”Where does that leave us?” Al said.

Tom looked at the dead Afghanis on the ground and took a deep breath. “Try to get out of here? Report what we’ve found.”

“No.” Niki pulled her injured arm tighter to her chest. “We can’t go anywhere. My family is dead, except possibly Farid, who we have no way of contacting. And I’m in no condition to travel.” She marched up to Randall. Her intensity forced him back against the glass.

“Hold on,” Tom said, pressing his hand forward. “We got Randall here, I say we get while the getting is good.”

“I’m not so sure, buddy,” Al said. “The best we can hope for is to hijack a jinga truck, head for the nearest country, Pakistan, and hope Hotak’s men don’t run us down before we get there.”

“Great.” He knew the odds, but it helped that he wasn’t the only one. “In that case, we find a phone, call in the cavalry, maybe put a hurting on Hotak and his operation.”

“We’re going to find Hatok,” she said tight-lipped, her anger directed at Randall. “We’ll torture this guy if we have to." She poked him in the chest. "We're going to find out what is happening here, and then we’re going to kill Hotak and everyone else.” She poked Randall again. “And you are going to help us.”

“Me?” He pushed back against the glass. “Are you talking about torturing me?”

The fear in his voice was unmistakable. This was no kind of rescue.

“Yes, you.” She thrust her finger into his chest. “And yes, I will torture you if I have to.” She looked him up and down. “It occurs to me that you are the reason that any of this is happening.”

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“Me?” He shuddered.

“Yes, you. If you hadn’t come here in the first place, none of this would have taken place. We wouldn’t be here.” She turned her hand into a fist and hit him. “My family would be alive.” She hit him again. “And whatever horrible thing is about to happen wouldn’t be about to happen.”

Al moved forward but didn’t dare touch Niki. “You’re probably right about the first two, but we don’t know if Hotak might have recruited someone else.”

“No, we know.” She stepped back. Her anger hadn’t lost any of its intensity. ‘Hotak needed someone with his credentials in epidemiology. Someone who was an expert in ancient diseases, a paleoepidemiologist. And maybe who had been to Afghanistan before.” She glanced at Al and turned back to Randall. Her eyes bore into his. “How many people in the world would meet those criteria? I’ll bet less than the number of fingers on my hand.”

“She has a point, Randall,” Tom said.

“No, I’m not a part of this. I was kidnapped and forced to do what I did.” A little light of anger lit his eyes. “I told you I did this…” He waved his hand. “To save Seeta.”

Tom clamped a large hand on his shoulder.

Randall looked down at the hand and then at the face it belonged to. His anger drained away faster than it had risen.

“It’s all about this, Seeta, then? You wouldn’t have been here or done any of this if it weren’t for her?”

“What do you think?” Al said.

Tom dropped his arm and stepped back. “I think Randall is the perfect dupe.”

“No,” Randall whispered. “What we had was real. I know it.” Randall’s temper began to rise. “And she’s gorgeous, the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

“Enough,” Niki said exasperatedly. She targeted you and brought you here as she was ordered to.” She grabbed Randall’s shirt and pulled him off the window to the center of the room. They stood in the pooled blood from the dead guards.” She let him go and stepped back, her feet leaving red tracks. “You’re right about one thing, she is gorgeous, on the outside.”

Tom and Al exchanged a glance.

“Okay, Randall.” Tom stood behind the man. “We need to know everything you know about this place and Hotak.”

“Randall turned his head. “I don’t know anything.”

Al stepped up. “That’s not true, you do know, and you’re going to tell us.”