Then her parents died, and her brother. For a long time she didn't smile. The fantasies fell away for what they were, illusions. Her uncle had helped her heal, educated her. He'd taken her all over the world and showed her the beauty and culture that defined the good side of being human. He'd made her look at the poverty and suffering as well as the beauty. It had shaped her with the desire to understand. To somehow, some way, make a difference.
Her uncle had been murdered and she'd met Nick, only months ago. Since then she'd been caught up in a violent journey that had awakened a fierce desire for life. She was addicted to the adrenaline rush, the taste of fear, the challenge to survive. The challenge to do something that could actually make a difference.
Right now, shivering on a pile of rock in the heart of a deadly wasteland, a pistol in her hand, she was afraid. It wasn't fun.
Three hours later she heard Nick's soft bird call. A little piece of her fear dissolved.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
They sat in the shadows of the boulders. A foul smell seeped from Harmon's improvised bandage. He'd be dead within a day if they didn't get help.
"I found them," Carter kept his voice low. "They’re holed up in a cave two miles from here. There’s a big overhang over the entrance. It's why we couldn’t see them from the air until too late."
"How many?"
"I don't know. I saw two, but there have to be more. I heard a truck start up and drive away, so there are fewer than before. It might have been the one we’re looking for."
"There’s not much we can do about it. We can’t call it in. We need a phone."
"Maybe there's a phone in that cave."
"Terrorists don't use phones. They figured that out in Afghanistan. Too easy to track."
"Not if it's something like ours. Satellite, encrypted, quick bursts, relays around the globe. It's easy enough to disable the GPS. These guys have to have some way to communicate except couriers. We have to get in that cave."
"You want to get a phone from the cave?"
"Yes."
"Are you out of your mind?" Selena looked at him. "How do we do that? Walk up and ask to borrow it?"
"Harmon will die if we don't get a chopper here tomorrow. We can’t carry him out."
"I know."
"If he’s still got a chance, it’s in that cave."
"We’re outgunned. We can’t win a firefight with them."
"We could take away the advantage their weapons give them if we get them out of the cave and into the open. Then we could ambush them."
"How do we get them out of the cave?" Selena wiped dirt from her forehead.
"You ever hear of a Japanese named Miyamoto Musashi?"
"The Samurai who wrote the Book of Five Rings?"
"Yes. He was the greatest swordsman in Japanese history. Five Rings is about self discipline and the art of combat. Musashi said that when you’re outnumbered, you get your enemies to come together in one place, because you can’t fight them when they’re spread out."
"Then what?"
"Then you kill them."
"They are in one place, in that cave."
"Yes, but we can’t get to them there."
Carter thought. Problem: How do you persuade a bunch of paranoid religious fanatics to come out of their lair? In a moment the solution came to him. Get God to do it.
"What time are the Muslim prayers," Nick asked. "Do you know?"
"Which one? There are five daily prayers."
"Something a few hours from now."
She looked at her watch. "Well, the sunrise prayer would be around six."
"Prayers are a big deal for the faithful, right?"
"A very big deal."
"Can you imitate a muzzein? You know, the guy who chants the call to prayer?"
"Me? Make the call to prayer? I was brought up a Christian."
"I don’t think God cares about that. You know the words?"
"Yes, but…"
"Hear me out. Let’s say you’re a Muslim terrorist sitting in your nice cozy cave. There isn't a mosque or minaret within hundreds of miles. You’re getting ready for the prayer and all of a sudden you hear the call coming from outside. What would you do?"
"I don't know what I'd do. I’d probably think it was the voice of Allah or something."
"What would you do?" He watched her run it through.
"I’d come out of the cave. I’d want to find out what was going on."
"What would you be thinking?"
"I’d be confused, wary. All my cultural conditioning would be operating but my suspicion would be running wild."
"There’s a wide ravine leading up to the cave. It slopes up to a ridge about fifty feet high along one edge. There are big boulders up there. Some of them didn’t look all that stable to me."
"You want to lure them out and roll rocks down on them?"
"Why not? I remember a western I saw where the Indians did that, right before they wiped out the cavalry patrol."
"But this isn’t a movie. You couldn’t get all of them."
"No, but they won’t know what’s happening. We start shooting when the boulders hit. They’ll be confused. We can do it."
"It’s crazy."
"You have a better idea?"
"What if they don’t all come out?"
"We’ll deal with that if we have to."
"What about Harmon?" She gestured at him. He pawed with his hand at the bag covering him, his face slack and gray in the moonlight.
"We have to leave him. We’ll come back and get him. If we can’t pull this off he’s finished."
"Well." She hummed a few bars under her breath. "My Dad once told me I had a voice that could break glass."
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
The moon had gone. The night shaded from dark to gray. The eastern sky glowed with reddish orange and deep blue behind the mountains. Selena stood between two slabs of jagged rock, thirty yards from the entrance of the cave. Nick crouched behind a massive, tottering boulder perched on the edge of the ravine. Large, loose rocks on the slope below were bound to follow it down. He was pretty sure Cochise and Geronimo would approve.
He laid Ibrahim’s rifle on the ground, cocked and loaded. He placed his hands against the hard stone and felt a hint of heat from the previous day. The sun was about to crest the ridge. It was showtime.
The unearthly sound of the call to prayer echoed off the rocky walls of the ravine. Even though Carter knew it was coming, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He tensed his muscles and set his feet, ready to push that rock down on whoever came out of the cave.
For a minute, nothing happened. Selena continued the wailing call. Maybe it wouldn’t work.
Five men slowly emerged from the darkness of the cave mouth. They wore skull caps and bushy beards, long shirts and loose, billowing pants. They carried AKs and moved their heads everywhere, trying to see where the voice came from. The leader signaled and they began walking up the ravine. Three were in front, two trailed behind. They cast nervous glances right and left. Carter waited until the first man passed before he pushed the boulder over.
The huge stone rolled down and brought a landslide of rocks behind. The boulder struck the two men behind the leader and crushed them. Their screams echoed from the rocks. A cloud of dust rose as the rumble of stone died away.
Carter picked up the rifle, drew a bead on the leader and fired as he turned and looked up. He fell backward. His AK flew out of his hands. Nick heard the rapid bark of Selena’s pistol, a flat, sharp sound. He worked the bolt and chambered another round.