Chapter 2
It was past midnight when Blade cruised back into the void that was Fayetteville, North Carolina. He could still taste the open road on his tongue and feel the wind in his hair.
He”d pushed his motorcycle to the limit, trying to outrun the hell hounds in his head. The sleek Suzuki was more than a ride—it was his escape, his therapy on two wheels, cutting a path through the darkness like a knife through silence. But not even the throaty growl of the GSX-R could silence the screams.
His buddy Spade”s last moments… the anguished yell as the bullet found its mark… blood on the dusty ground.
He heard himself yelling—no, begging—Spade not to die. To hang on, help was coming. Even though he knew it wasn”t.
His friend had bled out in his arms, on the mountain path, whispering the words, ”Tell Lily I love her.”
Blade had ridden hard, leaned into the curves with a reckless abandon, pushing for a velocity high enough to set him free from the haunting memories. Spade wasn”t the only one who”d died that day. Blaster and Ricky had fallen too. Shot down by a sniper”s bullet.
Blade had tried to outrun the guilt, the what-ifs, the could-have-beens, but the ambush that took their lives was his cross to bear. His and his alone. No one else was left to share the burden.
Blade killed the engine, silence hanging heavy in the air. The stillness revealed a black SUV squatting curbside. His eyes narrowed as he removed his helmet, then he swung his leg over his bike. That wasn”t usually there.
”Evenin”, Blade.” The voice cut through the hush.
Blade”s heart kicked up a notch at the tough, gravelly timbre. ”Pat?”
Pat was one tough son of a gun, a former Navy SEAL who”d weathered life”s storms, including the loss of his wife and his early retirement. Blade hadn”t seen the man shed a tear until his boy, Spade, was laid to rest ten months ago.
He had gotten to know Pat fairly well over the last few years, thanks to his friendship with Spade, but since he”d gotten his walking papers from the doc, they hadn”t spoken much.
”Yeah. How are you doin”, Blade?”
He smirked. Was Pat really asking if he was okay? ”I”m standing, aren”t I?” He squared up to the wise ex-officer. Facing Pat was like staring down the barrel of the past, and the first time he”d done it, he”d nearly fallen apart.
The memory of the ambush was still a fresh wound… the chopper ride, the blur of debriefs, and the tremor in his hands that wouldn”t quit for two straight days. He”d lost three brothers that day, four counting Stitch, who had gone AWOL right after. Blade hadn”t left Helmand until he”d brought their bodies home.
”You sure you”re good?” Pat prodded, his gaze sharp.
Blade swallowed over the lump in his throat. ”As good as I can be.” Pat just nodded—he knew the score.
”So, what”s with the surprise visit?” Blade eyed the SUV again.
The corners of Pat”s mouth turned up. ”I was in the neighborhood.”
”At this ungodly hour?”
”Just swinging by.” His easy smile reminded Blade so much of Spade it hurt.
“You may as well come inside then.” Blade led him indoors as the moon slipped behind a cloud. Once in the living room, he reached for the whiskey. ”Drink?”
”Why the hell not?”
Blade poured two, handed one to Pat, then picked up his glass and sat down. Pat had already settled on an armchair in the living area. Seemed he was planning to stay a while.
”Still having nightmares?” Pat”s gaze flicked to the pile of old newspapers, books, and DVDs on the coffee table—a stack of distractions for the sleepless.
He gave a dry laugh. ”That obvious?”
Pat snorted and raised his glass. ”To Joe.” Spade”s real name. Blade used it so rarely, he”d almost forgotten what it was.
”To Spade.”
They sipped in silence until Blade murmured, ”I can”t shake it, Pat. It”s like a shadow glued to my heels.”
”What went down in Helmand... it”s not on you. It was a snake pit. They all knew it.” His voice was strong, his tone firm.
Blade”s gaze was fixed on the amber liquid, his jaw clenched. ”Should”ve seen it coming.”
”You”re not clairvoyant, son.”
He just grunted.
”You keeping busy?” Pat changed tack.
”Riding, fishing…” Trying to stave off the boredom.
Pat leaned in, eyes glinting. ”Good. Glad you”re not otherwise engaged. I”ve got a job for you.”
Blade perked up. This was it—the reason Pat was here, in the dead of night.
”You remember Joe”s girlfriend, Lily?”
Blade frowned. ”Lily? The computer geek?” The image of a waifish girl with a pixie cut and thick eyeglasses came to mind. She always seemed like a bit of an oddball to him, more at home among servers than soldiers.
Pat gave a nod, confirming. ”She”s a smart girl. Employed by the Agency now.”
His eyes widened. ”The CIA? For real?” He couldn”t imagine her running around in the field playing spy games.
Another nod from Pat. ”She”s cyber. Was out in Afghanistan.”
Blade”s brows shot to his hairline. ”Afghanistan? Spade never mentioned that.”
”She went afterward. Guess it was her way of dealing with what happened.”
That hit home. He was still clinging to the fringes of the base where he trained, where he lived the life before... Before everything went to hell and took Spade and the others with it.
”Why are you telling me this?”
Pat”s gaze was hard as stone. ”She”s MIA, Blade. Snatched on her way out of Kabul, when everything went to shit.”
Blade”s gut twisted. ”Kidnapped? You”re kidding me?”
”Wish I was. We recently discovered she got caught in the mayhem at the airport. Thousands trying to get out and she got grabbed, along with a couple of reporters.”
The news had been a constant drone in the background. Kabul falling. The world watching, helpless. And now Lily, a face in the crowd, taken.
”We?” Blade”s voice was sharp. “I thought you’d hung up your boots?”
Pat”s smile was thin. ”Let”s just say I”m consulting for Uncle Sam—unofficially, of course.”
Blade arched his brows.
Pat shrugged. ”It keeps me busy.”
He wasn”t judging, just surprised. ”You could”ve told me.”
Pat”s face was unreadable. ”I”m telling you now.”
Blade understood that all too well. The pull of duty didn”t just let go. It sunk in its claws then hung on tight.
”So, what”s Lily got to do with all this?”
”She was working with the Afghans, setting up a system, codename Hawkeye, to keep an eye on the Taliban.” His quiet words hit hard.
”So, they nabbed her to shut it down?”
Pat let out a dry laugh. ”It”s live. Lily did her part. According to my DOD sources, she is one of a small number of individuals who have the top-secret codes they need to dismantle the system. I don”t know who the others are, but apparently she was the easier target.”
Blade”s mind raced. With those codes, the Taliban could shut them out. They”d have even less intel than before.
”If they get those codes, everything she did is for nothing.” Pat”s words were heavy with emotion. Lines of worry etched deep in his face. This was personal to him.
Blade frowned. “Why are you telling me this?”
Pat”s eyes were like flint. ”I”m going in after her, Blade.”
”Are you crazy? That”s a job for Delta Force. Hostage rescue is their specialty. You know as well as I do, nobody does it better.”
”The brass won”t touch it. Not officially. It”s no-man”s land out there.”
Blade knew the score. The troops were gone, the region was a void, and now Lily was somewhere in the middle of it.
”Have you talked to them? Made any deals?”
Pat scoffed. ”They”re not going to go for it. We”ve got witnesses. She was forced into a van, left her stuff scattered outside the airport.”
Blade was on autopilot, the operator in him kicking into gear. ”Tracked her phone? Got any eyes in the sky on this?” He sucked in a breath.
Stop.
Those days were over. This was not his problem.
”We”ve got drones looking.”
”But no rescue team?”
Pat”s look was all the answer he needed.
”Unofficial doesn”t mean not happening.”
A mission in the shadows. He raised a hand. ”No. Don”t even start.” But Pat leaned closer, laying out the details.
”We need a squad of at least four operators, including me. I”ve organized a ride on a civilian aircraft to Kabul tomorrow at oh six hundred. We”re going in as aid workers, it”s the only way. A contact in the city will kit us out.”
Blade exhaled slowly, trying to keep his shit together.
No fucking way was he going back there.
Hell, he”d barely made it out alive the first time.
Now Pat was asking him to go back? Lily was the only link the man had left to his son, and he wanted to do something to help her. Blade got that. Understood it on a cellular level. Still…
He swallowed over the rising panic, struggling to keep the fear out of his voice. ”I know this means a lot to you, but you”ve got the wrong guy.” This was not the answer. He was not the answer.
”I”m not the man for the job. After what happened…” He couldn”t think the words, let alone speak them.
”I”m asking you to put Helmand aside, Blade,” Pat said, tersely. ”I need to do this. For Lily. She”s like family to me. I can”t just leave her in that hellhole. You know the score. You know I can”t do this alone. I need your help.”
Blade”s gut clenched. He”d re-up in a heartbeat if things were different. Dive back into the fray, earn his stripes again. He”d been at his best when he was operating and missed that version of himself. But the truth was stark in his mind—he was a shadow of who he had been. He had a panic attack when a firecracker went off, for fuck”s sake.
He met Pat”s gaze, unflinching. ”I”d be a liability, man. I”ll help you find a team, but I can”t go out there.”
Pat stood, towering over the table like some avenging angel. ”You led one of the fiercest teams the military ever put together. You”ve still got that fire.”
“That was then, Pat. Not now. Besides, I”m not combat ready. I wouldn”t be able to ruck 20Ks without stopping.”
Pat”s eyebrow quirked, a silent call-out on Blade”s bullshit. The guy was still an iron fortress, running and lifting like his life depended on it. His spare room was a damn home gym. Old soldiers never really died. They just bench pressed their sorrows away.
”Blade, she needs us. We”re the only chance she”s got.”
Blade chewed his lip, the old wounds throbbing. Going back to that sandbox would rip open every scar. But Lily... she didn”t deserve to be a pawn in that messed-up game.
”What about gear? You can”t take it on a commercial jet.” He was looking for a reason not to go. Any reason.
”Got it sorted. My guy”s got gear and a chopper to take us into the mountains.”
Blade raked a hand through his hair. ”Christ, Pat. I don”t know if I can.”
Pat stood solid as an oak. ”Joe believed in you. Don”t you forget that. And he”d want you to help her.”
Damn it to hell and back.
Tell Lily I love her.
Blade hadn”t done that yet. To be fair, she hadn”t been around to tell, but maybe it was time he did.
”Okay, Commander. You win. I”m in.”