Chapter One
Fred “Grover” Groves lay on the dirt in the makeshift cell where Shahzada and his buddies had thrown him after taking great pleasure in beating him. His nose and mouth were bleeding, and he knew he probably looked pretty horrible, but he’d had worse beatings in his life. As a Delta Force Operative, he’d taken his fair share of fists to the face. Honestly, what Shahzada had doled out was pretty mild in comparison.
When Grover had come to Afghanistan, he didn’t really have a plan. He just knew he needed to do something more than sit around the base back in Texas and wait for someone else to find the information he needed.
Ever since receiving the letter from Sierra Clarkson, he’d been anxious, restless.
Upon meeting her over a year ago, here in Afghanistan, he’d been taken with the diminutive redhead. She was a contractor working in the mess hall and there had been something about her that intrigued him. She was bubbly and happy, like a ray of sunshine in the otherwise morose atmosphere. Most of the soldiers hadn’t wanted to be deployed, and the heat, sand, and time away from loved ones was taxing on even the most professional soldier.
Sierra had gifted everyone going through the chow line with a smile. She didn’t seem to mind that, because of her size, she had to stand on a box in order to do her job. She greeted everyone—soldier, contractor, translator—with the same enthusiasm. Despite worrying a bit about her naïveté, Grover was immediately attracted to the outgoing redhead, and wanted to know her better. He’d managed to convince her to keep in touch after his mission ended. She’d agreed.
Then he never heard from her.
Not one email.
Not one letter.
He’d assumed she’d blown him off. Which sucked, but Grover wasn’t the kind of man who’d force someone to be his friend if they didn’t want to. However, as the months passed and his Delta team had gotten more and more reports of missing contractors in the region, Grover had become increasingly uneasy. Especially since Sierra had up and disappeared herself. Just like the other contractors, all her belongings had vanished with her. It had been that very fact that made the authorities slow to react, assuming some contractors had simply had enough of the tough working conditions and left.
That explanation had never sat well with Grover and his team. It was highly unlikely all of the missing contractors would have just taken off without saying anything to their bosses or their friends on the military base. Though without proof that the men, and Sierra, had been kidnapped, the authorities’ hands were tied.
Then, a month ago, Grover received a letter—from Sierra. It had been dated a week or so after he’d left Afghanistan the last time. She had written him. Had wanted to get to know him. The damn letter had gotten lost in the mail for nearly a year.
Grover knew without a doubt that something bad had happened.
Regardless, his gut feeling didn’t go a long way toward convincing the officers in charge that a full-blown rescue mission should be mounted. There was already a SEAL team in the area tasked with looking into the disappearances, but they’d been reassigned shortly after arrival, deployed for another mission their superiors deemed more important.
As far as Grover was concerned, there was nothing more important than half a dozen missing American citizens.
The sporadic information trickling from Afghanistan was slow and days old by the time it got back to the base in Texas, and the Deltas had been preparing to fly over to investigate themselves. Until Doc’s woman, Ember, was almost killed by a stalker, further delaying the mission. Grover had convinced their commander to let him go to Afghanistan ahead of the team, to see what he could learn.
He hadn’t planned on doing anything rash.
Hadn’t planned on breaking every standard operating procedure that had been hammered into his head since the day he’d joined the Army.
But here he was. Captured.
Grover knew Trigger was going to be pissed. As were the rest of the guys on the team. But he didn’t care. He’d done exactly what he’d hoped.
He’d found Sierra.
Most people had assumed the woman was long since dead. Shahzada had a reputation for being ruthless. He didn’t keep a prisoner of war for months, let alone a year. He got any information he could out of his prisoners, then killed them.
But here she was. Grover couldn’t see her from his cell deep in the mountainside, but there was no mistaking the voice of the woman in the enclosure next to his.
His face throbbed, but Grover barely felt it. Adrenaline coursed through his veins and he smiled in relief.
“How are you even here?” Sierra asked in shock.
Grover wished he could see her. But the crude holes dug inside the mountain cave didn’t afford him that luxury. He also wished he could touch her, reassure her that he’d get her out of here if it was the last thing he did in his life. Since he doubted he could reach her, he’d give as much comfort as he could with his words.
“It’s a long story,” he said.
She kind of snorted, and Grover couldn’t help but smile again. It seemed she hadn’t completely lost her spunk.
“You got anything else to do right now?” she asked sarcastically.
“Well, I was supposed to be playing poker with a bunch of locals, but I guess that’s out,” he sassed back.
“And my manicure appointment was canceled, so that means I can hang out and chat with you a bit,” Sierra replied.
Grover closed his eyes as emotion threatened to overwhelm him. He hadn’t been sure he’d be able to find this woman. If he did, he’d expected her to be a mere shell of the person he’d once met. But by some miracle, she sounded…okay. Her voice was raspy from disuse, but she wasn’t crying hysterically, didn’t seem scared out of her mind. He had no idea what she’d been through in the last year, but it was obvious whatever it was, it hadn’t broken her.
He’d known seasoned soldiers who wouldn’t’ve held up as well as Sierra.
The words of the base general rang through his mind. He’d met with the man when he’d first arrived in the country. We have to face the fact that she’s probably no longer alive. And if she is alive, she’s almost certainly working with Shahzada by now.
Grover refused to believe it. He didn’t know Sierra, but practically everything about her personality screamed “goodness.” She wouldn’t willingly join a terrorist group, even to stay alive. He’d bet his own life on it.
Had actually done just that.
“I came to find you,” Grover told her bluntly.
Silence met his declaration, so he waited her out.
“How did you know where I was?” she asked. “Hell, I don’t even know where I am.”
“I didn’t,” Grover admitted. “The disappearance of contractors from the base wasn’t coincidental, but no one could find any concrete evidence on where the men, and you, had gone. Everyone’s belongings were taken, making some people think you’d all left voluntarily. After all, what kind of kidnapper makes sure to pack up their victim’s stuff?”
“Shahzada,” Sierra muttered.
“Exactly. When my team and I weren’t getting the answers we needed, I was done waiting.”