Doc nodded. “Let’s get this done, ge
t the hell out of the dark ages, and go home.”
Mantis knew what Doc meant. No matter whether world leaders believed there was a war worth waging in this part of the world, nothing could change the fact that the conflicts in the Middle East went back as far as time. It would never matter who invested what kind of money in Afghanistan; a few years and a few billion dollars couldn’t rewrite the history of a thousand years.
—:—
“Did you find out anything about my father being able to leave?”
Mantis nodded. “Doc will fly back to the States with us. There are a handful of details to be worked out, and then we’ll all be on our way.”
“I see,” Alegria answered, looking at her father, who was drifting off to sleep. “Come with me.”
She led Mantis down the hallway until she found an open room. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“I don’t know all the details, but evidently Orlov is dead, and Ghafor wants to make a deal.”
“For what?”
“To let Malin go, from what I could gather. Doc didn’t relay a lot of information.”
“He’s finished.”
“What do you mean? Ghafor?”
Alegria nodded. “The Islamic State is barely holding on to a semblance of relevance. My guess is the reason Orlov was there was because Abdul was trying to negotiate with United Russia.”
“What would United Russia want from Ghafor?”
“I’m not certain, but I got the feeling that Kilbourne was somehow involved.”
“There’s a reason UR wants her.”
Alegria nodded.
“I told Doc that if it were my decision, we’d take Ghafor out at the first opportunity.”
“I would make the same call.”
—:—
When they walked back out into the hallway, Doc was waiting.
“It didn’t go down quite as we thought it would, but Razor and Dutch are on their way back here with Kilbourne, while Striker, Ranger, and Diesel are working out a deal with Ghafor. My understanding is that they’ll be transporting Abdul to a safe house to finalize negotiations.”
“It must be something big,” said Alegria.
Doc nodded and put his arm around her shoulders. “I sure as hell wanted to wring your neck, but I’m glad you’re back with us and safe.”
“I just want to go home,” she told him.
“You and me both, sweetheart.”
Chapter 33
Dutch
had something big on Ghafor; that would be the only explanation for the Islamic State’s leader to fold as easily as he did.