Is it wrong of me to want to go back there and try to save him now? I refuse to believe it is. I’ve let a man in. I’ve fallen in love and I can’t give up on him this easily, no matter what it costs me.
“What if it's too late? What if he's dead? What if he's being tortured while we sit here and talk about what we can and can’t do? Bullet, I'm a doer. I don't talk about shit, I do it. If you think I'm going back to the States so we can get around some goddamn table and map shit out, you're the fucking crazy one. Get on your shit here and figure this out. Find us a fucking hole to hide in and work from here. Because if you think I'll let you fly me thousands of miles away before I kill your ass, you’d better think again. I'm not leaving him. He'd never leave me.” I point my finger at him. My eyes never once ceasing the deadly, truthful glare I give him. He stands fully once we hit solid ground, taking in my words. Harris stays lowered in front of me, and I look to him for what, I have no idea. For strength? For approval? For fucking guidance? I have no clue.
“I knew your ass had to be stubborn to land Fire.” Jackson leans forward to get my attention.
“You nailed that shit on the head.” Harris turns to add his input, and I ignore them all as I work to move from this confined space. I’m torn and deflated, but I'm so close to begging them all to go back with me.
“Alright, let's move.” Steele turns his head around from the cockpit and yells at the team. I snap my head in the direction of Ace and Vice yanking Al-Quaren up by his restraints and pushing him to the doors. His slow energy pisses them off, and they start to walk him faster once their feet are on the ground. I’d like to shove my gun in his face and demand for him to talk, but I know damn well I can’t. My hands are tied in every possible way.
Kase starts talking to the old man who's always helping while Harris never leaves my side.
“Elliott. What's the plan?”
“To find Kaleb,” I say and continue to walk to god knows where.
“How do you plan to go about this?” He stops our progress by grasping a hold of my arm once we’re barely inside the hangar. Harris spins me toward him, and I watch out of the corner of my eye as another pilot takes off in the helicopter, and the loud sound of the blades starts to move out of earshot as I think of my answer.
“Harris, I don't fucking know,” I scream, trying to jerk myself free.
“We need these guys. Please tell me you see that.” His eyes plead for a reality check from me. His grip is firm and yet somehow reassuring.
“I know.” My thoughts are interrupted before I can continue. The airplane begins to move just as I see Kase and Jackson running toward us. The plane slowly rolls out of the hangar and into the night air. They stayed.
“Thank you,” I whisper once they reach us. My hands haven’t stopped shaking. Harris’ hold on me is long gone, and Jackson nods while Kase ignores me. My temper drops, and now I can actually say my mind is aware of the actuality we are going to find him, so I listen.
“Alright, we need to get the fuck out of here. Ricardo here is going to move us southeast a ways. He has a small house we can hide in until we get our shit together.” Kase won’t look at me. You know what? I don’t care. He damn well knows I’m right or he would have never stayed behind with us. And finally, I have a name to the man who we already owe so much to.
I follow them into an old, nasty van while Ricardo cranks the engine. “Thank you,” I say sincerely. God, I could kiss him. He has guts. I’ll give him that.
“My pleasure.” He nods before he puts the vehicle in drive, and we ride for what feels like forever on the roughest roads I've ever seen. Potholes have my ass hurting with every jar of this piece of shit van. My grip is tight on the torn leather seat, and I’m barely able to contain my own strength as my knees knock together with all the bouncing. The cool material rips from my stronghold, and I feel exhaustion wash over me from everything that’s happened the past few hours. Someone buy this man a decent car, for god’s sake.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this place is in a very isolated area. I had no idea Mexico had such an area full of trees. It’s a damn forest out here, all secluded and dark. I’d be scared as hell if I was out here by myself.
The harsh sounds of the night do nothing to calm me as we move rapidly from the van into the tiny house. Ricardo speaks quietly to Kase at the door after he lets us in, his English broken but understandable. He only gets a few sentences out before he turns right back around and leaves us to the empty house.