Captain Amadulah dropped his head. “It is God’s will.” He raised his hand to his face, removed his glasses, and wiped his eyes. “I understand that.”

He replaced his glasses. “If you can find it in your heart.” He paused. “Today can be the day you take revenge for both our losses and our families.”

Mike kept his silence. He didn’t know what the Captain’s plans were, and he wasn’t sure he wanted anything to do with them.

With a renewed vigor in his voice, Amadulah sat up. Niki placed more pillows behind him to help him sit. “Since the day I found out about Ahmad’s death, I made a pact with God. Not to only find and kill the man you’re looking for. I also want to destroy Baabaa Hotak's empire.”

Julia’s eyes widened. “What? How do you know about him?”

“Back when we were here.” Tom leaned forward. “The Captain had a pretty extensive intelligence network.”

“And since the day I lost Ahmad, I have used my money and influence to expand that network. My people are a part of everything, the drug trade, the government, the Army. There isn’t much I don’t know, but the things I want to know sometimes elude me.”

"I can help,” Julia said. “I can fill in the gaps in your knowledge. For some time now, Afghanistan has been my job and my passion..”

“That is kind of you to offer. I’m not sure there’s anything you can tell me I don’t know.”

“I know a lot.” She accepted his refusal as a challenge.

“Perhaps you can tell me how Baabaa Hotak knew we would be traveling on the road we were ambushed on?” Mike pulled out the folded photo of Tom, Al, and himself and gave it to Amadulah.

“Yes, the man who took this sent it to Baabaa Hotak. He also sent it to me.” Amadulah handed it back. “In this country, you have to expect duplicity, and you have to pay very well in the hope of loyalty and sometimes even then.” He shrugged.

That’s how Farid knew it had been them. Mike glanced at Farid, one minor mystery solved.

“We planned to meet you on the road closer to the compound,” Farid said.

“I know,” Julia said. “Baabaa Hotak is in the Tal Bez Valley, and I suspect an American worked for Hotak at the U.N. Headquarters in Kabul before we pulled out. This person no doubt tried to keep Hotak out of any intel reports.”

“That’s my thought as well. Baabaa Hotak is currently in Kabul, and there wasn’t just one traitor. There was another traitor from France and two more in the Afghan Army. As far as I know, all four are senior ranking officers and still work for Baabaa Hotak.”

“Well.” She glanced at the others for validation. She’d been right, just not about the number. “How? Why would they?”

“It’s not so hard to understand. If you offer enough money to some people, you’ll get them to break their oath. They will change their loyalty, demean themselves anything for more money. Afghani Generals are cheap. The Frenchman and the American were much more expensive. And now that your forces are gone, they provide Hotak with more diverse information.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“I need a sat phone. I need to contact my boss and let him know.” Julia leaned forward in anticipation. "Do you know who they are?”

“Yes, of course."

“This could work for us.” Al glanced over at Mike and Tom. “We could contact the guys back in the rear and tell them about the U.S. and French traitors. Wrap them up with a bow.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t allow you to communicate with anyone. I won’t allow them or anyone else to alert Hotak of your presence here or my involvement.”

“How do you know he’s in Kabul?” Al said.

“I know because he is bribing several high-ranking Afghan politicians, one of whom works for me. He wants more of his opium shipments to be completely unhindered as they leave the country.” He faced Al. “And, no, there will be no arrests. I won’t alert Hotak. And if they were arrested, it wouldn’t matter. Wherever these traitors might be incarcerated, Hotak would find them and kill them before they could be of any use.”

“So,” Tom said. “He went from fighting with the Muhj against the Soviets to being a drug dealer.”

Amadulah’s lips twitched upward. “In a sense. His family was always involved in the opium trade but in a small way. With Hotak back in Afghanistan during the Russian occupation, their business grew profoundly. When the Taliban took over, it became even larger. Now Hotak controls, in one capacity or another, sixty percent of the drug trade in my country. He ships his product all over the world.”

“How do you know all this?” Julia said.

“My family has always had dealings in the emerald, hashish, and opium business. We also started small. Over the generations, we expanded and built our family business. I now control twenty percent of the opium trade.”

Julia sat back, widening her eyes in surprise.

“Does that offend you, my dear?”

Farid and Niki glanced at her, Farid’s face curious, Niki’s scornful.

“It does, actually.” She looked to her left. The three men had all seen her reaction. None of them showed, outwardly at least, the same discomfort she felt. “Aren’t any of you concerned or upset by this?”

Mike shook his head. “Tom and I knew all about his business from before. Then, our mission was to fight bad guys, not make drug busts. We had, then and now, bigger problems than what he does for a living.”

“Yeah, but.” She lifted her head, her eyes staring at the mud ceiling. “What he does ultimately hurts people. That’s not right.”

Mike opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Al broke in.

“What would you have us do? We’re not the DEA. He isn’t going to help us with the traitors, but later he may. And if he can help us reach our target, that’s a plus.” He glanced over his shoulder at Tom and Mike. “Let him help. Because the truth is we need it.”

Mike took in a breath to add to what Al had said, but Tom spoke first.

“Julia, don’t sweat the small stuff.”

“Small stuff?”

Al nodded. “Small stuff.”

She looked at the two of them disbelievingly.

The three impassive American men waited for her to come to the same conclusion they’d already made.

“Captain Amadulah wants revenge for Ahmad, and I say hell yes. Ahmad was a good little guy.” Tom put his hand on Mike’s shoulder. “Mike, we know what he wants. I don’t like getting bested in a fight, and that was damn close. I want to kill whoever ordered that ambush on the road. It won’t bring back Greg or Maheem, but it will make me feel better.” He took his hand off Mike’s shoulder and rested it on Captain Amadulah’s bed, watching Julia. “So let’s get on board for the big win.”

She closed her eyes. “Fine, I’m in.” She opened them and saw Amadulah watching her. “I get it. I didn’t come here to stop the drug trade. I came to find out what was happening in the Tal Bez Valley. But that doesn’t mean I won’t tell people what I learned about you.”

“Whatever God decides.” Amadulah held his hand out to his children to stay silent. “But, what did you learn here? I am as committed as you to seeing your mission complete. I’m using my considerable resources to help you. And, I claim to have some part in the opium trade. A claim you would never be able to prove or have anyone act on.”

She looked back at him, her lips held tightly together.

“I will, of course, give you the names of the traitors when you return.”

“You’re in?” Mike said.

“I’m in,” she said tensely. “I said I’m in.”

“Good,” Mike said.

“Hey, wait a minute.” Tom frowned, looking at the two Amadulah children. “Where are the rest of your brothers?”

Amadulah sighed. “My wife and two sons, Gawhar and Salar, are all gone. Murdered by the same man who took Ahmad from me.”