Page 24 of Her Sensual Protector
“Daisy, the only thing that’s beginning to piss me off is that you haven’t told me anything of significance. Before I side-step your questions, I’ve got more questions of my own.” He heard her huff out a laugh. “Besides inoculating Siraj’s nephew, did your dad, or any of his team, do anything else to piss off the Haqqani Network?”
“It’s still the same crap we talked about at lunch yesterday.”
“So, you came up with bupkis? I find that hard to believe.”
“Why?”
“Because you would be out of your room doing something instead of in your room eating breakfast.”
She let out a real laugh. “Okay, you’re right. My contact is getting me a meeting with somebody he says he trusts. He’s with the new arm of the Taliban who has been part of the ceasefire.”
“Are you nuts?! Just what in the hell are you planning to talk about?” Leo felt his blood pressure triple.
“I’m going to see if we can offer Siraj money in exchange for my father. It was one of the things I promised my brothers I would try to do before I left the States.”
“They’re not going to go for it.” Leo thought about how Squires had told the Imam that the prophet would be ashamed of them. There wasn’t a chance in hell that anyone would go for ransom.
“I’ve got to try.”
He had to stop this shit from going a step further.
“Daisy, it’s more than just inoculating Siraj’s nephew. He also invoked the prophet Muhammad’s name when dealing with an Imam here in Afghanistan. He told the Imam the prophet would be ashamed of him for not inoculating his family.”
He heard her groan. “Please tell me you’re making that up.”
He didn’t answer her.
“No, of course, you’re not. That’s just like Ethan Squires. He has to pour gasoline on every damned situation.”
“So you see why meeting with this decent guy from the Taliban isn’t going to do you any good, right?”
“I hate not having a back-up plan to my back-up plan. I know you Navy SEALs are supposed to be the shit, but Leo, something could go wrong. You might not find him to rescue him, have you thought of that?”
Again, he didn’t say anything.
She sucked in her breath. “You mean you have found him?”
“Daisy, you can’t meet with anybody from the Taliban. I’m going to tell Tom Ludlum to put you under house arrest.”
“He can’t do that,” she protested.
“Yes, he can. He’ll have two men put outside your door in minutes, and they won’t let you leave your room. If you protest, they’ll just take you to the embassy.”
“Don’t think I’m the only Squires out there trying to free my father. There are others trying just as hard and are just as desperate.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Are one of your brothers or your sister coming to Afghanistan?”
“They don’t have to be in Afghanistan to do something reckless.”
Leo stood up straighter. “What are you talking about? Who’s doing something reckless?”
“I can’t tell you. It would betray a confidence.”
“I call bullshit. You’re too smart of a woman to just let that dribble out of your mouth unless you wanted to talk to me about it. So talk.”
Leo swore he could hear her closing her eyes and resting her head back against a chair or the headboard or something. “You’re right. I don’t know how this is going to play out. But my brother has connections with somebody who can cut through a lot of red tape and get in with the Russian embassy here in Afghanistan.”
Leo’s stomach plummeted.
