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When Zeppelin held me back from racing into the chalet after Schön, I wanted to fucking kill him.
“I have to save her!”I screamed at him.
“We need two more minutes,” Macht shouted at us. “Then we can go in.”
At the time, I had no idea Schön wasn’t alone inside the house I feared would blow up any second. Had I, an armored tank couldn’t have stopped me from getting to her.
“You don’t understand. It’s my fault, Zep. Let me go get her,” I begged when he overpowered me.
“As soon as Macht gives the all clear, I’ll let you go. Not a split second before that.”
“I could’ve gotten us all killed just because I fell for the trap. Someone knew I would offer to take Schön to see it wasn’t the chalet that burned. They knew I’d want to protect her and bring half the team along.”
“Forget all that. None of it matters.”
“All clear!” Macht shouted. Zeppelin let go, and I raced inside and up the stairs just as someone I didn’t recognize came out of a room. He had a gun but hadn’t heard me. When he raised his head, I shot first, then fired again immediately after that. Both rounds hit their marks, dead center of each man’s forehead.
From the momentwe walked out of the chalet until we pulled into the compound, it wasn’t enough to just see Schön; I had to touch her. Once we were in the house, everything else would have to wait. I’d carry her up the stairs if I had to, so I could spend a few precious minutes holding her in my arms. No one and nothing else. Just her and me.
“We need a minute,” I said when Schön and I walked through the door and we were met by Verity, who had come back ahead of us.
“Understood,” she said as I led Schön by the hand and up the stairs.
At first, I thought she might protest, but maybe the reason she hadn’t was because she needed the same thing I did. To hold each other. Heart to heart. To know each other’s was still beating.
After closing the bedroom door behind us, I turned and lifted Schön into my arms. She wrapped her legs around my waist and buried her head in my neck. I could feel her tears as much as I could feel my own.
I moved us to the bed and gently rested her on it. Rather than let go, Schön pulled me down with her. We scooted up toward the pillows together and lay facing each other, arms and legs entwined.
I reached up with one hand and wiped her tears with the pad of my thumb. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“Me, either. When I heard footsteps, I was so afraid it was you coming to rescue me and, instead, you were going to…going to…”
“Shh,” I soothed, kissing her softly. “We’re both here. We’re both alive. And as much as I know we have people downstairs waiting for us and I understand the importance of what we have to talk about and what is ahead of us, I never want to let you go.”
“I don’t want to let go, either.” She snuggled into me. “You said Ehren saved our lives?”
“It’s a complicated story, and I don’t know all the details, but she’s the one who alerted Macht about the bomb.”
“I’m sorry I brought it up. I can’t think about everything that happened yet. I just need a few more minutes.”
I needed a lot more than that. A lifetime wouldn’t be long enough, but now wasn’t the time to tell her so. First, we had work to do, a job to finish, a human trafficking ring to take down. And because of Schön’s work, along with many others’, we were close. I could feel it.
Five minutes later, as hard as it was to say it, I told Schön we had to join the others who were waiting for us.
She nodded. “I need to change out of these clothes.”
“Me too.”
We each rolled off the bed but in separate directions. Later, when the debrief was over, I’d ask her if she’d let me be the one to undress her, to bathe her, to care for her before we got into the bed where we’d hold each other until we gave in to the exhaustion of the day and sleep.
“I thoughtyou might both need one of these,” said Zeppelin, greeting us at the bottom of the stairs with a glass of amber-colored liquid in each hand.
“Thanks,” I said, taking one and passing it to Schön. Once I’d grabbed the second, Zeppelin pointed to an empty sofa.
“We saved you both a seat.”
Verity stood after we sat down. “We have a lot to cover this evening. Then ops to plan when we’re finished. I apologize, everyone, but this may be a long night.”
