Page 24 of Rescuing Sadie

“Yeah. Please tell me you are who I think you are.”

“Fuck me. Goddamn. I can’t fucking believe this!”

Sadie’s eyes widened at the amount of swear words coming from whoever Chase was talking to. He sounded almost as shaken up as Chase looked.

Finally, when he’d apparently run out of dirty words, he simply said, “I thought you were dead, man.”

Chase huffed out a breath and closed his eyes. “I thought you were dead. Is there anyone else?”

Fish cleared his throat. “No. I’m the only one. Ghost and his team came across the convoy and saved my life. Lost my arm, but if Truck hadn’t clamped my artery for the forty minutes it took to get to a medic station, I would’ve lost my life too. Shit, Sir…if I had known…I… They would’ve gotten you out too. I thought you were dead.”

The emotion on Chase’s face was clear for everyone in the room to see. No one said a word; even little Annie was quiet as they all watched whatever was happening play out in front of them.

“They did the right thing. I passed out and when I woke up, you were gone. Thought the locals had gotten ahold of you,” Chase told Fish. “Jesus, Munroe. I just can’t… I can’t believe you’re alive.”

A tear fell down Sadie’s cheek, but she didn’t wipe it away. The mixture of joy and sorrow on Chase’s face was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. She knew Fish must be one of the soldiers from the group who were going to rescue the hostage. She remembered Chase’s anguish when he’d talked about how all the men had died in the explosion, and how he hadn’t been able to find any information on them.

“Where are you?” Chase asked.

“Idaho.”

“Idaho? What the hell are you doing all the way out there?”

“Long story, but basically, I needed to get away from everything. Can’t be around large groups of people anymore. Loud sounds bother me. It suits me out here. Best decision I ever made. I met my wife after I moved.”

Chase’s eyes closed and his head bowed. He struggled with emotion before opening his eyes and staring over at Ghost and Fletch. “Fucking pleased, Munroe. You have no idea.”

Belatedly, Fletch put his hands over Annie’s ears as if he could block out the word she just heard.

“Yeah, Sir, I do,” was Fish’s response.

“I’d like to come visit sometime…if that’s all right,” Chase said hesitantly.

“Yes. Absolutely, yes. You can meet Bryn, my wife. She’s hysterical and super smart. I mean, really smart. But don’t get any ideas… I know you work in counterterrorism. I won’t let her get into that shit. You’ll understand why when you meet her. She gets too into it and doesn’t know when to let stuff go.”

“I can’t wait to meet her. I’m gonna give you back to Ghost now.”

“Okay. Sir?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” Fish told him.

“Right back at’cha,” Chase replied. Then he held the phone out to Ghost. The other man took it, and he and Fish had a short conversation before he hung up.

“You were there that day?” Ghost asked in a low tone.

Chase nodded. “I’d been assigned to the team on a special mission. It was all hush-hush. A part of counterterrorism intel gathering. We were supposed to go in and rescue that female truck driver who’d been taken hostage.”

Fletch spoke next. “Jeez, man… We checked everyone. How did we miss you?”

Chase shrugged. “When I came to the first time, I realized that the truck seat had landed on top of me. I had to literally dig my way out later. I think with my brown hair and the way I was covered in dirt…I just blended into the landscape. I’m not surprised you missed me.”

Ghost shook his head. “I can’t believe I left my future brother-in-law there to die. No. Not acceptable, Sir. We fucked up. You could’ve been captured by the same people who took the truck driver.”

“But I wasn’t. Quit beating yourself up.” Chase’s gaze met first Fletch’s then Ghost’s. “That’s an order,” he said. Then his voice lowered. “Munroe is alive. It’s a miracle. I thought I was the only one.”

Rayne asked, “How in the world did you not know about Fish? I mean, he was around when that shit happened with Kassie. He was even at Emily’s wedding. I know you didn’t go, but still. He was here. And haven’t I talked about him around you? It’s not like you’re living in a bubble.”