Chapter 19
Caitlyn huddled as low as she could go while the men returned fire. They were outnumbered, but it didn’t seem to bother them. She just hung on mentally and emotionally. They needed a little bit of luck to get farther ahead of the men chasing them. She hoped Ryder had a plan.
Another shot hit the vehicle. She winced, cringing lower. Ryder fired several more times, then cheered. She raised her head, looked up at him. “Did you get him?”
He chuckled. “I got him. We disabled the vehicle at the same time, so that group isn’t coming after us anymore.”
She shifted upward, but Ryder grabbed her shoulder and gently pushed her down again. “They might have another vehicle. And they are still firing at us. It remains dangerous up here.”
She glared at him. “I could help, you know.”
He glanced down. “Sweetheart, I hope you don’t have to. If we need your help, that means one of us is hurt.”
He was right. But she felt so helpless. There had to be something she could do. “If you need more men to handle the guns, I could drive.”
“We got this,” Corey said. “You stay down. You stay alive. Otherwise this would be all for nothing.”
The jeep hit another series of bumps, rattling her right through to her teeth. It was a good thing she didn’t have broken bones or bruised ribs or a gunshot wound right now as her body would really be screaming at her. Although she was sore and achy, it wasn’t as terrible as it could have been.
Just then the jeep took a hard left. She was thrown against the back of the front seats. With a hard right she was tossed against Ryder. “I’m so sorry,” she screamed.
“Don’t worry about it,” Ryder said. He swore and started firing again.
It seemed to go on forever. There was a haze of dust and confusion and noise and, threading through it all, fear. But not from the men. No, they showed control and determination as they did what they did best. She had to admire anybody who could hold his cool in a scenario like this. She thought she’d been doing really well overseas. But, as she watched these men perform, she realized she was just barely getting by. And Ryder was right; they didn’t want her particular skill set to be needed right now as that would mean one of them was injured.
The vehicle took another hard left. She watched tree branches overhead as the vehicle raced underneath. The road was rougher here. She bounced and slammed into the back of the front seat again and so did the men with her. There was nothing really to hang on to. She had her arms wrapped around one of the seats in the front, but it didn’t help much. She was trying desperately to stay out of the men’s way, but it was hard.
Just as suddenly, the jeep braked. In a harsh voice Ryder said, “Stay down, Caitlyn.”
All around her the men stood up, and she could only listen in to their conversation.
“Let’s see if we can pick off the ones coming behind us.”
“They’ll be here soon, but we don’t want these men setting up an ambush for our guys.”
She could hear the rifle fire in the background. She focused on her breathing, wishing them all to stay alive and healthy. Life was too short and, right now, too dangerous. Anything could happen.
It was that thought that made her look up at Ryder and say, “I never stopped caring, you know?”
For a moment she thought he hadn’t heard her, but finally he glanced down. “I know. That’s why I found it so very hard.” His voice was soft and gentle. “I knew how you felt inside, but you turned away from me and wouldn’t let me help.”
She stared at him in surprise. What could she say to that?
“Stay down,” he said.
Instantly, her ears felt as if they’d been blasted, and gunfire hit right beside Ryder. She curled up into a ball as he shifted to the side of the jeep, changing his angle. From where she was, she could hear the approaching sound of another set of wheels. “Incoming,” she yelled at him.
He nodded. “They’re ours.”
She wanted to whoop with joy.
Then he swore, raised his weapon and fired. And again, then again. Huddled down in the relative safety of the footwell, she waited for the gunfire to slow down. And just like that it stopped. She listened intently but heard only silence.
She slowly raised her head and looked at him. “Is it over?”
He held his fingers to his lips and whispered, “We’re checking now.”
When he relaxed, she realized it was really okay. She smiled and shifted up to the seat. And the smile wiped off her face. There were bodies, several of them. “Let me go check on them.”
“No.” He shook his head.
She watched as Corey, Devlin and Easton went out and checked on each of the men. She knew as soon as they glanced their way, all the enemy men were dead.
She turned and sat back on the seat. “How horrible. I’m glad we’re alive but still … If only they had just walked away.”
“That would have been nice. But it rarely happens that way.”
“What do we do with the bodies?”
“The cavalry’s arriving now.” He pointed down the road. She could see several vehicles racing toward them. “They will take care of this. And they have spare gas cans so we can get back.”
“What about us?”
“We’ll join up with the rest of the team moving to Baghdad,” he said. “We’re done here.”
But it was a somber trip back. Everybody was safe; nobody was hurt. Although it should’ve been a trip full of rejoicing, the loss of life hung heavy.
“Why do I feel guilty?” she asked.
“Because, in your mind, they died because of you. That’s wrong. They didn’t have to kidnap you in the first place.”
“What’ll happen to the group they were part of? Will they still come after us?”
“I doubt it. I recognized several of the men,” Easton said. “When we came and rescued you the first time, they were the ones hanging around your tent. I highly suspect that now, with these men gone, the leadership will shift yet again.”
“What a life.”
“Not a fun one for anyone,” Corey said. “It’s hard to instill peace in a country that breeds war.”
By the time they made it back to where the camp had been, it was gone. Only the disturbed sand showed a camp had ever been here. After a good wind, that would disappear too.
“They are good at this.”
Ryder wrapped an arm around her shoulders, nudged her next to him in the jeep and said, “They are. But then so are we. Let’s go. We have places to be.”
*
Knowing he hadn’t been there to watch over her just ate at Ryder. That they found her when they did would be stuff for his nightmares for a long time. He’d like to think it was skill. It was to a certain extent, but it was also blind luck. Nobody knew that better than he did. But they had rescued her, and that’s what he had to focus on.
So much of his work ended up taking a life. It took time to deal with the aftermath. By now he’d had a lot of practice. But he knew it wasn’t the same thing for her. He wrapped an arm around her again and tucked her close against him. “Sleep if you can. We have a few hours to go.”
She nestled into his chest and arms. He raised his gaze and caught Corey’s steady look. With a half nod Corey smiled and turned away to talk to the others. Ryder leaned his head back. He didn’t want to suggest she needed to head stateside, but it was in his heart. He knew that was where he wanted her. She’d done her time, unless she felt she needed to be here. It would have to be her choice though, and he’d stand by it. As she’d need to find peace with his work. He wouldn’t give up his job, and that meant she’d have to wait, knowing what he was going through. After this, she’d have insider knowledge of what Ryder went up against.
And that couldn’t be easy for her either. For the first time he admired all the wives who stayed at home while the men went off to war. Sure war was difficult on the men, but he couldn’t imagine staying home, taking care of business and raising families without knowing if the men would come home again. And he wasn’t sure he could do it. That double standard again.
He held her close to his chest until she lifted her head a long while later and stared around in confusion. He loved the cloudy look in her beautiful eyes. “Take it easy. You’ve been napping. But you’re safe.”
She wiped the strands of hair off her face and smiled up at him. “Thanks to you and the others.”
He shrugged. “It’s the least we could do.”
She snorted. “Did you even think about your injured arm?”
He glanced down at the bandages, at the sling still around his neck but no longer on his arm. “No.” He shrugged. “Why would I?”
She changed her position.
“How are your injuries?” he asked.
She reached a hand to her head and smiled. “Still hardheaded as always. I have a couple scrapes and bruises, and I’m very thirsty. But I’m fine.”
“You’re more than fine.” He handed her his bottle of water and watched as she drank.
“Oh, that’s good.” She took several deep breaths. He could see the stress slipping off her shoulders. “It’s a very unforgiving land in so many ways.”
“And yet, other parts of it are beautiful and nowhere near as desolate or difficult to live in.”
She nodded. “I believe you. I did see pretty bits and pieces, just enough to forget the uncomfortable places.” She looked up and smiled at him. “Thank you for the second chance at life.”
He reached down and kissed her just off to the side of her stitches. With a tender smile he said, “You’re welcome.”
“You know you shouldn’t be working with your arm, right? Are you coming back stateside?”
“I should be,” he said cheerfully. “I was not leaving without you. Especially not for something so minor.”
She snickered. “Why? Is there a law against having weak, injured SEALs?” She paused, then whispered, “Thank you.”
Ryder cuddled her close.
“You can’t have both weak and SEAL in the same sentence,” Corey said in mock outrage. “Injured, maybe. But not weak.”
She smiled. “Isn’t that the truth? And you are definitely men of honor.”
Devlin chuckled. “SEALs of honor. SEALs of honor.”
She glanced at Ryder and said with a wicked smile, “So you have time off, and I have time off. Any chance we can spend some of that time together?”
Corey glanced from one to the other, raised one eyebrow. He started to say something, then thought better of it and twisted around to face the front of the vehicle again.
Ryder glanced down at her and said with a big grin, “Tell me more.”
“Well, it involves”—she leaned closer to his ear—“lots a hot water, room service and a whole lot of resting in a bed with clean sheets and no sand.” Then she added with a grin, “After all, I should keep you in bed until that arm of yours heals.”
He tilted her chin up, leaned down and gave her a real kiss. “Now that’s my kind of keeper.”
Her gaze narrowed at the term, and he remembered she knew Mason and his Band of Keepers.
He lowered his head a second time, just to make sure she understood exactly what he meant by that. As she sagged against his chest, he tilted her head toward him so he could look into her eyes.
“I know I’m the one who walked away the last time. I was wrong. I can’t imagine ever doing it again. I was in such torment. Please don’t ever do that to me. You’re way stronger than I am. I wouldn’t survive.”
He stared down and shook his head, whispering, “I couldn’t. Ever. It’d be like leaving half of me behind.”
Tears came to her eyes. She stroked his face. And in a voice that he could barely hear, she whispered, “I love you so much.”
He crushed her against his chest and just hung on for the ride, knowing that finally, after all this time, he’d come home again.