Mac
My mind buzzes and my entire body thrums with the intensity of the moment.
The mission, though not without its flaws, was a huge success, and I’m back at the base in Mexico – and so is Libby.
To say she’s in a state of shock is an understatement, but along with the shock, she’s overjoyed.
Will took the lead role of entering the home, with another trusted soldier named Chester as his partner. I had a team of eight other men surrounding the house, and for an agonizing 90 minutes, we sat back and watched the building.
The stress of waiting, terrified that gunfire would erupt out of there, probably took a year off my life. But it simply didn’t happen, thank God.
It wasn’t until someone screamed that the rest of us rushed into the house, kicking in the door with guns drawn. By then, all bets were off, and we were ready to shoot our way out of there if necessary.
The scene before me wasn’t what I expected, however.
The man, the owner of the home, had attempted to fight Will and Chester. He’d been suspicious from the beginning, it seemed, but he hadn’t wanted to be obvious about it. His evident plan was to use a sword hanging on the wall—an apparent valuable relic—to attack the two men, clearly not understanding that they were both armed.
When he became violent, Will and Chester both pulled out their guns and prepared themselves for the fight, but that’s when the man’s wife came into the room and saw what was going on. She screamed and rushed for the phone to call for some sort of help, but before she had the chance, we were inside.
I had my own gun drawn, and I barked at her to put the phone down. I knew her kids were upstairs, so I didn’t want any shots to be fired, but I was ready to shoot if I had to. I thanked my lucky stars that she did as she was told, and we were able to take custody of the man.
It was then that we searched the rest of the house, finding my sister upstairs with the two children. She was just as terrified as they were, and though I’d thought I’d be able to handle myself, I lost it when I saw her.
Tears ran down my cheeks as I stepped forward.
“Libby?” I asked. “Libby, it’s Mac. Do you remember me?”
I knew there was a chance the woman wasn’t my sister, and if she wasn’t, I’d look like a real idiot. But, there was a deeper feeling inside me that I had finally found her after all these years, and I was willing to take the chance.
“Mac?” she croaked, as though the word was familiar to her, yet foreign at the same time.
“Yes, Libby, it’s Mac,” I told her again. “I’m your older brother. You were kidnapped when you were twelve years old when we were on vacation with Mom and Dad. Do you remember?”
“I – Mac?” she asked again, her eyes growing wide with tears brimming.
I could see the moment the memories came flooding back to her, and she burst into tears herself. I rushed to her, taking her in my arms and holding her. I apologized to her over and over, then kissed the side of her head.
“You’re safe now,” I promised. “We’re getting you out of here and you’re going home.”
She clung to me – and continued to cling to me all the way back to the base. I knew I had to let her go to be checked out and processed by the medical team, but it was difficult. I had to get on the phone with my parents to let them know the good news, and once I did, I was told they were on their way to Coronado immediately.
Libby would be sent there for further debriefing and evals, but more than that, she would start receiving help to get through the trauma she’d been through. And, of course, she would be turned over to our parents, who could finally start to do some healing themselves after all these years.
Now, I’m on cloud nine.
The outcome of the mission is exactly what I’ve been yearning for and working toward for years, and the only thing that could make the day better is if Allee was here to share it with me.
But, I’m going to do the next best thing.
I’m going straight to the hospital to be by her side. I want to hold her hand and talk to her, telling her everything about how the mission went and how my sister is home. In short, I want her to know that we did it.
But something feels off when Gunner and I walk through the hospital doors. I can’t quite place it, but I know when there’s something amiss.
I walk up to the front desk to let the woman know I’m there to see Allee, but her response makes my blood run cold.
“She’s been transferred to a safer location,” the woman said. “And there’s unfortunately a note in the file here that tells me that’s all the information I can give you.”
“That’s insane,” I snap. “I’m her fiancé. You have to tell me where she is.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” the woman replies. She types on the computer for another second. “But it says here that she’s been transferred. That’s really all I can give you.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I snap. “Where’s Camilla? Get her out here this second!”
“I’ll thank you not to swear,” the woman retorts. “And Camilla who?”
“Gonzalez,” I say, annoyed with her forcing me to specify.
“She doesn’t work here anymore,” the woman says.
“You can’t be serious,” I raise my voice, demanding, “Where did they go?”
“I can’t tell you any more than what I have on the screen here,” she says. “I’m sorry.”
I’m seeing red and I want to punch something. I fight the urge to run the halls and look for her, though all I want to do is scream her name. The rug’s been yanked out from under me, and I’m soaring through the air on a wave of fear and confusion.
Camilla took Allee and ran with her. I know she did, but I don’t know why.
I’m going after them.
By God, I’m going to find Allee if it’s the last thing I do.
Three days later, I’m no closer to finding Allee than the moment I found out she was transferred. I’ve done everything I can think to do, going to both those who I report to as well as doing what I can to contact the men in the Mexican military who arranged for this.
I want answers, and it doesn’t seem like there’s anyone who can give them to me. Even Commander Buckley is at a loss over the sudden transfer, and though he’s done what he can to try to find out where they sent her and why, he, too, hasn’t been able to come up with any answers.
“I just don’t understand,” I tell him through the phone. “I get that the hospital isn’t the most secure location for her, but we don’t have any reason to believe she wasn’t safe there. Not only that, but I’m her fiancé! That has to count for something, you know as well as I do that it does.”
“I know that it should,” Commander Buckley replied. “I’m right there with you when it comes to questioning what’s going on. But you also know as well as I do that in order to get that kind of information out of anyone, then you’d have to be married.”
“We practically were,” I say, feeling the anger rising inside me. I know it’s not his fault that I’m in this position, but I’m frustrated enough with the system to speak frankly with him.
“I understand that,” he says with a sigh. “But again, I’m not the guy who made this decision, and on top of that, they’re not required to disclose to us what they do or why. This isn’t in our jurisdiction, Mac, I’m sorry.”
It’s all he can give me, and though I want to go off about it, I know better. He’s still my commanding officer, and even if we are friends aside from our respective military careers, that doesn’t change the core nature of our relationship. To go off on him is only going to do me more harm than good, and it’s not going to get me anywhere when it comes to Allee.
“Thanks for doing what you can here,” I tell him. “I’m not done. I’m going to keep looking.”
“Don’t get yourself in trouble with this,” he tells me. “I know you’re worried, Mac, but you also have to keep a level head.”
“Thank you, Sir,” I say. “I will.”
But, after I hang up the phone, I can’t promise him that I’m not going to do anything. It chaps my ass that I finally found my sister only to have the wind taken out of my sails with Allee’s disappearance. I spent years going after my sister, and now that she’s home, I will dedicate every second of my free time to finding my fiancé.
Gunner bumps my hand with his nose like he always does when he senses my trouble, and I rub the side of his head.
“I wish you could track her down for me,” I say with a sigh. “But I’m not sure even your incredible sense of smell would be enough to find her.”
He wags his tail, and I sit back in my chair. I feel defeated, as though I’ve hit a dead end, and I’m not sure what to do about it. I know I’ve got to find her, and I’m determined to make that happen. But, I also know I’m going to have to be smart about this.
Looking around my room, I try to clear my mind and think logically about where they might have moved her. They said they wanted to keep her safe, so they sent her to a secure location. That could honestly be anywhere.
The sound of a chirping reaches my ear, and at first, I ignore it. I recognize the noise as an Air Tag going off in my backpack. I’ve never been a huge fan of those, but Allee convinced me it was a good idea to put them in our bags considering all the travel we do.
“It’s connected right to your phone,” she explained. So, if you happen to leave this in an airport, you can easily look it up and find it.”
Then, it hits me.
We both have iPhones and when she was having issues getting her Air Tag to connect to her device, we simply set it up with mine.
I know it’s not a direct lead on where she is, but if I can locate her backpack, I know I’m heading in the right direction.
Sure, there’s a chance her backpack isn’t anywhere near her, but I know Allee, and she loved that thing. It was past its prime, yet she insisted that it was her lucky bag—and she wasn’t going to let it go until it physically fell apart. It’s not hard for me to imagine that her sister would know this about her and would keep the bag close for when Allee woke up.
I grab my phone and open the Find My Phone app. My heart races and my hands start to tremble as I select her tag.
Almost instantly, it shows me an area in Ensenada, Mexico. It doesn’t pinpoint her location exactly, which I can chalk up to being in another country. I don’t expect my phone to work as well as it does back in the States. But, I’m also okay with this. I don’t need it to tell me her exact location.
“Gunner,” I say, and he immediately perks up. “You might not have the nose that can take me to her from anywhere, but if we get you closer, I bet we’ll track her down! Ensenada is about an hour away. If we leave now, we’ll get there before dinner.”
I chuckle to myself despite the way my mind is spinning. My heart starts to race, and I can’t help but feel that I’m on to something and Allee’s lucky bag may just prove to be lucky after all. Her bag is down in Ensenada, and the only logical reason for it to be there is because Allee herself is also there.
And I’m going after her.
It only takes me fifteen minutes to throw the things I need into my truck. I don’t know what I’m up against, but I’m certainly going in prepared. I grab my backpack, flashlight, handgun, Gunner’s lead, and Allee’s panties—yes, Allee’s panties.
They’re the panties she was wearing the night that I proposed to her – the panties I insisted I wanted to keep as memorabilia. I mentally apologize to Allee for how I intend to use them, but I don’t have other options.
Even using her perfume isn’t as direct a trail as the underwear is. There are a lot of people out there who wear that same perfume. Perhaps it’s not the same smell exactly when Allee wears it, as it blends with her own unique scent, but I don’t think the perfume is enough to give Gunner what he needs to be able to track her.
The panties, however, she wore against her skin. It’s the best thing I’ve got, and even then, it’s a crap shoot.
Once we’re in my truck, I press the edges of the speed limit on my way out of town. I know I don’t want to get pulled and be held back, especially since I would have to try to convince any cop who pulled me over that I’m dealing with something of an emergency.
I have only one thing on my mind right now, and I don’t want to do anything that will slow me down.
I don’t bother telling anyone where I’m heading. I don’t need to hear opinions right now. I’m not going to relax, or calm down, or get some rest and think about it in the morning.
I don’t need any other input in my life right now.
I just need Allee.