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I’ve been acting like a crazy person ever since I got out of the infirmary but I have to. That time spent passed out was wasted. Veronica needs me and I’m going to get to her no matter what. No one will hold me back. Not even this jumped up desk jockey who won’t tell me anything for some crazy reason. He’s acting like I’m unstable, as if he can’t see that he’s the one making me feel that way. He’s driving me insane.
“I don’t know if I’m authorized to do that…” His words cause the intense anger to bubble painfully.
“Fuck what you’re authorized to do. This isn’t a normal situation here. This is the woman that I love and I need to rescue her.” I need to plead to the heart he must have I his chest. “Wouldn’t you do anything for your family? Wouldn’t you want to rescue the person you’re in love with if you could? Just help me, please.”
He uses his index finger to push his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and he blinks a few times in shock. “I would be tempted to, yes, but we all have to do what’s commanded of us, don’t we? We can’t all act on our own whims or this wouldn’t be an army. This would just be a bunch of people acting selfishly.”
I can’t help it. I swing my fist back ready to smack him right in his stupid face. How dare he suggest I’m acting selfishly, who the fuck does he think he is? I’m doing this for someone else. That’s the whole point…
“Miller.” My superior grabs my fist and holds it in the air. “To my office, please. We need to talk.”
I should be worried because I’m about to get a bollocking, but I can’t see it that way. My emotions for Veronica are stronger than anything I feel for work. It’s wild to think I once assumed that I needed an incredible job just to be good enough for her. We shouldn’t be defined by our careers. We should just be us. We sure as fuck wouldn’t be in this position if we had been. We’d be much closer to that dream we once had for a marriage, a nice house, and children running around our feet. Now that dream might be taken from us forever.
“Now.” Officer Hankly takes his seat and indicates for me to do the same. It pains me to take the command, but I do. “I understand you must be worried about the journalist who’s been captured. She’s your girlfriend, am I right in assuming that?” I nod dumbly. If he tells me now that I need to just forget about her then I will scream. “Well, the group that she’s been captured by, our people have a strong interest in. We’ve been tracking their movements as much as we can for a very long time, but this is the first time we’ve had a lead on them…”
My heart lifts. This all sounds very positive, like we might know where they are. “You know their location?”
“Yes, and I don’t want you to worry about it because I have a team in place to sort it out.”
I don’t feel comfortable with that. I don’t like the idea of Veronica’s life being in someone else’s hands. They might not care for her like I would. She might accidentally be killed in cross fire. That won’t happen under my command. It needs to be me who gets her, that’s just the way this has the has to be.
“I want to go,” I demand forcefully. “I need to be there for her. I want to rescue her.”
“Now, Miller, you know as well as I do this isn’t a place to be a hero,” Hankly shoots back just as firmly. “This isn’t a time for you to start acting crazy and throwing your weight around. This is a very delicate mission.”
I try to calm myself down because I know I need to seem very much in control if I have a hope in hell of him listening to me, Hysteria and a flaring temper isn’t exactly going to help me keep the respect that I need.
“With all due respect, Sir, I really do believe that I need to be involved with this. I have proven to you many a time that I can be trusted to take care of complex missions just like this one…”
“Yes, when you aren’t connected to it.” He shakes his head determinedly at me. “This is too much. You are too close to this one, you’ll lose your head while you’re out there and we can’t have that. I can’t have you and other good men killed. You need to keep away from this one. I know it’s hard for you…”
“Not hard, impossible!” I toss my hands in the air in frustration. “I can’t do it. You have to let me go, and we also need to stop wasting time. I need to be in Afghanistan now. Time is running out.”
“That’s exactly why it’s pointless for you to go. Don’t you see that? You’ll hold it up.”
“Not if you send me on an emergency transfer.” I know this is asking too much, I’ve already had more than enough from the military but I just need this one last thing. “I need to be there, you don’t understand. I’ve worked hard for you, I’ve always done what you’ve asked, I’ve led men. And now I need this.” I lean back in my chair while I try to gauge his reaction. It’s challenging. He doesn’t seem to be giving anything away. “I intend to go anyway. Whatever decision you make here, I need to be there. Please don’t make me be the bad guy.”
He wavers, but I don’t know how far he’ll tip over the edge. I hope and pray that it’ll eventually be in the way that I want it to go. I don’t intend to leave this office until I get the answer I want anyway and I can be pretty persuasive when I need to be. If a time has ever called for me to get my own way, this is it!
***
I glance around at the guys coming with me, feeling nothing but gratitude for them. Honestly, I love these men so much for agreeing to fly out on such a short term, dangerous mission, just for me. Especially Timmy. I assumed he was like me, never wanting to return to Afghanistan after what happened to his friend, but he’s come for me.
If I hadn’t managed to get anyone to agree, Hankly never would
have signed off on something that he was unsure about anyway, so I’m extra grateful. Now, I just hope that it all goes well. I’m pretty sure it will. Our determination and fresh eyes, combined with the guys already over there who know about this segment of scum bags should be a dream team. My main hope is that Veronica is kept alive for long enough so this works. There hasn’t been any news on her ever since that first video, but I have to keep hope. I need to believe she’s alive.
I fully intend to kill every fucker that’s even breathed near her as well. If any of them have even dared to touch her then I’ll make it slow and painful. The one who threatens her on the video… well my plans for him are going to hurt… a lot. Revenge won’t be sweet, none of this should have happened, but it’ll make me feel better.
“We ready?” Timmy asks. I nod and he indicates for the small jet to take off. “Are you ready?”
He knows as well as I do that it’s a completely different question. I nod again, even more certain. This might not be what I ever expected to happen, but this is what all the training was for. I’ve been working my body for years, making it the best that it can be, and it’s time to put that to good use for Veronica.
“Yeah, I think so.” I force out a smile. “Just about. I have to be, don’t I. She needs me to be ready.”
Timmy nods knowingly. “We’ll do what we can to get her back. Don’t you worry about that.”
You hold on tight, baby, I think silently, hoping that my message gets through to her. I’m coming. We all are. We’re coming to rescue you from this hell before those assholes do anything to harm you.
