Page 135 of No Fear

“All call signs, hut is empty. He was here. He can’t be far,” Dex said.

Donnie raised his binoculars in the direction of the hut. Scanning for movement. Precious seconds passed. Movement got his attention. A solo person scurrying up the mountain.

“I got him.” Donnie gave the coordinates, so Ryan and Lucas could both line up the shot.

Ryan fired, then cursed as he missed. “Fuck, I can't take the shot, my hand won't grip. Lucas?”

“Negative, I don’t have a clear shot.”

“We are not close enough. Snipers, you need to handle this,” Dex ordered.

“We need to take him now, or we’ll lose him over the ridge,” Donnie said, following Hakim through the binoculars.

Ryan rolled away from the rifle. “Donnie, you need to take it.”

He froze.

“Donnie, you need to take the shot. Now!”

Donnie nodded, though his insides clenched. What if he couldn’t? He hadn’t even handled a rifle since his injury. He reached out and took the weapon. It settled into his hands with the familiarity of a long-lost friend. After checking the chamber was loaded, he looked down the scope and scanned for his prey.

“Donnie?” Dex’s voice came through coms. Donnie blocked him out. Blocked everything out. His hand shook. He breathed slow breaths and calmed. Calm and focused. He locked on to his target. He needed a kill shot. This ended now.

It wasn’t clear. Night vision wasn’t helping. Fuck. He closed his eyes, then reopened them. Breathe, Donnie, breathe. You got this. He aimed, again locking onto the outline of Hakim scrambling up the mountain. His finger rested in position on the trigger. Moving targets were never easy.

“Take the shot, Donnie,” Ryan snapped, watching the scene through binoculars. “We’re going to lose him in seconds.”

Donnie squeezed the trigger.

Chapter Twenty Four

It had been an emotional reunion with her parents and Maddie, who had come by with Dave and the kids.

Maddie had left a short time ago and Charlie sat opposite her folks, having just told them the truth about the night Nate died.

Tense seconds of silence passed as they exchanged a look. Charlie thought it was confusion, but she couldn't be sure. She waited nervously.

Her mom got up and came to sit beside her.

“Charlie, what happened to Nate was a terrible accident. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It could have been anyone, and sadly it was your brother.”

“But if Donnie hadn't have come over, he wouldn't have canceled their plans, and Nate would not have been there at that time.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“No, darling. That’s not what happened,” her dad said.

“What do you mean?” Charlie looked between them. Now she was confused.

“We know Donnie canceled their plans. We didn’t know why until now, but that doesn’t really matter,” her mom said softly.

“You knew? But you didn't say anything?”

Her dad sat on her other side and took her hand. “Nate hadn’t even got Donnie’s text when the crash happened. We know because the police checked his phone to make sure he was not on it while driving. They saw the text on his phone from Donnie. The text was unread. The crash happened before Nate even knew Donnie had canceled.”

Charlie frowned. “But Donnie said Nate was driving home when it happened?”

Her mom placed a hand on her cheek. “He must have assumed that. I’m not sure where Nate was driving to. Maybe to the diner to grab a bite on the way to the movie theater. We will never know.”

“That poor boy didn’t say a word and left because he thought he was to blame.” Her dad shook his head sadly. “Donnie’s been carrying this all these years. I wished he’d said something.”