No Turning Back by Kaylea Cross

she had on him. It might be crazy, but Sam calmed him somehow. She was the only person he'd ever met who could quiet the static in his head so he could breathe easier. Just being in her presence for five minutes was better than any relaxation technique he'd ever tried, and he'd test-run more than a few in his years on earth. Damned if he understood how she did it, but it was there whether he wanted to admit it or not.
    He shook his head at Rhys. “I don't want to see her get hurt.” He couldn't watch another woman he cared about go through what Bryn had, no matter what the circumstances.
    Sam couldn't believe he'd actually left her here. Right up until the moment the guard had locked her in the cell, some part of her had still expected Ben to grin and say “Kidding,” like it was just another of his pranks, and then get her out of there. It had taken a full minute after he'd gone for reality to sink in. This was no joke. Far from it. Did they think she'd tell them something more if they left her here long enough?
    On her hard-as-concrete bunk, Sam tucked her knees into her chest and stared at the cinderblock walls. She didn't dare look anywhere else in case someone was watching her. The weight of the stares coming her way made her want to curl into a ball and shut her eyes to block everything out.
    Ben mistrusted her enough that he'd abandoned her here. Hadn't even looked back once she'd sat down and the guard had shut the cell door with a resounding clang and locked her in. Now she was alone in a CIA holding facility, the sole female prisoner, surrounded by male guards and men who'd done any number of violent things to land them here. Including her former friend and teammate Fahdi, who was in the cell next to hers for murdering Ali.
    Just then, he banged on the wall between them, for the fourth time. She gritted her teeth. His treachery was part of the reason she was stuck here. Nothing he could say would interest her.
    “Miss Sam,” he called in a loud whisper. It hurt that she could picture his handsome face, so familiar and once dear to her. He'd been one of her only friends since coming to Iraq. “Please, Miss Sam.” More plaintive this time.
    “What?” she finally snapped.
    She made out the sound of him shuffling around next door. Then, “I am glad to see you.”
    Well, the feeling was definitely not mutual.
    After another minute of dead air, he asked, “What happened to bring you here?”
    She almost didn't answer him, but her temper, usually dormant, rose as she thought of the torment she'd endured these past few days. “They think I'm working with you.”
    “I am sorry.”
    Yeah, I just bet you are, buddy . “What did you tell them, Fahdi?”
    “The truth.”
    “Oh, please !”
    “I never said you were involved. I will swear to Mr. Luke you are innocent when he comes next.”
    Sam was dumbfounded. “You think he or anyone else will listen to a single word out of your mouth after what you did?”
    Another silence stretched out. “I... I suffer for that. Ali was my friend.” His voice was thick, and she imagined the tears flooding his dark eyes, tangling on the incredibly long, thick lashes that had no right to belong to a man.
    “Yeah, so much that you blew him to pieces.” She couldn't believe he'd done it. Not in a million years would she have thought Fahdi capable of something so despicable. How could he live with himself?
    “I had no choice,” he said in a choked voice.
    Her hands clenched into fists. “We always have a choice.”
    “Not so. They would have killed Hala and the children if I did not. And Ali... He was not my intended target.”
    No, Luke had been, with as many of the others as possible. It might just have easily been Ben he'd blown up. “There must have been another way.”
    “If there had been, you must believe I would have done it instead.”
    “You should have gone to Luke for help.” Even as she said it, a terrible pang of guilt struck her. She was one to talk. She