Coop holds up his hands. “I don’t control the wind, man. The plan’s solid. Why do we have tochangeit?”
“Shut up.” Inara, who claims theFireflycharacter of the same name was named after her and not the other way around, punches Coop in the arm. “We brought Sampson in to handle shit like this. Let him dohisjob.”
“Give me an hour.” Creeping off to a deeper depression in the mossy landscape, I visualize the layout of the compound. Keeping this team safe is my mission, and I can’t fail. During my free fall, in those terrifying and exhilarating seconds before I released my parachute, Cam’s face was burned into the backs of my eyelids. I have to see her onemoretime.
* * *
Gunfire peppersthe side of the building as I sprint for cover. A few feet ahead of me, Ryker carries Ernesto, who’s too weak to stand, let alone run. Muffled pops at regular intervals join the cacophony, and as we duck down behind a shed, I count three dead guerrillas. Damn. Inara didn’t lie about herskills.
“Where the fuck is Coop?” Ryker hisses as I load a fresh clip in my pistol, then flatten myself against the wall to fire off a volley of shots towards the observation tower. “I’m going to break his goddamn neck when I find him. He gave away ourposition.”
“If he’s not at the rendezvous point, he’s probably already dead.” Another burst of enemy fire sends me springing back, and as I hit the shed wall, white hot pain lances through myabdomen.
Without thinking, I roll onto my back and fire two shots up the hill in front of us, taking out the bastard who shot me. Only then does my vision waver. “I’m hit,” I manage, but my words sound hollow andraspy.
“Stay with me, Sampson.” Ryker yanks a roll of duct tape from his rucksack, pulls up my t-shirt, andcurses.
“That…bad?”
After another subtle pop, Inara’s voice floats through my comms. “If you boys are going to get out of there, you need to go right thefucknow.”
Ryker holds the duct tape in his teeth as he lifts me to my feet. The world tilts. Fire consumes my entire left side, and I let out a roar as the ugly son of a bitch wraps length after length of tape around mytorso.
“We leave no one behind,” he snaps. With Ernesto tossed over his right shoulder, he lets me lean onhisleft.
I try to fight him. “You won’t make it carryingmyass.”
“Then walk. You’re a goddamned SEAL, Sampson. If you can’t run five hundred yards while bleeding from a stomach wound, you don’t deserve to wear theuniform.”
“Yessir,” I mumble, his words so similar to my former CO’s that I can’t helpbutobey.
Inara clears the way for us until we hit the edge of the jungle canopy. With the last of my strength, I squeeze off a round, killing a soldier who springs out of the underbrush. My arm drops, the gun tumbling to the ground. Ryker supports my full weight, maintaining a constant stream of orders to stay conscious, to run, to fight, and I try, but I’m blind, and a dull roar, like the sound of the ocean inside a conch shell, fillsmyears.
“Tell…Cam…”
17
Cam
In the cornerof the ceiling, a cluster of glow-in-the-dark stars center me after I wake with a scream in my throat. I almost had them removed when I bought the place, but after a few sleepless nights, I let them stay. Wide awake, mind racing, I reach for my phone. Nomessages.
When I can’t get back to sleep, I tug on a soft tank and shorts and then head for my laptop and coffee. As the rich scent of a Colombian blend fills the room, I log on to VetNet, then promptly forget all about thecoffee.
HuskyFan:Check the logs. Key cards and logins. You almost caught me twice. I can’t give up. They’ll kill me. But you canstopthem.
“Holy fuck.” I rush to reply, hoping he’s stillonline.
FlashPoint:Do you work at the hotel? How did you know whoIwas?
HuskyFan:I’m a hacker, Camilla. Do you really think finding your name, address, and service record was all thatdifficult?
FlashPoint:Whoareyou?
HuskyFan:Think. You’ll figure it out. You helped me through a dark time. I’ll never forget you.Goodbye.
His status changes to offline. A few minutes later, his account disappears completely. I save my chat logs before those vanish as well, then lean back and close my eyes. Whoever HuskyFan is, I think I owehimnow.
* * *
