“Well, you’ve had your turn,” Casey said to Eli as she threw her shawl back. Her white crew cut, fair skin and ice pick blue eyes glared at the two Mosul fighters. Both froze momentarily, not sure what they were actually looking at.

The man holding the girl dropped her like a sack and fumbled with his gun. Casey crossed to him in three quick steps and brought a blade up and under his chin, jamming it through his larynx and up into his brain. His mouth opened, showing a hint of dark steel at the back of his throat, and his eyes rolled back.

“Bye bye,” Casey said into his face.

Eli still had one hand in his pocket, and through the folds in the material a soft spitting sound emanated as a tiny hole appeared. The second soldier stood shocked momentarily with a corresponding hole between his eyes, before he fell back like an axed tree.

Eli turned to the family. “We were never here, they were never here.” He pointed at the blood on the ground. “Clean this up and speak of it to no one.” He bowed. “Enshallah.”

Eli then turned to Casey as he grabbed one of the bodies by the shoulders. “Take the other one. We’ll hide them in one of the empty buildings.”

Casey grabbed the other body and together they dragged them twenty feet down the street to the first abandoned building they could find. They pulled them inside, past broken doors and smashed furniture. Piles of rubble created perfect burial mounds. Casey lifted a huge sheet, and scoffed.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.” She pointed. There was already a body hidden there, desiccating in the dry air. She grinned down at it. “Would you like some company, pal?” She lifted the sheet higher and then threw the new body on top of the old. Eli added his corpse, and together they dropped the huge sheets and more debris on top.

Eli turned to her, his hands on his hips. “You feel better now?”

Casey shrugged. “Sorry. Hey, what did you say these guys called themselves?”

“Hezar-Jihadi; Party of a Thousands Martyrs,” he responded.

She snorted. “A thousand minus two now, huh?”

“This is not funny.” Eli looked at her from under heavy brows. “You should follow your captain’s orders, and his example.”

“Yeah, right.” She started to turn away but paused. “Come on, and I’m warning you; no distractions this time.” She laughed as she pulled her hood up once again.

Eli groaned and followed.

*

Alex and Adira sat outside at the café, several hundred feet down from their target building. There were a few other patrons inside, but they were the only ones seated on the street. Half a dozen other tables sat waiting for their food and drinks.

Adira had ordered coffees, and the dark thick rich liquid was poured at the table. A plate of dates was also set down for them. Alex lifted the small glass cup in the ornate gold holder to his lips.