49. Mya
AL DHAFRA AIR BASE – TWO HOURS LATER
49
Wyatt’s eyes were red as he came over to where Gwen and I sat on the floor against a wall inside an empty hangar, waiting for news. The span of time since we’d been picked up from the yacht and flown by helicopter to the base, per Admiral Chandler’s orders, had been two of the longest hours of my life.
At the sight of Wyatt striding our way, I forced my trembling legs to usher me to my feet. “You have news?”
Wyatt locked his arms across his chest, drawing a hand over his mouth as Gwen rose next to me. “Everyone worked together to dig him out. They found him. He still had a pulse,” he said hoarsely, then shocked me by taking a knee.
Alive. He’s alive.
“Dad?” Gwen reached for his arm, going down with him.
We’d nearly lost Wyatt on the op Julia had brought us in on to save Oliver, and now this. It was all just . . . I couldn’t wrap my head around any of it.
“POTUS finally got through to the French president. She pulled the ship off our guys. Skies were clear for a medevac rescue.” More good news. Yet, Wyatt wouldn’t look us in the eyes as his other knee hit the floor. “Just after Michael made it inside the hospital, he coded.”
And there I went, too, collapsing in front of him. Shock tore me down next to the two of them.
“I was talking to Mason when it happened. He dropped the phone and I lost contact.” He curled the fingers of his free hand into a fist and touched his forehead.
Memories of Julia and her brother crowded my mind, going back to the day I’d secretly reached out to Michael to let him know his sister had asked for my help to save Oliver. I’d been worried she was going to get herself killed. And now Michael’s . . .
“This can’t be happening.” Tears flew down my face, and I choked back a full-on sob.
Gwen squeezed her dad’s arm and mine, offering us both support.
Wyatt jolted as his phone buzzed in his other hand, and he answered the call on speaker.
Mason immediately shared, “They’ve resuscitated him. They’re rushing him to surgery now.”
“Let me know the second you hear anything.” Wyatt’s voice was raw as he wiped away tears with the back of his hand.
“Mason,” I whispered, thankful he was okay, but also unsure what else to say when his close friend wasn’t yet out of the woods.
“Mya.” Mason’s voice was strained as he said my name, clearly fighting to keep it together. “Be in touch,” was all he added before the call ended.
Chills erupted across my skin at the sounds coming from behind me. I felt Oliver’s presence before I saw him. I craned my neck around to search him out.
Falcon team, Sam, and the other SEALs filtered through the roll-up door. No sight of the Irishmen. Oliver was at the front of the group, and he halted the second our eyes connected.
The breath whooshed from my lungs, and I lost my balance in my haste to get to my feet as quickly as possible, but I didn’t let that stop me from going to him.
Oliver met me halfway, lifting me off the ground. He crushed me against him, and I felt his stuttery breaths, emotions choking him up, as my feet slowly made contact with the floor again. “We couldn’t all go with Michael in the medevac,” he explained, his voice fraught with pain and distress in my ear. “The guys called to let us know what happened when they arrived at the hospital.”
I turned my face into his bare chest, clutching hold of his arms while being careful of his bad shoulder. “You’re okay?” I knew he was because Wyatt would’ve told me otherwise, but still, seeing was believing in this case.
Feeling his body flush with mine, I dissolved into an ugly cry as the weight of everything caught up with me.
I slowly peeled back and captured his face between my palms. His eyes were even more bloodshot than Wyatt’s, the emotion in every line of his face despite the dried blood and dirt smudged there. “How are you still standing after what you’ve endured tonight?” From the abuse his body had taken from fighting Hugo to this, it was a miracle he was still upright.
“I’m too numb to feel anything.” He set his hands on top of mine, lightly nodding. “You’re okay, though. And your dad?—”
“He can help us take down The Collective,” I finished for him, unsure if he knew that bit of information yet. “Tonight wasn’t for nothing, and Michael will be okay.”
He nodded, a few more tears slipping down his cheeks. “Julia can’t lose her brother.” His lower lip trembled, and I leaned in and softly kissed him, hoping to somehow chase away both our worries.
“She won’t,” I promised as Sydney came over.
I took a moment to hug my best friend. Sam also surprised me by gathering me in for a quick embrace as well. After that, I stuck to Oliver’s side while exchanging a few words with the rest of the guys who’d assembled around us.
A minute later, I spotted Jessica entering the hangar along with a commanding officer from the base. He’d been the one to bring my parents to interrogation rooms the moment we’d landed. My mom was still unconscious when we’d touched down, so I hadn’t spoken to her yet. But if my father’s words were true, she was the vindictive and evil one.
The second Jessica’s husband saw her, he cut straight through the space and pulled her into his arms.
“Where’s Sebastian? The McGregors?” Gwen asked while working her way through hugging everyone, starting with her uncle.
“They decided it’d be best not to join us here,” Carter explained, sliding his hands into his pockets. “They’re staying local until we get word to them about Michael’s condition, though.”
I looked around at the crowd of operators. From Luke Scott down the line. It took me a moment to realize Liam Evans wasn’t there. I started to ask Oliver about it, then it dawned on me. His brother-in-law was Jake Summers, and Jake was one of the Marines close with Michael. Liam had probably forced himself onto that medevac chopper along with everyone else, even if there was no space.
They’d all come together for Michael on that island. No stone or rock was left unturned until they had mission success. The image of them working together to rescue him made me emotional again. And when I thought about the call they’d have to make to Julia and Michael’s wife, my legs became jelly.
Oliver hooked his arm behind me, keeping me upright. I should’ve been the one holding him up after what he survived.
Luke lifted his chin to Knox Bennett, who served as Bravo Five and was POTUS’s son, as if he was quietly requesting something of him.
Knox met my eyes as he broke away from the others and came to stand before me.
“My father’s hoping you’ll handle the questioning of your dad. He thinks you’ll be able to read him the best. Wyatt said he already gave you some insight.” Knox’s Southern roots slipped through as emotion caught in his words. Tonight was hard on all of us for so many reasons. “He’s also decided to leak a story to the Intelligence Committee that your parents, along with the Sorens, died in an operation. He’s assuming The Collective has an asshole or two embedded there, and that they’ll leak the intel to The Collective. Hopefully if the powers that be think both the Sorens and the Vanzettis died tonight, it’ll buy us some time.”
Smart thinking. “Any word on Alyssa Soren and her kids? They escape?”
“They’re safe and with Secret Service.” Knox confirmed what I’d hoped we’d hear. No clue who the hacker was, but that was a story for another day.
“You up for that talk with your father?” Luke asked me. “I know we’re all waiting to hear about Michael, but this might be our only chance to get ahead of these people for once.”
These nameless, faceless people.
“Raymond Pecker no doubt already gave The Collective our names,” Carter commented, a hard look passing between him and Luke. “I’ll personally be tracking him down, don’t worry.”
“I was never worried.” Luke tipped his head in deference to Carter.
Oliver locked our fingers together. “Let me get some clothes on and I’ll go with you.” With his free hand, he swiped at the dried blood beneath his nose. “Maybe wash my face and get a drink of water, too.”
“Michael will be in surgery for a long time, but if we get news, we’ll interrupt,” Knox said, beating me to the request I was about to make.
Sydney tipped her head in the direction of where Jessica stood with her husband, presumably waiting to escort me to the interrogation room where my father awaited my arrival. “Get clarity, too,” she whispered in my ear, and I knew precisely what she meant.
Find out what in the hell happened to me when I was younger that resulted in my recurring nightmares. And figure out why I’d spent so much of my life searching for that missing piece.