Chapter Seven

Ethan Cruz grunted as the blast wave hit him, throwing him flat on his back in the dirt. Pushing up on his elbows, he shook his ringing head to clear it and looked up. The ringing was still there. He’d been running toward Schroder and Vance when the plane blew. The wreckage was now completely engulfed in flames. And between it and him…

Oh, God, no…

Vance was lying crumpled on his side in the distance, facing toward him. And beyond him, two more bodies were strewn on the ground, one of them Schroder.

He climbed to his feet and took off toward his closest fallen teammate, heart in his throat. Vance wasn’t only his best friend, he was the closest thing to a brother Ethan had ever had, and in a few months, would be his brother by marriage. Ethan refused to accept that he might lose him today, shoved down the panic welling inside him and tore across the open space between them.

Even this far from the wreckage the heat was intense, licking along his skin, the smoke searing his lungs and eyes. Vance wasn’t moving. His eyes were closed.

No. You can’t fucking be dead. I won’t let you.

Ethan grabbed him under the armpits and dragged him away, only stopping when he felt they were at a safe distance from the wreckage. He dropped to his knees beside Vance, grabbed hold of a solid shoulder and got right in his friend’s face. “Sawyer. Sawyer, can you hear me?”

No response.

Vance’s dark brown face was covered in blood, courtesy of a deep laceration in his scalp. The front of his uniform was soaked with blood too. And there was no telling what kind of internal injuries he might have. He and Schroder had been the closest to the explosion, would have taken the brunt of the blast wave.

God dammit. “Sawyer. Come on, you big bastard. Open your eyes and look at me.” His voice had a ragged, desperate edge to it that he couldn’t control. It terrified him to see his big, tough but laid-back friend lying so still and bloody.

Nothing.

He glanced up as Tuck and Bauer went flying past them toward where Schroder and the crewmember lay. Fuck, this was a nightmare.

Gripping the back of Vance’s neck, hard, he bent down so their faces were inches apart. “Vance. You look at me, dammit.”

The dark eyelids fluttered slightly, and Vance let out a soft moan.

Ethan leaned even closer, pulse drumming in his throat, his stomach a tight knot. “That’s right, man. Open your eyes.” Come on. Please.

Bleary, heavy-lidded deep brown eyes focused on him slowly, full of confusion. And pain. “What…happened?”

“Plane exploded.” He eased his grip on the back of his buddy’s neck, cupping it now. Holding him steady. “Tell me where you’re hurt.”

Another deep groan. “Everywhere.”

“Your back?”

“Yeah.” Vance grimaced, tried to turn onto his back. “Where’s Doc?”

“He’s being looked after.” God, Ethan didn’t even know if Schroder was alive. He’d been closer to the plane than Vance when the main explosion happened. But he could only focus on Vance right now, and trust that his other teammates were helping Schroder. “Can you move your hands and feet?”

Vance wiggled them a little, the motion weak and sluggish. “Yeah.”

Ethan breathed easier. “Lie still.” Footsteps pounded toward them. Seconds later Blackwell and Evers were crouching down next to them. “Need a litter to carry him out on,” Ethan said to them.

Evers swiveled his head to search for something. “There’s nothing out here but cornstalks. Tuck already called for help a few minutes ago. Crews are coming from the airport right now.”

“How long?” Ethan asked, giving Vance a tiny shake when his eyelids began to droop. They had to keep him awake and as alert as possible.

“Another twenty minutes at least.”

They couldn’t risk moving him again. Vance was far enough away from the fire now to be safe from further injury, and moving him might cause more damage. Better to wait for the paramedics and their backboard in case Vance had a neck, spinal, or internal injury. “Anyone got something to slow this bleeding with?”

“No,” Blackwell said, doing a sweep of Vance’s body, and ripped open his shirt to expose another deep laceration across his chest. “Vance, can you feel my hands?” he asked, running them down Vance’s legs.

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

“You hurt anywhere else?” Evers asked, hunkered down behind Vance to bolster him and keep him from turning.

“Not…not sure.”

Ethan stripped off his tactical shirt and wrapped it around Vance’s head, applying pressure by twisting the ends together while Blackwell did the same to the laceration on Vance’s chest.

Vance reached out and took hold of Ethan’s arm, staring up at him through swelling eyes. “Don’t tell Carm,” he groaned.

If it wasn’t so freaking serious, Ethan might have laughed. “Don’t tell her what?”

“Don’t tell her about me.” His voice was slurred, sleepy. No doubt due to the major concussion his brain had just withstood. “Not until we know more. She’ll…worry.”

“I’ll wait until we get you outta here,” Ethan promised, “but then I gotta call her. I don’t want her hearing about this from someone else.”

Vance groaned and seemed to sag, his eyes falling closed.

“No, man. You gotta stay awake,” Ethan said, giving him a gentle shake.

“Tired,” Vance muttered. “Hurts.”

Evers leaned over him more. “I know, brother, but you gotta stay with us. You gotta stay awake.”

Vance made an irritated sound and seemed to drift off for a moment, only rousing when they shook him and shouted at him. Ethan glanced at his watch, frustration burning through him when he saw that only seven minutes had passed.

Out the corner of his eye he saw Tuck jogging back to them. “Vance,” Ethan said to him, giving the side of his face a gentle pat. “Hey, here’s Tuck to check on you. Tell him you’re okay.”

Vance cracked one eye open, the other already swollen shut, and peered up at their team leader as Tuck went down on one knee in front of him. “I’m okay,” he murmured, then closed his eye. “Don’t let him call Carm.”

“What’s that?” Tuck asked with a half-smile, trying to keep things light as he laid a fatherly hand on Vance’s shoulder.

“Don’t want her to worry…”

“I told him I’d wait until we got him safely outta here,” Ethan said. “Stubborn bastard.” He glanced back at where Bauer still knelt beside Schroder, then shifted his gaze to their team leader, lowering his voice a little. “How’s Doc?” He was acutely aware of the intent way Blackwell and Evers were looking at Tuck.

Tuck’s brown eyes shifted to his. He didn’t say anything. Didn’t have to, because the resignation and sadness in his gaze said it all, and the small shake of his head made Ethan’s stomach drop.

****

Commander Matt DeLuca strode into the Atlanta Bureau office, eyes on his phone as he scrolled through the various emails he’d missed on the flight up here. He had eight minutes until the meeting with the Atlanta taskforce, and by then he wanted to be up to speed.

The situation out in the mountains was dire. The teenage daughter was confirmed dead. That left only two options: wait the suspect out, or conduct a full-scale breach and clear the place out.

He was a fan of the former. Sending his team into that isolated place against a distraught father ready to kill anyone coming at him was just asking for it, and even if the breach went as planned, there were other lives to consider. One civilian death was inexcusable enough. They needed to defuse the situation first, wait for darkness before carrying out the assault.

As a former Scout/Sniper, Matt couldn’t understand how it had happened in the first place. There was no way anyone with that amount of training should ever have mistaken the girl for her father. None. He was bringing in one of his sniper teams for this along with the assaulters on Blue Team, and he had absolute faith in each and every one of them. Because he had personally vetted each and every member.

When he was halfway down the hall to the boardroom, an office door on the left shot open and the Special Agent In Charge of the Atlanta division stepped out, his face showing surprise and then going eerily blank. “Commander. They told me you’d just arrived. I was coming to find you.”

Matt lowered his phone, taking in the man’s rigid posture and set of his jaw. “What can I do for you?”

“Can you step inside for a minute?” He gestured to his open office.

With apprehension twining through his gut, Matt followed, the sensation growing sharper when the SAIC shut the door and faced him with hands on hips. “There’s no easy way to tell you this.”

Matt stared at him, bracing himself for bad news. “Tell me what?”

“It’s Blue Team. There’s been an accident.”

“What kind of accident?”

“Their plane went down.”

For a second, the words didn’t compute. “It what?”

The SAIC nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know much else, but it crashed shortly after takeoff in a rural area a few miles from the airport. Emergency crews are being deployed to the scene as we speak.”

Fuck…

It took Matt a moment to speak. “Are there any survivors?”

“I don’t know.”

Matt immediately raised his phone to call HQ, but it rang in his hand. A wave of relief slammed into him when he saw Tuck’s number on screen. “Tuck,” he answered, praying there were more than one survivor. “I just heard. Is everyone all right?”

“No.”

Matt held his breath, his hand tightening around the phone. “What happened?”

“We’d only been airborne for about twenty seconds or so before something hit us. Not sure what.”

Ground fire? A rocket? It didn’t make sense. The flight had been arranged at the last minute. How the hell could someone have time to set up and fire that kind of weapon at them, let alone in a restricted area?

“We crashed into a field, managed to get everyone in the back out in time. Schroder and Vance went back for some injured crewmembers. They were caught in the blast wave when the plane exploded.”

Matt closed his eyes, his chest tight, lungs like concrete blocks pressing against his ribs. His men were the most critical thing. He’d worry about the cause of the crash later. “Are they alive?”

“Vance is cut up pretty bad, and I’m not sure about internal injuries. He was in and out of consciousness. They’re transporting him to the hospital now. As for Doc…” The heavy pause was ominous enough, but Tuck’s leaden tone sent a chill up Matt’s spine. “I dunno. He’s bad. Real bad.”

Rubbing at his forehead, Matt tried to process everything. “Is he en route to the hospital now?”

“Yeah. Surgical team is standing by. They’ll take him straight to the O.R.”

“What about everyone else?”

“Mostly okay, except for the flight crew.” Tuck cleared his throat, his voice a little rough, and Matt understood perfectly. It felt like he had a small boulder lodged in his own. “Cruzie just called Carm to let her know about Vance. I was wondering if you wanted me to call Taya, or…” A harsh sigh filled the line. “Doc told us just before we took off that she’s pregnant.”

Ah, shit. Shit. This was fucking heartbreaking. Taya had already been through hell twice before. It was beyond cruel that anything should happen to Nate now. “No. I don’t want her to hear it over the phone. I’ll have someone go to her.”

“Want me to ask Celida to do it?”

“No, I’ll handle it.” As soon as Celida heard the news, she’d be frantic to get to Tuck. Understandable. “Are you going to the hospital?”

“Yeah, all of us are, just to get checked out, then we’ll wait to find out what’s going on with the other two.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can find a flight. I’ll take care of Taya, make sure she gets to the hospital, and meet you there as soon as I can.”

“All right. What are you gonna do about the situation in Atlanta?”

“Don’t worry about any of that. I’ll take care of everything.” He’d call SA Grant and have Gold Team deploy there as soon as possible.

Tuck let out a hard exhale. “All right.”

“Tuck. You tell the boys I’m coming, okay? I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“I will.”

Nausea washed over Matt as he disconnected and immediately dialed his wife. His heart slammed against his ribs as it rang, almost bruising. Was this some kind of revenge act? Maybe by Sanchez or the Venenos? If someone had brought that plane down, Matt would personally ensure they paid for it dearly.

“Hey, I was just lying in bed thinking about you,” Briar murmured, her voice husky with sleep.

“Something’s happened,” he grated out.

“What’s wrong?” Her tone was sharp. Alert.

“Blue Team’s plane went down just after takeoff. Vance and Schroder were critically injured. Tuck doesn’t know if Schroder will make it.”

“Oh, Matt, no.”

He drew in a deep breath, locked his jaw for a moment to get himself back under control. “It’s a real shitty favor to ask of you, but I need you to go to Taya’s right now. I want you to be the one to tell her and take her to the hospital. She’s gonna need a friend.” He and Briar had been the only ones from the team at Taya and Schroder’s wedding. Briar was closer to Taya than she was to any of the other women, and they would all be worried about their guys. It had to be this way.

“Of course,” Briar said. No hesitation. No questions. He could hear her already moving around. “I’ll be out the door and on my way in five minutes.”

“Thanks. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He hesitated a second. “One more thing.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “They just found out she’s pregnant.”

“Oh, man. Okay, I’m on it. See you soon. And, Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“Love you.”

He closed his eyes, a sweet ache filling his chest. “I love you too.”