Mind the J's and W's - Part 7

“Enter your account number,” and Ward spun the machine toward him.  That was the signal.  Three men jumped out of booths that surrounded the eating area.  One went straight for the case and the other two went toward the bodyguards.  Ward jumped up and went down and over the table being careful not to block Jan’s sights.  His mission in all of this was to take Usman in.  What he knew would be useful and whether or not he wanted to tell them Ward would get it out of him. 

All was going as planned, that should have been the first warning as Streak stood up and move quickly toward Errol.  Ward had taken down Usman, and the two bodyguards had been disabled.  He wasn’t quite sure if they were alive or dead and he really didn’t care.  He was to take out Errol and he went for him like a lion.  Pistol whipping him across the forehead he watched as he fell to the ground holding his head.  He wasn’t down for the count though.  With his freehand he reached for his sidearm, but not before Streak could drop his knee onto that arm accompanied by the sound of breaking bone.

“I want it all,” was all he said in Russian to him.  It was Errol’s smile, blood covering his face and making him look all the more evil as the white teeth broke through the crimson red that unnerved him then.  He turned to see it then, another man, one he hadn’t known about; a suicide bomber and he knew he was out of time, they all were.

Jan had opened her thoughts and mind to the entire situation playing out before her eyes.  It was the only way to be prepared and it was then she felt it in amongst all the fear and panic that had started as soon as they had started to take the people down.  The noise was drifting up to the top of the building and mothers were hurrying their children away, but not fast enough.  She got the feeling of total emptiness and devastation.  Ward must have gotten it at the same time and faster he could communicate it to his group faster than words could be spoken he communicated it to Jan. 

Streak wanted to yell, to scream to clear the area before the man would kill them all.  A thousand things went through his mind all at once as if his brain was moving at light speed and his body at a sloth’s pace.  The uranium was safely out of there and that was the only good thought.  Collateral damage on this one was going to suck, but the bright side of it, if there was one, was that he wouldn’t live long enough catch the flack for it.  He wasn’t going down without a fight.  It seemed to take hours for his hand to pull the gun up just a fraction of an inch as he flipped it around in his palm.  The blood on the butt of the gun left it slippery and he felt more than he saw it slide from his grasp.  Then just as suddenly the bomber was down and Ward was on top of him.  Half of his head was missing and Ward had somehow prevented him from pushing the detonator.  There was a price.  He watched as Usman got up and started to run into the crowd.  He then heard the second shot as he watched Usman go down holding his hip.  That’s when it hit him that the sniper, or snipers, had fired.

Jan had punched out the two shots quickly and was now certain her vantage point had been discovered.  She could do no more to help them down there, a point that Ward had stressed inside her head.  He was wanting, no needing, her to get out of there and for once she agreed.  She had used gloves so that she wouldn’t have to wipe the rifle if she had to leave it, and it was obvious she was going to have to leave it.  It wouldn’t make much difference if they tested her clothes for traces of powder, but with any luck it wouldn’t come to that.  Running to the other side of the roof she hid herself behind the loud, archaic cooling units.  She just hoped that Rob was on his way.

The door to the roof banged open, but she could barely hear it over the units.  There were six men fanning out over the roof looking for the gunman.  They immediately went toward the gun that she had left lay on the roof.  They were quick, and they were efficient.  She could tell that from their minds.  The one in command told the others to fan out and search for the shooter.  Jan couldn’t help but think Rob could show up just about anytime.  She pushed out Ward’s worried thoughts as he had too many problems to deal with himself, and she let him know that.  Then she felt Rob’s mind close by.  Even though they couldn’t communicate with each other, he knew she would be looking for his thoughts.

On my way partner, and she smiled.  She started to rub her eyes and luckily she didn’t have to pretend to cry, as she was soaked clear through her burka.

“Out of my way,” the man at the top of the stairs was yelling at one of the officers.  His dialect was perfectly accented, “I know she’s up here hiding.”

“Sir, we are investigating a shooting,” the officer was blunt, “you have to leave.”

“Not until I find my cheating wife,” he pushed past the man, “She deserves the beating she is going to get and she can’t keep hiding from me.”

“Sir,” and before they could stop him again he went right for the cooling units.

“There you are you slut,” and he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out from under the units, “This time I promise to beat you within an inch of your life.”

“Sir we will have to question her before you leave.  Some one was shot in the market and we need to know if she has anything to do with it or saw anything,” just what they needed; a progressive Afghan man.

“Good luck,” Rob spat out, “She is deaf and dumb and is only good for one thing.”  It took her only seconds to convince the men that she couldn’t hear say anything as they tried to speak, and yell, at her.  She just shook her head in fear and keened when they pulled back the face cover of the burka.  After all, women in this country weren’t supposed to be educated and those who had a handicap were definitely not worth much of anything to their families except for what they could sell them for.  Rob pulled her off the roof and pushed her down the stairs roughly so as not to draw any suspicion.  Once down, they quickly made their way out of the area and headed for the major city of Kabul.

“We’re clear,” he said into his lip mike as he drove away.  This mission was done, all except for the clean up and debriefing.  Moving the lip mike off to the side he spoke again, “Nice shooting, sorry I wasn’t there sooner.  I needed to make our friend a bit more comfortable.”

It was hours later and dark before they had all been debriefed and were off to their rooms for some much needed rest.  Streak was safely back in place at Usman’s compound, they had received a coded transmission.  The uranium was now being safely transported back to the states, and Usman, Errol, and the one bodyguard that had survived were all in custody.  Ward had traveled back with them and he had been gleaning information that was now part of the files that he had already typed and turned in. 

“It’s midnight, go get some rest,” Rob looked at Jan as she reached for another cold cola.

“In a bit,” she smiled and went back to typing her report.

“You’re not meeting with him,” he sounded more like her father and less like her partner.

“You’re probably right,” she didn’t look at him.

“Jan,” his voice chastised her.  She just looked at her work.

“Okay,” she replied.

“Damn,” and he pushed up from his chair.  Starting to leave the make-shift offices they had been given on the base he stopped, “He’s going to hurt you.  He’s got to live by the same rules and worse yet he believes in them.  You’re already too connected.  Don’t get yourself hurt,” he hadn’t even turned to talk with her.  He couldn’t bear to look at her and think that she might actually want a forever with someone.  They had all agreed to the rules; they all knew the score on this one.  She could go have fun, but don’t connect.  Problem was, there was a connection.  The PED had discovered their mutual attraction, researched it, and then decided to have their handlers nix it.  He’d tried but not very hard.  What he didn’t know was if Ward felt the same way about Jan.  He should report it, what she was about to do, that was his job, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.  His head dropped a little as well as his shoulders.

         “I’ll be careful,” she said it so quietly he almost didn’t hear her.