Page 25 of Saving Noor

Near the door, Tariq scanned the street through a narrow, shaded peephole. Shadow checked his pistol, then glanced at the ammo cans. “Standard 5.56 and 9mm. They think of everything.”

“Except decent pillows,” Tariq muttered, not turning from his watch. “The mattress in the back room feels like packed sand.”

A brief, tired laugh escaped Jax as he finished clearing Noor’s face and popped the medical crate’s latches. “It is a roof, four walls, and a resupply. That is a forward operating base in my book.”

The small exchange loosened something in the room for a second. Then Link keyed his comms. “Swede, we’re in. Cache intact. What does our exfil look like?”

The voice crackled back, all business. “Warden’s team is wheels up. Medevac en route. ETA forty-five minutes to extraction point.”

“Understood. And the others? Local assets?”

“Hank confirms the secondary safe house is ready, fully stocked. Michaels concurs with the split.”

“Confirmed.” Link released comms. “All right, listen up. Forty-five minutes till exfil. Jax, stabilize Noor for transport. Shadow, full inventory—take what we need for the next leg, leave cache ready for next team. Tariq, Hassan, and Fatima, move to the secondary location. Same network. You will have what you need.”

Link slid the SAT phone from his vest and flipped it open. The screen flickered to life. He tapped the contact labeled “Bear” and waited. After a brief ring, Bear’s familiar voice came through, low but relieved.

“Link. Finally. Y’all ok? What’s your status?”

Link took a breath. “It’s been rough. Faisal, he beat Noor badly before we got her out. She’s critical… internal bleeding, broken ribs, the whole mess. Jax has her on plasma substitute, but the medevac’s still forty-five minutes out. We’re doing what we can to stabilize her. And, we discovered that she had two little girls, Sammy has sisters. Faisal took them and is planning to sell them.”

Silence crackled before Bear spoke, quieter this time. “Damn. You’re going to get them, right?”

“Swede’s trying to track them,” Link said bluntly. “We just secured the safe house and got our local assets moving to the secondary location, but now we’re gearing up to chase Faisal down and get those girls back.”

Bear exhaled audibly, then chuckled softly, the familiar edge of dry humor returning. “Ready-built family, huh? Alright, Link, keep me posted. And hey, take care of yourself and Sammy while you save the world.”

Link smiled despite the weight in his chest. “Will do, Bear. Catch you soon.”

Shadow was already moving, opening an ammo can to check sealed magazines. Tariq knelt beside the elderly couple, speaking rapidly in hushed Arabic. Link watched Fatima’s eyes well up as she grasped Tariq’s hands, hope dawning as she looked at the shelves of food.

Link knelt beside Jax, who carefully examined the injury and the medical supplies at hand. “This is the right kit,” Jax said, reaching for the chilled bag that would help stabilize her condition. “It helps maintain circulation more effectively than saline alone. But she’s still in critical condition with internal bleeding and compound fractures. This will buy us some time, but it’s not a cure.”

He met Link’s eyes. “Exfil is a major risk.”

A cold knot tightened Link’s gut. He looked at Sammy, who held a pressure bandage steadily, eyes wide but focused. He had heard everything.

“It is the only play we have,” Link said quietly. “This cache gives her a chance she did not have before.”

He pulled Tariq aside by the supplies. “See this?” Link gestured at the organized stock. “Protectors do not just extract; they set anchors, build networks. Hank’s offer stands—for them, and for you. A place in the network. A skill. A real future.”

Tariq’s brow furrowed. He reached toward the cool metal of a water case, not a promise but a thing. “A skill?” he asked, skepticism now mingled with curiosity.

“Whatever you want: logistics, comms, medical. Or just a quiet place to figure it out,” Link said. “The choice is yours. But the offer and the cache, they are real.”

Tariq looked from supplies to Hassan and Fatima, sharing a water bottle. He gave a slow nod. “I go with them. For now.”

Before Link could respond, Tariq snapped back to the peephole, his body going rigid.

“Link!” he hissed. “Car, no lights, moving slow, stopping out front.”

Silence vanished. Shadow slapped a full magazine into his rifle. Jax covered Noor with his body. Sammy swung his weapon toward the door, fear frozen into lethal calm.

Link’s world narrowed to the door, the cache at his back, the threat outside. “Positions,” he breathed. The safe house became a fortress.

16 - LINK

For a long moment, there was only silence, the kind that pressed against his eardrums. Then, a soft scrape of a boot on gravel outside. Link pressed the comms button lightly against his lips, his voice a subterranean whisper.