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Annie POV
As soon as Jai hung up the phone, I pounced on him.
"What the hell is going on?" My voice was hard and unrelenting; I needed to know if I was right or not.
He gave me a cold look, but his gaze quickly softened.
"There's a possibility," he began, emphasizing the word possibility, "that Auggie could be in danger. But I have Bill on it, if anything happens, the copter that's circling overhead should catch it and come down on them. We need to focus on the mission, Annie, don't let this distract you."
I nodded, but how could I not let it distract me? How could I keep a level head when Auggie could be in danger? He was still my best friend, and it's not like he intentionally tried to hurt me; it just ended up that way.
As long as he stayed safe, I realized, I wouldn't care who he's with, I just hope he's happy.
"I know you're worrying, even in the dark I can see the wheels turning in your head," Jai prompted, once again pulling me from my thoughts.
I shook my head, setting it on straight again.
"What's the plan when we get there?" I asked him instead, looking towards the horizon, we still had a few hours to go before the sun came up and revealed us.
"We're stacking the place out for a day and when night strikes, that's when we make our move and get Abdul out of there. Bill gave me a decent map out of the camp from an aerial prospective, they have a few cars parked behind a pretty big cement building. Austin is going to smuggle us into the camp saying he's transporting cargo that Bill laced before we got here with a few cameras and we should be in."
I nodded, taking it all in, "How is exactly is he going to smuggle us in? We're in a jeep, for Christ's sake!"
"Well, pretty lady, you and the prince here will be getting' in the trunk, where I personally installed a little hatch for the two of you to crawl into underneath the amo," Austin drawled.
"Why are we supplying them with more weapons?" I asked Jai, my head tilted to one side.
"Because these aren't going to work very well . . . let's just say that Austin has to get the hell out of there within a few minutes," Jai gave our driver and apprehensive look, "which is where things get complicated."
"Why wasn't I read in with all this stuff?" I asked impatiently, I hated being left out of the loop.
He shrugged, "You had a lot on your mind, and I figured we'd have plenty of time to fill you in but with the slight change in agenda . . . well now you know and that's what matters," he finished quickly.
"Right," Austin added, "as soon as the jeep stops, I'll be leading them bastards a few ways off and when you hear me say trouble, yall get out outta the trunk and get to the cars."
"How long did you guys have to put this together again?" I asked, bumping along with the jeep as we rolled over hills.
Jai shrugged, "A few minutes, we're playing this one by ear, basically."
He turned towards me, glaring at me, "But under no circumstances are you to go against my orders, Annie, no matter how unreasonable they may seem, you have to trust me. Can you do that?"
I looked at him, this was the "Prince" of sly and arrogance, but these past few days, I had began to see that he wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be. Did I completely trust him? Well, not with most things, but with my life? Yes, I did.
"I'll get the job done, Jai," I agreed, "and I promise to let you play Alpha male," I added with a cheeky smile.
He laughed softly, "That does wonders for my male pride, Walker."
We drove in silence for a few more hours, both of us occasionally dozing off and being jolted awake by the jeep.
"Alright," Austin called, rapping his knuckled on the dashboard, jolting me awake, "we have about five minutes before we enter the camp's radar, I need the both of you to get the hell in the trunk."
I nodded and climbed over the back seat and looked down at the trunk; it was filled with sleek, black cases, probably filled with nukes and guns, I realized.
Silently, I climbed into the trunk on top of the cases, handing them one by one up to Jai, he laid them on our seats and I pulled aside the tarp that covered the bottom of the trunk to reveal a barely noticeable crack between the trunk and the seats.
"Hurry the hell up," Austin hissed, and he suddenly put the Jeep into an abrupt stop.
I quickly threw the latch open to reveal a small, tightly packed space that was the trunk.
"Oh hell," I muttered as I lowered myself in and pressed myself against the side, already feeling sweat beginning to form on my body. Jai climbed in next to me and he closed the latch behind him. I heard Austin packing the weapons back over us and saw that the latch had a few breathing holes poked through.
I felt the Jeep begin to move again and felt a blush slowly creep up my body. We were pressed so tightly together that I could smell the sweat that had formed on his body as well.
"What's the matter, Walker, not enjoying what any college girl would die to feel right now?" Jai joked, his voice hushed.
"Actually, I'm not," I joked, "you're sweaty."
He laughed softly, "Well that's what happens when men don't shower for a few days."
He turned away from me and pressed against the opposite wall, no doubt trying to give me more room. Unfortunately, the space that we were in was so small that even when pushing away from each other, our bare skin was still touching.
I felt sweat drip from my hair onto my chest and sighed, the breathing holes weren't doing much. The air in the trunk was compacted and made breathing even more difficult than the desert air.
Finally, after what seemed like three hours, the jeep came to a stop.
"Well, hey there Amigo, the nukes and the Ak-47s, just like I promised!" I heard Austin drawl out.
He was answered in rapid Farsi and to my surprise, he responded in their language fluently. I heard them come around back, their footsteps heavy as they opened the trunk.
I felt the air shift until it wasn't as dense as before and knew that the weapons were being unloaded.
"How do I know that these are the real thing?" One of them asked in heavily accented English.
"Well, come on over, here, and I'll show you how it's done," Austin replied, and I heard their foot steps retracting.
"Now?" I whispered to Jai, my pulse racing.
He shook his head, "no."
"See here, if you open it like this, and hold it with your fingers spread, it won't give you any trouble," with that said, I immediately cracked open the latch silently and peered up from underneath the trunk.
I could barely see the backs of the assassins and realized that we had to move fast. I quietly opened the door of the trunk, and climbed out, looking their way to see if I got a reaction.
Austin's eyes met mine and he glared, barely nudging his head away from the jeep. Jai jumped out next to me and tapped me on the shoulder, pointing to the trucks stored behind the cement building. It looked to be about a two hundred dash.
"Go," he breathed, and with that being said, I took off for the trucks, not daring to look back. I tried to keep my feet from making too much noise as I sprinted the fairly short distance. My heart was racing in my chest and I was surprised that the assassins hadn't turned around yet.
My eyes seemed to burn holes into the trucks from the shear intensity of my gaze. I prayed that we would make it, and dived the last few feet behind one of them.
Jai was right behind me.
"Damn, that was close," Jai whispered, and I nodded.
He motioned for me to get underneath the tarp of one of the trucks and I nodded, scrambling in, thankful for the fairly cool shelter it provided.
"Did they see you?" I whispered as I helped him up.
He hesitated, "I don't think so, but we should stay here for now just in case, wait until we hear Austin leave and they get back into their camp."
I nodded, and even in the almost pitch black of the truck, I could feel him staring at me.
"What are you staring at?"
I heard the rustle of his shirt as he shrugged.
"Nothing, just wondering when the shooting's about to start," he answered truthfully.
Suddenly, Austin's voice drifted closer by.
"What? No, I didn't so nobody come by here, it was just me! Who else could've-
Before he could finish his sentence, there was a gunshot and the unmistakable sound of a body dropping to the ground.