Alex thought he was finished.

Panic, fear, horror, all igniting in seconds.

He dove just as the bomb exploded. The blast propelled him toward the concrete stairs he’d climbed just moments before. He landed hard on his side and scrambled to get his feet underneath him. He had no time. The walls began to crumble. The ceiling fell in large pieces. Rock and shrapnel shot in every direction.

For a split second, Alex considered diving out a window. He was only on the second floor. The nearest window was on the other side of the small room. Could he make it? What did he have to lose?

He got to his feet.

The building quaked.

Alex felt the floor fall away from him. Even though he was wearing his helmet, he covered his head with his arms as he rode the tidal wave of heavy stone to the bottom floor.

The thunderous blast had assaulted his ear drums and, as he felt the building falling around him, all he heard was a steady ringing in his ears. His heart jackhammered inside his chest and his body was peppered with jagged pieces of rubble. He landed on the bare, concrete floor with a thud. Pain shot through his body, ripping through his muscles all the way to his bones.

Sure he was about to be crushed by a massive slab of what used to be a wall, Alex squeezed his eyes shut and curled into himself, and waited for the chaos to come to an end. He flinched with each chunk of stone he felt land next to him.

He let out a muffled cry for help and instantly choked on the smoke and dust that had filled the space around him. It was so thick he thought he might suffocate if he was lucky enough to live through the onslaught of falling debris.

The walls were literally closing in on him.

A large chunk fell from above and crashed down on the edge of a slab Alex had his back pressed against. The stone broke apart and the pieces fell on top of him. Alex sucked in a short breath and tucked himself into an even smaller ball. Adrenaline coursed through him at a rate he'd never before experienced. His vision blurred and his head throbbed. Every muscle in his body was clenched tightly. A wave of nausea came over him and, even though he lay still on the ground, he felt slightly dizzy.

Alex’s body trembled uncontrollably. This is where he would end. Curled up on the floor of an abandoned building in the middle of an Afghan desert dodging rubble and praying to a God he didn't believe in.

He thought of his grandmother and his sister, and the plane he was supposed to board in just a few hours to go home to them for a few days. He knew now he would never get that chance.

As the dizziness grew more intense, his consciousness began to fade. Alex wondered what the officer would say when he informed his family of his death.

The result of a training exercise gone horribly wrong.

Alex thought about what he'd learned in the last week, and, as the darkness surrounded him, he doubted the bomb had been an accident at all.

Mason sat up on his cot. He couldn’t see a thing in the darkness, so he felt around for his boots. His body ached and his eyelids were heavy, but he’d been unable to close them. He laced up his boots and walked softly to the edge of the tent. He swung the heavy canvas out of his way and felt the cool night air hit his face. He needed some time to himself.

He found himself at a rickety picnic table that was set in the middle of their camp. Mason leaned back and looked up at the stars that filled the sky, and replayed the events that had taken place earlier that day.

The huge fireball that had rolled toward the sky. The smoke that had billowed out of the not-quite-square windows. The way the building had folded into itself as it went down. And his friend.

He’d wanted to stay and look for Alex, but Hunter, the team leader, was certain Alex would never have survived and ordered them back to their camp. Hunter was probably right. Still, Mason felt guilty. He should have been in there with Alex. They were supposed to work together. But Mason got orders, and he’d followed them.

He lie flat on his back on the table and stared up at the sky. Images of his friends and family danced in his head. He remembered his girlfriend waving goodbye the last time he’d left her. Eventually he felt himself relax and he managed to shut his eyes. But he was jerked back awake when he heard a crunch in the distance.

Mason popped up and craned his head around. He saw nothing. He slowly stood and, with a better view of the area, took a second look around. His whole body tensed and he started to wander away from the table in search of the source of the crunching sound. He softly set his boots down in the sand. His eyes darted back and forth, hyper-alert to everything around him. He stopped when he spotted a figure walking toward the tent. Mason only had to watch the man for a few seconds to know who he was. He recognized everything about him.

“Alex!” Mason sagged with relief and ran to meet him. Alex’s clothes were torn and charred, and he had cuts and scrapes on his face and arms. Bruises had started to form all over him. Dust and rubble were scattered in his hair and over the rest of his body, evidence of what he’d endured. Mentally and physically exhausted, he looked like hell.

When he was close enough to see his face, Mason reached out for him, overjoyed to see him alive. “Holy shit. Alex!”

Alex blocked Mason’s arm and his eyes were dark and icy. “Stay the fuck away from me.”

The words were so sharp Mason had to take a step back. “Hey, man, I’m just happy to see you alive. I thought, well, we all thought,”

“Seein’ me stand here clear your conscience?” Alex turned away from Mason and started toward the tent.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Mason walked behind him. Alex spun around and put a finger to Mason’s chest.

“You know exactly what it means. You were supposed to have my back in there. When I turned around you were nowhere to be found. If you’re too much of a pussy to follow me into an empty building, how can I count on you when it actually matters?” Alex stabbed his fingers into Mason chest and pushed him backward as he spoke. The shouting had awakened the other guys and their heads started poking out of the tent flaps.

“Hunter signaled me to hang back.” Mason held his hands up in a surrender stance. After a moment of silence, the sting of Alex’s accusations rose in his chest. “You really think I would do that to you? That I’d punk out like that and leave you hangin’?”

“Man,” Alex looked at the ground and shook his head. “I don’t know what to think. What’s a live bomb doing in our training area? What I know is that’s the second ‘accident’” Alex held up his hands and made quotes in the air. “That I’ve experienced this week.” He held his hands up and shrugged. “I don’t know who to trust right now.”

“He’s telling the truth, Alex. I saw Hunter give the signal.” They turned to see Garcia walking toward them. Alex looked from one man to the other, and then he rubbed the back of his neck with his palm. Dust and small pebble-like pieces of stone fell away from Alex’s hair.

He nodded an acknowledgement and stomped past them. Alex tore through the tent flaps and knelt by his cot. He started shoving his belongings into a backpack, making sure to find the small pouch he needed to deliver. It was the most important thing he would ever give his sister.

“What’re you doin’?” Mason stood behind him.

“Going to the airport. I missed my fucking plane.”

* * *

Kristy’s hands flew across her keyboard as she pounded out an email to her boss. She hadn’t planned on coming in today, but when she got Alex’s message about missing his flight, Kristy used the time to her advantage. A young mother had gone missing two months ago and the police still had no trace of her. Kristy had researched this story relentlessly. Having lost both parents by the age of twelve, she ached for the children and wanted to keep the story in the spotlight.

Kristy quickly added the editor’s name to the email and clicked send. The large leather chair swallowed her petite frame as she slumped back into it. She drew in a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh, but the break was short lived. Kristy was on her feet packing up her stuff just moments later. She glanced down at her watch. She should have been out of here ten minutes ago. Kristy scowled at the second hand ticking its way around the face, telling her she was wasting even more time.

Kristy slung a shoulder bag filled with notes and her laptop over one shoulder and had her purse hooked securely in the crook of her elbow when she heard a familiar voice behind her.

“Oh, are you leaving?” It was Lucy, an intern fresh out of college. She was an aspiring journalist and Kristy had given her some tips a few days before.

“Yeah. I have to get my brother from the airport.” Kristy felt around the bottom of her purse for her keys. “I wasn’t actually supposed to come in today, but his flight was delayed and I had some stuff to finish up.” She felt the cold metal and yanked the keyring out of her purse, flinging some receipts and a rubber band into the air.

“Do you have time to look at something for me?” Lucy held a single sheet of paper in her hands.

Kristy knew the ten minutes had undoubtedly turned into fifteen by now. “Sure.” She smiled warmly and moved next to Lucy. “What’s your question?”

Their heads touched as they bowed over the paper and Lucy pointed out the areas she was having trouble with. Trying not to seem too hurried, Kristy pointed out some changes she could make and helped her re-word a paragraph.

“I’m so sorry, I have to run. I’ll be out the next couple of days, but if you still don’t think it sounds right, you can email me.” Kristy’s keys jangled as she waved and strode out the door.

“Thanks! Have fun with your brother.” Lucy followed her out the door and headed down a separate hallway. She heard Kristy’s heavy black pumps clap against the hard floor behind her.

Neither of them noticed the hooded man tiptoe along the wall and slip silently into Kristy’s office as they walked away.

* * *

“I copied everything on her hard drive.” He spoke in a low voice. It was late at night, but the walls of the hotel were paper thin. Anyone could be listening. “There’s nothing here. He didn’t send her anything over email, and there’s nothing hidden on this computer.”

“You’re sure?”

“Affirmative. I’ve been through it more than once. I know I got it all. I had plenty of time. But she took her laptop with her. I couldn’t get to it.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll get your chance. Would he really send something like that in an email though? He’s smarter than that. He probably sent her a disk or something. But she would have saved whatever was on it to a computer, wouldn’t she? She works for the fucking news. Her job is to nose into other peoples’ business. Check her letters. Maybe he told her where to find something.” The man on the other end let out a rough sigh that revealed the years of cigar smoke that had touched his throat. He stayed silent for a few moments, lost in thought, and then, “I’m going to come out there.”

“Sir, that’s not necessary. I can do this.”

“It’s not that. We had a hiccup last night. There’s been a change of plans. As of this morning, this got a whole lot more complicated.”