Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71348 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
I become vaguely aware of Jerico, Kynan, and the CIA guy talking as they stand around Kynan’s desk, looking at some maps that had been rolled out.
I catch words like “eventuality,” “extraction point,” and “any force necessary”.
Kynan’s voice lowers, but I can still hear them talking about the possibility of body retrieval.
My eyes focus in on the photo of Bodie and me. I stare at it so hard my eyes burn and his face starts to blur around the edges.
Pain pierces me right in the center of my chest, so exquisite that my breath is knocked out of me and bile rises in my throat. I lurch up from the chair, and all of their heads snap my way.
“Rachel?” Jerico asks with concern in his voice.
“Need to use the restroom,” I rasp, it actually hurting to get the words out. I turn away from them and hurry from the room, grasping my phone so hard in my hand that my bones ache.
I scurry into the women’s restroom and press my back against the door when it closes. My breaths are coming out in sharp pants, and the pain in my chest intensifies to the point I worry I might be having a heart attack.
But I know that’s not true.
I’m feeling the searing pain of grief, believing I’ve already lost Bodie before I could even tell him that I was so glad I found him. It hurts worse than anything I could have ever imagined. A million times more intense than when I miscarried all those years ago. The pain of a thousand bullets ripping through me.
“Oh, God,” I groan as I slide down the door until my ass hits the floor. I bring my knees up and press my forehead to them, acutely aware that I’m in so much pain I can’t even cry.
A racking, dry sob bursts out of me. An image of me walking our son to Bodie’s grave flits through my mind. How can I tell him all about his daddy when I didn’t get enough time with him myself to know all there was to know? I’ve only got a few months of memories to share, and now a lifetime to regret everything.
Tears finally sting at my eyes, hot and burning. Another stab of pain in my chest… a gurgling sob. I wrap my arms around my stomach—around our baby—and I just let myself grieve.
I open up and take the pain.
Breathe through it the way I might when I go into labor.
I’m startled when the bathroom door nudges at my back, but it immediately stops when it meets resistance.
“Rachel?” It’s Kynan on the other side.
I scramble to my feet, wiping my face with my hands to dry the tears. After I open the door, I look at him expectantly.
“Just got an update. They’ve been located in a small temporary camp. It’s not well defended.”
“Are they okay?” I ask as I walk out of the bathroom.
“They haven’t made visual contact. It’s some abandoned buildings with only four men who patrol around the area. We’re guessing that’s where they’re holding Cage and Bodie.”
“Or where they’re holding their clothing, which have the trackers sewn into the lining?” I point out fearfully.
“Infrared confirms there are two people inside the building the signal is coming from,” he returns in a low voice. “It’s them.”
“Okay,” I say as I breathe out, feeling the pain in my chest lessen minutely. Infrared means there’s body heat, which means they’re alive.
“We’ll know soon,” Kynan says. He turns back toward his office. “It’s only about 11:30 PM there now. The SEALs are going to hit just before dawn.”
Just a handful of hours that I have left to hope Bodie is alive and safe in that building, and this rescue goes off without any bloodshed on our part. In a handful of hours, I’ll know if that torturous grief I’d been experiencing just moments ago in the bathroom was just a preview of what’s to come if Bodie doesn’t make it out of there.
CHAPTER 23
Bodie
My eyes flutter open, and I can’t help the groan of pain that slices through the center of my brain as the light filters in. I snap them shut again, the blessed dark providing some relief.
“Bodie?” a voice calls. It sounds hollow, like it’s at the end of a long tunnel. For a moment, I think maybe it’s God calling me to join him in the light or something, but fuck that… I’m not ready.
Plus, that light hurts like hell.
“I think he’s waking up,” the voice says.
Another one says, “I’ll get Kynan.”
Kynan?
Kynan’s here?
I struggle out of the black, open my eyes to barely slits so it turns gray. Two figures are hovering over me.
Pain throbs in my head, causing me to groan. It feels heavy, and I can’t lift it. I try to lift my hand to rub against the ache, but it won’t move.