“Holy shit. That has to be where they are keeping him! We have to go now.” she yells, jumping from her chair.
“We can’t just leave. There is a process. We need to te––”
“Don’t you dare say it, Alex,” Liz snarls, turning back and storming over to them. “How can you want to tell him after everything? We can’t tell him! The moment you do, Riley will be moved. I understand I have my issues with Scott, but he knew Riley wasn’t going to be at any of the places he sent you. He does not want him found. If he were here, Riley would trust me. I wish you would do the same.”
Footsteps echo around the room as she begins pacing again, no one daring to talk. Her words weigh heavily on all of them.
“Look, if I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I will accept any and all consequences, but you know I would never risk Riley if I didn’t know in my soul this is the right move. And if I’m right, and he is there, then we have a lot more to worry about than you guys realize.”
“Fuck!” Alex shouts, standing from the table. “This could ruin us. If this goes wrong, we could all be thrown out, dishonorably discharged.”
“I would rather go back to living on the streets than leaving him to die,” Liz says solemnly “I lost everything: my home, my job,even my identity, and now that I have some of that back, I would throw it all away if it meant saving Riley.”
“He would do the same for any of us,” Mikey says. “I mean, he already did to get Liz out.”
“Alright. I need some time to pull this together. I don’t know when we can leave, so stay ready.” Alex says no more. Tyler stands and joins him as he walks out the door, pulling it closed behind them.
Mikey and Liz simultaneously go into their rooms, ready to load their packs so they can leave at a moment’s notice. She only makes it a few steps before she hears thunderous laughter from the other room. Her feet carry her to him before she even registers she is moving, giggling the whole way.
“What did you do to my fucking bunk?” he chokes out through laughs.
“Surprise! I made it pretty,” she says, beaming with pride. He pulls her into his arms, lifting her right off the ground.
“I love it, now go pack a bag. Alex says he isn’t sure, but he is and he is going to get shit done quick, and we need to be ready.”
Feet firmly back on the ground, Liz prances to her room, tossing her go bag on the bed as she does. Running through the mental checklist Riley coached her on, she places each item on her bed in neat rows, making sure she has everything she may need. A thermal blanket and change of clothes are the first thing she puts in, followed by a bottle of water, and two MREs. Next is the multi tool, flashlight with extra batteries, scissors, and the biggest first aid kit they own, placing it right on top in case she needs to use it fast. The bag gets placed next to the door, much like Liz, ready to go the moment she gets the call.
CHAPTER 10
“Time to go,” Mikey says, barging into Liz’s room and ripping her blankets off. She is on her feet in an instant, pulling on the clothes she left laid out next to her bed for days. She stuffs her feet into her boots, which she leaves untied until they make it onto the plane, just as Alex instructed. Her bag gets slung onto her back and they are out the door where Alex and Tyler are waiting. Wasting no time, they take off in a silent sprint, heading to the tarmac where their plane awaits. After forty-eight days, Riley is finally coming home.
A small group of soldiers stand ready and waiting for them to arrive. When the four of them get close enough for Liz to start making out familiar faces, everyone jumps into action. Before they reach them, the rest of the team is loaded onto the plane, leaving the door open, allowing them to run on as fast as possible. Her heart pounds in her ears, terrified for what could happen to Riley if someone is able to stop them before they take off. She picks the first empty seat she sees, throwing herself into it and buckling in right away. A sharp whistle rings out from down the aisle as the plane thrums to life.
“Seats, now!” Alex yells over the hum of voices, the plane lurching forward and picking up speed faster than Liz is used to. “This is an unauthorized mission. You all know what you are risking by coming. We have no time to lose. Once we are in the air, prepare yourselves, prepare your gear, prepare your weapons. I don’t know what we will find when we arrive. We have very little information. What we do know is Dmitri has been seen arriving every few days. He is not there now, and his forces that stayed behind are small. If you do what you are told, this should go easy. Until then, no one is to leave this plane or speak to anyone when we stop to refuel. Turn all phones and tracking off.”
She does exactly what he says. Once they are in the air, her boots get tied nice and snug, she straps her holster onto her legs and waist, with the addition of a second belt holding Riley’s knife sheathed on her lower back. She braids her hair into two, neat French braids, making sure they can’t come undone during a fight. After the third time checking her bag, Mikey pulls her back into her seat, urging her to sleep as much as she can before they reach their destination.
“How am I supposed to sleep at a time like this?” she whines, tossing her head back in frustration. “He is there, I know it. I need to stay alert. Anything could happen between now and then.”
“Darlin, you can’t save the world if you don’t take care of yourself first. I told you, exhaustion will make you sloppy. You will make mistakes and someone will get hurt. This flight is not as long, so I don’t have time to fight you on this. It’s the middle of the night. We are all going to sleep. If anything, and I mean anything at all happens, we will know the moment it does.”
She won’t admit it even though she knows he is right, but right or not, she can’t imagine sleeping at a time like this. Maybe it’s just something that will come in time, the ability to pass out anywhere at any given moment, something only the ones who have beenthrough this too many times have perfected. A large hand lands on the side of her face, roughly pulling against a hard shoulder. Mikey slides his hand into hers, stroking his thumb back and forth until he can feel her begin to relax, not stopping until the full weight of her head is pressed against him. Hours of fitful sleep drag by. It gets harder to stay asleep the closer they get to their destination.
Sometime after the first stop to refuel, the symphony of snoring comes to a stop. As they wake up, Liz spots the unit checking their gear once more. While Mikey is still fast asleep next to her, she turns his hand over to check the time on his watch: 10 a.m. They have been flying for nine hours, with only two to go until they refuel next. People have already begun pacing the aisle and doing any type of workout they can in the small open area around the cargo door, desperate to get out some pent-up energy.
The hours tick by. Liz feels as if the entire flight is going in slow motion. Their final stop for fuel took longer than expected. When she tried to talk to Alex about what took so long, all he could tell her was it’s taken care of. She tried to ignore how ominous it sounded, instead focusing on their strategy, running it through her mind on repeat. This is going to be her first time seeing action.
Tyler confirmed the camp is full. Although not as many enemy soldiers as they expected, it won’t be a quiet mission. Slowly but surely, things start to settle. An eerie quiet takes over the team as everyone moves to find seats closer to the door that will be opening soon. Liz and Mikey claim two seats right in the front, determined to be the first boots on the ground. From the corner of her eye, she sees Alex stand.
It’s time.
She sits by the cargo door, double checking the chute strapped to her back, anxiously bouncing her knees, watching Alex pace the narrow hall. Two rows of men and women line either side of the plane, carrying them to their next mission. Her heart sinks,thinking about the last two. Their teams raided two of Dmitri’s camps with no sign of Riley. Every day they returned without him, Liz lost a piece of herself.
Mikey reaches over and takes her hand, giving her a sad smile. “We are approaching the drop zone. When you touch down, find your team, and go, do not wait for orders, do not wait to make sure the other teams are assembled, just get into your position.”
“Mikey, Tyler, Neil; head to the main building, take the tunnels on the far side. There will be less resistance, but stay alert. John and Lauren, lead your team around the other side. Make sure their path is clear when they get there.”
He turns and makes his way next to where Liz sits, eyes falling to the large scar across her neck. He goes silent, reflecting on everything that brought them to this moment. No amount of intel or planning could have prepared them for what happened that day. She has more than proven herself and just how far she would go to keep them safe.
