Chapter Eleven – Monica

“Are we safe here?” Monica asked as Liam entered the room behind her.

Trent nodded. “For now.” He put the gun back in the holster at his hip. “They gave me this. It doesn’t feel right though. Guns don’t belong here.”

“These men don’t belong here, either,” Monica reminded him. “But sometimes you have to deal with crap that doesn’t belong.”

“I’ve missed you.” Trent stood up and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close.

“We’re here to help.” Monica hugged him back. His body trembled in her arms, he was a man on the verge of a breakdown. After all he had seen, all he had done in the service of his country, it was his family that would break him.

Family is weakness. Isn’t that what her father once told her?

He also taught us family is strength, her bear reminded her.

He was right. They were the people who gave you strength to tackle whatever life threw your way, but they could also cut you down and wound you with words.

“Come on, I don’t know how much time we have.” Behind Trent, Wyatt had shifted back to his human form, a look bordering on jealousy in his eyes. “We need to know exactly what is going on here.”

“What’s going on?” Trent asked bitterly. “What’s going on is some piece of lowlife scum kidnapped my wife and the only way I’m going to get her back is if I free a terrorist who will likely go out and murder other women and children.”

“Not if we can help it,” Liam said, coming to join them now that their hellos were over.

“Who are you?” Trent asked suspiciously.

“He’s a good guy, he helped us track you.” Wyatt was evasive with the details, not even giving Liam’s full name. Monica glanced at Wyatt quickly. Did he fear Trent had been compromised? No, but he might be in the near future. The less Trent knew, the better.

Monica closed her mind to that train of thought. There was no use worrying what might be, it only messed with your head and influenced decisions. Decisions that were tough, even for the strongest of soldiers.

“Trent, what can you tell us about the people who are holding Yolanda?” Wyatt steered the conversation back to where it needed to be.

“Nothing. They came to the house three days ago while I was out. They must have been watching because I’d only gone to the local store for milk.” He raked a hand through his hair, which was no longer cut in a military style. “I got a phone call telling me they had her as I walked home. They told me they would be in touch.”

“Where was Jack at that time?” Wyatt asked.

“On a play date at the local park. When I got home and found Yolanda gone, I ran there to check that he was okay. He was playing on the swings...” A sob escaped him. “The relief of finding him there.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “I picked him up and took him home, grabbed his backpack and drove to Monica’s place.”

Monica nodded. This was the same story Trent had told her and she had no reason to believe it wasn’t the truth. “Trent told me to find Wyatt and gave me exact instructions how to find him.”

“I also told you not to try to find me.” The edge in Trent’s voice cut her.

“I haven’t betrayed you. You asked me to keep Jack safe, and to do that we need to figure out a way out of this for Jack, you and Yolanda.”

“Impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible, you taught me that,” Wyatt replied. “We need to get our heads together and figure this out. Work through it just like any other mission.”

“But it isn’t any other mission, this is my son and my pregnant wife we’re talking about.” Trent got up and paced the room. “I don’t know where she is. And there is no time.”

“Because in thirty-six hours they move Amir Tarak?” Monica asked.

“I should have known you would figure it out,” Trent replied.

“Isn’t that why you came to me?” Monica went to him and took hold of his arm. “You wanted us to help you.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I wanted you to keep Jack safe.” He didn’t meet her eyes, he was lying, but didn’t want to admit it. Still the same Trent, thinking he had to battle the world alone. Whatever happened to him and Wyatt had cut them deep and changed them in a way she couldn’t understand. But she would, and save them both, just as they had saved others throughout their Army careers.

“Well, we’re here now and we are not leaving until we have everything we need.” Monica folded her arms across her chest. “So spill.”

“Just you being here could be enough to get Yolanda killed,” Trent told her defensively.

“The faster you talk, the faster we’re out of here.” Wyatt joined her while Liam walked over to the dirty windows and looked outside.

“I told you everything I know. I was walking home, my phone rang, when I answered it a man told me he had Yolanda. He told me to drive to Reaminster and await instructions. When I got here, I received another call.” He sighed, closing his eyes as he dredged up the details. “He told me to come here, there would be a gift for me.” He gave a short laugh. “You know, I drove here thinking I was going to find a box with a part of Yolanda in it. A finger, an ear.”

Trent bit down on his knuckle and sobbed. “It’s okay.” Monica rubbed his back as if he were a child. “What was in the box?”

“This gun, some explosives and a route map. The next phone call gave me the target and told me I sure as hell better get my hands on Amir Tarak or my wife would die.” Trent kept his voice level, his professionalism kicking in at last. “There was also a detailed map of an escape route through this building. There’s a passageway that leads down to the river, where a boat is moored. The keys were also in the box.”

“Did you recognize the voice?” Liam asked from across the room.

“No. I have no idea who it is. He had an accent. Middle East if I had to guess, but he tried to disguise it.” Trent paused. “I tried to get a trace on the phone on the third call, but it’s a burner.

“Do you have a plan?” Liam asked. “For how you’re going to free Amir Tarak?”

Trent sighed and cast an appraising look over Liam. “I do.”

“I suggest you go through the motions of setting up your rescue mission while we try to locate Yolanda.” Liam left the window and came to join them. “Do you have any idea of where they might be holding her?”

“None. She doesn’t answer her phone. It’s probably dead by now.” He choked on the word. “Or they threw it away.”

“Okay. When they call do you hear anything in the background, anything that might give us a clue?” Liam pressed for information, but Trent’s expression told them he had none.

“Don’t you think I’ve been over this a thousand times? I sit here looking out of this window, replaying it all in my head. The first call it sounded as if they were in a vehicle driving along a highway. Any highway. It doesn’t tell me if they went north or south, east or west. The second call, there was nothing.” He shook his head. “He wouldn’t even let me talk to her. I was going to ask for proof of life. But…”

“We have to believe she’s alive,” Monica said gently. “You need to ask for proof before you hand over Amir Tarak.”

“If I get him out.” Trent shook his head. “It’s wrong, I know it’s wrong.”

“It is,” Monica agreed. “But it’s also right.”

“What does that mean?” Trent asked in frustration.

“Give us until the time they move Tarak to figure out where Yolanda is and rescue her. If not, we’ll meet back here and follow you.” She glanced at Liam, who nodded. “Ask to see Yolanda before the exchange and then we’ll take them down.”

“You make it sound so simple.” Trent sounded hopeful, his voice laced with gratitude. “Maybe I did come to you for help.”

“We were a team once,” Monica said.

“And so were we.” Wyatt slapped Trent on the back. “Whatever happens, we are always there for each other.”

“Right, we should go,” Liam told them, heading for the door. “The longer we are here the higher the chance we might be seen.”

“Take care of yourself,” Monica hugged Trent tightly. “You have a boy who loves you and who you should be proud of.”

Trent nodded. “I’m unbelievably proud.”

“Take care of yourself, we’ll be in touch.” Wyatt hugged him. “We’ll call with a throwaway phone. We’ll call once with three rings and then call again. That way you’ll know it’s us.”

“Thank you,” Trent watched them go. “Give Jack a hug from me and tell him I’ll see him soon.”

“I will,” Monica said, and she meant it. She was going to reunite them, this was not an empty promise.

They left the building the same way they had entered. Liam shifted into his eagle and flew out first, while Monica and Wyatt hung back, waiting for his signal. He returned, shifted back to his human form and shrugged. “I can’t see anyone, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.”

“Maybe they’ll think we’re doing a drug deal,” Wyatt suggested.

“They might not even be out here.” Liam pulled his hood up as they walked to his truck. “But it wouldn’t hurt for them to think we’re here for another reason.”

“Would they care if they saw us? They have what Trent wants, they know he won’t call the police. And if he did, they risk being picked up on CCTV and identified. My guess is they’re leaving him well alone.” Monica looked up at the buildings all around them. “Or they could be up there watching.”

“Yolanda might be close by and we would never know.” Liam unlocked the truck and yanked the door open.

“We need to study any footage from the surveillance cameras around Trent’s house. It might give us a clue.” Monica climbed into the truck and slid along the seat toward Liam. Wyatt got in beside Monica and put his seatbelt on. As Liam started the engine and pulled out into traffic, heading home, she pressed her thigh against his. The warmth of his flesh comforted her.

“That gives me an idea,” Liam said after a few moments.

“What does?” Wyatt asked.

“CCTV. Whoever brought that box here should show up on CCTV. When we get back to Bear Creek I’ll see if I can call in a favor and get someone to look at the footage of these roads, or the river. We might see who brought the boat here.” He pulled the truck to the side of the road and hopped out. “Stay here, I’m going to take a look.”

Liam ran across the road and went between two buildings. Seconds later a big eagle flew into the air, heading toward the river a hundred feet away. Swooping down, he skimmed the water and disappeared from view.

“He looked tired,” Wyatt said. “He’s aged these last few years.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Monica asked, half turning to Wyatt. “It must have been real bad for you both to run away.”

Wyatt leaned his elbow on the door of the truck. “We were a squad, a tight-knit family. We’d been together through some rough times. But we were always there for each other. Until we weren’t.”

“What does that mean?” Monica asked. “I need you tell me straight, Wyatt.”

“One of our unit...he was having some problems. We should have seen it, but we didn’t. Or we didn’t want to see it. The signs must have been there, but we missed them.” He turned to look at her. “Jonas Diarmuid. He committed suicide.”

“And you all took the blame personally.” Monica reached out to Wyatt, but he pulled back.

“I don’t deserve your sympathy.” He shook his head and stared down at his hands.

“You don’t get to choose who I give it to.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. “It wasn’t your fault.”

Yet she knew her words could never change the way he saw himself. It was going to take more than that. But maybe, if they put Trent’s family back together again, it might not just heal Trent, it might heal Wyatt, too.