21. Simple
Chapter twenty-one
Simple
Owen
Six months after joining the team.
“Dom, I’ve got eyes on the asset. Move in.” Crouching down, perched on the thick forest floor, covered in darkness, I see the man we have come to get. He was taken from his place of work over a week ago. His family were sent a video, demanding they pay a ransom of a million pounds or he’ll die. It’s not a huge amount of money in the grand scheme of what he’s worth, which leads us to believe this was more of an initiation test than a political target. When Dom received the call to recover, we tracked him down to this shithole four days ago.
He’s injured, his face bruised, a deep laceration in his stomach, bleeding through his shirt. Tied to the post, hanging with his hands above his head. Our job’s simple. Get in, extract the asset and get out. Simple, just the way I like things right now.
Eyeing my surrounding, I signal Harley to move closer. The darkness is our friend right now; the forest covered with thick vegetation. It took us three days to travel to this location, thirty-two hours of that was on foot. The guy we need to recover hasn’t moved since we laid eyes on him. We won’t know the full extent of his injuries until we land back at base. Our extraction is in thirty minutes. We need to move.
Our guy is surrounded by five armed guards. From the intel Grey received, and the background check we did, three of these men are ex-military, with skills similar to ours. Similar. We’re better. The other two are nobodies from our records, low-rank foot soldiers. They don’t know shit. Getting to this point in their compound, I know we have this. They’re amateurs, sloppy, leaving an easy trail for us to find.
We did our research into this group. Small time, wanting to get into the big stuff. What they lack is any sort of respect for the bosses above them. They made a few mistakes while grabbing this guy. Shouting their mouths off, giving it the big I am. Let’s just say we don’t need to make any fatal moves today. These guys won’t last another week in this world.
We move slowly, keeping to the shadows. Silent. Unseen. Only a few feet away now, then it’s all go.
Planned to the last detail, everyone knows what needs to be done, to get him out and us back safely.
Harley signals to go in three and we move to the entrance of the makeshift tent where our guy is being held. We want to get him back to his wife and family as soon as we can.
We’ve surrounded them on all sides. Dom and Zan heading to the back of the tent, myself and Harley sweeping the sides. Grey set up to cover us with his sniper skills on the way out.
Harley strikes first, giving an elbow to the guy's gut. When he folds, she throws another to the side of his head and he goes down hard, hitting the floor unconscious. Out like a light. Smiling, she loves every second of this. Dom lucked out when they met. He’s definitely punching above his weight.
I ghost up behind the other guy just as he turns to see his friend on the floor. A swift, effective strike on the side of the neck and he goes down like a sack of bricks. Never even saw us coming.
Fuck, I love this .
Moving the soldiers out of sight, Dom and Zander move in to take care of the other three, while myself and Harley move in to extract the asset.
Unhooking him, and laying him out on the floor, Harley and I make quick work of getting him ready to move. Wrapping any open wounds, binding him to what looks like a human-sized backpack. It allows two people to carry someone out without using their hands, keeping the injured party contained and safe.
Glancing out, I can’t see what happening, but I can hear Dom and Zander swearing and the undeniable sound of punches being thrown. I focus on Harley and what we need to get done.
She nods for me to go as she attaches a small set of wheels to the bottom of the pack. They’ll help distribute the weight, equal parts pulling and carrying. I help her get his unconscious body on her back. We’ll swap when we move out, but this gives her a head start on us. She’s got this under control. She’ll be safe with Grey watching over her.
Stepping out, I creep into the shadows and watch as Dom handles one of men. He’s big, but so is Dom. Zander, on the other hand, needs a little help as he has two on him. I step into sight, and Zan’s sharp nod is one of appreciation. Pulling the bigger fucker off him, aiming for his face, I land the first blow to the side of his head. The second to his side. My arm tightens around his neck as I move backwards, giving Zan room to move.
My chokehold on this dude is tight, but he’s fighting it. His arms come up to grab my head, his legs kicking gain some momentum. It works and I’m pulled forward. We land on the ground in a cloud of dust and debris. My heart pounds as adrenalin sets in, fists and boots flying.
Rolling in the dirt, he lands a punch to my ribs. Repaying the favour to his face, my knuckles smash into his nose. I get a good few in before my boot meets his stomach, my fist knocking him out cold. Only then do I notice Zan and Dom watching me fight from the side. Covered in sweat, bruises already turning their skin a reddening shade, smirking at me.
“Laugh all you like, arsehole,” I joke, taking a moment to catch my breath. “You’ll be in the shit when Harley gets hold of you. She’s currently running through the thick of this hell-hole with a one-hundred-and-eighty-pound guy attached to her back.” His smirk disappears as he turns to run in her direction, cursing me and himself on the way out. Zan and I both run after him, trying and failing to hide our laughter.
Our extraction went well. We came under fire a few miles out but managed to get out without any more trouble. Flying back in the helicopter to the special unit's base we share with the military, we hand over the asset to the medics and give the coordinates to the others and local forces to handle any clean ups.
Everything we do is above board. Sort of.
My instinct is to go back to my tent and be alone, but I don’t. I sit at the outside table grabbing a beer, settling in, and watching the night sky. My thoughts drift to Charlie. Like they always do. The night always reminds me of her, of us. The dark’s like a blanket. It holds me together. She holds me together. Her almost-violet eyes haunt my dreams in the best possible way. I just need to see them again.
Leaning back in the chair, I let the flames of the fire warm my skin as I think of everything I did wrong. Everything I need to make right. I know my brothers will forgive me eventually. But Charlie. I don’t know what I will do if she doesn’t want anything to do with me. I need her forgiveness the most. My angel. Checking my phone again, it’s become a habit. One I never want to kick. Knowing she’s safe at home settles my soul.
I know I should respect her decision if she wants nothing to do with me. I should walk away and let her live her life. A life without me. I groan and Zan raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn’t say anything.
Every time I think of Charlie, the fire in me burns brighter. Thinking of her with someone else makes me feel possessive. An instinct that makes me want to haul her over my shoulder and lock her up, keeping her as mine and only mine. I don’t want another man touching her. Fuck, it could have already happened. I’ll be lucky if she lets me be an acquaintance at this point. I’ve been gone too long,
“I think you enjoyed that fight back there. There was a smile on your face the whole fucking time.” Dom slaps me on the shoulder and sits beside me. His face is a rainbow of colours with bruises. I’m sure mine looks the same right now too.
“I did. I’ve loved every second of this, Dom. It’s just what I needed.”
Taking a sip of his beer, he frowns at me before Harley appears and sits on his lap, planting a kiss to his bruised cheek.
“I ache all over,” she says, “pulling that,” she points over to the medic tent, “for a mile and half.” The expression on her face says she enjoyed it, but Dom’s face is pissed off and proud all rolled into one. I guess having a woman like Harley by your side can give you very conflicting thoughts. She’s strong, capable, and so freaking independent. It’s a fucking miracle Dom managed to get her to marry him. He wants to keep her safe, protected and out of harm’s way. Harley, on the other hand, wants nothing of the sort. She wants all the action, all the adventure, and all the love Dom is wholeheartedly giving. Fucking beautiful.
That’s a real relationship right there.
“That’s it then. We have a small job next. Should only take us a day. I’ve emailed the files to you all already. We leave in the morning.” Harley whispers something in his ear and he shifts in his seat, his fingers tightening around her hip.
“How about we head out for a little respite for a week after this last one? It’s been a while. We could all do with some R I like being the boss. I may still come out for the odd trip down memory lane, but I want my life back. This has healed the old wounds, but I have to face the new ones I have created back home.
“Time to make that call then…” It only takes a few minutes for my phone to fill with notifications, messages, missed calls and updates from everyone back home. After switching the track and trace off, I’m only interested in the ones from Charlie. There aren’t many. Mainly missed calls dotted through the time I have been absent.
She’s not hounded me, not some like others would. She knows her worth. She’s given me what I needed, even when I didn’t say what I was doing. She’s given me the space to heal.
There’s one voicemail from her from only last night. Standing up, I say my goodnights and move to the tent I share with Zan. Sitting on the camp bed, I put my phone to my ear.
“Hey, um, I just wanted to say something… everyone seems to be moving on with their lives, and I… I feel stuck. My heart hurts when I think of you and everything we could have been. I waited, Owen. I waited for you.
“I hate that you left to keep me safe. It means you never got to know me if you think I need to be looked after. I can look after myself pretty well. Just ask Leon, Cole and Ethan. They have seen what I’m capable of. She gives a small, amused chuckle. The undertone in her voice is so sad. My head dips into my hand, while I listen to her sweet voice, making my heart ache to be closer to her.
“I’m fed up of being sad over you. Millie’s having a baby. Em and Dan have Daisy, Annie’s in love, every one of my friends seems to be happy… I want to be happy, but it just reminds me that I’m not even close to that kind of love in my life. I want to feel something other than the loss, the missing piece of my heart. I tried not to love you, Owen. I tried so hard.” She’s crying now and my stomach’s in knots. “I need to be over you. I’m going to try.
“I’m done, Owen. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t wait for something that was never really there to start with.
“I tried, Owen. I kept my promise to you, no matter what. But I’m not sure I can be yours anymore. It’s too hard when you’re not by my side.” Charlie's voice breaks and she hangs up.
It guts me. I feel sick. I left it too long.