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I decided to leave, I made my way closer to the town center, where I knew the building was located. I parked the vehicle a block away and traveled the rest of the way by foot. Keeping my fingers crossed that he was where I thought he’d be. I remembered this building from a previous mission—Rebel's extraction.
I needed to peek through the windows; my night goggles provided the necessary vision. He wasn't in any of the visible rooms. There was one with closed curtains; that had to be where the father was held. I tried to open the window discreetly but froze as it made a noise. The curtain moved, and I hastily retreated. A tap on the window startled me, and when I looked up, I grinned. I wanted to laugh my ass off.
Gideon Oswald is also known as Raider, so it was his wife they murdered. No wonder he was able to kill four men in a fight. He nodded when he saw me; I could see the sorrow in his eyes. I raised the window to see he was chained up pretty tight to the wall.
I climbed inside, and that’s when I noticed his bare, bleeding feet. This might me harder than I anticipated. I looked at his wrists, which were chained together; they were also bleeding. That was probably from him pulling on his restraints.
What choices did I have? I noticed the chains on his feet were somewhat loose. I motioned for him to sit down and went to work on removing a link in the chain, first one foot and then the other. Thirty minutes later, his feet were free. Then I looked at his hands; how was I going to get these off without breaking his wrist?
“Just break them.” Raider whispered. “They are going to put me in front of a firing squad. Break them!”
I hesitated, reluctant, to resort to such drastic measures, but I had no choice. I glanced around and noticed a set of keys. I tried each one, and the last key fit snugly. I wiggled it until the lock popped open.
Now for the other one, it proved more challenging, the key wouldn’t fit, and Raider took my knife from my belt. I thought he was going to cut his damn hand off, but he put it in between the links and turned it.
I knew it had to hurt like hell, as soon as it came loose I pulled them off and we were at the window and out in no time. I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder so they couldn’t follow a blood trail, and then I ran.
As we approached the vehicle, I noticed some men inspecting it. I didn’t think they were the Taliban, but I couldn’t be sure. So I sat Raider down and motioned for him to stay, then I walked to the car and spoke their language.
“What the fuck are you doing near my car,” I demanded. They laughed. I charged them swiftly; one went down, and then one pulled a knife I smiled. As my foot connected with his throat. He went down and another pulled a gun out I blinked when a knife landed in his neck.
“That was a little close Raider.”
“I knew where it was going to land. Damn, I haven’t had that much fun in a while. Where are my boys?”
They’re with Ghost. We’re going to meet the plane tomorrow night. We’ll stay in the underground cave so I can look at your feet. Once I bandage them we’ll leave for the rendezvous with the plane.”
We fell into silence for a moment, both aware that Raider was thinking about his late wife, Cheryl.
“I'm sorry about Cheryl,” I finally said.
“Thanks, me too. We came over to take her parent’s home with us, and then we got stuck here. Her parents were both killed before we even arrived. Cheryl was furious, you remember how fiery she could be. The Taliban had taken over her parent's home.”
“The boys were in the vehicle and Cheryl demanded to know where her parents were. The Taliban callously confessed to killing her parents. That’s when they noticed I was American. I knew what would happen before it happened; Cheryl did too. I saw the horror dawn in her eyes.”
“They shot her multiple times. I fought back, I saw the neighbor sneak the boys into his house. I killed four of them before they got me; I didn’t care at that point; the woman I loved was gone she was my life. I knew that mouth of hers would cause trouble one day. It wasn’t until I heard them talking about the firing squad that I realized I had to stay alive for my boys.”
The plane was delayed, it didn’t show up for three nights. We were starving for food and water. Ghost wasn’t there. “What happened with Ghost?” I asked Rebel once we got some water and food.
“Hello, Raider, I’m sorry about Cheryl. Your Dad is in the hospital, and Bailey wouldn’t let anyone else look after the boys, so Ghost and Steel is with her and the boys. We didn’t know who you were until the hospital called to tell us about your Dad. Our immediate plan is to head straight to the hospital."
“How’s my Dad doing?” Raider asked.
“I’m not sure. He had a heart attack I do know he’s better than he was.”
“Why did Ghost have to stay with Bailey?” I inquired before they started back with their conversation.
“Because Bailey kept the boys because their grandpa couldn’t keep them.”
“Who’s Bailey?”
“Bailey is my wife. We will be having a baby in a couple of months.”
“You have to be kidding. Aren’t you the I will never fall in love and never get married, and you found someone who could love you. Congratulations Viper.”
23
Bailey
