Chapter 41
SCOTTIE
Mikey spun around, batting the barrel of the gun away from his head as the crack from my shot seared through the desperately silent air. Dom and Ford launched to their feet a second later, seemingly rallying from the unexpected movement of Mikey and my shot. They both headbutted their nearest combatants, and shoved them off balance enough they dropped their rifles. Bernie rolled away from the two around him, laughing hysterically like a hyena.
But every chaotic sound was drowned out by the violent wail ripping from Karim.
I grinned to myself as I briefly studied my handiwork from the bullet tearing through his wrist. Flesh shredded. Ligaments sheared apart like twine. Muscles frayed, lacerated into pieces. The detonator clattered to the ground and his hand disappeared from my view. Adrenaline pulsed thick through every vein. We could win this, and I shifted my focus toward my team, pulling back the bolt lever on my rifle.
The tides had changed, a rip-roaring current of unexpected hope surged like a beacon between them. Mikey had already downed his lone captor—a head no longer connected with the assailant’s body. He now danced behind Dom, mirroring his movements as if Mikey was Dom’s very own shadow.
It was almost mesmerizing to watch as Dom ducked, evading a blow intended for his face, and Mikey stayed in perfect sync all while working a knife covered in blood through Dom’s restraints.
Despite wanting to watch longer, I knew I should help make quick work of the situation, and I squeezed my trigger. My bullet split through the insurgent’s skull just as Mikey freed Dom’s hands. Mikey spun around and threw the knife at Dom’s second assailant approaching from behind with blood dripping down his broken nose. It plunged into his eyeball as I reloaded and then sent another shot through his skull—making sure he was definitely dead.
Mikey and Dom immediately spun on their heels and raced over toward Bernie and Ford who had somehow, while still restrained, managed to disarm their four combatants and were simply dodging and weaving away from the fists and kicks that flew in their direction.
Just as I reloaded, ready to fire on Bernie and Ford’s combatants, a shadow flashed behind the children in my view. Spinning my gun onto the newest figure, Karim’s body came into full view—using a young girl who looked to barely be five as a shield.
He crouched behind her, making slow steps toward the gap in the wall. His beady eyes darted toward the exit. I remained steady, my focus solely on the man who was the orchestrator of all of this destruction. But I couldn’t get a good angle for a shot. The little girl remained in my view, not an inch of clothing from his traditional garb was exposed.
The overhead lights flickered. The stone walls groaned against the strain forced by Mother Nature. Water dripped, tinking against metal. Here was Karim’s last-ditch attempt to escape into the night. And I couldn’t get a damn shot off.
“Target’s making his way toward the exit, over,” I radioed to the team, still tracking his steady movements. “I don’t have a shot. He’s got a little girl as a hostage and cover.”
A couple grunts met my ears, but I refused to move my gun away from Karim al-Jabari in case an opportunity presented itself. Peering through my scope, the target remained on him, however blocked by his sickening choice of a barricade.
“Give it up, Karim!” Dom shouted out loud; a grunt and then crack of a gun followed.
“You will let me leave,” Karim hissed in response. He emerged fully from the room and crept along the remaining wall, holding the girl between himself and us.
“We can’t do that,” Dom answered. Another couple grunts and then everything silenced. A few whispers left the room he’d escaped from, and I had to assume that it came from the rest of the hostages.
“So,” Karim paused, tightening his arm around the little girl’s neck. Her eyes widened, big brown eyes full of fear. “It’s like that then?”
“Just like that,” Dom answered. From my peripherals came four men, each armed with their rifles. Mikey had fresh blood running down his lips and chin again with his cocky-ass grin back on his face.
Man, I love him.
Bernie and Ford had splattering of red stained across their faces, while Dom’s hands dripped wine. All but Bernie, who trained his weapon toward the hostages, slowly approached Karim in a steady wave. Stepping over the dead bodies strewn about the room, every inch encroaching on our target sent a wave of panic through our target—evidenced by the trembling increasing in his hands.
Then Karim al-Jabari made a fatal mistake. “If I go, you all go,” he announced and tipped his head just enough to the left. Hollow, beady eyes appeared around the little girl’s ear, and I squeezed my trigger.
The crack of my shot split through the air, silencing the hum of life.
Karim’s eyes widened and then glazed over, the echo of vitality’s fleeting glare, extinguished into shadows. He slumped backward, iron liquid staining the stone behind him, and his arm slid like jelly away from the little girl’s body. A single hole in his head dripped a single drop of red blood.
The girl, frozen as if she’d stepped into cement that hardened, began to violently shake. Her eyes slid to the four men that I called my team, my family. Ford joined Bernie and faced the hostages, keeping their guns packed into their shoulders just in case someone else decided to try something as Mikey and Dom slowly lowered their weapons.
As soon as the barrel of the guns were pointed to the floor, she raced forward. Tears streamed down her face as she leapt into Dom’s outstretched arms. I briefly closed my eyes, inhaling deeply as the adrenaline that had fueled me slowly slipped away like the evening tide.
“Phoenix to command, target eliminated, over,” Dom radioed. He lifted the girl to his hip and slowly walked back toward the hostages. One woman with eyes as big and brown as the little girl suddenly shot forward the moment Dom appeared from behind the wall. Squirming down from Dom’s arms, the little girl sprinted toward the lady and jumped into her embrace.
“Viper, Tank, you’re with me. Let’s quickly sweep the rest of the compound. Bernie and Crow, remain here with the hostages,” Dom commanded. There was something in his voice that sliced to my core as I watched Mikey and Ford join Dom.
We’d won, but I didn’t feel…relieved.
We’d won, but at what cost?
We’d eliminated Karim al-Jabari, prevented him from attacking more innocent civilians here and on US soil, but what was the price?
The body of a man who we once called friend, brother, and teammate waited for us.
So much death.
How valuable life was.
And how much pain ached in my bones.
Grief built like a steady drum as I waited with Bernie, keeping an eye on the women and children who would finally get to go free. Such a heavy price freedom cost. A weight that I’d signed up to carry, but it didn’t lessen the blow. A platoon was on its way to clear out the armory. A squad was already above ground, sweeping the buildings nearest to this compound.
They’d find Reyes’s body. Someone who’d caused more chaos and destruction than was necessary, all for what? At what price? At what cost?
Wasn’t there anything else that we could’ve done to prevent all of this?
My eyes closed again, and I hung my head, trying to focus on the fact that we’d won. That in the end, we would get to live another day.
But Duncan didn’t.
“Hey, Scotch, baby,” Mikey’s familiar voice pried my head up. Opening my eyes, I found him squatting beside me with a tight smile on his face.
“We won. So why do I feel like shit?” I whispered. He reached forward, brushing a thumb against my cheek. I didn’t even mind the crusty blood and grime because it was his touch. Not a word slipped from his lips. There was nothing that could console me. The same pain floating like driftwood behind his eyes danced in mine.
His jaw knotted and his brows pulled together as he slowly stood upright.
I inhaled deeply. “Platoon will be here soon, won’t they, and we’ll be shipped off with a new mission and target in mind?”
He nodded and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth.
“Did you bite someone’s ear off again?” I asked, hoping to lighten the mood.
A strained smile slid across his lips. “Nah. It was a dude’s finger this time. Not as cool.”
“You’ll have to wash that mouth before I kiss it again,” I replied, sitting upright.
Mikey chuckled lightly. “Well, we better hurry up then. I want that kiss soon.”
Grabbing my rifle, I braced a hand against the railing and rose to my feet. “What happens now?” I asked.
Our boots clunked lightly against the metal as we made our way across the balcony.
“Now?” Mikey paused and glanced over the side. “Now, we finish out this tour and you accept the permanent position on our team as our sniper.”
“But then that means we’re really breaking the rules of fraternization.”
“Nah. Technically, you’re still a soldier. Besides, nobody on the team is going to say anything.”
“And what about Rachel?”
He immediately stopped walking, his back facing me. “What about her?”
“What if she shows up at your house again or something?”
His head tipped forward and he rolled his shoulders. “Well, I guess what happens depends on how my girlfriend reacts.”
“What do you mean?” I asked as he finally started walking again. A chuckle bounced from his chest.
“I’m just saying, I really hope I’m at least home when she ends up face to face with you, ’cause that’s a show I wanna watch,” he replied.
And I smiled. Butterfly wings danced within my stomach.
The future. He was talking about the future.
A future with me.
Despite all of the anguish, despite the death, despite losing Duncan, at least we’d face the next chapter in life together. Glancing down at the three other men in our team who were gently helping the women and children move toward the exit, my grin widened. I’d be heading into the next stages of this crazy journey with them too.
“Blondie?” I asked as we began to descend the staircase.
“Hmmm?” Mikey asked.
“I think I’m going to try and get in contact with my brother,” I hesitantly said.
Mikey glanced over his shoulder, his eyes sparkling. “I think that sounds like a good plan. Let me know if I can help.”
“I love you, Mikey.”
His chest expanded, and I watched as some of the burden he carried slipped away. “I love you too, Scotch.”
“Hurry up, lovebirds!” Bernie’s voice boomed.
I grinned as Mikey shook his head, bounding down the last two steps. Ford slung an arm around Mikey’s shoulder the moment he passed by, and Bernie wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“You still owe me twenty bucks,” I immediately said.
Bernie rolled his eyes but slung his arm around my shoulders. “Yeah, yeah. I know. I’ll double it if you kiss him right now before he washes that blood off of his mouth.”
I arched a brow, sliding my gaze across the most handsome and unhinged man I’d ever come across as we approached the door leading to the ladder.
Bernie stopped moving and his jaw fell open. “Are you fucking considering it?”
Mikey and Ford immediately whipped around just across the threshold. I shrugged my shoulders, my heart jumping in my chest with the approaching light lifting our mood. “I mean…”
And Mikey sprinted forward, grabbed my cheeks with both hands and planted his lips firmly against mine.