27. Ian
27
IAN
The sweltering heat beating down on my head does nothing to take away from the adrenaline coursing through my veins.
When I see Logan digging into the bag of snacks that Chloe sent with us, I perk up a bit and shield my eyes from the sun. “Gimme a Twizzler.”
Without looking up, he throws a pack to me from across the table and then keeps digging.
“Whatcha looking for? It’s all gonna melt if you don’t find it quick and then put it back in the rack.” I peel into the cherry-flavored delicious candy and watch him root around.
“I know there’s a Twix in here. I can smell it,” he growls. “Not gonna give up until I find it.” He pulls his hand out triumphantly a few seconds later. “Told ya.”
Once he has the wrapper shoved into the pocket of his pants, he slings the bag over his shoulder and heads toward our temporary housing. “I’ll shove it back under your bunk.”
“Thanks, man.”
When he reemerges a few seconds later, I fall into step beside him, walking toward the command center—where any and all classified information lives and where we are currently building a profile for Kevin’s rescue. While we would have loved to go barging in blind, none of us would survive that. Instead, it took us a day and a half to get here, and another six days to get shit figured out. Like his location, the number of combatants that we’ll be facing, and important shit like that.
“No one here knows?” I ask for probably the third time.
Logan shakes his head. “Nah. Major Morgan said they were keeping it out of the base just in case the dicks who have him have spies inside.”
As much as I hate the thought that we could be betrayed like that, it makes sense. There isn’t only military personnel on base. There are media, private contractors, and even diplomats coming through the gates at any hour of the day. Any one of them could accidentally compromise Kevin or even compromise our mission to bring him home safe. If not safe, then at least he’ll be alive.
While I punch the code into the console so that we can get into the command center, Logan reaches into his pocket and pulls out the Twix he took from the bag.
As soon as we step into the dimly lit room, a blast of cold air hits my face. “Can I just move my bunk in here?”
Logan laughs. “It has to stay cold ’cause of all the computer shit and monitors. Don’t wanna have a hot spot on thermal imaging.”
“Don’t care.” I practically groan with pleasure. “Going from the seventies to over one hundred and ten in less than a week is screwin’ with me hard.”
“Grow some balls.” Logan kicks me in the foot as he walks by, eating the candy bar like he just bit into a piece of heaven. “Come on. Let’s get this plan worked out. I want to get him and get home.”
I snap to attention so fast I almost have whiplash. “Did you and Ben already get the layouts?” We’ve only been in-country a short time. After sitting on a plane for twenty-four hours after we found out about Kevin, our entire team hit the ground running. Dom and Linc immediately went to make sure that we had the right surveillance and rifles. Dom opted for his personal weapon, needing the comfort of a weapon that is finely tuned to his every need.
The rest of us spent a day making sure everything fits perfectly and we won’t have any surprises when breaching the area where they are holding Kevin. An area that we haven’t been given any information about.
That leaves Logan and Ben to work their dark and twisted magic. Just like every other op we’ve gone on together, Logan has connections that will never fade or burn out. Between him and Ben, I don’t doubt they’ll find him. I just thought it would take longer.
“We got the building,” Ben says from in front of a huge monitor on the other side of the room. “And I’ve been comparing the video with the blueprint of the property.” He may have been talking to me, but he doesn’t take his eyes off the screen.
“I’m thinking we’ll get Dom up on this cliff, with Linc as his spotter. Have them advance tonight and monitor the situation tomorrow during the day. We move in tomorrow night.”
Remy walks in with Linc and Dom right behind him. “Perfect.” He rubs his hands together. “Looks like we’re getting down to the good shit.”
“Dom, do you think we should take snacks? I’m thinking some of those candy bars are gonna come in handy under the desert camo.”
“I grabbed some already.” Dom pats his pockets.
“How far away is the compound?” I stare at the building on Ben’s screen, but I don’t recognize any landmarks. “When do we head out?”
That has Ben looking away from the screen, his dark eyes meeting mine and no one else’s. “We gotta go now. It’s gonna take six hours of driving just to get into position, and then you know the waiting game. We’ll need the nightfall to help.”
“We?” Ben doesn’t go on missions. He runs them from command.
“We,” he confirms. “I’m going to set up in the Humvee, make a mobile command center.”
Linc rubs a hand down the side of his face. “That’s against?—”
“Do I look like I give a damn?” Ben crosses his arms over his chest. “I’m not leaving it to anyone else to make sure we’ve got a way out in a pinch. Just like Dom’s not gonna trust anyone else’s rifle but his if he has to take a shot. It doesn’t matter how things are done or if equipment works. This is our man. And I’m going to help pull him out of there.”
“We all are,” I tell them as a whole. “All of us. Not to sound too cheesy, but we’ve all got skills that are gonna come in handy. Run the comms from wherever you need to, Ben. You’re gonna make magic happen.”
“Damn straight.” Logan holds out the other half of his Twix for the other man.
“What the hell, Logan?” Dom snaps suddenly. “Did you seriously take the last one?”
Logan bares his teeth at Dom and snarls. “I took them all . And that’s payback for that stunt you tried to pull before we left.”
Dom sputters but doesn’t have a response.
Instead, Ben motions for us to gather around the screen, and we run through every possible combination of plans to get Kevin out.
“Based on the video, I think they’re holding him here.” He points to the back left room. “No windows and only one door to get in.”
After reviewing everything else, we are ready. Finally.
“Time to go.” I stare at the video, which is paused on Kevin’s face right after he sends a message to Chloe. Not about his capture or about rescuing him. No. He sends a message to his sister, proving he is still alive.
While the rest of the men file out, I stare at that image. I stare at my best friend’s face, and I swear that I will do anything it takes to bring him home. If I have to trade my life for his, I’ll do it in a heartbeat.
Logan whistles from the doorway, and I grab the Twizzlers off the table, following him into the sand.
“This shit sucks,” Dom grumbles when we finally make it across the desert an hour before sunrise after having to maneuver through hostile territory. “My legs are cramped.”
“At least we’ve got all morning to get settled in.” Linc shoves him lightly. “And we don’t have to sit in this stink box with Ben all afternoon. Can you imagine how bad it’s gonna smell?”
“Not nearly as bad as your corpse if you don’t get your ass out of here,” I snap. “Timeline. Remember the timeline.”
We put comms in our ears, and Dom and Linc jump out with their gear slung on their backs.
“When you grab Kevin, tell him he still owes me a beer from Remy’s wedding.” Dom walks away with Linc at his side, and the adrenaline in my veins really starts pumping.
“Just a few more hours.” I pull the photo of Chloe I’ve carried with me since boot camp out of my pocket and run a hand over her face.
The door slams and Ben climbs back in. “I refilled the gas tank, just in case we need to make a quick getaway.”
“So, you wanna hear something cool?” Linc’s voice crackles through the line a few minutes later. “It might get your mind off the bullshit for a second.” He huffs on the other end of the line.
Out the window of the Humvee, I track their movements on the mountainside, getting into position above the compound.
“What is it?” Remy pulls a deck of cards from his pocket, along with a bag of chips he must have grabbed from our snack pack.
“I knocked up your sister.” Linc’s deadpan tone fills all of our ears at the same time.
Remy sets the cards and chips down and absently reaches for the gun on his hip before he remembers where we are and what we are doing.
“You married her,” he finally says with a smile on his face. “I’d hope that you’d knock her up sometime or other.”
A series of congratulations go up from all of us, and while I’m genuinely happy for my friend, I’m also jealous. I want that. Honestly, I can’t wait to get home. Maybe I’ll convince Chloe to elope.
“Did Chloe ever turn in that lottery ticket?” Remy says after a few minutes.
I laugh. “Hell no. She forgot about it, and then this shitstorm hit the fan.”
“Only one of our women would be so blasé about half a million dollars.”
“You know she turned down Kevin’s death benefits, too, right?” Ben says from behind his computer screen. “She told me to hold it in savings and that if she could give it back, she would.”
“That’s Chloe.” My heart beats just a little bit faster when I think about her. “She wouldn’t feel like it was something she earned. There’s a reason she never went to college for anything more than her business degree. Why she insists on working with Audrey instead of running my office.”
“Yeah.” Logan takes a bite from a Twix that I didn’t even notice he had. “She’s an odd duck. But a good one. How long until you two tie the knot?”
“Hell,” I tell him. “If I had my way, we’d elope the day we get home.”
“Something’s happening,” Ben interrupts our careless conversation and the sun has just started to come up. “There’s a shitload of movement in there right now.”
“Hey, guys.” Linc’s voice comes through our earpieces. “We might need to move up our timetable. Looks like they’re gonna try to move him. I’m seeing what looks like a van being loaded down with supplies.”
“Time to go,” I repeat my earlier words, grabbing my rifle and making sure my helmet is secure.
Logan takes the wheel, driving straight into the compound while Dom and Linc provide any necessary cover fire.
The yard explodes as soon as we slam open the doors to the Humvee. Men, covered in cloth from head to toe, appear out of thin air with guns in hand and the determination to take our lives before we can complete our mission.
With a single-minded focus, our team works as one, like we haven’t missed a single unit practice over the last few years.
“Back left room,” I call out when we’ve cleared the yard, staying in formation.
Remy boots the front door, stepping back and to the side so we can sweep for the enemy.
Shot after shot, we fight through the building to get to Kevin. Until nothing but silence fills our ears. Silence and our own voices.
“ Young .” I call his name like he’ll be able to answer me.
What a joke.
Instead, the room where he should be is empty.
Thump.
“Kevin?”
Thump .
“Spread out,” I order hoarsely. “He’s here.”
Logan kicks a rug away, revealing a poorly built trapdoor.
Rifles up, we step back while he lifts it up.
“Young, you down there?”
With nothing but my flashlight and the handgun on my side, I crawl into the space so small he can’t possibly be there, and I almost lose my lunch.
There, in the back corner, with his hands tied above his head, beaten and bloodier than he’d been on the video, is Kevin.
“He’s here.” My voice breaks over the com. “He’s right here.”
I shove my way into the hole, grabbing the knife out of my pocket, and cut him loose.
“I got you, Kev.” His eyes move behind closed lids, but he doesn’t say a word. “I got you. I’m gonna take you home, brother.”
He can’t walk, so I carry him.
He can’t speak, so I speak for him.
“He needs water,” I bite out when I finally get him out of the hole.
Logan holds the door, and Remy helps me get Kevin out and into the Humvee. By the time we make it out of the compound, both Dom and Linc are there.
“Shit, Kev.” Linc is the only one to speak.
“Ian.” I try to ignore Ben, but he shoves a satellite phone in my face.
“Ian, you need to call Chloe.” I take the phone, still not dialing. “Tell her you got Kevin out.”
That snaps me out of my stupor.
I dial her number from heart, putting the phone up to my ear without taking my eyes off Kevin.
When it finally starts to ring, we’ve left the compound behind and are making the long trek back across the desert.
Chloe’s voice picks up on the other end of the call, but it isn’t a greeting. Instead, I listen to my life fall apart and Chloe’s world come to a crashing halt.
Metal against metal and the crystal clear sound of her whimpering in pain is all I hear.
“Chloe.” I say her name as calmly as possible. “Chloe, baby, are you okay? Chloe, can you hear me?”
No answer comes. For the entire twenty minutes until her phone goes dead, there is nothing.
No sirens. Nothing.
Chloe is hurt, and no one is going to help her.
I stare at her brother and know that I’ve just traded his life for hers.