Chapter 24: Revenge!

I Can't Wait

Hotak shoved past the men on the stairs, pushing them to the side. Most milled about, aimless, fear spread across their faces. Hotak paused, slowing at one man who appeared to have been crying. He searched for the cause. Whatever the problem was, lives would be lost if a good reason didn’t exist.

He pushed through the last of the guards as he reached the eighth-floor hallway. None of the men would look at him. These cretins. How did he ever think he could realistically use them anywhere outside the country?

One foot on the first step, he turned to look upstairs.

“Badi!” He went weak.

Badi’s legs were on the landing, his back and head resting on the wall.

Hotak’s mouth opened and closed on its own. He wanted to shout, scream, and curse, but he could only stand there and stare. Badi was his indestructible man, his greatest friend, and the only person he truly trusted, even above his own family.

Badi lifted a hand off his chest, then let it drop.

Hotak’s heart felt as if it had started again. He grabbed men and shoved them up the stairs.

“You men.” He pushed six of them up the stairs. “Pick him up. Quickly!”

The men race to obey. Three men to each side took hold of loose clothing, picked him up, and brought him to the eight-floor hall.

Hotak sent another man after Badi’s machine gun.

“You, you, you, you, and you. He pushed five other men up the stairs. “ Stand guard up there.” He pointed to the landing.

A tear formed in his eye and slid down into his beard. On his knees next to the man he’d known since childhood, he bent over and prayed for the first time in his life. He wasn't much of a believer. In the affairs of men, Hotak had far more power over those he dealt with than any mythical deity. This barren and hostile country suggested there couldn't be a god above. At this moment, though, he prayed, hoping something was out there, and it would save his friend. Blood seeped from around the spike in Badi’s eye. He thought there should have been more but was glad there wasn’t. He reached down and yanked the curved-bladed Persian dagger from his belt and cut off the sleeve of his expensive shirt, and with loving care, he wrapped it around the wound. The other sleeve, he wrapped it around the tomahawk and tied it off. The blindfold would help keep the weapon secure until Badi was hospitalized. Only Badi’s beard and mouth were uncovered.

Badi mouthed, “Thank you.”

More tears ran down Hotak’s face. “Badi, it’s the best I can do for now. I’ll get you to a hospital. You’ll survive this, I promise it.”

A large hand squeezed his arm.

“Badi? My oldest and best friend. Listen to me. You will survive this.”

The hand squeezed his arm again.

Hotak smiled back.