arm out of its socket, dragging her toward the damaged apartment building.
Just as he started to climb a set of stairs leading up, five men came running down.
“Abandon ship,” one of them said and raced past them.
“What’s going on?” Graham asked.
“If the motorcade belongs to Koku, he’s not here to schmooze with the locals,” the second man down the stairs said. “He’s here to destroy it and the people inside.”
The man behind him continued speaking. “We think the trailer that just pulled up in front of the compound is full of explosives.” He kept running.
A big blond guy with massive shoulders was the last one out. “Run!”
Graham and Angela raced after the departing men. As they neared the structure on the back side of the abandoned apartment building, an explosion rocked the ground, spewing chunks of concrete, rock and splinters of wood into the air.
Angela fell to the ground and covered the back of her neck.
Graham fell on top of her, using his body as a shield to protect her. When the debris stopped falling, he was back up, dragging her to her feet.
The rapid report of gunfire sounded behind them.
The men didn’t stop until they reached a beat-up old van a couple blocks away.
The first guy there threw open the side door, leaped inside and crawled into the driver’s seat. The others piled in after him.
When Angela reached the van, Graham lifted her and tossed her in like a load of laundry. He dived in behind her, landing on top of her, and someone slammed the door shut.
Angela could barely breathe with Graham’s weight pressing her into the metal floor.
The popping noise of automatic weapons sounded close by.
“Go! Go! Go!” someone shouted.
The man behind the steering wheel shifted into Drive and spun out, leaving a layer of rubber on the street. Something hit the side of the vehicle.
Graham grunted and stiffened, letting out a string of curses.
Finally, he rolled off her and sat up.
Angela dragged in a deep breath, filling her lungs, and then pushed to a sitting position.
Two men sat in the seats up front. The bigger guy had sandy-blond hair. The driver had black hair. Three other men besides Graham crowded into the back, sitting or squatting with their backs to the walls of the van.
When her gaze came back around to Graham, he held his hand over his arm, his lips pressed tightly together.
“Damn, Buck, you’re bleeding,” one of the men said.
Angela looked again at the hand holding his arm. Blood leaked through his fingers and dripped onto the floor.
Her pulse leaped. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I was too busy getting off you so you could breathe,” he said. “Besides, it’s just a flesh wound.”
Angela moved closer. “Let me see.”
He removed his hand from the wound. Blood oozed from the injury, but not at an alarming rate. Still, she needed to stop the bleeding.
“Anyone have a knife?” she asked.
Four wicked-looking knives appeared in front of her.
She selected one, ripped the hem of the robe Buck wore and tore a length along the bottom all the way around. She folded it into a tight pad and applied it to the wound. “Use that to apply pressure.”
Buck forced a smile. “Yes, ma’am.”
She tore another length off the robe and used it to tie around his arm, knotting it over the wound to maintain the pressure. Some blood soaked through, but not enough for her to be worried about it.
“When we get back to the refugee camp, I’ll sew you up.”
“Let’s get this straight,” Graham said. “We’re not going back to the refugee camp.”
Angela stared around at the others. “But we have to. All of my equipment and supplies are there.”
“We’re not even supposed to be in South Sudan,” said the big blond guy in the front seat. “We can’t go to the refugee camp. We’d be too exposed and our mission would be jeopardized, if it hasn’t already been.” He glared at Graham.
Angela sensed he wasn’t happy with her former boyfriend. But she couldn’t be worried about that. She had a job to do. “Then let me out at the next corner,” Angela said. “I’ll get to the camp by myself.”
Graham shook his head. “Not happening.”
“What were you doing leading a protest against Koku?” the big guy in the front said. “Oh, and by the way, I’m Big Jake. Diesel’s the one driving.” He then pointed to a man with close-cropped brown hair leaning against the wall of the van. “That’s Pitbull, and the one beside him is Harm.” Harm had black hair and dark eyes. Big Jake nodded to the man in the very back with auburn hair and green eyes. “That’s T-Mac. And I guess you met Buck.”
“Buck?” She frowned at Graham.
Graham shrugged. “Short for Buckner.”
“Do any of you have real names?” she asked.
“When we need them,” Pitbull said.
T-Mac grinned. “On our paychecks.”
“Well, Big Mac,” Angela said. “I need to get back to the camp outside town, as soon as possible.”
The men laughed.
“No can do,” the man in the passenger seat said. “And it’s Big Jake.”
“Seriously, I have to go back. My nurse is there. If the raiders who attacked the government office make it out to the refugee camp, they might take her. So, if you’re not taking me there, at least let me out and I’ll walk.” She moved toward the door and placed her fingers on the handle.
“Hey.” Graham reached out with his injured arm and winced but grabbed her wrist anyway. “You can’t jump out of a moving vehicle.”
“If that’s the only way to get back to the refugee camp, I’ll do it. I won’t leave my nurse to be terrorized, killed or sold into slavery.” She spoke louder. “So if you don’t stop this vehicle now, I’m going to jump.”
Chapter Two (#ulink_b38ca162-107c-5f0c-a716-c224f6f88148)
“Hold your horses. We’ll take you to the camp,” Diesel said. “Just let me get us far enough away from what’s going on downtown.”
“Jump from a moving vehicle?” Buck chuckled, then stopped when he realized Angela hadn’t been kidding. He shook his head. “You’re as stubborn as you always were.”
Angela lifted her chin. “It’s what keeps me going here. My stubbornness got me through medical school and my internship.”
She didn’t say it, but Buck could hear the comment she didn’t make: Unlike you.
Buck felt the cut like a knife to his gut. “I had my reasons for leaving,” he said and ended it there.
“Where’s the refugee camp?” Diesel asked.
Angela turned away from Buck and focused her attention on Diesel. “Southwest of town.”
Using less-traveled streets, Diesel drove the van to the edge of town. Before they left the cover of the buildings for the open landscape, Big Jake glanced back.
“No one behind us for now,” T-Mac confirmed.
Diesel shot out of Bentiu and into the open.
Not far from the town was the beginning of a city of tents and poorly erected shelters made of scrap plywood and tin.
“We can’t drive right into camp,” Big Jake said. “Remember, we’re not supposed to be in this country.”
Angela nodded. “Our tent is on the back side of the camp. There are some buildings past that where you can hide the van and let me off.” She directed Diesel past the camp and a little farther, to where a stand of shanties stood.
Diesel parked behind one that appeared abandoned.
When Angela reached for the door, Buck gripped her wrist. “I’m going with you.”
“There’s no need,” Angela said with her fingers curling around the handle. “I’m not coming back.”
“The hell you aren’t,” Buck said.
“I’m not here to argue. I have to check on my nurse.” She shoved the sliding door open and dropped to the ground. Without waiting, she took off toward the camp at a slow jog.
Buck shot a glance at Big Jake. “I can’t let her go it alone.”
Big Jake jerked his head toward Angela’s departing figure. “Then go. We’ll wait here as long as we’re not discovered.” He tapped the earbud headset. “Stay in touch. I’ll send a couple men out to keep watch for bad guys.”
“I’ll keep you informed.” Buck jumped out of the van and ran to catch up with Angela.
She didn’t slow for him but kept jogging toward her destination. “You didn’t have to follow me,” she said. “I know what I’m doing.”
“Humor me.” He raised a hand to the makeshift bandage on his arm. “Besides, I need you to patch me up better.”
“How do you know I didn’t do a good job?”
“I’m the corpsman, the medic for the team. It’s my professional opinion that you need to clean the wound and apply a fresh bandage to keep it from becoming infected.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Right. You’re a medic. Do it yourself.”
“I can’t perform surgery on myself, now can I?”
She sighed and kept moving. “Fine. It wouldn’t hurt to clean the wound and apply sterile bandages.”
Buck suppressed the smile threatening to spread across his face. He’d scored a very minor victory, but one that would give him a little more time to convince her to leave an extremely volatile area.
As they approached the sprawling camp, they circled around a large white tent to the entry at the front where a canvas sign was tied over the door. The red, white and black lettering stated Médecins Sans Frontières, which translated to Doctors Without Borders.
Buck knew all about this international nongovernmental organization known for humanitarian relief in war-torn or developing countries with little or no medical services available to the general population. He’d hoped one day to be one of the doctors to volunteer his time to help others less fortunate. He’d had lots of dreams when he’d started medical school.
A woman with graying blond hair stepped out of the tent and frowned when she saw Angela and Buck. “I heard an explosion in town. That wasn’t anywhere close to your demonstration, was it?”
Angela’s lips pressed together. “Brenda, we need to prep for stitches. I’ll fill you in on what happened while we’re sewing up this man.”
Brenda smiled at Buck. “Hi, I’m Brenda Sites. And you are?”
“Graham Buckner, but you can call me Buck.” He nodded toward the tent. “We don’t have time for stitches,” Buck said. “A clean pressure bandage will do for now.”
Angela shook her head. “No, we need to close the wound to keep it from getting infected. I can do it in less than five minutes, if you’ll shut up and let me get busy.”
“All right, sweetheart. You don’t have to be so bossy.” Buck’s lips twitched as he followed Angela into the tent, his gaze taking in the neat little hospital complete with a few beds and a separate room for more advanced procedures.
His curiosity always piqued when he was around medical equipment and medicine. More than anything, he wished he’d been able to finish his degree and residency. Alas, his past had caught up with him, and he’d had to leave school or risk exposing the people he cared most about to the murdering, scum-of-the-earth gang members he’d grown up with in Chicago.
He’d left school, Angela and his dreams behind to get away from his past and to get his past away from Angela. He couldn’t regret that. She’d deserved to finish her schooling without being stalked, harassed and potentially harmed by Buck’s old gang members.
The only way Buck had gotten the gang to leave him and Angela alone was to give up his dreams and leave Chicago all together.
“Have a seat.” Angela indicated a folding chair in front of a small field desk.
“Really, we could just clean the wound, bandage it and be done in a lot less time,” Buck said. “If you’ll give me whatever you use to clean with, I can try to do it myself.”
“Didn’t you say you couldn’t perform surgery on yourself?” Angela washed her hands, dried them and pulled on a pair of latex gloves, while her nurse spread out sterile drop cloths across the table, then laid out scissors, gauze, Betadine and tweezers. She used the scissors to remove the makeshift bandage from his arm. Blood oozed from the wound.
Angela inspected it. “See? You need stitches.” She took over after the nurse completed removing the bandage and irrigated the wound with a syringe.
The nurse patted it dry with gauze and applied Betadine to the skin around the wound.
Angela threaded the needle with suture line, her movements quick and efficient. “We’re short on local anesthetics. Hell, we’re out of most medications.” Angela met his gaze with a steady one of her own. “You’ll have to hold very still and grin and bear it.”
If he wasn’t mistaken, she almost looked like she was enjoying taunting him with the threat of pain. He nodded. “Just do it quickly. We don’t know when or if Koku’s men will show up and cause more trouble.”
Before the last word left his mouth, she stuck the needle into the edge of one side of the wound and looped it through the other. She talked softly as she worked, informing her nurse of what had occurred in Bentiu.
Buck stared at the top of Angela’s head while bracing his jaw to keep from cursing. It hurt like hell, but he wouldn’t jerk his hand away or let loose any of the choice words he wanted to say at that moment. Instead, he focused on Angela, taking advantage of her concentration on his arm to study her.
She hadn’t changed much in their years apart. If anything, she’d become even more beautiful. Her dark hair framed her face, her olive-toned skin was a little darker and the confidence she exuded was palpable. The woman had matured into a self-assured, capable doctor with a steady hand.
Buck’s heart swelled with pride for her. “I always knew you’d make it,” he said softly.
Her hand stilled for a fraction of a second before she tied off the first stitch. “That’s what happens when you stay focused.”
Her comment hurt. He shouldn’t have let it, but it did. Angela hadn’t known how much he wanted to stay at school and be with her. He hadn’t told her, figuring a clean break would be better than leaving her holding out hope for his return. “I had my reasons for leaving.”
“Yeah. And it doesn’t matter, does it? You left. I stayed. We lived our own lives.” She slipped the needle into another section of the wound. “Separately.”
Buck winced and bit down on his tongue. He figured Angela was right. Why bother rehashing the past? It was over. What he needed to do was concentrate on getting her out of the camp before Koku’s men came looking for another place to shake up.
Angela and Brenda worked on his arm with quiet efficiency.
By the time Angela tied off the last stitch, Buck could swear he’d ground at least a quarter of an inch off his back teeth. He released the breath he’d held and stood.
“Now, let’s get you out of here.” Buck reached for her wrist.
Angela stepped backward, avoiding his hand. “I told you, I’m not going. I can’t leave these people.”
“You saw what happened in Bentiu. Those guys could come here next.”
“These people need us. We can’t abandon them.” Angela peeled the gloves from her hands.
Buck’s jaw tightened. He couldn’t walk away and leave her here, in danger. “You’re not safe.”
“They’re not safe.” She laid the gloves on the table and captured his gaze in an unflinching one of her own. “I’m not going.”
Big Jake’s voice came over Buck’s headset. “We’ve got company.”
“You may not have a choice,” Buck said. “My guys say Koku’s men are coming into camp as we speak.”
No sooner had he made the announcement than a burst of gunfire could be heard outside, followed by women screaming.
“If you don’t leave for me—” Buck nodded toward her nurse “—leave for Brenda. We need to get both of you out of here. Now.” He took Angela’s hand and dragged her toward the door.
More gunfire erupted.
Angela dug in her heels and pulled her hand free. “You’re a SEAL. You can stop them.”
“Not if we’re outnumbered. And sometimes that only causes more casualties when so many civilians are involved.”
“Seriously, guys,” Big Jake said into Buck’s ear. “They’re headed straight for your tent.”
“My men say Koku’s men are headed directly for this tent. Are you coming with me or staying to argue with a killer?”
* * *
ANGELA HAD SPENT so much of her time working with and healing the people in the refugee camp. To leave them would be like abandoning her own children.
“Dr. Vega.” Brenda touched her arm, her eyes rounded, her hand shaking. “We can’t help anyone if we’re dead.”
Her nurse’s words hit hard. If Brenda was scared, Angela owed it to her to get her out. She turned to Buck. “Take my nurse and get her to safety.”
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving without you.”
One of the women Angela had been training to assist with medical treatments ran into the tent. “Dr. Angela! Dr. Angela! The men. They’re coming for you. They’re coming for the doctor.” She took Angela’s arm and hauled her toward the door. “You have to go. You go. Now.”
Angela’s gaze met Buck’s over the woman’s head. “Okay. We’ll go.”
Buck touched his headset. “We’re on our way.” He stepped in front of Angela before she could leave the tent. “But not that way.” He pulled his Ka-Bar knife from the sheath on his belt and strode through the tent to the back, where he jabbed the knife into the fabric and slit an opening large enough for a person to get through.
Then he stepped out and held the fabric wide. “Now you,” he said, waving for Brenda to come next.
The nurse ducked through and moved out of the way.
While Buck and Brenda were making their way out of the tent, Angela got busy throwing equipment, supplies and medication into her backpack.
Buck stuck his head back into the tent. “Angela, we have to go now. They’re almost on us.”
Angela shot one final glance around the tent she’d called home for the past six months, tossed in a couple bottles of water and dived out of the tent.
Loud voices could be heard from the men storming through the refugee camp toward the hospital tent.
Her heart thundering against her ribs, Angela ran.
Buck grabbed the backpack from her arm and slung it over his shoulder. Then he took her hand and urged her to go faster.
By the time they reached the deserted shack, Angela could barely breathe. T-Mac and Harm were waiting at the sliding door, where they lifted Brenda off her feet and into the van. They did the same for Angela and then clambered in after them. Buck was last inside, slamming the door as the vehicle took off.
Angela stared through the back window of the van at the camp she was leaving behind. Smoke rose from the tent they’d just vacated, the fabric succumbing to the flames shooting into the sky.
Men in black clothing ran toward them, firing their rifles.
But by then, the van was far enough away, and the bullets fell short.
“We don’t have much of a lead on them,” Buck said. “Once they get their trucks rolling, they’ll be after us.”
“Then we need to keep rolling,” Big Jake said. “The faster, the better.”
Diesel pressed his foot to the accelerator, taking the van as fast as it would go, fully loaded with SEALs and the women.
“If we’re lucky, the sun will set before they catch up to us,” Big Jake said. “The 160th is on standby for extraction as soon as we give them the coordinates.”
“In the meantime,” Diesel tossed over his shoulder, “any suggestions on a place around here to hide a van and eight people?”
Angela thought hard. For the most part, she’d been confined to the hospital tent, working nonstop with masses of people living in the terrible conditions of the refugee camp. But there was one time she and Brenda had been asked to help a village elder in another small town nearby. She glanced out the window. They were headed that direction. “I know of a place.”
Leaning through the gap between the two front seats, she watched the road ahead, trying to remember where they’d turned to get to the village.
Brenda squeezed in next to her. “Are you taking them to Abu Hanafi’s village?”
She nodded. “The turnoff to the village should be coming up soon.”
“Remember, it was where the abandoned tank tracks were,” Brenda said.
“Right.” Angela turned to Diesel. “There should be some buildings coming up soon and a field beside the road with what looks like a pile of junk metal. It’s actually the tracks from an army tank.”
Diesel nodded. “I’ll be on the lookout.”
Angela glanced back through the van’s rear window, her pulse pounding. As she turned back to the front, her gaze skimmed across Buck. Her heart did a backflip. When she’d first realized who’d plucked her out of the middle of the protest, she’d been too angry to fully appreciate what had happened.
In this totally different part of the world, why had fate brought Graham back to her? At that very moment?
He was the same Graham she’d known and loved in medical school, yet different.
His body was honed, his muscles tight and strong, and his eyes...those gorgeous blue eyes she’d fallen into on their first group project were somehow different. Although still the same blue, they appeared to see more and have more depth than before. The lines around the corners of his eyes added character, and the scar on his chin made her want to reach out and touch it.
As quickly as the thought sprang into her mind, she pushed it away and returned her attention to the road in front of the van.
Ahead, on the left, was a field of long grass with a patch of dirt next to the road. Rusted metal lay in a heap in the middle of the dirt.
“There!” Angela pointed to the dirt road past the tank track. “Turn there.”
Diesel only slowed enough to negotiate the turn and then sped along the bumpy road, barely more than a rutted track.
Big Jake’s brow crinkled as he glanced her way. “Are you sure this is the way?”
“Positive.” She nodded toward a blue tin shack. “I remember that blue building.”
“And the one with the orange roof,” Brenda added, pointing to the structure.
“The village is another mile or more along this road, and it’s tucked into the side of a hill.”
“As long as the dust settles before the rebel attackers get to where we turned off, they won’t have a clue we came this way.”
“If the dust settles,” T-Mac said.
Angela glanced back at the cloud of dust rising up behind them.
Buck touched her arm. “It’ll settle.”
She gave him a hint of a smile and turned away. So many forgotten emotions welled up inside her. Why did he have to come back into her life? Why now? But if he hadn’t, she might be dead. The protest she’d staged against the local government could have ended a lot worse. She prayed the women who’d gone along with her had made it back to safety.
Leaving behind the refugees she’d grown to care for was killing her. But like Brenda had said, she couldn’t help people if she was dead.
Soon, they came to the little village tucked into the side of a hill. Shacks and huts lined the road, with barely clothed children playing outside.
“Let me out,” Angela said. “I’ll speak to Abu Hanafi. He might not want us in his village if we bring trouble with us.”
“Tell him we won’t stay any longer than it takes to get airlifted out,” Big Jake said. “And we’ll arrange pickup away from his village so as not to draw too much attention to it.”
Angela nodded and hopped out of the van. Buck followed.
“It might be better if I go alone,” Angela said.
“Not happening.” He gripped her elbow and marched forward.
Angela shrugged free of his hand. Every time he touched her, that same jolt, like an electrical current, ran through her, reminding her of the connection they’d had when they were much younger.
She tightened her jaw. That was the past. “I got along fine without you for six months in this country. I can do this on my own.”
“Then do it on your own, just with me. I won’t say a word. You’ll barely know I’m there.”
She snorted. “You’re over six feet tall. Much taller than many of the people in this village. I think I’ll notice you. And I won’t be the only one.” As much as she protested, she did feel protected when he was around.
Angela led the way to the mud-and-stick building at the center of the little village. A woman wearing a faded red-and-gold dress with a red scarf draped over her head and shoulders stood in the doorway with a toddler on her hip.
With a smile, Angela addressed the daughter of the village elder. “Uluru, how are you and your children?”
She knew from the last time she’d been here that Uluru spoke perfect English she’d learned at a missionary school when she was much younger. At twenty-one years old, she had three children, the youngest of which she was holding.
“They are well. I am teaching Kamal his letters. He will go to school one day.”
Angela nodded. “Your children will be smart as well as beautiful, like their mother.”
She snorted softly. “If they live that long and are not stolen away by Koku’s army.” Uluru moved out of the doorway. “You are here to see my father?”
“Yes,” Angela said.
“And this man with you, who dresses like one of our men?”
“He is my...” Angela almost said boyfriend, but that was so many years ago.
“I’m her fiancé,” Buck said and cupped Angela’s elbow. “We are to be married soon.”
Angela swallowed hard to keep from disagreeing out loud. Now that he’d said it, she couldn’t deny it without appearing wishy-washy in front of Uluru and her father.
Uluru’s gaze swept over Buck from head to toe before she nodded. “As the doctor’s betrothed, you are welcome in our home.”
Inside, the structure was cast in shadow, with no electrical lighting in use.
Uluru passed through the house and out into a small courtyard where an old man, dressed all in white much like Buck, sat cross-legged on the ground in the shade of a tree.
Angela waited for the man to invite her forward.
When he did, she sat cross-legged across from him, and Buck sat beside her.
Uluru joined them, setting the toddler on his feet. The child wandered off to play with a stick.
Angela studied the man, searching his face for any signs of illness. “You are well?” she asked.
Abu Hanafi nodded, his gaze going to Buck and back to Angela. “Who is this white man who dresses like one of our people?”
Buck sat up straight, meeting the man’s gaze with a strength and confidence Angela had to admire. “I am Dr. Vega’s fiancé.”
The elder continued to stare at Buck for a long moment, as if sizing him up. Finally, he gave a single nod. “Why are you here?”
Angela realized the elder wasn’t speaking to her, but to Buck. In deference, she let Buck respond.
“There was an attack on the government building in Bentiu. We believe it was Koku. Then his men attacked the refugee camp,” Buck said. “My men and I got Dr. Vega and her nurse out before they could be harmed. We all need a place to hide until after the sun sets, at which time we will leave.”
Abu Hanafi’s brow furrowed. “You have brought danger to my village?”
“We hope not,” Buck said. “But we will leave as soon as we can.”
“Or we could leave now, if you think we have endangered your people,” Angela said softly.
A long silence stretched between the elder, Angela and Buck. Finally, Abu Hanafi nodded. “You will stay until dark. However, if trouble follows you, you will leave sooner. Too many of our children have been stolen by Koku and his men.”
“Koku has taken children from your village?” Buck questioned.
“He takes our young boys to fill his army,” the elder said. “We are forced to hide them in the bushes when Koku is in the area.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Angela said. “I wish we could do something to stop him.”
“You have to know where to find him,” Buck said, “in order to do anything to stop him.”
Once again, Abu Hanafi studied Buck. “You are not a doctor.”
Buck shook his head. “No, sir.”
“You are an American soldier?”
Buck tensed beside Angela. “No, sir.”
That penetrating gaze pinned Buck to his spot. But Buck wasn’t giving the man any more than he already had. “Sir, we should move our vehicle before Koku’s people see it and report back to him.”
Abu Hanafi waved his hand. “Go.”
When Angela rose to her feet, he touched her arm. “My people owe you a debt we cannot repay.”
“You owe me nothing,” Angela assured him.
The elder dipped his head. “I can only repay you in friendship.”
“Which is the most important payment of all.” She held out her hand to the man. He took it in both of his. “Thank you for saving my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
Uluru led them through the house and back to the van. “You can park in the trees at the base of the bluff,” she said.
“Thank you.” Angela strode back to the van, anxious to get away from Buck and the chemistry he seemed to be stirring up inside her. The faster they resolved the issue with Koku, the quicker she could get back to helping others.
She hoped it happened sooner rather than later, because all those old feelings she’d had back in medical school seemed to be bubbling up inside. Losing him the first time had been bad enough. She feared the more time she spent with Buck, the more dangerous he became.
To her heart.
Chapter Three (#ulink_06382241-6ec6-58b1-8ae7-2857d80dc565)
Buck and Angela returned to the van, where several of the SEALs stood outside the vehicle.
Having taken over the conversation with Abu Hanafi, Buck allowed Angela to take the lead this time.
“We can stay only until after dark,” Angela jumped in without preamble. After informing them of where Uluru had indicated they could park the van out of sight of the road, Angela announced, “I’ll walk.”
“I’ll walk with you,” Buck said.
The only hint she wasn’t happy with his announcement was the tightening of her lips. “Suit yourself.” And she started toward the hillside.
Diesel cranked the van’s engine, the SEALs piled in and the van passed Angela and Buck on the way to the hiding place.
Angela waited until the people in the van were well out of hearing distance before she said, “Did you ever consider I might not want you to walk with me?”
“Yes.” He lifted a shoulder. “And I ignored it. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you anywhere alone.”
“You left me in Chicago,” she shot back.
The anger and hurt in Angela’s voice twisted a knife in Buck’s gut. “We’re in South Sudan, a volatile nation filled with murderous people” was all he could push past the tightness in his throat.
“Like Chicago?” Again, she was quick with her comebacks. Sadly, she was right.
“I had reasons for leaving when I did,” he said.
Angela spun around in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. “I wouldn’t know, now would I?” She poked a finger at his chest. “Because you didn’t bother to tell me what they were, or even that you were leaving. I had to find out from your roommate, after you were long gone.” She smacked her palm flat against his chest. “You’d think any kind of man would have the decency to tell his girlfriend he was skipping town, quitting college and joining the navy. But then, you weren’t even decent—”
Buck grabbed the woman’s arms and yanked her against him, crushing her lips with a bruising kiss. He’d never wanted to leave her, would rather have slit his own throat than hurt her. And now, seeing her in front of him, her eyes alight with fury, her cheeks blooming with righteous indignation, he couldn’t resist.
This was the woman he’d never been able to forget. The kiss started out raw and angry but quickly turned hungry and desperate. He remembered her lips, the way they felt beneath his mouth, the curve of her body against his and the way she leaned into him when she gave her whole self to the kiss.
At first she was stiff in his arms, her palms on his chest. But she didn’t push him away. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she loosened up until she was leaning into him, giving back every bit as much as he gave.
When at last he was forced to surface for air, he drew in a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers.
“Don’t think this changes anything,” she said, her fingers curling into his shirt. “I’m still angry with you. And I’m still staying in Sudan.” Then she did push out of his arms, turned and ran after the van.
Buck followed at a slower pace, wondering what the hell had just happened. He’d never intended to pick up where they’d left off all those years ago. Angela had her life, and he had his. Nothing between them would ever work.
Granted, Chicago was not an issue anymore. From what he understood, his old gang had been disbanded with the arrest and incarceration of their leader. The man had finally been caught and convicted of murder.
Once the team had the van hidden behind old buildings and trees near the base of the hillside, they climbed out and prepared to lie low until after sunset.
Harm and Diesel went south, and Pitbull hiked to the north, each going around the hill. Big Jake and T-Mac climbed to the top, all of them searching for potential threats and the coordinates to give the helicopter crew for their extraction.
They left Buck to guard the two women.
“Tough job, but someone has to do it,” Diesel said as he left with Harm.
Word must have gotten out that the doctor was in the village. Before long, women brought children to the base of the hillside, seeking assistance for minor injuries, skin infections, lacerations and more.
Working out of the side door of the van, Angela, Brenda and Buck treated the patients.
All the while, Buck kept a close watch on the surrounding area and scrutinized every patient, searching for hidden weapons. But they were all what they appeared to be...people sincerely in need of help.
As the sun dropped to the horizon, the line of people dwindled to two, then one.
The last one, a bone-thin woman dressed in a faded gold dress and scarf, waited to speak until the others had all gone. “Dr. Angela, you must come with me.” She took Angela’s hand and tried to drag her away.
Buck stepped between them and loosened the woman’s grip on Angela’s hand. “The doctor isn’t going anywhere. What do you want?”
“She must come,” the woman insisted.
Angela placed a hand on Buck’s arm and stepped around him. “What’s your name?”
“I am Fatima.” She turned, waving her hand to the side. “Please, you must come.”
“Can’t we talk about your problem here?” Angela asked.
“Not me,” Fatima said. “My son needs you.”
Angela frowned. “What’s wrong with your son?”
Fatima glanced around furtively. “He is injured.”
“How was he injured?” Angela asked.
The woman looked from Angela to Buck and over her shoulder, as if afraid of something or someone. “Please, my son needs your help.”
The sun had set, and the grayness of dusk enveloped them.
Big Jake, T-Mac, Harm, Diesel and Pitbull all appeared out of the shadows.
“What’s going on?” Diesel asked.
Buck tilted his head toward Fatima. “This woman wants the doctor to go to her son.”
“I don’t recommend it.” Big Jake glanced down at his watch. “Our extraction is scheduled for T-minus five minutes. We’d better move to the other side of the hill. And make it fast.”
The men headed in that direction. Buck started to follow, but Angela wasn’t at his side.
She stood with her feet planted firmly on the ground. “I can’t leave this woman without help.”
“You can’t stay,” Buck said. “Koku could be back at any moment.”
“Please...” The woman took Angela’s hand again, her eyes pleading. “My son is injured. He needs your help. He has been beaten by Koku’s men.”
Even Buck, a hardened SEAL, couldn’t ignore the woman’s desperation. “How far is it to your son?”
“On the other side of the village. It will not take long. He has suffered so much. Please help him.”
The thumping sound of rotors beating the air made Buck’s heart leap. Their transport neared. “We can’t do this,” he said to Angela.
She stared up into his eyes. “I can’t not do this.”
Buck turned to the woman. “Can you bring your son here?”
“No. My son traveled a long way. He escaped from Koku’s camp. His action is punishable by death. He cannot risk being seen and recaptured.”
“Wait.” Buck’s heart rate ratcheted up. “Your son escaped from Koku’s camp?”
She nodded. “It is very bad there. He does not wish to return.”
Excitement rose like a tidal wave in Buck. “But he knows where Koku lives?”
The woman frowned. “Yes, but he does not wish to return,” she repeated. “He was one of many young boys taken to fill Koku’s army.”
Angela squeezed the woman’s hand. “I will help.”
Big Jake trotted back to where Buck and Angela stood. “Hey, are you two coming? We have to get around this hill to our extraction point. It’s time to move out.”
Buck turned to Big Jake. “This woman’s son escaped Koku’s camp. He knows where we can find Koku.”
Big Jake frowned, and he stared at the woman in the deepening dusk. “Your son knows where Koku lives?”
The woman nodded.
Big Jake glanced at his watch. “We’ll have to come back to follow up. Right now, we’re scheduled for extraction.”
“And you need to go and take my nurse back to safety,” Angela said. “But I’m staying to help this woman’s son.”
Big Jake’s frown deepened. “I can’t force you to come with us. But you realize the risk you’re taking?”
She nodded. “I do.”
“And I’m staying with her,” Buck said.
“You can’t,” Big Jake said. “You’re part of the team. We leave no man behind.”
“Give me the radio. I’ll be a one-man recon element scouting out Koku’s location.” Buck talked fast, the idea coming to him as he spoke. “When you get the nurse to a safe location, you can come back. Hopefully by then, I’ll have Koku’s exact coordinates. We can complete our mission.”
For a long moment, Big Jake stared at Buck. Finally, he said, “I don’t like it.”
“You don’t have to like it, but it makes sense for me to go with this woman and check out her son’s story. If it pans out, we’ll get a lot farther a lot faster than we have in the past week.” Buck nodded toward the sound of the approaching helicopter. “You need to hurry. They won’t wait long.”
Big Jake nodded to T-Mac. “Give him your ground-to-air radio and go.”
T-Mac unclipped the radio from his belt and handed it over to Buck. “Don’t do anything to get yourself killed.” T-Mac spun and ran toward the sound of the helicopter.
Big Jake stuck out his hand. “What T-Mac said.”
Buck clasped the man’s hand and was pulled into a bear hug.
Then Big Jake was gone, running after T-Mac.
Buck watched as the last two men of his team disappeared around the side of the hill. Moments later, the thumping sound of the rotor blades intensified and then faded into the distance.
For all intents and purposes, Buck was stranded in South Sudan, without his team to provide backup. Whatever happened from here on, he’d be on his own until he called for extraction. His lifeline was the radio in his hand.
“Please,” the woman said. “My son needs you.”
Angela slipped her backpack of supplies over one shoulder and said in a calm, quiet voice, “Show me the way.”
Buck grabbed his gear bag from the back of the van. Keeping a close watch on his surroundings, he followed.
* * *
ANGELA COULDN’T BELIEVE Buck had actually remained behind with her. She hadn’t expected him to. Hell, she hadn’t really thought through her own plan. All she knew was that she couldn’t let some poor injured boy lie in pain because she was in a hurry to get out of the country.
Fatima skirted the village, keeping to the deepest shadows that a night sky full of stars couldn’t penetrate. Once they were past the jumble of huts and tin shacks, she led them another half mile to what appeared to be a huge junk pile of tin and scraps of worm-eaten lumber.
When she pushed aside a sheet of corrugated roofing metal, she waved for Angela to enter.
The small cave-like structure’s interior was pitch-black. Angela hesitated at the entrance, trying to remember whether or not she’d brought a flashlight in the backpack she’d hastily loaded.
A soft click sounded and a beam of light cut through the darkness.
She smiled. Trust Buck to have a flashlight handy. He’d always been good about being prepared. He must have been a Boy Scout in a past life.
He stepped around her and shined the light into the structure.
A young boy, around ten years old, lay on a pile of rags, his face caked with dried blood, one of his arms bent at an odd angle.
The shack was small and rickety. Angela didn’t know how she’d manage to work on the boy in the cramped space. When she bent to enter, a hand shot out to stop her.
“We’ll have to move him out into the open,” Buck said. “This hut doesn’t look like it’ll stand up to a strong wind.”
“I’m smaller. Let me move him,” Angela said.
“No way.” Buck handed her the flashlight. “Just give me some light to work in.”
Angela held the beam steady as Buck hunched over and ducked into the shack.
The boy moaned but didn’t fight when Buck gently laid his injured arm over his chest. Then he lifted him into his arms and maneuvered the child and his own big body through the narrow entrance and out into the balmy night air.
Fatima spread her scarf on the ground. “Place him here.”
Buck eased the boy to the ground, careful not to jolt his arm or cause him more pain.
His mother hovered close by, looking over her shoulder, fear evident in the whites of her eyes. “You will fix this?” She pointed to the boy’s bent arm.
“I’ll have to reset the bone. It’s going to hurt. What is your name?” Angela asked the boy.
When the boy didn’t answer right away, Fatima twisted her hands together. “He is Mustafa.”
Using the flashlight, Angela shined the beam into the boy’s eyes, testing his pupils’ response. No indications of concussion, despite the blood on his head and face. She checked his vital signs. His pulse was strong, his blood pressure right for his size and age. “Mustafa,” she said, her tone low, calm and gentle. “What I’m about to do will hurt, but then your arm will feel better. Do you understand?”
The boy nodded, probably in too much pain to do more.
Over the light’s beam, Angela caught Buck’s attention. “You’ll have to hold his upper arm while I apply traction.”
He nodded, sat behind the boy and leaned over to grip the child’s skinny arm. “Ready.”
Angela slowly straightened the arm.
The boy bared his teeth in silence, his body tensing.
Once she had it straight, Angela pulled gently but firmly until the bone jutting at an odd angle beneath the skin moved back in line with the other end.
Mustafa’s back arched and his jaw clenched to keep him from crying out.
Angela hated to cause another human so much pain, but she knew it was necessary and that he’d feel better once they were done.
The boy squirmed and squeezed his eyes closed, perspiration shining on his forehead. Then he went limp.
“I believe he passed out,” Buck whispered.
“Good, then maybe he won’t be in as much pain.” She continued to apply strong downward pressure, easing the bone back into place. Once she had the bone where she wanted it, she held the arm steady. “I need something for a splint.”
“Do you have him?” Buck asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Go.”
Buck released the boy’s shoulder and took the flashlight. A few moments later, he came back with two flat, straight sticks about the length of the boy’s forearm. He laid them on the ground beside Angela and dug in her backpack for roller gauze and scissors.
While Angela held the arm and spoke to the boy in a soft monotone voice, Buck placed the two flat sticks on either side of the boy’s arm and wrapped the roller gauze around and around until he was certain it would be sufficient to keep the arm immobile. When he finished, he cut the gauze and secured the end.
“Well done,” Angela said. “You look like you’ve done this before.”
He shrugged. “Like I said, I’m the team medic. We’ve had a few bumps, bruises and broken bones.”
Angela nodded. She would bet he’d seen a lot more than that, including gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
The boy woke before they finished and watched the proceedings with interest, no longer tense with pain.
Angela gave him a mild painkiller and one of the bottles of water she’d stashed in her bag. “He should sleep now.”
Buck touched her arm and motioned for her to move away from the boy and his mother. “We need to question him about Koku’s location before he goes to sleep.”
He leaned so close to her, she could feel the warmth of his body. A shiver of awareness slipped across her skin. She almost didn’t register what he said. “He’s been through a lot.”
“We can’t wait. We don’t know if Koku will come back through tonight or tomorrow looking for the van and the people who were in it.”
Still, Angela hated to disturb the boy. He’d been in so much pain.
“I know you want your patient to recover, but we also put the people of this village at risk just by being here,” Buck reasoned. “We need to leave as soon as possible. Preferably at night, to avoid being seen in that van.”
Angela knew he was right. The longer she held off questioning the child, the more likely he’d fall asleep before they could. “Fine. Question him. But how is a child going to be able to give you directions?”
“I don’t know, but I have to try.” He returned to the boy and squatted on the ground beside him. “Are you thirsty?”
Mustafa nodded.
In the glow of the flashlight, Buck held the bottle of water to the boy’s mouth. When he’d had enough, Buck capped it and set it beside the child. “Mustafa, your mother says you were in Koku’s camp?”
The boy’s eyes widened and his gaze darted around.
“It’s okay.” Buck rested a hand on the boy’s arm. “We won’t take you back there. But we want to know where to find Koku. Can you tell us how to get there?”
The boy’s eyes closed for a moment.
Angela thought he’d gone to sleep. Then he opened them and nodded. “I will show you.” He sat up with help from Buck, leaned over the side of the scarf he lay on and drew his finger in the dirt.
“It is a long way. Ten days’ walking.” He dragged his finger in a fairly straight line for a while, then he poked a dot next to the line. “There are one...two—” he poked another dot, then another “—three...four...five villages along the way. The first one is very small, even smaller than my village. The second one is small, too. The third is a town with a church at the center. The missionaries have gone, and the building has been damaged, but it still stands, and it gave me shelter for one night.”
Again, the boy’s eyes closed and he grew silent. Then he opened his eyes as if doing so took great effort. “The next two villages are very much the same as the first—small. The fourth one has an old abandoned truck beside the road—black, like fire burned it. I slept beneath it one day to hide from sight of Koku’s soldiers.”
Angela’s heart squeezed in her chest at the thought of the little boy hiding beneath the burned-out hull of a truck, fearing for his life. He shouldn’t have to be afraid. He should be in school learning to read and write. He should be playing with his friends, able to be a kid for a while longer. Her eyes burned with the hint of tears.
“The fifth town is much larger, like Bentiu, with buildings, houses, stores. There are many of Koku’s men in those streets. It was not safe. I did not enter. I hid in the bushes outside the town. When the sky became dark, I circled the town and continued to follow the road all the way back to my home.”
“After the big town, is that where we will find Koku’s camp?”
The boy shook his head. “There is a place where the one road becomes two.” Mustafa drew a fork in the road that formed a Y. “To get to Koku’s camp, you must take this road.” He pointed at the fork to the left. “I watched when we were taken. I knew that if I escaped, I would have to know the way to return to my home.” The boy lifted his chin. “Koku’s camp is another day’s walking from the fork in the road. Half of a day on the road, another half heading west into the setting sun on a smaller, rougher road, leading into the hills.”
His mother laid a hand on his shoulder. “My son is all I have. If we have to, we will leave our home and find another place to live.”
“You might need to,” Buck advised. “If Koku learns we were here, he might search the entire village and surrounding area.”
After treating so many patients and then having a helicopter land on the back side of the hill where the village was situated, it would be hard to keep the secret that an American doctor and six military men had been there.
For the villagers’ sake, Angela hoped Koku didn’t find out. But she wasn’t banking on it. Now that she had Mustafa on the road to recovery, she realized it was time to move on. And like Buck had said, moving at night made the most sense.
Buck. Calling him Buck made it seem like he was a different person from the one she’d known back in medical school. Perhaps it would help to keep her from falling for him all over again.
Angela gave Mustafa and his mother instructions on how to take care of the broken arm until it was fully healed in six to eight weeks.
Then Buck helped Mustafa into the ramshackle hut, tried to shore up the posts holding the roof up and stepped out.
Angela turned to the boy’s mother. “Fatima, will you be all right taking care of Mustafa?”
The woman nodded. “Now that Mustafa is home, we will make sure we he is not captured again.”
Angela glanced at the hut where the boy lay nestled in the darkness. She understood what would happen to the boy should he be recaptured. Most likely, he’d be shot or tortured to death as a message to others who might attempt escape.
Buck cupped her elbow, his touch sending a spark through her system. “We need to go before the light of dawn,” he said.
Having done all she could for the child, Angela nodded and followed Buck back toward the village.
When they reached the van, a ghostly figure in white robes hovered by the driver’s side. As they neared, the starlight revealed their visitor as Abu Hanafi.
His face was grave. “You said you would be gone by now.”
Angela stepped forward. “We are the last two to leave. We will be gone soon.”
When Buck tried to get around the elder to the driver’s door, the man stood in his way. “This van will be recognized if you try to take it now,” Abu Hanafi said.
“It’s the only transportation we have,” Buck said.
“You have helped my people. I would help you with an alternative to the van.”
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