Ever Hayes - Redemption

“And what about this brother of his? How did he and you”—General Niles pointed at Hayley—“end up on that ship together?”

“It’s a long story, sir,” Hayley explained. “Basically, he tried to do the right thing the wrong way, and Eddie here is trying to make up for it.”

“Sir.” Kellen was frustrated. “How is this acceptable? This African is one of them. He’s one of those guys who was out there torturing you. One of the guys who…ended America.”

“Kellen—”

“No, sir, I’m sorry. I won’t stand for this.” He raised his gun again at Eddie.

“Young man,” the general warned, pulling a pistol from beneath him and pointing it at Kellen.

Ava must have given him the gun . Hayley, Flynn, and I refused to move from the path of Kellen’s gun. Eddie had yet to emerge from the darkness. Kellen would be firing blindly if he did shoot. “General, Kellen, if either of you fires your weapon, everyone on the other side of that wall is going to know we’re in here.” I took a step toward Kellen. “ You will effectively be killing all of us.”

Kellen looked unconvinced. General Niles nodded. A sideways glance down showed that Hayley had loaded an arrow into her bow, which she was holding at her side. I saw Ava looking at Hayley’s bow. Then Ava stepped in front of Kellen as well, reaching out for his gun. “Kellen,” she said. “Give me the gun.”

“No. Stay out of this Ava.” He shook his head.

“Kellen,” she said again. “You heard Danny. You’ll kill us all.” I saw his finger slide off the trigger for a second, and that was all the time Ava needed. She swiped the gun from his hand, twisted his wrist sharply, and kicked him in the stomach in one quick sequence. He doubled over, and she brought her knee up into his face, swinging the gun down across the back of his head. He crumpled to the floor as she ejected the round from the chamber, popped out the clip, and turned to me—handing me the gun. “Sorry.”

“Okay.” Not sure what you’re apologizing for. That was slick.

The general put his gun away—he didn’t look surprised at all. Tyler on the other hand was stunned. “Whoa. Where’d you learn—”

“Twenty-two years as a general’s daughter. A lot of martial arts lessons,” she said nonchalantly. Then she turned to Hayley. “Nice bow.”

“You shoot?” Hayley asked.

“A little,” Ava answered.

The general laughed.

“I take it that was a modest response?” I asked.

“Slightly. She’s a three-time national archery champ.”

“Where?” Hayley asked. “Only three-time champ I know of is named Shadley.”

The general pointed his finger at his daughter. “Shadley.”

“Seriously?” Hayley couldn’t hide her awe.

Ava nodded. “Mother’s last name. She kept it when she married Dad and I kept it when I married John. He’s…” She went quiet suddenly, looking back toward the cell they’d been in.

“He’s in there?” I finished for her. She nodded again.

Suddenly I heard Tyler mutter from the floor, “Mother of…”

I looked at him, and he was staring behind me. I turned enough to see that Eddie had emerged from the darkness. I had forgotten how huge he could look at first glance. And he’s slightly bent over due to the low ceiling . “Everyone,” I said, “this is Eddie.”

“Were you in that Green Mile movie?” Sheffield asked.

“No.” Eddie replied dismissively as if he’d been asked that a hundred times before— which he apparently hadn’t . “Never heard of it.” Eddie turned his attention to Niles. “General, I feel like I must apologize for my country, for my people—for myself. We were told America had killed our families. We—”

The general waved him off. “Say no more. I have been told a great many Qi Jia men defected and were killed. They too claimed the same—that they were lied to. I believe you. There’s no end to the depth of damage caused by Qi Jia’s false front. My question is what is there for you in all of this? What are you hoping for?”

“Honest? I’m not even sure. I am here to serve Danny as he needs me—as America needs me. He saved my life once, too. My brother, he made some bad choices.” Eddie pointed at Hayley. “I hope to atone for those acts.”

The general nodded and extended his hand. “Eddie… I am sure atonement is not necessary, but if you do succeed in helping Danny get my daughter to safety, I will be eternally grateful.”

“I will do my best, General.” Eddie shook his hand then stepped back. “Sir, by chance was there a little girl in there?” Eddie pointed at the bunker.

“With us?” Niles asked.

“No. An African girl with the Libyan commander.”

“Yes.” Ava replied. “There was.”

“You’re right.” General Niles agreed. “She left with him. Why?”

“She is my niece, sir.”

“You’re kidding!?” Ava exclaimed.

The general nodded. “Ah…” Eddie’s explanation seemed to have validated his presence. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“She is, at least, alive?”

“Last we saw.” Ava confirmed.

Kellen moaned then and rubbed his jaw. He slowly sat up and glared at Ava. Then he saw Eddie standing behind her. He shrunk back against the tunnel wall. “Wait—you hit me for that?” Kellen pointed at Eddie. “For him?”

“You didn’t give me a choice.”

“You’ve known me for ten years,” Kellen objected.

“And you’ve been a stupid ass for all of them. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”

“Everything I did—”

“What, are you going to serenade me now, Bryan Adams? Save it.” Ava turned away from Kellen.

I walked over to him. “I’ve got a problem right now.” I looked down at Kellen. He didn’t so much as glance at me. “I don’t put my life in the hands of people I don’t trust.”

“Good for you.” Kellen laughed.

“Danny, it’s okay. He will stay with me.”

“General, no—” Kellen suddenly stood up, the cold front gone. “Please—”

“Well, it’s got to be one or the other. You wanted to kill the major, and you pointed your gun at Danny. I wouldn’t want you with me if I were the captain.”

“Sir.” Kellen tried to speak again.

“Enough,” General Niles said, as loudly as he’d said anything yet. “You made your decision when you didn’t immediately apologize, when you glared at my daughter, who probably saved your life. And thumbing your nose at getting out of here… forget it. Ten bucks says there’s a man in the darkness there who had a rifle on you and was ready to take the shot if Ava hadn’t knocked you out.”

I was impressed. Niles had pegged Blake perfectly.

“Sir, can I apologize now?” Kellen asked.

“You can, and you should,” Niles replied. “But it changes nothing. You will stay with me.”

Kellen sank to the floor. He looked like he was about to cry. He offered up weak apologies to each of us—even to Eddie—but I knew he was struggling with the reality of his future. General Niles had no intention of trying to accompany the rest of us to Hawaii, and I doubted Tyler thought he could make it either.

“So what do I do?” Kellen asked General Niles.

“As I’m sure Captain Miner is aware, there are double garages at the end of this tunnel with a souped-up Hummer in each of them. When we get there, you’re going to drive one of them, and Sergeant Sheffield will drive the other out of here. We’re going to race south for the Mexican border as fast as we can, hopefully diverting any and all attention away from the rest of you.” Niles motioned at us.

“But, sir, that’s—”

“Suicide?” Niles smiled. “I’m dead either way. Maybe we make it to Mexico. I don’t know. But the only chance they—you all—have is if we make Qi Jia think we’re all out—that we’re done.”