Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Shay was safe and back with River and Reese, who didn’t let the guy out of their sight. He was currently smashed in Reese’s arms while Coach patched up River’s leg.
Danny had taken a bullet to his arm, though it’d gone straight through, and he didn’t seem shaken. Everyone was going home with bruises and aches, but that was about it. We hadn’t lost anyone. Mathis had returned from his one-man operation at the main entrance with a single cut over his eyebrow. A nice turnout after having blown up the whole fucking gate with its ten-man security crew.
If only it were actually over.
Elliott nudged me and pointed up, and I followed his gaze. Finally, our ride was here.
I made sure I had my rifle, my handguns—in short, no evidence left behind—and then I just followed the herd while keeping an eye out for stragglers. The enemy was always ready to strike when you weren’t, and all that.
Noticing that the group seemed to split up, with Crew and Mercier heading one way with Mathis and the Finlay brothers, I furrowed my brow at Elliott.
He typed on his phone for me.
They’re escorting the civilian woman to Mercier’s contact in Pasto. We’ll see them tomorrow.
Oh. All right.
I needed to get my goddamn hearing back.
Whatever. Let’s just go. We had another war to fight in Europe.
I didn’t even know our rendezvous point, and I didn’t fucking care at this rate. I followed Elliott and the others to the back of the estate, where a suspension rope was soon lowered from the helicopter above. Hot damn, that was an AW101—a beautiful bird I’d flown in a few times in Canada—once in Norway too. Great for SAR missions, and it was big. The nearby trees whipped from side to side, and I could imagine the intense thumping sound of the blades.
Having done this a million times before, at least I didn’t need a how-to for this bit—but upon seeing Shay’s nervousness, I couldn’t help myself. As soon as the harnesses were dropped from the helicopter, I grabbed one for myself and one for Shay. Then I walked over to him and cocked a brow at Reese, a silent question to take over.
He nodded and said something to Shay.
I removed my combat vest. “Put your feet through here!” I held out the vest for him. It’d look weird, like a diaper, but he didn’t wanna wear a harness with just sweatpants on. He’d never get to use his dick again.
He gave me a confused look but complied, and I squatted down and pulled out a roll of paracord from one of my side pockets. Then I tied the rope, trapping the sides of the vest to his midsection, before I tugged down the pant legs of his sweats. The whipping winds could be brutal to your skin.
The twins had already given him one vest before, so I strapped the harness to it and tightened every ending. His chest, front and back, then between his legs and around his waist.
“You’ll go first!” I told the kid. He flinched, and I lowered my voice. “Sorry. You’ll go first, and they’ll haul you up, okay? We’ll all be on the same rope, and they’ll ascend before reeling us in, so don’t be afraid. Don’t look down if heights bother you.”
He nodded once. “Thank you,” he mouthed. He turned to Reese and said something, and the man scratched the side of his head, then pulled out his phone.
He showed it to me soon after.
Can you be there when I strap him to the line? It’s been a while for me.
I nodded. “Of course.”
By the time I was done with Shay, everyone else had geared up, and I ushered Shay to the rope, with Reese following right behind.
This was the easy part, so I didn’t have to do much. Reese secured Shay to the suspension rope—I mean, there was an actual hook, so it was possible he was used to something else from back in the day when we used knots for everything.
I gestured for everyone to line up, figuring it was best I went last.
The roar from above was clearly loud for all the others, and I kinda wished I heard it too. Helicopters were my second home. But at least I felt the winds whipping, and I saw the grass flattening.
One by one, I made sure everyone was secured to the line. Shay, Reese, River, Coach, Danny…Elliott.
Elliott showed me the screen of his phone.
I can say anything to you right now, and you won’t hear it.
I frowned at him. What the fuck?
He said something, and he tightened the strap to my helmet. What was he saying? In the corner of my eye, I caught Danny signaling to the pilots, and Shay was the first to get his feet off the ground. I shifted my gaze back to Elliott and secured myself to the line too, and I repositioned my rifle to my front instead, wanting easy access. For fuck’s sake, could he stop talking? I didn’t hear a fucking word!