I work hard to keep my focus on Kaleb for as long as my scope will allow and watch him move his head. He’s alive. I send off one last shot and kill the fucker holding the knife near Kaleb’s face before I’m no longer able to see him.
There’s so much fire in the air and a few hit the chopper, but don’t disable us. I stand quickly and move my rifle to the side of Steele’s head and hold it point blank. “Go the fuck back, right now, or I’ll blow your goddamn head off.”
“I can’t. We have to get Al-Quaren to the States.” I feel a firm grip on my shoulders and a familiar voice in my ear.
“Elliott. We had to move. We were all going down if we didn’t.”
“Harris. I can’t leave him. Make them go back now.” Tears fill my eyes as I try to talk around the giant lump in my throat. I can’t breathe and only lower the rifle when Harris guides it out of my hands. I fall to my knees and cry as I hear Kaleb for a second in my ear. His guttural sounds almost kill me as I hear him hurting. I wish he would say something to me.
“Fire. Talk to me.” I listen for him to respond.
“Ti amo, ghiaccio.” I have no idea what he’s saying.
“I’m coming back for you. I promise. Stay alive. I need you.” I listen for more and only hear Spanish coming through.
“Cierra la boca. Yo te torturo tan lentamente. Te deseo que ya estaban muertos.” I don’t waste time asking Harris to translate. I want Kaleb to hear me as long as he can.
“Please fight for me. Don’t let them break you.” The sound in my ears goes silent, but the sound of my heart fills it.
“Harris, what did he say?”
“He said he loved you in Italian.”
“Oh my god. Please go back. Please, please, please fucking go back for him, Steele.”
“Ice. We will. I just need to deliver him, then we’re coming back.”
“NO. NO. NO. NO. We’re fucking coming back tonight. Drop me, Steele. I can’t leave him.” I don’t recognize my own voice.
“You’re not going in alone. We need to regroup and get our shit together. We don’t operate like that.”
“Fuck how you operate. If you leave a man behind, then I want no fucking part of this team.” I reach for the cable that drops us, in hopes of getting it loose before someone has a chance to stop me, but I fail. Harris is standing too close and pulls me into his arms, holding me tight, and I want to kill him right here for stopping me from jumping.
“Harris, let me go. I swear to God, I’ll kill you.” I pull out my pistol and set it on his temple.
FIRE - Prologue
KALEB
I can hear her in my ear as they pull away. The sound of her voice screaming keeps me fighting until I don’t have a choice. There’s too many of them. I can lie here and take their brutal attacks all fucking day because I know she’s safe. I’ll play their games as long as it takes. I’ll either die this way, or I’ll kill a few of these mother fuckers and find my way out of here and back to her.
I feel the scrape of the gravel across my skin as my body is dragged to god knows where. My eyes are both swollen shut from some assholes steel toed boot to my face. I have no clue where I’m at. I only know there's tiny fucking pebbles digging in to my flesh. I'm not an idiot. I know this is only the beginning of the torture I'll receive.
I feel at least five sets of hands grip my flesh and throw me on the back of a truck like a bag of trash. The landing only intensifies my already bruised ribs, but I welcome the pain. It means I'm still alive.
I focus on the sounds around me, trying to memorize every single fucking sound. There’s nothing but the harsh whispers of the night. My focus shifts to the loud cawing scream coming from above. I can hear the vulture circling as if there is something here to feed off of. I refuse to believe that's my fate and silently will that fucker to choke on the next rotting flesh it preys on.
The rumble of the truck engine starting reminds me of the truck we were moved in earlier, but it's slightly smoother. I imagine an old farm truck with a similar bed as I'm flipped to my face so some dickhead can tie me up tighter. The restraints are harsh and I'm trying my hardest not to fight back. I need the element of surprise on my side and I'm positive having two eyes that will open would be a great help.
I start to focus on the movements of the truck as I'm man-handled. The further away we get, the harder it is to swallow. I know it'll be hard as fuck for my team to find me now. My only hope is to stay alive long enough that my guys can find me. They're great at what they do and they will find me. I'm just not sure how long it'll take them. Their first priority is to get the target back to the States under any conditions and if any of them falter from that I'll personally kick their ass myself.