“Already here, no one has made it out, but the smoke is toothick on this side. We can’t fire into it without risking one of ours,” Tyler responds.
With nothing more than a nod of his head, Riley leads the three of them out into the open. With nowhere to hide, they keep their guns up, watching every direction as they march into the smoke. Bodies litter the ground. The pristine white snow is stained with deep red blood and obsidian smoke sticking to it.
Stupidly, she checks each one, looking for both the masks on her team and faces of the men who once tortured her. So engrossed in the twisted faces under her feet, Liz didn’t notice the man step from the smoke. The sharp crack of the gun yanks her back, looking up to find Riley slamming the man onto the ground. She aims her gun, ignoring the dull ache in her arm when she does.
Heart racing, she tries to aim at the man fighting with Riley. Her eyes dart to Mikey, but he is nowhere to be found. She can’t hold the gun steady, every time she has a clear shot of the man, one of them throws a punch, moving them enough to put Riley at risk. Her breath quickens. All the training they have put her through, and this scenario has never come up. Riley’s on top of the man, his fist slamming into the man’s face relentlessly. When he finally stops fighting, Riley stands, firing a single shot into his chest.
His face is covered in blood as his head lolls to the side. Bile rises in her throat. There, on the side of his neck, is the strange devil tattoo, the one that seemed to mock her every time the man would beat her.
“Back is clear, last car is empty,” a voice calls in her ear.
“First car is also clear,” Mikey announces.
She stands straighter, lifting her aching arm again. The death and destruction can make her sick later. Now, she still has a mission.
Riley glances from her to her arm, then back to her. Sheglances down, unable to see much past the thick coat. From what she can see, there is nothing out of the ordinary. She shakes her head at him and moves on. They trudge through the snow and smoke together, carefully watching each other’s backs.
“Move up, everyone convene on the second vehicle. Stay focused, we don’t know how many are left in there,” Riley orders.
The words hit her like a truck. If she had stayed focused Riley would not have risked his life to keep her safe yet again. Boots crunch in the snow behind them. Liz would know those footsteps anywhere. Mikey pops up beside her, his eyes going wide behind his mask.
“Darlin, your arm?—”
“Is fine. I’m a little sore. I think I was pressed against that rock a little too hard. Can we just get this over with?” she snaps, interrupting him. She lifts her weapon higher, hoping to push past the ache and make everyone stop looking at her like she can’t handle her gun.
The three of them march on, meeting up with the rest of the team in front of Scott’s car.
“I was right,” Mikey announces. “We look fucking awesome. The smoke really helps.”
Ignoring him, Riley carefully steps up to the car door. The team has it surrounded, guns up and ready to fire should anyone try anything. He tucks himself against the side, pulling a small handgun from his leg holster. Mikey steps up to the other side, completely in sync with Riley. He grips the handle. Riley gives him a small nod, and the door is ripped open.
Riley steps into the space, gun up, screaming at Scott to get on the floor. He reaches in, ripping the man free of the vehicle and tosses him onto the blood-soaked snow. Long gone is the man who would attempt to fight Reaper. Now, he is just a man with fear in his eyes, cowering in the snow while the people he once controlledstand ready to take his life. Riley grips his arm, pulling him to his feet where Mikey is waiting to zip tie his hands behind his back and lead him into their makeshift base.
The team surrounds him, walking him miles through the snow to where they can tie him up and figure out what to do now that they finally have him in their grasp.
CHAPTER 46
This is not what Liz pictured Scott’s capture would look like. She had assumed the team would be cleared right away and they would be able to celebrate. But the reality is, his capture is just one small step in the fight, and they will never be able to fully undo all the harm he caused.
The room is somber. The team sits huddled around the fire, fighting off the demons of the day. Once Liz had peeled herself out of her heavy jacket, she finally felt the searing pain and warm liquid coating her arm. Riley insisted she let him take care of it. Instead of joining her team, she is forced to sit on the rickety table while her arm is crudely stitched and bandaged. She is lucky Riley was there, if he wasn’t, the bullet would have gone right through her heart instead of grazing her arm.
To her surprise, Scott stays silent the entire ordeal. Liz wonders if he has something bigger planned, or if he truly knows it’s over for him. She sucks in a sharp breath, hissing at the sting in her arm when Riley tightens the bandage just a touch too tight. Hopping off the table, she mumbles under her breath, “Ass.”
“Don’t lose focus next time and I won’t need to sew you up, princess,” he retorts.
Her eyes drop to her feet, ashamed that he is right. So much worse would have happened, all because she needed to see who lay beneath her boots. He grips her chin, forcing her to look at him. Tears well up when she meets his gaze. He doesn’t speak. Doesn’t get mad or scold, simply kisses her forehead, lingering for a moment before pulling her into a tight hug.
“Reaper,” a voice calls out. Riley drops his arms. One more quick kiss, and he rushes to the radio on the opposite side of the room.
“Yes, sir,” he responds, smoothly sliding into the free chair.
“Success?” General Langford asks.
“Yes, sir. We got him. What do you want us to do with him?” Riley asks, looking back at their old general.
“I will have an evac team at your location tomorrow morning, it is your choice if he comes home or not.”
With that, the radio goes silent. Liz looks around the room, pain etched into every face. Giving Scott a wide berth, she makes her way over to where the team is resting, half eaten MREs going cold on the floor. No one has much of an appetite after the day they had. Nestling onto Mikey’s shoulder, she stays quiet until Riley joins them.
