Epilogue
The plane landed, and the team greeted him. Their expressions were solemn as they unloaded the supplies into two newer trucks. They drove into the desert until they came to an abandoned cave in the middle of nowhere.
“Sparky will arrive in a couple of weeks, and Cole insists he’s coming back with Striker. Ice will recover. Ragu says he’ll join us, too,” he informed the team when they settled.
“Tess met me this morning before I took off. She sent this, and I kept it warm. I thought you might want something from home.”
He opened the electric warmer and pulled out tacos and burritos.
Taco took a bite and grinned. “My woman loves me,” he said. “I’m the luckiest man alive.”
“I took this picture of Claire at the hospital,” he said, passing his phone to Patch. He stared at the image of her holding her belly. Patch swallowed as he handed it back.
Digging into his pack, he pulled out a plastic box. “Kassie left these on the plane. The Grans sent us something from home.”
The men each took a cookie and passed it around.
“Hey, big guy, I found these on the plane, too.” He carefully handed a package to Saint, who opened it. A tin of snickerdoodle cookies and a card from Nugget brought tears to Saint’s eyes. No one gave him a hard time.
Shadow stared at the ground when Liam handed him a small box decorated with dinosaurs. “Deni and Avie asked me to give this to you,” he said. “You’re supposed to open it immediately.”
Shadow carefully unwrapped the paper to preserve his son’s artwork.
He opened the box to find a miniature recorder.
He hit play to see Avie’s face appear. “Hello, my love. I miss you. It seems we never have time alone when you call, and I don’t want to tell you this by text.
” She took a breath. “You’re becoming a papa again.
We’re having a baby, Shadow. I’ve already seen Dr. Greene and everything’s perfect.
Please hurry home to us and stay safe. I love you. ”
Shadow dropped the recorder and beamed from ear to ear. “I’m gonna be a dad again.”
“Congratulations, man,” Saint said. Shadow wiped his eyes and hugged him. Each man took turns congratulating him.
Saint let the excitement go down before he got to business.
“Tomorrow, we’re taking the villages on the East side.
Victoria and Ivan’s men will take a few days to reach us, and they’ll search the wider perimeter.
Taco and Hollywood will take this end.” He marked in the dirt as he laid out the town.
“Shadow and I will start here. Patch, will stay behind and guard the equipment.”
Nodding, he gathered his gear and set it beside his bag. Returning to the quiet group peering over the cave’s ledge, he scanned the vast, never-ending desert.
Saint cleared his throat. “Today, we rest. Tomorrow, we’ll search for our brother and bring him home.
Leo hired each of you because he saw something special in you to create this unique team.
Together, we have celebrated weddings and babies.
We’ve mourned the loss of loved ones. This team won’t go home without him because we never leave a man behind.
Leo’s our leader and our friend. We won’t give up because he’s our brother.
Most importantly, we’ll fight for our family.