Chapter 11
CHAPTER 11
CASSIE
“ I t’ll be okay, baby.”
Those were the last words Ghost said to her before they were pushed off the road. And the last thing she saw before she was thrown into the back of the van was Ghost’s body lying unconscious on the side of the road. He’d gotten a couple shots off before they’d hit him back.
She fought frantically against her captors. Kicked, bit and punched. She wasn’t trying to get away as much as she was trying to get to Ghost. She screamed his name into the night.
“Ghost! Ghost! Wake up! Get up!” She prayed to God that he would move. Open his eyes. Something. But he was still, nothing more than a lump on the side of the road. She kicked out, hitting someone in the shins. He cursed and she felt a sharp prick. Then nothing.
Her head hurt, like she’d been hit with a two by four. She didn’t know how long she’d been unconscious. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She blinked quickly, trying to get used to the dim light in the room. Her glasses had fallen off in the struggle, and so she couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of her. She squinted and looked around, hoping to find something she could use to try and escape.
Nothing. She saw nothing.
Her wrists were chafing against the coarse rope binding them behind her back, her shoulders were sore. The air around her was stale and felt like it was pressing down on her. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, remembering how Ghost had talked her down from a panic attack a week ago.
A week.
It felt like a lifetime.
For the last week, Elite worked with Higgins. Cassie wasn’t privileged to a lot of the conversation, Ghost told her the less she knew, the safer she was. Instead, she’d spent the week with Ghost. Sometimes, she would sit and read while he worked. The rest of the time, they spent getting to know each other better. In one week's time, she fell head over heels in love with the man. He treated her so good and was the most selfless lover, ensuring she orgasmed before he did. She still wasn’t truly convinced this was real life. Especially now, with her wrist bound tightly behind her.
Two shadowy figures approached her. “Look who is finally awake.” One of them said.
“Is he okay?” Cassie asked.
“Who?” The two men now loomed over her. She swallowed hard but was determined not to show her fear. “Your boyfriend? The one we shot and left on the side of the road? No, sweetheart. He’s not okay and you won’t be either if you don’t start talking, Cassie.”
She didn’t believe them. Ghost wasn’t dead. There was no way he survived combat to be taken out on the side of the road by a goon. She’d feel it if he was dead, in her soul. Her heart told her he was alive… and if he was alive, he’d come for her. She had no doubt that Elite was already on the way.
One of the goons yanked on her hair and she cried out in pain. “I said start talking, Cassie.”
On the plus side, at least they knew who she was now. But, why kidnap her if she wasn’t Iris? “Start talking about what?”
“Everything. Where did she get her information? Where is Winnie? We saw you coming and going from Iris’ safehouse. We know you are involved in this. She hired you to be her decoy, is that it?”
“What? No. I’m just a reader. A fan. I don’t know anything.” She told them.
“Bullshit.” A hand reached out and slapped her across the face. Her ears rung from the impact. She refused to cry or show him any emotion. She bit back the acidic bile rising in her throat. The combination of fear and defiance motivated her. Ghost would come for her.
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Cassie said, her voice steadier than she felt. It was a half-truth; she knew of Iris's past as a CIA Operator and her connection to Wilson, but not the details. Not what they needed from her. Ghost made sure of it. He thought by keeping the details from her, he’d keep her safe. “I only met her a week ago. I’ve read all of her books but that’s it.”
“Cut the crap,” the other man snapped, stepping closer. His hand twitched near his belt, where a gun was holstered. “You're her decoy. You must know something.”
Cassie's mind raced. She needed to buy time, to keep them talking, anything to delay whatever they had planned until help arrived. She focused on her captors, searching for any sign of weakness in their stony expressions.
“Even if I did know, why would I tell you?” Cassie challenged, letting her natural defiance seep into her tone. “You shot my boyfriend and left him for dead on the side of a road.”
“Stupid girl,” one of the men said finally, an unnerving smile curling his lips. “Seems we'll have to persuade you.”
Cassie braced herself, knowing full well that their version of persuasion would be anything but gentle. The larger man stepped back, exchanging a look with his companion. To her shock, they both turned and walked out of the room.
You shot my boyfriend and left him for dead… the words she’d just spoken replayed in her mind. But, he’s not dead. He can’t be dead. Her boyfriend was very much alive.
Her boyfriend.
Was Ghost her boyfriend?
She closed her eyes and imagined his face. She knew he’d be angry and when he got angry, he got a tik in his jaw. He’d not been angry at her, but she saw his reaction when she talked about her former boss and about her ex-boyfriend. He was the ultimate professional, keeping his emotions close to him. They’d had conversations that showed the more vulnerable side. Yesterday in fact. They’d eaten pizza on his back porch, and she’d been courageous enough to ask about the nightmare he had that woke her in the early morning hours. Ghost was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and thrashing his head about, barking military orders.
“You can tell me to mind my own business, and I won’t pry if it’s hard for you to talk about. Do you have nightmares often?” Cassie was sitting next to Ghost on the swing on the back porch. They’d watched the sunset over his backyard a few minutes before. The loudmouth crickets were back, as they’d been all week. She’d not gotten used to the amount of noise insects could make. She looked up into his eyes and squeezed Ghost’s hand that rest over her breast.
For a moment, Ghost's intense brown eyes locked onto hers, a silent struggle flashing within their depths. She wondered if he would tell her to mind her own business. It would be his right. She mentally kicked herself for prying. He opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again, the lines of his face hardening.
“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me.” Cassie said. “We can talk about anything else.” The weight of his past hung heavily between them, but she knew better than to push too hard. His trust, if won, would come when he was ready.
“No, I’m sorry. I told you I wouldn’t lie to you, and I would always tell you what I could, unless it put you in danger.”
“Take your time,” she replied. “I’m here to listen, whenever you are ready to share.” She offered him a small, reassuring smile. She wasn’t going anywhere. She would take whatever he gave her and not ask for more.
Ghost inhaled deeply before speaking. “My last deployment in Afghanistan…” his voice trailed off and Cassie wondered if he would continue. Had she pushed too hard? She didn’t think a man like Ghost liked being vulnerable and talking about his experiences at war with someone who didn’t share them left him vulnerable. “We were deep in the mountains. My team was tasked with reconnaissance. The intel was solid, or so we thought.”
Cassie remained silent, snuggling back into his strong chest, hoping her touch reassured him.
“Shit hit the fan fast,” Ghost continued, his words clipped. “We were ambushed. Green on Blue. The unit of Afghanistan soldiers we’d trained were waiting for us—they knew our moves before we made them, because we’d taught them ourselves. It was the ultimate betrayal. Rico, one of my team members, he’d always said not to trust those bastards. But I let my guard down. I developed a friendship of sorts with one of them. I didn’t believe they were bad men. Rico’s gut told him otherwise.”
Cassie’s breath hitched. She stroked his arm absently as he spoke. She wished she could take away the pain she saw in his eyes. “We fought back. But they had the numbers and the element of surprise. It was chaos. The air thick with...” He stopped speaking and blinked hard, as if trying to erase the memory from his mind.
“Ghost,” Cassie said, squeezing his arm. “You don’t have to say anything else.”
“Rico went down first,” Ghost continued. “I know it was purposeful. He never trusted them, never developed the bond some of us did. I tried to reach him, but it was too late. All around me, my team were cut down. I lost good men that day,” he said, the raw emotion clear in his tone. “Brothers. Those of us who survived, left pieces of ourselves on that mountain. It changed me. More than I ever thought possible. You don't come home from something like that the same man you left. Physically, I was lucky. But I left a part of myself there, in the dirt, alongside the blood of my brothers. Trust doesn’t come easy for me anymore. And it took a long time to trust my instincts again. If I’d listened to Rico, kept my guard up…It took a lot of therapy to stop blaming myself for their deaths.”
“It’s not your fault. The only person who is at fault is the men who betrayed you and pulled the trigger.” She told him. “Thank you, for trusting me with this piece of you.”
He wrapped his arms around her tightly, hugging her to his chest. He dropped a kiss on top of her head. “Thank you,” he replied, “for being someone worth trusting.”
Now, as she sat in the hard chair, her arms long since fallen asleep, her face throbbing from where he’d hit her, worried about what would happen when the men returned, she clung to the hope that the man she trusted was not only alive, he was on his way to her. She had to believe that hope existed not only in the books she read, but also in real life. Cassie hung tight to the belief, that against all odds, the heroine always had a fighting chance for a happily ever after.