12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Jules's heart was pounding as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Her eyes flickered everywhere as she tried to see through many of the small holes in the bag that covered her head. The space in the bag around her head grew warm as the air she breathed out built up around her and, along with the extra tunic and trousers that covered her other clothes; it soon felt as if she had a river of sweat running down her spine. The grainy material of the bag scratched her nose as she turned her head, trying to find Marc once more when she saw him knelt on the ground in front of Abbas. His head was turned towards her, his lips pressed tight together as Abbas pressed the machete to his throat.

"Tell your wife no hard feelings," Abbas smirked from behind Marc, his voice drifting through the thin fabric of the sandbag until it reached her ears, "after all I got you in the end, like I knew I would. I guess your woman isn't here to save you this time." Abbas sneered triumphantly.

Hearing him taunt Marc and holding a thick knife to his throat made Jules's blood boil. Slipping her hands out of the loose bindings they had placed around her wrists as fast as she could Jules slipped one hand underneath the tunic, where a handgun was resting in the waistband of her trousers, whilst she used the other to remove the sandbag from her head that hid her identity.

As she blinked her eyes against the sudden onslaught of light she felt for the hammer on the gun with her thumb before clicking it back. People's eyes slowly turned to look at her as they spotted the blonde hair and realised that it wasn't their Taliban buddy under the bag, but Abbas was still looking to Marc and he who grew confused when he saw Marc's lips tilt upwards at the corners slightly.

"Guess again," Jules said as she pointed her gun directly at Abbas's forehead. A sudden brush of wind carried the sandbag she threw to the side silently to the ground beside her as well as blowing the loose strands of hair out of her face, leaving her true identity irrefutable.

No other part of Abbas moved except for his eyes as he hesitantly looked up at her, as if not believing it was true. And the look of shock plastered across his face made Julia feel better for a moment.

Ignoring the click and rattle of guns as the men around them trained their weapons on her instead of Marc, Jules stared at Abbas as her finger hovered over the trigger. She itched to pull it after everything he had done to Marc and Sofia but she knew that it would start something they could not finish but she did not lower her weapon.
Abbas's eyes were like bottomless pits but as they focused on her and realised who she was she saw a fire erupt from inside of them suddenly. His lips curled in anger as he reached down and pulled Marc to his feet so that his body, much taller and broader than Abbas's, shielded him from her gun.

Her stomach churned unpleasantly when she suddenly saw Marc's face replace Abbas's where she had been aiming her weapon. Reaching up she cupped the bottom of the handgun so that she was holding the gun in both hands to steady her aim as she retrained her weapon back on Abbas whose head appeared behind Marc's shoulder. She tried to keep her eyes on Abbas but she could not help quickly glancing at Marc and the thick machete that was at his throat. In the dim light of the early evening she could see a thin line of red already marking his flesh. Gritting her teeth, Jules trained her eyes back on Abbas with determination.

"Let him go," Jules warned him as her nostrils flared and she tried to keep her temper in check but she was also terrified.

"Clever," Abbas congratulated their body swap before looking at Marc, "Your woman?" He asked.

"Yeah," Marc coughed as he tilted his head back away from the blade as much as he could, "You should really get yourself one."

Abbas's lips trembled in anger as he yanked the blade at Marc's throat back a little and Marc was forced almost onto his tip toes as Abbas reminded them both that he held his life in his hands, "You have just delayed the inevitable. Right now your precious country is under attack, you cannot stop it."