Read No Turning Back for Free Online

man leaned in closer, and the audio was clear enough for Ben to hear his words. “We've been expecting you, Dr. Adams,” he purred in flawless English. “Welcome to Kabul.”
    Evil bastard. Ben stopped the video and leaned back with a sigh. Great. A pale brown eyed Middle Eastern man who spoke English without an accent had taken Neveah. Could be any one of a million men.
    He ran a hand through his hair. What a fucking mess. Sam's cousin was in deep shit, but so far nothing more about the hostages had come in. Wherever Sam was, did she know what had happened? Was that why she'd disappeared?
    He and Rhys had been monitoring the situation for the past twenty-four hours, and they'd both been sure the kidnapping would bring Sam out of hiding. That was the scary part. The fact that she hadn't resurfaced put a lot of weight behind the theory she was already dead. If by some miracle she was still alive, sure as hell she knew about her cousin, and would do whatever she could to get her out. Ben didn't like to think about the possible ramifications of that.
    The lingering uncertainty upped the burning beneath his sternum to an eight on a zero-to-ten pain scale. He put a hand there and pressed, hoping to ease it. Nothing seemed to help, least of all his Tums, which temporarily masked the heartburn episodes he'd been suffering more and more frequently. But heartburn was merely an irritating side effect of what was really going on with his digestive tract. His attempt to smother his worry and emotion behind a super-cool mask over the past few weeks was finally taking its toll by eating a hole through the lining of his stomach. That's what he got for trying to be like his Teflon-skinned brother.
    Ben rubbed at his tired, burning eyes. Damn, he'd have killed for a smoke, but he didn't dare start that shit up again. He dug in his pocket for a stick of Big Red instead and popped it in his mouth. The burst of cinnamon on his tongue helped quiet his busy mind.
    If Sam was out there somewhere, she must have known the U.S. State Department and the CIA were in contact with the team about the kidnapped Doctors Without Borders group. Because Luke had so many connections within the Agency and the Spec Ops world, anything to do with Tehrazzi put him in the thick of the intelligence and operations concerning him, so he'd been one of the first people alerted. After what their team had already been through, Ben couldn't wait for the chance to nail the terrorist's ass.
    The office door opened and Rhys strode in, short black hair damp from a recent shower. They might not be identical, but with their similar builds and a few days’ growth of stubble on their faces, they looked more alike than ever.
    Rhys came right over to the bank of computers and even though he was only two inches taller, somehow still managed to loom over him. Unyielding bastard couldn't even let him have the height advantage between them, Ben thought sourly.
    His brother took a cursory glance at the illuminated screens. “Anything?”
    “Nope. Nada.” The sick feeling in Ben's gut told him Sam was probably dead. The chances of her surviving this long on her own with terrorists on her tail were slim at best, and she was no field operative. The thought of her dying was bad enough, but the possible methods of her demise kept him awake at night. To keep from thinking about it, he turned his attention back to the monitors showing live feeds coming in from a team searching the streets of Baghdad for her.
    “All we need is one lead,” he mused with a shake of his head. “One lousy piece of intel.”
    Suddenly his cell phone beeped, signaling a text message was coming in. Fishing it from his belt, he flipped it open and froze. The message made his pulse spike. “Jesus, it's Sam.” Rhys came up behind him to look over his shoulder, remaining characteristically silent as he read it.
    Need help. N hostage A-stan. S.
    Sam was still alive. The incredible thought kept running through Ben's