The one named Sevastian appeared at Michael’s elbow as he removed Sophie from the passenger seat. The other man – Sergei, he thought his name was – had already yanked the door open to the main building and disappeared inside. Michael did his best not to flinch away from the armed Soviet guard beside him. A few weeks ago, this man was his mortal enemy. Now he was helping Michael, adding support to Sophie’s head, touching her hand gently.
“Dr. Shah told us she is ill. With dysentery.” Michael didn’t spare him a glance as he raced to the front door. Sevastian let go of Sophie’s hand to hold the door open for him. “Is her condition serious?” he asked. Michael didn’t answer. “Please,” Sevastian said, the courtesy startling him. “Answer my questions. We are concerned for this woman.”
“Yes, dysentery.” He lowered her into his own hospital bed in the infirmary. “You should not be in here. She is still contagious and would be most unhappy if you fell ill.” Sevastian backed toward the door, looking distressed. For the next ten minutes, Michael made sure that whatever else happened, Sophie would be safe. He reinserted her IV, hung fluids, then grabbed a file and recorded her treatment to date, including the tranquilizer he had administered. Raj walked in with Sergei just as he was finishing up.
“Did she relapse?” Raj walked over to check on Sophie, looking concerned.
“No, she’s asleep. I simply wish to ensure she receives a full course of treatment.” He made a final notation on the chart. “I prefer she take another twenty-four hours of fluids for proper hydration. All the information is on her chart. Please take good care of her for me.” Raj didn’t have time to look up before Michael shot out the door and down the hall.
It took him only a minute to find the Temples’ quarters. Will’s physique was a bit different than his, but his clothes would suffice. He tore open Will’s bag and searched for the most typically American-looking clothing he could find. He emerged dressed in a white button-down with an Abercrombie t-shirt underneath, blue jeans and – best of all – a pair of cowboy boots. Cowboy boots in a military zone? What sort of man is this? He grabbed a coalition vest on the way out.
He could do nothing about his bristly hair, but everything else looked perfect. He passed Sergei and Sevastian in the hall on the way out the door.
“Look after her,” he said fiercely in Russian. “Whatever happens, do not allow her to go to Parnaas. She should not leave this room. This is an order.” Not waiting to see their response to receiving instructions from their own prisoner, he jumped back into the SUV and roared off toward the camp.
He hoped that the Soviet guards had grown so used to coalition vehicles driven by foreigners coming in and out of Parnaas that they no longer did identification checks. They waved him through with bored looks on their faces as he drove up. So far, so good.
He parked the SUV beside the other coalition vehicles and started walking across the compound to the building where the Commandant worked. He was halfway there when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the coalition executive committee step out of a building to his right.
The exec committee had finished a lunch meeting and was cutting through the administrative compound when Anjali gasped. Will swung around to follow her gaze. Incredibly, Michael was striding across the compound toward the Commandant’s office with a look of ferocious determination on his face.
Will waved everyone else back and took off, racing across the muddy gravel toward him. Michael saw him, but didn’t break stride. Will skidded to a stop beside him, alarmed by the intensity in the younger man’s eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Will glanced around to see if any of the guards had spotted his headlong sprint across the open ground.
“Dealing with this in my own fashion.”
“By choosing to commit suicide?” he asked in disbelief. Michael glared at him, and some hazy part of Will’s mind registered that the younger man was wearing his clothes. Including my cowboy boots! That made him pissed. “I can’t believe Sophie let you to come here.” Will saw a flicker of emotion on Michael’s face, then the blank glare returned.
“She does not know I am here,” he admitted.
Will could only imagine what kind of deception had gone into that accomplishment. “Michael, seriously. What are you doing? If you walk in there, you’ll die or be interred here again. What will happen to Sophie if you get killed?”
“She is safe, and that is all that matters. I will not allow her to put herself in any more danger because of me.” His face softened a bit. “Will, I appreciate your concern. Truly I do. But I do not permit others to fight battles on my behalf. I must try this my way.” Will wanted to point out that trying this his way might be the last thing he ever did, but Michael silenced him with a look.
“Please. I can do this.” His voice was strained. “I can buy back my own life and ensure safety for the people – my people – still trapped in this place. If I had had time for a more collaborative approach, I would have done so. But I have an opportunity at this moment that will not come again. I must try.” He held his hand out. Will stared at it for a moment, then shook it. “If I leave this camp alive today, I believe you and I could end up being friends,” Michael said unexpectedly.