Chapter29
Garrison
We clear the hangar with the speed and precision we had when we were still in the field, but it doesn’t feel like enough.“Anything?”I ask through my coms.Rubble decorates the floor, thanks to the hole I put in the side.
“Not yet,” Zane answers.
“I’m moving through the back.”Weapon trained straight ahead, I shove open a door and head down the hall.
There’s a room on the right, so I offer Ryker a nod.He comes around and slams his boot into the center of it.The door flies open, and we move in just in time to see a man raise a knife to Sawyer’s throat.
I squeeze the trigger.
The gunshot echoes through the room, and Sawyer’s attacker falls to the ground.
“Eagle, we’ve got Cable Guy.Send in the cavalry,” I order through the coms.
“Coming in hot,” Jack replies.
“It’s about time.Epic entrance, by the way,” Sawyer says as Ryker cuts him loose.“Real hero stuff.”
“Where’s Katelyn?”
“Marks just took her.He and another guy are trying to get out.He ordered the others to go after Thomas.”
“We’ve got him protected.Jack’s bringing a team in.”
“For once, I think I might be happy to see him,” Sawyer says.“You bring me something?Let’s go get this guy.”I reach down and withdraw the holstered pistol on my hip, then offer it to Sawyer.
“Let’s go.”
Heart in my throat, I move out into the hall and continue down.We’re just emerging into the main part of the neighboring airport when the sound of helicopter blades fills my ears.
My stomach drops.If he gets her in the air, I won’t find her again—of that I’m sure.
“He’s making a run for it!”I rush forward, sprinting as fast as I can out onto the tarmac where Katelyn is being held inside a helicopter already in the process of leaving the ground.
“Garrison!”she screams.
I don’t stop.Instead, I drop my rifle on the ground and strip out of the Kevlar vest weighing me down.
Pushing my body as fast as it can go, I race forward.Someone fires a weapon my direction, but I don’t slow my pace.Not even when the chopper is nearly out of reach.
Right as I reach it, I jump forward and fling myself into the cockpit.I’m immediately assaulted, a fist connecting with my jaw.But I spin out of reach, gripping the overhead railing to steady myself as I fight to remain in the now airborne chopper.
The man raises a gun, so I slam my arm into it, knocking it to the side, right before I plant my boot in his chest.He stumbles backward—falling from the helicopter with a terrified scream.
Heart in my throat, I raise my gun and face off with the man holding Katelyn.The steel barrel of a pistol is pressed to her temple.A single tear runs down her cheek.Her eyes are wide and terrified, her skin pale.“Take us down, now,” I order the pilot.
“You don’t take orders from him!”Earnest yells.
“You’re going to want to if you don’t want to face felony kidnapping and assault charges.”
“Taking us down,” the pilot calls out.We start to descend, but since the ocean is right below us, I know it’ll be a few minutes before I have backup.
And in those minutes, everything could change.
I shift my attention to Katelyn.“You okay, baby?”I ask her.