This situation was about as “just in case” as one could get, and for once, she was glad her father was who he was—although she’d bite her tongue in half before admitting it. Then again, if admitting it would get them out of here, she’d shout it from the rooftops.

Surely, the message had gone through. She pressed the SOS button once more and slipped the phone back into her pocket. Caden would do something. Her father? The last time she’d talked to him had been when he told her he disinherited her for going into the Army. She’d laughed. “I don’t need or want your money.” She needed and wanted his love, but that had never been within her grasp.

Because of her ongoing conflict with her father, Sarah had kept a low profile, never acknowledging her relationship to the powerful man. Just before she joined the Army, she’d dyed her blonde hair a dark brown and decided to go by a different first name, insisting her family get used to calling her by it. The only feature that might draw attention to her was her green eyes. Otherwise, with her flawless Pashto, she should be able to pass as a native. At least, that’s what she told herself.

The guard’s heavy footfalls sounded in the hallway once more and her adrenaline spiked. Another guard joined him. They stood at the door, grinning and pointing, talking openly about the girls’ futures. Bile rose in the back of her throat, even as the comforting presence of the phone pressed into her hip.

Please, Lord, send help.

Gavin Black spoke into the radio. Though he was no longer an official Army Ranger, his skills were still as sharp as the day he’d left the unit. From his position just outside the compound, protected only by a hill of sand, he could hear the faint hum of the plane’s engine fifteen thousand feet above him. “It’s a go,” Gavin said into the headset. “Once you’re down, wait for my signal. Over.” He’d gone ahead, on the ground and at great risk to himself, to make sure the others could breach the compound in a way that would catch the occupants off guard—and give him and his team the advantage. Mere seconds would make the difference between life and death.

When the lieutenant general had called Gavin and requested his services, he hadn’t been able to refuse—and not just because of the man’s rank.

“My daughter’s been kidnapped,” he’d said, “taken by the Taliban from a school where she was a guest instructor. She, another teacher, and twelve female students are being held at a compound in the middle of the Registan Desert. The only way in without detection is to drop in at night.”

Registan Desert? There was more than one compound in that suffocating place. “Which compound, sir?”