One by one, we take seats on the chopper. The crew chief gives the all-clear to the pilot, and we take off. The running lights are low in the chopper, and I stare at my worn boots on my feet. My ankles are crossed out in front of me as I sit slumped in my seat. To anyone looking, I’m relaxed, I’m ready, but really, I’m nothing but chaos inside.
We fly out toward the barrier, away from the airbase. According to Surfer’s intel, Mack and her team found a building while they were flying patrol, but when they reported it to their command, it was, according to Hoots and Cinco, determined to be nothing. Mack’s guys were not impressed to find out that their concerns were dismissed after she went missing. They repeatedly tried to bring up their concerns with the squadron commander but he, for whatever reason, wasn’t listening.
“Approaching the drop zone,” Surfer calls out. He’s Det Commander for this motley crew.
We all stand up. The running lights shut off, and I pull my night vision down from on top of my head. I pull gloves from my pants pockets and slide my hands into them. He signals for us to line up, and one by one, we lean out the door, grab the rope, and jump. One after another, we hit the ground and take position with rifles ready. Hot roping used to be a fun pastime, but now it’s just a necessary step to get my girl back.
I’m not the front man, and honestly, that’s probably smart. They jokingly call me Tarzan, but I could easily forget all my training and run in like Braveheart, screaming for MacKenzie.
We fan out with precision like figure skaters at the Olympics. Dreamboat and Surfer breach the door and take out a guard in the process. In teams, we clear rooms, neutralizing the captors as we go.
I’m beginning to lose hope.
She’s supposed to be here, but she’s not.
My heart stutters and my vision dims, and then I think,I’m not going to make it out of here.I don’t know how to give up on the idea that she’s here and coming home with us. My legs threaten to give out when I hear Surfer whistle, and everything changes. My energy is renewed, and it’s like I’ve been given a second chance at life, because that one whistle means he’s found her.
She’s here, and she’s alive.
We make our way through the back of the house and find a concrete cell sealed up with a locked metal door. There’s a small window on the door, but no one is letting me look through it. They just work quietly to clear the door, rolling the charge strips down the side. Sean and Quinn stand as lookouts, making sure no one else hiding in the building can get the drop on us.
When the door releases, they pack up their equipment and pull open the steel door. My heart about gives out when I see her. MacKenzie—my strong, beautiful MacKenzie—is lying unconscious on the cold concrete in dirt and her own filth. Her fair skin is mottled with gruesome streaks, from purple to green. Someone beat the shit out of her, and the thought makes me want to rage, but I have to lock it down to get her out of here.
Surfer takes Sean’s place as guard so Sean can come into the cell with me and assess what needs to be done in order to transport her.
I crouch beside her and delicately trace my fingertips over her brow. Her beautiful green eyes flutter open, and she looks at me. There’s a haze in her eyes like she’s not really here in the moment.
“Pretty dream,” she mumbles.
“It’s all going to be okay, baby,” I tell her softly. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“It was all just a dream,” she mumbles as Sean looks her over and nods. It’s safe to move her. “It’s not a dream, it’s a nightmare.”
“I know, honey. You’re safe now,” he says to her. Sean has a deep gruff voice but with Mack he’s gentle and quiet.
“I’ll never be safe,” she whispers. “I’m going to die here.”
I lift her into my arms like a bride, like the precious cargo she is, and she cries out in pain. I try to readjust her, but she gasps and her eyes slide shut. As terrifying as it is that she’s no longer conscious, it’s also not a bad thing, because now we can move quickly through this building and back to the chopper.
Sean, just as he promised when we walked into the meeting the other day in the office, has my back. He runs with me and the rest of the team to our transport. He and the others take point and are ready to protect me and my girl, and I will forever be thankful for this brotherhood.
We jump up into the SH-60, and I hold her in my arms as we take off. When we land back at the airbase, we rush her into medical where they look her over, but Sean and I refuse to leave her side. Hooter and Cinco make their way inside and look at her lying there in the hospital bed. Each one places a kiss to her cheek before nodding to me and then leaving.
Their squadron is being pulled from this mission, their deployment scrubbed after this incident. There will be an investigation once they’re stateside. Allan Woodruff is dead. He ate a bullet in the hangar when he was notified that authorities located the dead bodies of his wife and daughter. He left a messily scrawled note apologizing to Mack.
Once MacKenzie is stable, we load up on a C-130 heading back to the U.S. We keep her comfortable on a cot in the back. But the war isn’t over.
Two hours into the flight, Mack wakes up screaming. I pull her into my arms and try to comfort her, but she can’t be consoled. There’s a wildness in her that I’ve never seen before. The sheer terror in her gaze is enough to cut me to the core.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” I tell her over and over again, but it’s no use. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
I look to Sean when he moves closer. I don’t know what to do as she screams and thrashes, much like I did two days ago in the office before I knew she was still alive.
“It’s going to be okay,” he whispers to her. “I promise, honey, it’s going to be okay.”
And then he injects her with a sedative. She mellows immediately, and it’s a stark contrast to the palpable fear that permeated the flight.
“I’m sorry,” he says to me. “I had to.”
