Ever Hayes - Redemption

She appeared to be thinking over our dilemma. I knew she agreed with me, but in my panicked state one of us had to be the rational one—the strategist. “Say your brother is here or gets here and sees the same thing—all these soldiers coming together in one place—the spider web you referenced. He’s not going to walk right into the middle of it either. He’s going to try to find you without anyone else finding him.”

“Right. So where would Lazzo take me?”

“I don’t know if that’s the right question.”

“What do you mean?”

Flynn looked up towards Knight’s Peak. “First of all, this exchange spot probably wasn’t up to Lazzo. It would be somewhere they could see him coming though—where they could see anyone coming. So if Lazzo is working with someone—with the kidnappers, or whatever—wouldn’t he be meeting them first and then meeting Danny?”

“Okay, yeah… that would make sense.” I nodded.

“So it’s somewhere around here—somewhere elevated, if we’re right.”

“Somewhere up there.” I pointed up the mountain.

We didn’t have to look hard—or for long. Within the hour, jeeps were driving on the roads around the reservoir, all heading the same direction. A helicopter flew overhead and landed behind a large building on a plateau about a third of the way up Knights Peak. There . “Flynn, if that’s the Libyan commander—”

“We have to kill him.” She finished my sentence. The idea didn’t seem to bother her. Amazing what losing someone you love can do to your convictions .

We worked our way slowly up the side of the mountain. We were five hundred yards from the edge of the plateau now. I could see troops lining the ridge and could hear dogs barking. I knew more troops had to be sweeping in behind us. There was no doubt this building was where Lazzo was expected to bring me. I looked around for the best angle of approach. “I don’t know how we do this. There are too many guards.”

Flynn reached out and took my hand. “Then maybe we don’t.”

“But why are there so many troops? And why are they being so obvious?” It doesn’t make any sense. They have to know Danny is coming. Why would they want to scare him away?

“Hayley, maybe something happened.”

“Like?”

“I don’t know, but maybe they know Danny isn’t coming, and they’re waiting for you?”

“But then why would the commander be here?”

“We don’t know he is. That chopper could have had anyone in it. It could have been carrying a chicken and a pig.”

She was right. This could be a trap. This was where they’d told Danny to come, and he had to come or Reagan, Emily, and Abbey were dead. Danny didn’t have a choice. But I did. “Flynn, I can’t ask you to do this.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

“I could die here.”

“Then we both die here.”

I smiled sadly at her. Right now the two of us were alive and I could keep it that way by walking away from the hornet’s nest. But I couldn’t just let my brother walk into this. If I could kill the Libyan commander somehow, Danny wouldn’t have to turn himself in—or give Qi Jia the book. I could save everyone. I looked back up the hill and saw two soldiers working their way down the rocks in our general direction. I glanced back at Flynn and handed her my knife. “If anything happens to me, you tell them you’re Hayley. You tell them you’re Danny’s sister. Understand?”

She nodded. I took two arrows out of my quiver and stuck one into the ground at my feet. I loaded the other and took dead aim at the approaching soldiers—first at the one farthest from me. When I was certain they were out of sight from the men up on the ledge, I let the first arrow fly. It was a little off—a little low—from my intended target, but it still took him down instantly. He hit the ground with a thud, and his partner spun toward the sound. He saw the arrow sticking out of the other man’s chest and turned back toward me. I saw the terror on his face before the second arrow put him down—this time right through the head. Missed a little high that time. I should have practiced with this bow more . I heard Flynn mutter, “Wow,” but I was already on the move, another arrow pulled and loaded.

I ducked into a ditch and dove to the ground. Flynn was right beside me. Two more soldiers were coming our way. Just as they discovered their two comrades, I rose up on one knee and let another arrow fly, pulling a second before the first even hit its mark. The last arrow flew true as well—I finally hit where I was aiming—and I stood to move toward the four men to retrieve my arrows. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a pile of leaves erupt and a large body rise from under them, lunging toward me. His left arm wrapped around my chest, and his right arm went around my mouth. He pulled me back down into the ditch and under a large nylon net covered with leaves. He lay on top of me as I struggled to break free. It occurred to me that he wasn’t really hurting me or even trying to. He was trying to keep me quiet. And then he whispered in my ear. I froze. No frickin’ way! I hadn’t seen his face, but by his voice I knew exactly who he was.

“Quiet, it’s okay,” he whispered. “You’re okay.”

Holy shit. Eddie!

He slowly removed his hand from my mouth. “I can’t let you go up there. It’s murder.”

Suicide . “Holy crap. Eddie, how are you here? How—”

“I can’t tell you now. I must get you out of here.”

“Eddie, I can’t go. Danny—”

“I know. Danny is coming.”

“But the commander is—” I stopped as Eddie shook his head. He had slid off me now and was lying beside me. I was finally able to peek under the net to find Flynn, and another man was holding her down under a similar net—in full Qi Jia uniform. His hand was still over her mouth. What the hell?

“The commander is not up there.” Eddie sounded certain. “He wouldn’t come for this.”

“Eddie, who is—” I pointed at the man holding Flynn.

“Don’t worry. It’s Silas. He’s with me. We couldn’t let your friend scream.” Eddie nodded at the other man, and he released Flynn. She scurried out from under the other net and over to my side.

I pulled her up against me. “It’s okay, Flynn.”

“What’s going on?” she whispered, trembling.

“Flynn, this is Lazzo’s brother, Eddie,” I replied.

I allowed Eddie to explain further. “We were trying to find a way in, and you have provided it for us. My friend here is going to blow up the building on the plateau so that Danny doesn’t come. Danny will understand the explosion was not set off by Qi Jia. It will buy us some time to try to find him.”

“How did I help?”

“Hayley, trust me. I need to get you out of here. Do you know where Lazzo is?”

“No.” I shook my head. It’s the truth .

Eddie hesitated then looked around again. “Okay.” He handed Flynn and I a pair of white booties. “Put these on and let’s go.”

Part of me didn’t want to move. I had trusted Lazzo and it had cost me greatly—and this was his brother. But I also knew Lazzo had betrayed Eddie, and I was pretty sure Eddie was aware of that too. Without asking any questions about the footwear, I nodded at Flynn and we removed our boots and put the booties—or slippers—on. “Okay.”

Eddie said something to the other man—Silas—in Arabic, and he nodded. “Come on.” He stood and pulled on my arm.

I stood up slowly, clutching my boots and bow. “I need my arrows.”