“We need to talk, love.”
“Okay,” she squeaks, hoping he doesn’t hear the underlying panic in her voice, but knowing he will.
He always does.
“Breathe,” he orders. “Whatever thoughts are running through that pretty little head are wrong… Look, there is so much that can go wrong over the next few days. I gave an order to get out if the mission goes to shit. That goes for you too.”
“No,” she states, leaving no room for Riley to argue. “You can’t ask me to leave you behind when you wouldn’t do the same.”
“That’s different. I have spent my whole life doing this, you haven’t. I need to know you will get out safely, whether I do or not,” he says softly.
“If you go, I go. If you die, I die next to you. I told you, I already lost one love, I won’t do it again,” she says with a shaky tone.
“Together then. If anything goes wrong, we will meet at the rendezvous point. They have their orders, and I trust that they will manage. I offered up the bunker to anyone who can get there. But, if we don’t come out on top, we will all be on the run again. Everyone knows to get somewhere safe and lay low for as long as they can, but we may not be able to do the same.”
“Or we go back to my house. We fix it up and leave all this behind,” she whispers.
“Could you really do that? Leave everyone behind knowing that Scott and Dmitri are hunting not only us, but the rest of the team? I can, but I think it will haunt you,” Riley asks.
“You know I can’t. And I don’t think you really can either. I love them all too much to not finish this, no matter how long it takes. But a girl can dream, right? We could fix the house up, clean up the garden, maybe get a cow?—”
“Oh, really? A cow? What happened to the dog?” Riley remarks, kissing the top of her head. She can hear the smile in his voice, sending her heart racing again.
“Don’t worry, we will still have a dog. The three of us can tend to the garden and play with the cow, and every night we can have dinner like a normal family before we curl up on the couch to watch all the trash tv you secretly love,” Liz lets out a happy little groan, picturing the future they could have. She pushes past the guilt of knowing that future comes from tragedy.
“I’m sold. If shit hits the fan, we find each other and go home. We can hide out for years and re-group. But speaking of ourfuture,” Riley says. He pulls his hand from hers, twisting to pluck something from his bag resting on the floor. When he returns, Liz wastes no time cementing herself to him once more. Suspicion grows as she peers down at his large hand gripping something she can’t see. His hand trembles ever so slightly. Tears flood her eyes when a tiny green box appears. Riley pushes the top up with his thumb, revealing one of the most stunning rings she has ever laid eyes on. An oval cut diamond rests on a white gold band with two small marquise diamonds on either side, coming together to nearly form a heart, a small round diamond sitting at the bottom of them.
“I hope this is enough. You already had the big, grand declaration from the love of your life, and I didn’t want to replace that. I just… I couldn’t leave tomorrow knowing I might never get the chance to ask. So… will you finally make my life complete and do me the incredible honor of being my wife?”
She is stunned into silence. Liz knew he would ask someday if they made it out alive. Never in her wildest dreams did she think he would do it a second before Scott and Dmitri are found. She wants so badly to say yes, to say anything, but she is frozen, blinking back tears before they get the chance to fall.
“You don’t have to say yes. Whether you want to get married or not, I am in this forever, Liz,” he says, a sadness in his voice.
She opens her mouth to speak but no words come out. How is she supposed to tell him how much she loves him, and how much the gesture of keeping it simple means to her? Liz does the only thing she can, she lifts her hand slightly, holding it out to allow Riley to slide the ring on.
He lets out a breath and sits up, leaving Liz missing the warmth of his body. Following his lead, she wraps the blanket tightly around her chest, pushing herself up on shaky arms. Herhand can’t stop quivering as she lifts it back up for him. The moment he plucks it from the box something catches her eye.
“What are those letters?” she asks, her voice cracking. Leaning it to get a better look at the engraving on the inside of the band, Riley twists it between his fingers, letting her see the J&M carved into the ring. The tears she fought so hard to hold back now flow freely down her face as he talks.
“I wanted to make sure they are always with you. You never have to choose between the life you lost and the one we’re building,”
She doesn’t let him put the ring on her before she throws herself into his arms, violent sobs wracking her body. He rubs her back, letting her get everything out that she needs to. “Should I take this as a yes?” Riley teases when her tears slow.
“Yes. Of course it’s a yes. It has always been yes,” she says as she reluctantly peels herself away from him.
Riley finds the ring hidden in the blanket and slides it onto her finger. Liz lets him pull her back down onto the bed. If this is their last night before the biggest mission of her life, she is determined to spend it tangled in her fiancé’s arms.
CHAPTER 44
The bitter cold settles into every bone in Liz’s body. The next few hours will test every member of their team. They have been hiking through deep snow for hours and still have miles to go.
Tyler managed to find an old abandoned air strip just south of where they believe Scott is hiding out. The team had agreed to jump ten miles out, opting to hike the rest of the way to avoid being spotted in the sky. Every so often, they switch off on carrying supplies in the hopes it saves some energy for the days to come.
Liz puts on a brave face. She had no idea the hike would be this brutal. Her fingers are frozen and the feeling in her toes is starting to go. The layers of thick, white camouflage gear succumbed to the elements after the first few miles. Still, they march, guns drawn with their heads on a constant swivel. Their mission is running on hopes and dreams. Following the only lead they had may not have been the best plan, but no one had a better one.
Finally, after hours, a small building with a tower stretching into the sky comes into view. Riley takes the heavy bag Liz has been carrying, allowing her to walk to the last stretch easier. Shelets out a sigh of relief when she steps foot inside the building. Finally out of the frigid wind, she pulls her hood down and rips the white balaclava off her face. Liz takes a deep breath now that the air no longer burns her lungs.
It’s not the type of airport she was expecting. It is an open room with old computers lining one side. A table and chairs sit on the other. Riley explained it was just a control center for small private flights, but she had still pictured a bustling airport, just with smaller planes.
