Not just for Evie. For you, too.
“Thank you.” He finally found his voice as he and the others made room for Mustang and Aleck to board.
As he passed by Beckett, Aleck reached up and gave one of his shoulders a friendly squeeze. “No problem, brother. We’ve been where you are, so trust me when I say we get it.”
“He’s right.” Mustang adjusted the wide strap of his bag. “And just so you know, we’ll treat this mission as if your girl were our own. Whatever it takes.” He offered Beckett his fist.
Beckett blinked against the sudden stinging in his eyes. “Whatever it takes.” He bumped knuckles with the other man.
A beat later, Digger fired up the vessel’s engines.
Beckett and the others settled in, getting to work changing into their wetsuits and gear. A small cloud of white smoke billowed up from beneath the boat’s low stern, and the scent of fuel filled the cool evening air.
The deck was a bit crowded with the unexpected addition of their new friends, but he wasn’t about to complain. He’d gladly take all the help he could get on this mission.
After all, it was the most important one of his life.
“Here.” Beckett handed Aleck the two extra ear buds he kept in his bag, just in case.
“Thanks.” The other man took the small communication devices, placing one in his left ear as he handed the other to Mustang.
As soon as the rest of the team had theirs in place, Beckett reached up and activated the wireless comms. “Baker, this is Bones. You there?”
The system allowed the men to communicate with each other, as well as their borrowed eyes in the sky, over the engine’s loud roar.
“Said I would be, didn’t I?”
“Baker?” Mustang tilted his head with a grin. “Rawlins, is that you?”
“The one and only.”
“Well, damn. Guess I should’ve known you had a hand in this one, as fast as it was thrown together.”
Beckett’s gaze swung across the boat’s open cockpit to where Mustang and Aleck were sitting. “Wait, you know Baker Rawlins?”
“Duh.” Aleck shot him an incredulous look. “Everyone who’s anyone in this biz knows Baker.”
After one last check to make sure the final ropes had been freed from the dock’s metal cleats, Digger gave them the signal he was ready to roll.
“Hang on boys.” Digger slowly reversed the expensive boat from its covered slip. “Water’s a little rough tonight, so we’re in for a bumpy ride.”
And a bumpy ride, it was.
For seven miles, they were bounced and jostled as they cut through the water’s choppy waves. It wasn’t storming, thank fuck, but the wind had picked up. Making the ride to their destination anything but smooth.
With nothing else to do as they traversed across the wide-open sea, a few of the men carried on side conversations. Not Beckett, though. No, his mind was on Evie. His thoughts consumed with worry that they may already be too late.
He looked out into the low-lit abyss the night sky and dark waters created. A shimmering streak of silver danced on the ocean’s surface, the moon’s reflection offering sailors whatever light it could.
His focus lifted to the million stars shining high from up above. The brilliant, cloudless scene visible as far as the eye could see, and all Beckett could think was?—
Is Evie looking at these same stars, too?
The memory of finding her in that cave shot to the forefront of his mind. She may not be in an Afghani desert, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t suffering.
Please, let her be okay. She has to be okay.
“Okay, boys.” Baker’s voice pulled Beckett’s attention back into focus. “Lights from the yacht should become visible due east of your current location right about…now.”