“I didn’t understand what a period was at the time. I had no idea that women and chocolate have a magic, hormonal connection. Would I do that now? Oh, hell, no.”
Kristi laughed. “Now it’s your turn. What’s your guilty pleasure—and if you say internet porn, I’m going to be disappointed.”
He seemed to think about it for a moment. “I like to sing along to Dolly Parton sometimes when I’m driving.”
“Seriously? I didnothave you pegged as a Dolly Parton fan.” She took his phone, went to his music app, scrolled through it. “You have ahugeDolly Parton play list.”
“What can I say? I respect her.”
Kristi picked one of the few songs she knew—Here You Come Again—and the two of them sang along, belting out the lyrics.
“You have a good voice,” she said when the song finished.
He threaded his fingers through hers. “So do you.”
But the needle on the fuel gauge was moving steadily toward empty, and at last Malik had no choice but to use the extra gas in the cans.
“It looks like we’re coming to some bigger towns soon. Hopefully, we can fill the tank before we burn through these ten gallons. If not, we’ll have to walk.”
The conversation moved on after that, Kristi asking questions about Malik’s time as a Ranger. “Were there ever days you wanted to quit and go home?”
“There were a couple of times when I felt lucky to get back to base alive.”
He told her about a time the Rangers and an element from DEVGRU—SEAL Team Six—were sent to Afghanistan’s Helmand Province with some Australian commandos in two MH-47E Chinook helicopters to catch a high-value target.
“One of the birds had just gotten its guys on the ground when we were ambushed by a much larger force of insurgents. I was in the other chopper, still in the air. The pilot of the empty helicopter put himself between us and the bad guys and got shot out of the sky by an RPG. His skill enabled us to land.”
“He sacrificed his life for yours.”
“No, he lived to keep fighting.” Malik told her how they did their best to defend their position, using the miniguns from the second Chinook to hold off the insurgents.
“When the miniguns ran out of ammo, there was this terrible silence. I knew that was it. It was over. We had nothing but our rifles to hold off a much larger force, and our ammo was running low. Then an AC-130 Spectre—that’s an airplane equipped with big guns—arrived out of nowhere like an avenging angel. God, that was a beautiful sight. They held the insurgents off until the Brits sent in some birds to retrieve us. I was glad to make it back to base that night. We all made it back.”
Kristi couldn’t imagine. “I don’t know how you do it.”
“When you’re part of something, like the Rangers or even Cobra, you’re fighting for your team, not just for yourself. You keep fighting until you can’t fight any longer. That mission is how I ended up with Cobra. Javier Corbray, one of my bosses, was with that SEAL element. We got to know each other on that mission, and when he and Tower founded Cobra, he invited me to come onboard.”
The SUV was running on fumes when they came to the village of Lade. It had restaurants, a big church, a mosque—and a gas station.
Malik refueled the SUV and refilled the two spare gas cans, and then they were off again. “We’ve got about nine hours of driving left to reach Parakou.”
But first they would have to cross the border.
* * *
Malik pulled into a gas station,a huge, illuminated sign that read Truck Transit Park lighting up the parking lot. “I know you want to get out and stretch your legs, but there are too many people here. Maybe we can stop down the road somewhere.”
“Don’t worry about me.”
Malik quickly refueled. Then he drove behind the building, hoping to pick up the transit park’s Wi-Fi. He’d lost cell service after Lade and wanted to check in with Shields. “I’ve got bars.”
Kristi had charged her phone. “So do I.”
“I’m going to see if I can get Shields.” He dialed her number.
Shields answered on the second ring. “Hey, Jones. Good to hear from you. I’ve been tracking you two, checking on you when I can. Is everything going well?”
“We’ll have to talk about that at another time.” He didn’t want to stay in such a populated area for too long. “We’re just outside a town called Gwesaro, about an hour from the border and three hours from Parakou. Do you have any intel on the border?”