Red Zone (Red Zone 1)

“I’ve been into the part of the city that sits on the high plains, but I haven’t been down into the old areas in the valleys.”

“The clinic is in the old city.”

“Then this will be a new experience for both of us.”

“And here I was thinking you’d experienced everything.”

“I may be old, bébé, but I still got some stuff on my bucket list.”

“And yet again, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She yawned loudly and saw his eyes soften.

“Tired again?”

“Yes.” She glanced away. She wanted to sleep every couple of hours now.

“Catch yourself a nap, then. I’ll wake you when we get to La Paz.” He patted his thigh. “Use me for a pillow. I’ll take care of you while you sleep.”

She curled her feet up onto the bench seat and rested her head on Striker’s warm and solid thigh. She fell asleep to the sensation of his fingers stroking through her hair, secure in the knowledge he meant what he said. He would take care of her for as long as she had left.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Striker knew there was a problem the moment they hit the first checkpoint. The queue into the city was longer than it should have been for a Saturday evening, and it was crawling along.

“Maybe there’s an event happening tonight?” Friday sounded as worried as he felt.

“Maybe.” But his instincts were twitching, telling him something was wrong.

“Should we give up and try to find another way in?”

He glanced at his watch. Something he’d been doing increasingly over the past few hours, all too aware that time was slipping away fast. It was seven p.m., Friday had twenty hours until the poison activated in her system. More than enough time to drive into the city and get to the clinic. But it wasn’t enough time to find a way to sneak over the monitored border fences. No, their only option was to stay on the road. He reached for her hand. Her fingers were icy cold. She’d been sleeping deeply for most of the trip, and there were dark purple circles under her eyes.

“No, we’ll stick to the plan. This queue will move fast enough. We’ll get through the checkpoint, no worries.” He hoped. “I’ll make a call to the team, see if they know what’s going on.”

He pulled an old satellite phone from his daypack and hit the team’s HQ number.

“What is that?” As usual, she was fascinated by his tech.

“Satellite phone. I’ll let you play with it after we get out of La Paz.”

“Another relic that should have been obsolete. I need to look into the tech your team use. I’ve never seen anything like it.” She beamed at him. “I feel like an archeologist who’s been thrown back in time when I’m with you.”

“Thanks.” He shook his head at her as someone answered the phone.

“Yo there, dude.” There was only one person on the team who dared call him dude—Hunter, their tech expert.

“My radar is going off here. The queue into La Paz is backed up for miles.”

“I’m on it.”

There was silence as he heard Hunter type on his old-fashioned keyboard, something else that would no doubt fascinate Friday. They’d moved up two car spaces before he came back with an answer.

“There’s been an attack of some kind in the city. They’re tight with their information. Not sure if it’s a domestic situation or terrorist.”

“That explains the tighter security. Is our permit gonna get us through this checkpoint?”

Friday stiffened beside him as he listened to Hunter type. He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand to soothe her.

“You’re solid,” Hunter said at last.