Sierra Oscura, Mexico
Tuesday–2000 hours
Call Sign: Charlie One
The jungle soundseased Liam’s worry. If the animals and insects were comfortable enough to make noise, either Raven’s abductors hadn’t followed them, or they’d given up. For now, he wouldn’t disillusion himself by thinking the threat had vanished. He glanced at Raven. The woman exceeded his vision of her. But the jitteriness and anxiety surprised him. He’d never heard anything but total control during missions.
Liam strolled the few yards to his teammates. The absence of Rafe told him the man hadn’t returned from the first watch. He lowered his voice. “Xander, any chance Raven experienced more than the visible injuries?”
The man jerked his gaze to his. “I confess, I didn’t ask. But her reaction to me probing her ribs and such…she tensed, but no, I don’t think so.”
“Well, something happened. She reminds me of a wounded animal. On edge and jumpy.”
“You know, boss, she reminds me a bit of my uncle.” Dax joined them and crossed his arms.
“How?” Liam positioned himself with a view of Raven in case she needed him.
“Uncle Randy rarely left his house. He even had groceries delivered. If he had to go to the doctor or something like that, he had to take anxiety meds.”
The truth hit Liam like a two-by-four to the head. “Agoraphobia.”
Dax nodded. “It takes on different forms and levels, but the anxiety is a real thing.”
Xander scratched his jaw. “You know, it makes sense and tracks with her reactions. But have you noticed it’s getting worse?”
Boone waltzed over like he was on a vacation. “Y’all talking about Raven?” His southern drawl on full display.
“Yup. I was telling them about my Uncle Randy’s agoraphobia.” Dax tossed a twig he’d been twirling.
Boone bobbed his head up and down. “I think it’s more than that. I’ve been watching her reactions. That woman has noctiphobia.”
“Say what?” Liam knew what agoraphobia was, but what had Boone said? “Noc-something-phobia? What’s that?”
“Noctiphobia. Fear of the night. It’s akin to nyctophobia. Official terms? No. They come from non-clinical lists. You know, the ones that tell every phobia out there. Like nomophobia. The fear of being without your cell phone. Or triskaidekaphobia. The fear of the number thirteen.” Boone clarified. “Mind you, none of those are official diagnoses. Just descriptive labels.”
Xander flicked his hand toward the sky. “Well, it is getting dark, so that makes sense.”
“No. Not fear of the dark. The fear of night. It’s centered around the time of day, but darkness does play a role. People who suffer from it can walk through a dark house, but put them outside at night or leave blinds open, and they have a panicattack.” Boone’s eyes drifted upward. “The time of night has already triggered her. My guess is that it’ll only get worse from here.”
“How do you know all this?” Liam stared at Charlie Four. The man was a genius, but still.
Boone shrugged. “I helped my sister with her licensure exam to become a psychologist. I found phobias and anxiety disorders interesting and read up on them. Kinda fell down a rabbit hole on the subject when I did an internet search. There’s a long list of all kinds of fears. Obviously, it didn’t help my sister since none of them are clinical diagnoses, but fun all the same.”
Liam shook his head. “How did I not know this about the two of you?” He pointed to Dax. “You, I understand. Your uncle wouldn’t be in a normal conversation. But him.” He gestured to Boone. “Any other knowledge in that brain of yours we don’t know about?”
Boone smirked. “Well, if you ever have the need to quote the entire originalStar Warstrilogy, I’m your man.”
“Dork.” Liam sighed and studied Raven. “Agoraphobia and noctiphobia? That’s quite the combination.
“I’m no psychologist, but I’d guess that whatever trauma caused one triggered the other anxiety.”
“So, what can we do to help her?” Xander asked.
“Make her feel safe,” Dax said.
“Well, duh.” Liam could face a horde of bad guys, but had no clue how to help Raven.
Dax scratched his chin. “Being out in the open is making her anxiety worse. And if Boone is right?—”
