Inside the C-130, I checked everyone’s parachute and equipment on my Team. The aircraft contained three Teams, which would split up and jump at different locations just like the assailants had done according to the drone pictures we received before taking off. Greedily I’d chosen the small group containing two members, one fair-haired and the other a brunette. Maya and Sara stuck together like glue. That was where I’d find my blond bombshell. I was certain of it.

For most ops we would carry a satellite radio, but since this was a night-op we carried a radio, which had an encrypting technology to ensure the transmission was more secure.

“Thirty minutes!” I yelled. My men lined up and used the piss tube mounted on the wall. Last chance, fellas. Before we knew it, we were almost at our destination.

“Ten minutes.”

Everyone scrambled around the ramp. Time flew by in a blur, which was just how I wanted it.

“Five minutes.”

Vic strapped Cuervo to him. The dog’s attention to detail and dedication never ceased to amaze me. Like I said, that dog was a badass.

The ramp lowered and I couldn’t hear shit. I used my hand signals to my brothers. I studied the ground through my night vision goggles to make sure we were on course based on the aerial map I’d studied. Every minute that passed that I didn’t know if she was safe brought on a fresh wave of feelings I’d worked hard to keep hidden. I’d fallen for Sara and now I wouldn’t stop till I found her. I should have been honest with her. I should have manned up and told her how I felt about her. Staying silent like a pussy was not the last image I wanted her to have of me. So I’d studied that map like if my life depended on it. Our pilots were the fucking best but I needed to find my girl so I didn’t want to walk any farther than I had to. My girl. Fuck. That had a nice ring to it. I flashed my hand, making sure to spread my fingers and jerked my thumb to the right. The loadmaster relayed my directions to the pilot who adjusted the nose of the C-130 five degrees starboard.

The ramp light turned from red to green. It was go time.

I signaled to my men for the last time before we jumped. We were twelve thousand feet above ground and even though I’d jumped out of planes a hundred times before, I prayed to God that this jump wouldn’t be my last.

Vic and Cuervo jumped first. I made sure all my men left the aircraft. Pinching my thumb and index finger together, I brought them to my mouth and pressed them against my lips and gave one final prayer then free fell into the air before the aircraft left with the other two Teams to their assigned destinations.

After a minute, I opened my parachute and glided under the canopy. A beautiful moment, flying through the sky. We were so in synch our parachutes were aligned as if we were creating a stairway to heaven. I turned on my night optical device as I descended to the ground, my men landing before me.

Perfect. Pat and Mitch grabbed their weapons and secured the area while the rest of us hid our chutes. Vic released Cuervo, who quickly ran in front of us.

The sky provided another gift for us. The light rain. The perfect weather to camouflage our movements. We split our Team into two groups, ensuring we took different routes to our targets. If one group failed, the other would complete the mission. We were motherfucking SEALs. We’d die trying before giving up. Vic, Pat, and Grant came with me. We traipsed slowly through the dirt, the mud sticking to our boots.

Cuervo ran back to Vic, signaling he’d heard something ahead. I heard it too. Diesel. A truck. Sara’s captors were coming toward us.

I signaled and we stood in position, our weapons pointed ahead.

The headlights shone through my goggles as I prepared to shoot out the tires. But we had to be careful on gunfire, we didn’t want them to kill the women.

I aimed, shooting twice above the driver’s side front tire. Being shot from the front was enough to deter the vehicle’s movement. Funny how being faced with the barrel of a gun at close range made you cooperate, even when you didn’t want to. We approached the vehicle, and in my scope I could see a girl alone, no terrorists.

What the fuck? A few more steps and her face came into focus. It was Maya.

She screamed hysterically when she heard the weapon being shot, the shine from the vehicle blocking her sight of us.

And there was no sign of Sara.

No.

I ran to her as the others fanned out. “Maya, you’re safe. Breathe. It’s Kyle. Where’s Sara?”

She flung herself at me, wrapping her hands around my neck. “She, she, they cut off her hair and ripped her clothes. They were going to rape us, but she told me to escape. She ran away from them so they would follow her and I ran to the truck. She saved my life. They already killed our director and dumped the body.” That was why the drone pictures showed groups with what looked like bigger groups. I knew there was a reason Maya and Sara were alone. The anguish in her voice broke my heart. She feared her friend was dead as well. I wasn’t going to give up that easily.

I needed her to start talking. “How many of them? How long ago was this? Did you drive straight here and not change direction?”

She sobbed and I radioed the other four guys from the Team. “T-two of them. About fifteen min-minutes. And yes, I stayed straight. She risked her life for me. Please. You have to find her. She saved me so I could find help.”

And she had. I would find Sara. I’d been right all along. Sara was more than a pretty face. She was a fighter. A survivor. A savior. Just like me.

Mitch, Joaquín, Shane, and Erik arrived, our Team complete. Shane examined Maya who was surprisingly unharmed. Her chest heaved up and down as she sobbed but no bruises that I could see. We radioed for air support and one by one, those men stayed with her until they all could be extracted. Having her continue on would only slow us down and put her in further danger.

Their mission was over. Maya had been saved. But my girl was out there. Somewhere. Alone in the night.

I signaled to Pat, Vic, and Grant. Fifteen minutes, at least ten miles, though I doubted Maya had been driving sixty miles an hour.

I briefed my men. “Sara is still out there. At least ten miles due north, following the tracks of the vehicle. Start moving. We’re not going to stop until we find her. Gentlemen, it’s going to be a long night.”