Chapter 27
The days that follow seem to fly by. Riley refuses to talk about strategy, or any planning for that matter, telling Liz she will find out when the time comes.
They spend their time blissfully ignoring the storm brewing outside their home, instead pretending to lead a normal, domestic life.
With each hour that passes, Liz can’t help but wonder if this is how incredible the rest of their life could be if they were to leave everything behind.
The thoughts swirling in her head are cut short when one of Riley’s many phones begins to ring.
Craning her neck from her perch on the couch, Liz desperately tries to listen to what the person on the other end is saying.
The call is short, ending after just a few minutes.
Tossing the phone down, Riley spreads his piles of paperwork back out across the table.
“Okay, princess, that was Paula. We have a team. Come here, we need to go over the plan,” he shouts from the other side of the room. Liz scrambles off the couch, rushing to his side where he now has a map of the base laid out.
“This is it? We’re going to get the boys back?” she asks, practically bouncing with excitement.
“If we can pull this off, yeah. We don’t have much time; we’re getting them back tonight.
Lauren is going to pick us up here.” He points at a skinny dirt road on a worn-out map, “She will have uniforms waiting for us. I don’t think you have been on base long enough for anyone to recognize you, and only a few people have seen my face, so we go in as soldiers. ”
“Okay, but won’t everything be super secure? How are we going to make it to the admin building?” Liz asks, eyeing the map carefully. “Better yet, if we do make it, how are we getting into the building?”
“Like I said, we have a small team, so we will blend in with them. Paula and Lauren have a pair about the same size as us. They are going a few miles from base while we are driving in, so guards will get a tip that a man in a mask was seen in the woods. Scott will send everyone out, and that’s when we get to where they are being held.
There are plenty of people ready and willing to help us from the sidelines, so all we need to focus on is getting to that building,” Riley explains, moving little figures around the map like they are playing out an action movie.
“What happens after? We can’t come back here. It would only stay safe for so long. Eventually we would need to leave for food or supplies,” Liz asks.
“We will have a van waiting for us about ten miles out. We get the guys, get them in uniform, and get the hell out. Paula is going to keep Scott distracted and focused on our decoys while we make the trek. Ty and Alex have a cabin in Michigan. We’ll go there.
If anything happens, we flee across the border into Canada.
Now, go pack,” Riley says. As if hopping the border while on the run from a corrupt army general is no big deal.
Seeming to have everything worked out, Liz does what she is asked and slinks back into her room to change, packing a small bag of clothes. The moment the door closes behind her, and she is truly alone, the panic claws its way out. A million questions threaten to overwhelm her.
What if they get caught before they can get to their men?
What if something has already happened to them?
What will happen to anyone who helped them?
The last question sends a wave of nausea through her. Fighting to keep the food in her stomach, Liz takes a deep breath in through her nose, slowly exhaling through her mouth, as she continues to shove necessities into her bag. A soft knock echoes in the too quiet room.
“Ready to go?” Riley asks, arms enveloping Liz from behind, gently tugging her to rest against his body.
“No,” she says with a sigh. “Am I a monster for wishing we could just stay here, together, and not have to deal with all this?”
“No, princess, you’re not a monster. I wish this was something we could walk away from, but it’s not.
I promise, when this is over, I am taking leave, and we are going to start fresh—no more trying to build a relationship on a foundation of stolen moments in the chaos,” he says, leaning down.
His warm breath caresses her neck with each word, sending a shiver down her spine.
“Don’t tease me with promises you may not be able to keep, Ry.
If it’s not this, it will be something else.
There are enough shitty people in this world to keep you busy for a lifetime.
This is your job, and mine now, too, I guess.
I just need to get used to navigating everything,” she says, her voice softer, laced with a deep sorrow that kills him to hear.
“I know. Things will calm down. I didn’t know this is how everything would turn out,” Riley says, squeezing her a little tighter, wishing he could tell her he feels the same. There is no point in bringing it up only to crush her more than she already is.
In his excitement at her joining the team, he had agreed to a five-year contract, for the both of them. His only thought in the moment was having her by his side for the next five years, selfishly not thinking about if she would even want that.
“I think I’m good to go,” she says, missing his arms around her the second he pulls them away.
Walking to the elevator, hand in hand, Riley stops, wrapping his arms around her once more.
They are running out of time. He spends the precious few minutes they have left doing what he loves the most, holding Liz in his arms, their lips locked in an endless kiss.
This may very well be the last time they ever set foot back in their home again Riley makes sure the last memory there is a good one.
He reluctantly pulls away, leading her out the door and into the woods behind the cabin where they begin the long hike through the mountains.
The silence between them stretches on forever.
They march, listening to the sounds of birds chirping and twigs cracking under their feet.
Liz peers at Riley, watching him trudge through the dense trees.
She wants so badly to ask if he is as nervous as she is, after all, this is his first mission after being back.
His head is on a constant swivel, watching every shadow they come across as if someone is lurking behind it, waiting to ambush. The minutes tick by, each step bringing them closer to their mission.
“Will you just ask what you want to ask already?”
Liz jumps at the sound of his booming voice, so used to the quiet of the forest. “What are you talking about?” Her eyes stay fixed on the ground in an attempt to keep from tripping over roots and fallen branches.
“You get this cute look on your face when you’re thinking about something, you’ve done it since the day you got out, and you keep watching me. You’re not subtle, love,” he says, stepping closer.
“God damn it,” Liz mumbles under her breath, followed by a string of grumbled words even she can’t make out. The restrained tantrum coaxes a light chuckle from Riley as he nudges her arm.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, too playful for the situation they are in.
“Mikey said the same thing, now I’m going to be hyper aware of any dumb thinking face I apparently make,” she says, quietly storming her way through the brush.
“I was just wondering if you were doing okay, but I don’t want to push it or make you uncomfortable.
This is your first mission since being back, and I worry about you. ”
“What the fuck did I do to deserve you?” His hand finds hers, lacing their fingers together like they are on a romantic stroll through the trees, not hiking through a mountain on their way to break into a military base.
“I’m fine. This isn’t my first time coming back from this shit.
It sucks, and I’m anxious, but I have had what, six weeks to figure my shit out.
My body is healed, and my mind is getting there.
I still slip into a dark place, just like you do.
It takes time, but if I thought for a second I was not well enough to do this, I wouldn’t. ”
Liz gives him a small nod of acknowledgement.
A silent understanding passes between them, no judgement, just two people fighting the same fight.
The tension in Riley’s shoulders ease ever so slightly.
Hand in hand, they continue their journey, carefully picking their way around fallen trees and massive boulders, up hills and over streams flowing freely through the towering pines.
After hours of walking, Liz finally spots a break in the trees.
This is it. Soon they will be storming the base, getting their friends back by any means necessary.
They are so close, yet still so far. Somewhere in the distance, a car heads in their direction.
Sprinting the last hundred yards to the road, they make it just as Lauren’s little blue sedan pulls up next to the tree line.
Riley throws the door open, guiding Liz into the front seat before he steps into the back.
“That bag has the uniforms. Get them on,” she orders, peeling off onto the road, speeding through the twists and turns of the mountain. A perfectly pressed uniform lands in Liz’s lap.
“When we get to base, I can’t guarantee it’s going to be one of ours at the gate, so I need you to keep that temper in check—”Lauren begins.
“I don’t have a temper,” Riley pouts.
“Not you, her,” Lauren says looking over at Liz.
Her cheeks turn a deep shade of crimson as she wiggles her way into the cargo pants, fighting to change in the small seat of the car.
“Once we are in, two men from my platoon will be waiting with a duffle, and one is going to tell Scott they spotted you two headed this way. Paula sent one of hers to commandeer the security room. As soon as we arrive, he is going to do an update, blacking out the cameras for twenty minutes. You need to get them out and as far from here as you can before that time is up.”
“Whats in the bag?” Liz asks, zipping her jacket up before sliding the hat onto her head.
“Three more uniforms and standard issue guns,” she replies. “You should know how bad things have gotten in the last few days. Whatever you see in there, you need to promise you will let us handle it and get the hell out.”
“What do you mean bad?” Liz’s stomach turns to knots. A warm hand finds her arm, rubbing slowly up and down. She focuses on that feeling instead of the thoughts running rampant in her mind.
“Liz, you need to promise me you won’t stop for anything. You can’t save everyone, but if you get your team out, you have a better shot at ending things for good. I saw how you were when you tried to get Riley back. Promise me,” Lauren says, her eyes darting between Liz and the road.
She can’t form words, her tongue feels like ash in her mouth, so she simply looks over and gives a nod.
“He’s locking people up, anyone who even thinks about questioning what is happening with your team,” she says.
Her voice is low and solemn. “Scott is running the base under some type of fucked up martial law, at least that’s what he is calling it, but those of us smart enough to see through it know he is hiding something and trying to bury it.
He is using his standing with that corrupt fucking president to do whatever he can to silence us.
” Barely more than a whisper, she says, “He has killed three people.”
An eerie silence settles over the trio as Liz and Riley take in what she just said. Three people are dead. Three people lost their lives, and three families are now mourning a loved one because of them.
Devastated, Liz opens her mouth to speak before snapping it shut. Quiet tears roll down her cheeks. The guilt grips them tight, wondering if things would have ended differently if they had been there to stop it.
Riley knows the answer to that. Scott would have done it regardless, at least with them out, there is a chance of making things right. Liz, on the other hand, is racked with guilt, thinking they could have stopped it if they never left.
“They knew about your unit, said you guys would never turn into what you’re fighting.
They had threatened to go above his head to any of the general majors who would listen, and he had them fucking executed,” she snaps, her voice cracking with each word.
Lauren’s knuckles turn white from her grip on the steering wheel.
“These are the coordinates to the bunker. Do not let anyone you don’t trust with your life get their hands on them,” Riley says, tucking a small scrap of paper into the cupholder between the women.
Lauren picks it up, glancing at it for a few seconds before setting it back and digging something out of the center console. A thin trail of black smoke travels into the air as the paper goes up in flames, a lighter still in Lauren’s hand.
“Anyone who can get out should go there. They will be safe, at least for a little while,” Riley says.
“You should go too, Ren. If he finds out you helped us, he will kill you,” Liz says, pleading, knowing it is falling on deaf ears. The two may not be close, but Liz knows her well enough to know she would rather die than leave any of her soldiers at the mercy of Scott.
Her stomach turns to knots when the car rounds the corner.
The base looms in the distance, like a beacon of dread and despair.
She reaches between the seats, finding Riley’s hand already waiting for hers.
Fingers interlaced, they sit in gut wrenching silence, their eyes never leaving their destination as it grows closer by the second.