12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Muhammad Abbas nearly killed me. It took a few moments for the words to sink in as Jules stared at Marc. He couldn't look her in the eyes for longer than a few seconds but when he did she could see that they were filled with emotion ranging from anger to shame.

"I-" Jules swallowed as she looked away from Marc and towards Carlos, "I- I don't remember." She squeezed her eyes shut as she tried to hunt for the memory. Something like that should have been seared into her mind but all she came up with was a big blank nothing.

"It's okay," Marc said, trying to brush it off as nothing, "I wouldn't want you to remember it."

"But-" Jules started when Marc held up a hand.

"-Really, don't worry about it. Let's focus on getting Safia back." Marc turned around towards Ridgeway and the others as he began to map the situation leaving Jules stood there in stunned silence.

She had been about to say that he'd had to go through it alone because she could not remember and that was not what married couples did to each other. They didn't let the other one go through something alone. Marc had always been there for her even when she did not remember who he was and Jules was slowly realising that she couldn't do the same. How could you be there for someone when you don't even remember what happened?

"Come on," Carlos reached out a hand and gripped her shoulder, "Let's get out of here then I'll tell you everything."

Jules nodded but she could not get away from the feeling that Marc had put more into their marriage then she had and she felt like a failure. She had failed Marc, but she couldn't fail Safia too so she walked over and crouched behind the rubble beside the others as they looked out at the scene unfolding before them.

Safia was still stood in front of Muhammad Abbas whose features were minuscule from this far away but she could seem to feel his eyes boring into her.

"Why has he come back?" Twitch asked, "He was free and clear. Everyone thought he was dead. He must know that coming back would have exposed him to the world."

"He's probably going to kill us all, that's what he's thinking." Cromwell muttered off hand.

"Bet he wasn't counting on the drone though," Carlos scoffed as his eyes looked upwards even though he could not see the drone anywhere nearby.

"There must be something here that's worth the risk for him to expose himself," Samantha MacAndrew voiced from the corner causing everyone to turn and look at her. They had almost forgotten she was there. "But what?" She asked to take the attention taken off of herself.

"Jasmine?" Ridgeway offered, "She'd offer some leverage being the prime minister's niece."

"What?" Samantha blurted out as she looked at Jasmine. How did she not know about that?

"Excuse me, I can hear you," Jasmine retorted from across the room where she sat on the ground with the children, one of whom had their head resting in her lap.

"No," Marc thought, his eyes turning wide, "He's not after her."

Everyone waited for Marc to elaborate so when he didn't Jules reached over and slapped him on the arm. For a couple the action shouldn't have made her feel awkward but it did and it was worse when he turned and looked at her in question.

"Who is he after then?" Julia asked, trying to cover her unease.

"The bloke in the other room," Marc shook his head a little as he turned back to the group, "I knew he knew something," Marc cussed under his breath.