“Those fuckers shot them,” I bit out hoarsely around the emotion clamping in my throat. “They shot them! I’ve got to go back!”
Mac’s grip bit into my forearm and her jade-green eyes burned into mine so far that I swear her demons transferred from her soul to mine.
“You’re not fucking going back, Hallie. Neither of us are. Now c’mon. Give me a fucking time check.”
“Fifty-five out. On schedule.” I halted for a few heightened breaths to make sure we weren’t being followed. “No pursuers as yet, but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to stroll.”
“You carry this fat fuck, then.”
“Can if you want,” I snapped.
Mac snorted. “Nah, we’d take twice as long with your short legs.”
I hissed—literally hissed—at her. My height had always been a challenge while on the US Army Special Reaction Team. Short legs meant I had to work doubly hard to keep pace with the tall guys, and I’d rather drink my own dehydrated piss than let the team down because of my physique, let alone being a woman. When they trained, I trained harder to ensure I wouldn’t be the weak link. When they marched, I jogged to not fall behind. Although short, my tenacity took my physical limitations and made them my bitch and that same attitude had me matching Mac’s long strides and keeping pace.
We caught up with Lexa, Nevada, and the two hostages ten minutes out from rendezvous point A. Both hostages were beginning to struggle despite being aided by the girls. Seeing Mac uncomfortably adjust dead Alec on her shoulders, I insisted we swap to give her back a break, and we entered the clearing with barely a few minutes to spare.
“I’m so glad we got away,” alive guy Silas puffed.
Heat flooded my veins and pushed a barbed retort off my tongue before I could stop it. “If it were up to me, I would have fucking left you there to rot and saved those innocent women and children. Do you know what the militia did after we left?”
His face paled as he shook it. “No.”
“Gunned them all down. Every last one of them. But, hey, I’m so fucking gladyou’realive,” I spat, roughly stabbing a finger into his chest and making him wince.
The only satisfying thing about his expression was that it drained of color, and he looked as guilty as he should have been spouting on like that.
Mac hissed a curse, then shoved a water bottle at me. “Take a fucking moment, Hells.”
Thankful, though not saying so, I snatched it from her grasp and walked a few feet away. I shook with anger so profound it took my breath away. I wanted to kick, punch, and scream at Silas, but it would be completely pointless. Nothing would shift the weight from my chest.
The sip of water sat too high and caused indigestion, and the murmured conversation behind me only fueled the raging fire under my skin that I couldn’t gain control over.
As per our timings, the rhythmic chug of a large helicopter grew louder, and the speck out at sea became larger by the second.
“And right on time,” Nevada announced, then turned her pleased expression on me. It slipped from place. “You doin’ okay, hon?”
I nodded. “Peachy. Can’t wait to leave this fuck-awful place.”
The six of us dipped our heads as Shaun and Zeke set the helo down. Once grounded with the rear ramp lowered, Lexa and Nevada hustled the evacuees toward the helo and loaded them. I lifted my rifle and got dead Alec in a fireman’s carry before Mac could grab him, so she collected the rest of our gear and accompanied me onboard. Once inside, she notified Shaun and Zeke we could leave, and as soon as the rear ramp resealed, the helo took flight.
While Lexa and Nevada tended to Bridgett and Silas, Mac assisted me with laying Alec on the casualty stretcher we’d set up at the rear of the helo. When he was wrapped and secured, I checked in with the other patients.
Both showed signs of dehydration and had an array of cuts, scrapes, and bruises, but hey, they still had their life.
“Ladies,” Zeke’s voice came through our headsets. “Shaun and I are nearing our max flying hours for the day, so we’re making a stopover for the night under the protection of the U.S. Embassy component in Guatemala. The patients can seek medical care, then we’ll head stateside tomorrow.”
I felt nothing but numb inside as I radioed back my confirmation. We could be setting down in the middle of the Gulf for all I cared; the aching void in my bones still wouldn’t be eased.
Unable to process the horror we’d left behind, I isolated myself from the team under the guise of maintaining vigilance over Alec’s corpse. Little did they realize that I was beating myself up and regretting every action I’d made since cutting the hostages free.
Chapter Seven
Hallie
“Hells! Christ,Hallie!”Shaun called again.
We’d landed in a neutral airspace where the helo would be guarded overnight, sorted temporary storage of Alec’s body, sought medical attention for Bridgett and Silas, and were finally waiting on a shuttle to take us to a hotel. Shaun calling my name was just another obstacle I needed to avoid.