He found them in the dunes with the camels. Jayde had already donned her chador and was mounted on her beast with the folds of her garment wrapped around his daughter.
“How is Kamilah?”
“She’s doing okay…considering.”
“And you, Jayde…your wound?”
“Surface. He struck in the dark, missed his mark, missed the vitals. I was lucky. I’ll be fine.” She stared at his arm. “You’re bleeding, David.”
“It’s nothing.” David couched his camel, mounted. “The Libyan army is on our tail,” he said quietly. “We must flee. We’ll take the southeast route and circle back into Al Abèche. They’ll be looking for us to the southwest, the direct route. Have our men gone?”
Jayde nodded. She clucked her tongue and kicked her camel into action. The southeast route would take them into the worst desert, and they had little water. But no choice.
They raced through what was left of the night. They slowed as dawn leaked blood-orange into the sky. “We must be over the border now,” David said. “Are you all right, Kamilah?”
His daughter was burrowed into Jayde’s chador. From under the folds she nodded her head, eyes still wide. She was in shock. They needed to get her treatment as soon as possible.
“Do you think they’ll cross the border?” Jayde asked.
“I don’t doubt it. We must keep moving.” He dug into the saddlebag and pulled out the sat-phone. Moriati picked up on the second ring. “We’ve got Kamilah. We’re in Azar, heading into Al Abèche from the east.”
Gio was silent. Then he spoke. “I don’t know how you pulled it off. Congratulations.”
“Halt the withdrawal of Force du Sable troops, Moriati. Ready them for a coup attempt.”
“Done.”
“And we need a chopper in Al Abèche ASAP. And have Watson on standby in Shendi. We have to move. The Libyan army is on our tail.”
“Jesus, have they come over the border?”
“We’re not sure but not risking it, either. We hope to make Al Abèche before nightfall.”
The sun was high in the sky. Jayde’s mouth was bone dry. She could see David was suffering, too. They’d given Kamilah what was left of their water. Their camels were under strain. They rode in limp and undulating silence as the desert sand blazed relentlessly and the sun beat down on their heads. They had only a few miles left to go by David’s calculation. They’d made record time. And were paying for it.
Then something caught David’s attention. He halted his camel, squinted at the northern horizon. A faint plume of orange dust rose in the air and feathered into the blue sky.
Jayde’s heart clenched. “What is it?”
“Trucks! Move!” He whacked Jayde’s exhausted camel on the rump, kicked his own into a gallop. They began to race across the dunes.
But the dust plume across the ridge grew at an alarming rate and began to close in on them, circling around to the west cutting off their access to Al Abèche.
And for the first time, Jayde felt defeated. She was exhausted. She’d lost blood. She was in pain. Her thirst was excruciating. Then she looked down at the little child that clung to the saddle in front of her. She couldn’t let her down. She had to make good on her promise. A happy ending. She gritted her teeth, tightened her grip on Kamilah and focused on speed.
But their pursuers were closing in. They could see the black line of vehicles clearly now like huge ants crawling across the sand ridge. Jeeps and a truck.
They could never outrun them. They were being cut off from their only hope of survival. If they were forced back into the desert, they would be dead by tomorrow.
The caravan of vehicles crossed around the ridge and started coming at them from the south.
They were done for.
David halted his camel. Jayde halted hers. They were both breathless. David stared at Jayde. And she knew what he was thinking. They had both known it could come to this.
But as she opened her mouth to speak she heard a chopping sound in the shimmering white-hot sky, growing louder and louder. Helicopters. She squinted into the sky.
Two black choppers materialized like prehistoric beasts over the shimmering heat of the desert. Goose bumps ran over Jayde’s skin. The three of them stared in stunned silence as the copters bore down over their heads…and straight onto the convoy ahead of them.
Flashes of light and sound streaked from the machines, and instantly the jeep convoy erupted in explosion. Flames and waves of sound roared over the dunes. Black smoke spiraled into the sky. Fire crackled from the burning out hulls of vehicles in the distance.
Jayde stared at David, dumbfounded. “What was that?”