Read No Turning Back for Free Online Page B

Tehrazzi.
    They couldn't be sure she wasn't setting up a trap, of course. Tehrazzi could literally be holding a gun to her head, or he could have sent the message himself from her phone once he pried it from her cold, dead hands.
    Since Ben was the one to receive the message, he was going to set up a meeting with her while the others provided surveillance and security. Once they confirmed she was alive and got her back into their custody, they could find out exactly what had happened the last week she'd been off the radar. For now, Luke had to get his ass up to Baghdad ASAP.
    His phone went off, and he glanced at the call display. Davis, the best he'd ever found for counter-insurgency and intelligence gathering. He picked up. “Hey. You heard about Sam?”
    “Yeah, but you gotta see this.”
    Luke's guts clenched. He knew that flat tone, and braced himself for bad news. “See what?”
    “Package came for you this morning with a video tape. Tehrazzi sent you some fan mail.”
    A quick surge of something close to excitement raced through his veins. “What kind?”
    “I'm sending you a video file right now.”
    Luke hung up and a few minutes later opened up the file on his BlackBerry. He turned the volume up and waited while it loaded, his heart pumping hard in his chest. The clip started, showing a grainy film of Tehrazzi sitting cross-legged on a prayer mat in front of a green martyr's flag.
    Luke sucked in a sharp breath and jerked upright so fast a blinding pain shot through his skull. The room seemed to sway a moment until he got his equilibrium back, and he had to swallow repeatedly to keep from throwing up.
    Tehrazzi was wearing white robes. The symbol of his intention to martyr himself.
    Fighting back the waves of nausea, Luke listened to the soft, clear voice deliver the message in Arabic. An Islamic angel of death, calling to his minions.
    “My name is Farouk Ahmed Tehrazzi. I am a soldier of Islam, a crusader against the invading American infidels and all who sully the name of Islam. The time has come for me to announce my intention to continue the jihad against our enemies. But now I commit myself to the higher purpose Allah has called me to. I am ready to sacrifice this life in the name of Holy war, and will embrace the glories of the afterlife without hesitation. Allah willing, we will rid the earth of the American people and their allies. I speak to those who have taught me. I pray that my sacrifice will please Him, and that He will reward our struggle here on earth.” The image faded to black.
    I speak to those who have taught me...
    Luke cursed as those words rang in his ears. This was about him . He'd trained Tehrazzi. From however Sam was actually involved, to her cousin's kidnapping— all of it was about Tehrazzi getting to him. “You son of a bitch,” he hissed, hands clenching into fists.
    He hit the call button wound around the rail of his bed and systematically went to work taking out the IV stuck in the back of his hand. He was pulling the plastic catheter out of his vein when the nurse arrived and gasped at the sight of him.
    “Mr. Hutchinson,” she began in a stern voice, rushing over to stop him.
    Luke cut her off with a warning glare. “I need out of here. Now. ”
    Wide-eyed, the nurse shuffled back a step. “Al-all right,” she murmured. She went into a cupboard and handed him a bandage and some tape to stop his arm from bleeding.
    Luke slapped a piece of tape over the cotton ball on the IV site, his mind racing. Tehrazzi wanted to play hardball? Fine.
    Bring it on, you bastard. Bring it on. I'm more than fucking ready for you.
    He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, and nearly landed face first on the linoleum. He threw out a hand to grab the side rail, fighting to stay on his feet as the room did a tilt-a-whirl around him. Dammit, he thought, pissed off at his body's weakness. He didn't have time for this.
    A doctor stormed in. Luke squinted at the triplicate