Ever Hayes - Redemption

“You don’t trust me?” Eddie looked at my brother with a sudden twinge of anger in his voice.

“No, Eddie. This is not about trust.”

“Explain then.” Eddie was staring coolly at him.

“You are too valuable. I know you lost your brother, your wife, Cera—pretty much everything. I know you’re angry, and you want to get these guys back. But you’re too valuable. I have big plans for you back in Hawaii. You are critical to our future, the kind of man America needs—that the world needs. We can’t jeopardize that if we don’t have to. And…” Danny put his hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “There’s Isabelle. What if she’s still alive?”

Danny’s words gave me a glimpse into the depth of his mind, and the forethought he was putting into all of his—all of our—actions. You need to listen to yourself, Danny. I watched Eddie nod as he accepted his role in the bigger picture and the possibility Isabelle was still out there.

“So what other option is there?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know that there is one,” Danny muttered, glancing back over the ledge at the soldiers below.

“Isn’t it at least worth a shot?” Blake asked him.

I was waiting for him to say no. Instead Danny shrugged. “Why not?”

I saw Blake open his mouth to say something, but he closed it when Danny answered. By the look on his face Blake hadn’t been expecting that response either.

Danny shared his plan. “I think I’ll take Blake, Hayley, and the radios with me. I’d like to move us all down to the base of the dam, but even if they’re not using thermal up here with the fires, I’m sure they are down there—where there’s nothing. We’re only safe in the ghost suits.” He looked around to see if anyone had any objections and—seeing none—he went on. “We’ll sneak down the north cliff and put Blake in position on this side of the bridge, in case we have to fall back or need cover fire. I think we can get him a good spot about five or six hundred yards from the bridge, swim past these guys, and blow the bridge. We’ll draw their attention and get them to come after us. Blake, you and Eddie use that distraction to get transportation—however you can—and you get Flynn and Ava to Disneyland. Ava says the bunker there is somewhere near a lagoon, and it’s been there forever, so it’s not at the California Adventure park. That narrows it down to Tom Sawyer’s Island or Pirates of the Caribbean.”

I saw Ava nodding, although it was also obvious she didn’t like the idea of being away from Danny. Danny, for his part, wasn’t even looking at her. Whether something had happened between them or he was just intensely focused, I couldn’t be sure, but I did find it curious he wanted me with him instead of her.

Danny pulled Blake and Eddie away from us for a few minutes, and I took that time to do the same with Flynn. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“You stay by Blake, okay?”

“I will.”

“Blake is a great guy. In my family, we don’t make promises when we can’t control the outcome, so I won’t guarantee anything.” I took her hand. “But Blake would give up his own life before he’d let anything happen to you—that I promise.”

The reassurance worked. “And Flynn, try to get a gun if you can. Keep yourself alive.” Flynn squeezed my hand. “And her too,” I added, nodding at Ava.

Flynn smiled. “Are you sure?”

I smiled back. “Yeah.”

“You might regret that later.”

“You’re probably right.” We watched Danny, Blake, and Eddie crawl back toward us. “Flynn,” I whispered, pulling her head against mine.

“Yo.”

“You probably haven’t heard this a lot recently.” I kissed her cheek. “But I love you.”

She turned toward me with a smile. “Thank you, Hayley.” Her eyes teared up. “I love you too.”

I playfully nudged her. “You ever been to Disneyland?”

“No.” She shook her head. “But I heard it’s the happiest place on Earth.”

“Yeah.” I couldn’t help but smile. “Something like that.”

I slipped into Blake’s “ghost suit” and tightened the straps to make it fit me as snugly as it could. It was still big, but it would have to work. Danny and Blake set to covering me with branches, leaves, and a variety of earthly debris—sticking the natural camouflage to the little Velcro straps that covered the suit. Blake switched packs with Danny since Blake’s only had the explosives, some ammo and a cold weather compact sleeping bag. The explosives were sealed in a waterproof pouch, but Danny took it a step further sliding the pack inside his ghost suit. Then we covered him up as they’d done to me.

We said our “goodbyes” and “good lucks,” split off from the group, and slowly inched our way down the side of the hill—around the waterfall—our eyes never leaving the soldiers. We edged our way back over to the river and slid into the water. So far, so good .

Blake’s ghost suit wasn’t quite tight enough on me to keep the water out so—as we entered the pool below the falls—the freezing mountain drainage chilled my skin. I’d have to live with it. Danny carefully helped me remove all the leaves and brush from the suit replacing them with floating sticks and branches we found at the base of the falls. The goal—if anyone saw the debris attached to us—was to look like we belonged in the river.

He placed one end of a long, clear, narrow tube in my mouth and wove it through the sticks connected to my hood. “Breathing tube,” he whispered. “Keep your face in the water, your mouth shut, and breathe normally. If you get water in it don’t blow it out forcefully, okay? And lift your eyes up as little as possible.”

Sure, no problem. Shit! “Okay.” I nodded.

We were about 350 yards from the bridge now, and once we kicked off there’d be no stopping until we were underneath it—if we made it that far. I could feel my heart pulsating through the water, and I couldn’t stop my teeth from chattering—both from the cold and the nerves—but I took one look at Danny and nodded when he did. Here we go .

We pushed off and slowly drifted a hundred yards apart—like two piles of sticks—down the middle of the river. I clutched my bow and arrows beneath me, careful to keep them from getting hooked on anything. As the river approached the bridge, the current picked up and so did the number of rocks in the increasingly shallow water. The sharp stones were abusing my shoulders, ribs, and chest, and with each direct blow, it took all I had to not lift my head and cry out. I cursed into my breathing tube instead.

Suddenly I felt a strong hand grab my arm and pull me toward the side. I knew it was Danny, but I kept my head down just in case. He tapped my head, and I lifted my eyes above the water. We were under the bridge. Thank God! I glanced up at Danny, and he was looking up at the bridge crossbeams above us. He then looked down at me and motioned for me to climb out of the water with him. Danny reached inside the front of his suit and pulled out a small box—about the size of a Rubik’s Cube—wrapped in a plastic bag. He unwrapped it and tied it securely to one end of a thin rope, connecting the other end to a large hook. He whispered in my ear, “I need you to climb up there.” He pointed up at the middle arch of the bridge’s underside. “I need you to hook this dynamite up there so it’s hanging about three feet below the bridge.”

No fricking way! “Are you serious?” I knew he was. “How—”

“Hayles.” Danny cut me off, using my old nickname. “I brought you along because I know you can do this. With my arm, I can’t. It was you or Blake, and he has several broken ribs.”