Page 59 of Raven's Curse
Greer coughed. “I’m standing right here, jackass.”
Nick barely spared her a quick side-eye. “I know. I can see you, but we both know you’ll give me some bullshit answer about soldiering on. Pulling yourself up by your damn bootstraps. Everything but how you’re really doing, so I’m asking the damn medic because he knows that after spending seven years with Delta Force and another ten with the NCS, I’ll know if he’s lying.”
Chase held her close. “She’s riding that razor’s edge between wanting justice and going full-metal jacket. But she’s functioning, which honestly, is about all anyone can ask after everything that’s gone down.”
“And you’ve got her back?”
“The only way this asshole’s getting to her is if I’m dead. My team, too.”
Nick narrowed his eyes, staring at Chase for a good thirty seconds before nodding. “I’m holding you to that, PJ. At least until I can get there.”
Greer inhaled. “You finished your op?”
“No, I’m going rogue.”
“You can’t go rogue.” She cocked her head to the side when he simply stared at her. “Nick. I’ve already got enough ex-military testosterone suffocating me. The last thing I need is the freaking CIA sending a squad here to bring you back. Besides, we need your help, and you can’t break a bunch of security protocols for me from here.”
“It’s about to get incredibly messy here. If I don’t break ranks, now, I won’t get another chance for maybe a week.”
Greer sighed. “You know I love the sentiment, but I’ve already got one hell of a team. So, don’t get arrested.”
Nick glanced at Chase, again, as if measuring how accurate Greer’s claim had been before pushing out a rough breath. “Fine. But if you get yourself killed, we’re gonna have one hell of a conversation.” He rolled his shoulders, visibly pushing down his unrest like Chase had done a thousand times. “Now, about this bastard who’s decided you’re all his personal vengeance puppets… Bodie filled me in on your theory about Dalton’s crew. That maybe they’re not as dead as everyone thought.”
Bodie stepped up. “Nick and the others have already seen this, but it’s definitely looking like that mission is at the heart of this case.”
Bodie spread out a bunch of photos, the images making Chase’s heart skip a few beats. “These are from Eli’s cruiser.”
Words and numbers scratched across the inside of the trunk, along with what looked like a note.
Greer shook her head. “No. We checked the trunk before venturing into the woods. None of this was there.”
“We figured as much. The creep gave us all the numbers, this time, in degrees and minutes. Nick confirmed the coordinates match that compound from the mission you were talking about — involving the Legion. And he said the word sacrifice that the creep scratched across Eli’s dog tags is another word from their motto — Salvation from sacrifice.”
Chase flipped through the various images. “What about his dashcam? It was set to record when we arrived.”
“All it picked up was the two of you heading for the tree line, then you racing back after.”
“So, our guy turned it on, not Eli.” Chase held up one image. “Leaving a note’s new, but it’s hard to read it in the photo. What does it say?”
Bodie glanced at Nick on the tablet, then sighed. “We’re not exactly sure how it applies, but it says I’ll double back.”
The words hit Chase like a hammer, dropping his stomach to his knees before it reared up — nearly clawed free. How many times had he heard those three words reverberate in his head? Woken in a cold sweat, his own voice echoing in dark? And all because of that one night.
That one mission.
Greer grabbed his hand, snapped him out of his thoughts. “Chase?”
He hung his head for a moment, explosions echoing in the background. That wet rattling sound as Dalton tried to breathe. How the men had looked at him, as if they knew Chase had been lying.
He glanced over at his buddies. They knew, even if they hadn’t discussed every detail. — repeated every word. They’d all shared in the trauma. Just like with Sean and Rhett. The dark side of their brotherhood.
Chase raked his fingers through his hair. “That’s for me. It’s all been for me. The IV tubing, the staging. Killing Anna when he could have easily killed me, instead. He wants me to know that I can’t save everyone — hell, anyone — because I didn’t save him. Save them.”
Greer reached for his hand, not giving him the choice to pull away. “You can’t possibly save everyone.”
“No, but I made a choice. I picked those two hostages over my four brothers. I promised them I’d double back — help them get to the medevac chopper. But then I took a couple hits to my vest, those missiles turned everything into white light, and Rhett pulled me out. One of the few times he ever left the damn helicopter.”
Zain shook his head. “You’re neglecting to mention the part where you’d already saved them. Carried Rios out from inside that building. That you pulled Dalton and Carver behind cover after they’d been hit.” He leaned in. “You didn’t abandon them. You did your job. Civilians, first. They knew that.”
