Ever Hayes - Redemption

Eddie sank to his knees, and Cera slid down with him. He could feel tears in his eyes. He looked at Cera in shock. But there were three circles .

“Cera,” Eddie finally spoke up. He knew he didn’t have much time. “Isabelle is dead too?”

“I don’t know. Commander Boli took her.”

So Boli had been here for something else . “Why?”

“He didn’t say. Just that he needed her.”

Eddie didn’t have time to think about why Boli had taken his niece. “Who is next to you?” He pointed at the adjacent cell.

“Next to me? No one,” Cera replied. “It’s the—”

“The what?” He reacted to her sudden pause. “The what, Cera?” “It’s where they keep the coffins,” she whispered. “It’s where your wife and daughters are.”

Then it made sense. The guard probably knew Eddie’s wife and girls were dead but couldn’t tell him that. He didn’t want Eddie to suddenly become emotional. He didn’t want Eddie to react. He had to make him believe all was well. Cera apparently wasn’t even indicated on the map. Maybe the guard didn’t know who Cera was .

“Eddie, you have to go. You must leave now.”

“I’m taking you with me.”

“No, you can’t—”

“I am.”

“We’ll never—”

“We will.” Eddie unlocked her cell and swung her door open. “Stay with me.” Cera knew Eddie well enough to know there was no point in arguing. He grabbed a handgun and rifle off one of the fallen guards and walked toward the corner. Glancing down the final hallway, he saw four men seated at a table, playing cards and smoking. Eddie put his hand on Cera’s shoulder. “Wait right here a minute.”

He strode casually—head bowed—down the hallway toward the guards. One of the guards addressed him, but Eddie ignored the question. The guard repeated himself, irritated, and stood. At that moment he recognized Eddie and reached for his gun. It was too late. Eddie shot him four times and then finished off his magazine into the other three. The gunshots echoed through the hallways. Anyone outside would definitely have heard them. Prisoners in the cells rushed to their bars, begging for Eddie to free them. He ignored them. Hopefully the number of Xs on the sheet was right . He picked up two more handguns off the floor, slung an M16 over his shoulder, and whistled down the hallway for Cera. She hurried toward him. He held out his hand to her, helped her over the bodies, and swung open the door at the end of the hall. He glanced up the stairs but still couldn’t hear anything. No voices. No alarms. He slowly climbed the steps and peeked outside. One figure stood across the courtyard beneath a street lamp. Eddie recognized him as the friendly guard.

“Pssst…” Eddie tried to get his attention.

The guard motioned for him to approach and Eddie did—cautiously—pulling Cera along behind him. It could be a trap.

“I took care of the others.” The guard read Eddie’s wary look. “But more will be coming. I could not prevent the silent alarm.” Eddie nodded as the guard pointed down a staircase. “Follow these stairs down to the pier and take the boat to the location in Rincon marked with an X .” He handed Eddie the map. “There is a jeep parked there with keys in it, and a map in the glove box leading you to an airfield with a plane. Go—”

“You must come with us.”

“I can’t.”

“I cannot fly a plane.” Eddie made a flying motion with his hand.

“But you—”

“No. My brother is the pilot, not me. I can’t fly.”

“I must stay here and buy you time.”

“Then why did you help me if you don’t want to escape?”

“You don’t remember?”

Eddie shook his head. “Remember?”

“My father was Ben Mubarak. He—”

Eddie knew then exactly who this soldier was. This soldier had been a twelve-year-old boy the last time Eddie had seen him. Eddie put his hand on the young man’s shoulder before he could finish his sentence. “Silas, right? I saved your father’s life in Tripoli.” Eddie remembered the corrupt cop-led mob that had been stoning the man for stealing bread.

“Yes.” The young man nodded. “And my mother’s. I found out you were in Puerto Rico when I was in Denver and requested an assignment here. I thought I might be able to help. I owe you—”

“You owe me nothing. Your father did not deserve to die for feeding his family. You—he would be very proud of you. You have helped me plenty. And now, you must come with me.”

“I cannot possibly—”

“Son, they will kill you.”

“I know.”

“I cannot allow this.” Eddie handed him a handgun. “I am trusting you with my life now. You can fly, yes?”

The man nodded. “I have, yes.”

“Then you come with me.” Eddie motioned at Cera. “You protect her.”

They ran down to the boat and took it to Rincon. On the jeep ride from Rincon to the airstrip, Silas filled them in on what he knew about Qi Jia’s current operations, Lazzo’s journey, and everything else he’d overheard from Commander Boli. Eddie asked him about the numbers on the bottom of the sheet.

“Commander Boli wrote them down while on the radio with someone in Denver. He typed them into a computer before he left and then threw the paper away. I copied for you.”

What would he have typed into a computer? They aren’t a phone number. So what is— Then he knew. Coordinates. But for where? And for what purpose? There was only one possible answer. Wherever Boli is meeting Lazzo .

I didn’t know how Flynn and I had made it across that open rock field. Considering all the action and gunfire in the valley, the snipers had to be watching for movement. Our crawling couldn’t have fooled them. Suddenly I felt like an idiot. Here I was acting almost like I wished they had fired at us—that they had hit us. What is wrong with you? Who cares why they didn’t? We’re still alive!

The bigger issue was Lazzo. I assumed he was dead—though it probably wasn’t safe to assume anything. Can he possibly still be alive? The soldiers had said the bounty on Lazzo depended on taking him alive. Maybe he is . But that last gunshot from the forest had sounded different. It had finality to it. Did Lazzo take his own life?

Again, it didn’t matter. We had to keep going. The troops were going to keep coming. Surely the Libyan commander had told them exactly where we were all heading—where the exchange was supposed to take place. We had to stay ahead of them.

Shortly before daylight, we arrived at the Penrose-Rosemont Reservoir at the base of Knights Peak. We had to be close to the exchange coordinates. As we skirted the south side of the reservoir, I noticed two boats patrolling the waters and knew there had to be more soldiers around. They had to know Lazzo had been taken—maybe even killed. But they were still looking for me. Using my binoculars, I found four groups of soldiers clustered around campfires along the eastern shore. I was finally starting to panic, and now it was Flynn’s turn to calm me down. I didn’t know where exactly we needed to go, but I did know the paratroopers would be closing in on us quickly in the daylight. We had a matter of hours before they were here—assuming they had waited until daylight to continue their search.

“Flynn, I don’t know where specifically this exchange is supposed to take place. Knight’s Peak isn’t exactly small and all Lazzo said was a lodge . I feel like we’re in the middle of a spider web with a thousand spiders crawling towards us. You and me…we’re no match for them.”