When I was about halfway to the cockpit, the pilot leaned out from his seat. He had a dark mustache that looked like something out of a fifties noir movie. His left incisor was capped in gold. It was clear when he smiled. And he was smiling as he pointed the small automatic pistol at me.

Before I could think of another way get to the pilot, I felt the pain in my shoulder next to my neck. Suddenly the world started to spin. As I toppled to the rubber mat on the floor of the plane, I saw Jackson standing behind me.

It wasn’t until I hit the floor and rolled onto my back that I saw he was holding an empty hypodermic needle. A trickle of blood was running from the corner of his mouth.

Jackson smiled. “Looks like someone’s going to take another nap.”

Chapter 37

Chapter 37

I was awake, but groggy as the plane landed. I had been unconscious for a while. My hands were secured behind my back this time. The bump of the small plane landing on the runway knocked me awake.

I looked around the plane’s small cabin and the first thing I saw was Jackson’s smiling face. He was sitting directly across from me, just like before. He grabbed me by the arm and held me upright in the seat.

He said, “We didn’t have much tranquilizer left. I didn’t even know if it would work. But you got a twenty-minute nap out of it. How do you feel?” He slapped me on the shoulder, like we were old drinking buddies.

In truth, I felt like I had a hangover. But my curiosity overrode any of my instincts to close my eyes and put my head back down.

I managed to croak, “Where are we?” I noticed the plane taxi toward a compact Honda sedan at the end of the runway instead of going to the small terminal. There was no sign on the terminal building and gray duct tape held two of the windows together.

Jackson said, “We are in the lovely city of Jalalabad. Ever heard of it?”

I just shrugged. I knew the name, but it hurt my head to talk.

He continued. “Technically, we could’ve landed at the US Forward Operating Base Fenty a few miles away. We decided to use the municipal airport to get you to our special holding facility here in the city. I’m not sure the Air Force would be particularly happy about us transporting a US citizen in handcuffs. No matter how much of a dumbass he is.”