I made the decision seconds before she walked into the room that if she told me she was happy, I’d step aside. I refuse to be the cause of any more heartache in her life. My death and now subsequent return has and will continue to cause her more than enough grief. Only having Claire in my life will be enough to tide me over until death comes for me … again.
“Penny called—” is all I hear before I’m moving past him. I step out into the open-air hallway to find Cara at the end of it speaking frantically on her phone. Peering inside the other room, I find an arsenal of weapons being lined up on the bed by Rask. He looks up and winks at me, as if this is his favorite thing to do. In hindsight, our guns are the only things that haven’t let us down. They do their job when we need them to and I have a feeling we’ll be using them tonight as we chase down this bitch who seems to have a hand in destroying our lives. What I still don’t understand is why? What on earth could she possibly gain by doing the things she’s done? Or has taken part in? I think that is what we all want to know. For me, it’s the fact she brought a fucking pervert into my house after we let her into our lives. How much did River know? I have so many questions that will likely go unanswered. The idea of torturing Frannie to give us the answers we so desperately want weighs heavily on my mind. Cara would have to turn a blind eye in order for that to happen. And then there’s Lawson. Even though I know Penny is alive, I still want to talk to him. I need to know why he did this and why our lives were targeted. He could’ve chosen anyone, but he chose the team I’m a part of and I have to know why.
“Get ready,” Nate says, throwing a bag at me. I catch it haphazardly as it thumps against my chest. A quick pull of the zipper and its contents are displayed: brain bucket, night vision goggles, ammo, and camo paint.
It’s easy to let my mind wander, to let my adrenaline kick in and consider this another mission, but I know it’s not. I can tell myself that I’m going out to do my job, but my heart is telling me otherwise. My wife and daughter are in danger and I’m going to save them. And in the event that I can’t, my team will. They won’t let me down, not after everything we’ve been through.
“Can someone tell me what’s going on?” I ask, setting the duffle bag down on the bed next to Rask’s gun display. He stands tall, as if he’s about to tell me, but it’s Cara’s voice behind me which has me turning around.
“We think Frannie is in town.”
“What? Why?” I try to keep my voice level and not show any signs of worry, but that doesn’t exactly happen.
“Ten minutes ago I received a call from Penny. She was frantic and not making much sense. When I finally got her to calm down and tell me what’s going on, she said she was telling her husband about her life and that her … your daughter asked if her name was Claire. Penny went on to say that a woman approached Claire this evening calling her by her given name and commenting that she’s grown up. Penny called me immediately,” Cara says, as if this is an everyday occurrence for her. I want to shake her for her nonchalance, but I know she’s doing her job even if I think she’s lacking eagerness or excitement in her voice. We’re both trained in different ways on how to handle situations. Thing is, no one ever trains you on how to handle your life being ripped apart or for your family to be in hiding. If this were left to me, I’d go in there with guns blazing and the ‘shoot first ask questions later’ mentality.
“So now what? What’s our direction?” Although those are the words sitting on the tip of my tongue, it’s Rask who’s speaking. Nate and Evan stand in the doorway, making me wonder where Ryley is. Surely Evan isn’t going to let her out of his sight, not with Frannie nearby.
“Right now, I’m going to get in the car with Ryley. We’re going to drive out of town to enjoy a nice dinner and discuss wedding plans.”
“And us?” Evan asks.
Cara looks at him over his shoulder. I see the faint movement of her cheek and wonder if she’s smiling at him.
“You’re SEALs, I’m sure you can figure it out.”
“What about your job?” Nate asks, as he reaches for her hand.
Cara shakes her head. “What about it? As far as I’m concerned you’re moving into position to protect McCoy’s wife and child. I don’t have a solid lead telling me that Frannie is here.” She winks at Nate before moving toward the door.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, boys.” It’s with those final words that she walks out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Silence falls upon the room as the four of us look at each other. I’ve never been to battle with Nate, but have a feeling he’s no different than Evan. Deep down I know I can trust him.
“Who wants to lead?” I ask because it’s not going to be me. Keeping a level head is going to keep Penny and Claire safe. If I see them in danger, I won’t act rationally.
“I’ll do it.”
We all turn and look at Rask, wondering why he’d volunteer for something when he’s never led before. When we went on our mission, he was just a young kid barely out of BUD/s. I’m not even sure if he had been on a mission before that day. River was our leader then and I don’t miss the irony in the fact that we’re now hunting this wife.