Jump rolled his eyes. “You’re such a goof.”
The door opened, and a captain walked in. T straightened up, his expression changing. Jump held back his laughter. The last thing he wanted was a captain thinking he was laughing about their mission or being here. He was just surprised at how fast T could change from goofing off to being totally serious.
The captain began speaking, detailing what they were up against. A group of eight high school students had been taken hostage in Uganda and had been taken over the border to South Sudan and were being held for ransom.
Jump hated this for the kids. They were probably afraid. Some of them were most likely injured. This was a terrible situation, and he was glad the brass had jumped on this mission and gotten the ball rolling instead of waiting.
There were other situations they were monitoring and had been for months, but those would be taken on in the next few months as long as the status didn’t change.
A lieutenant took over, giving more details, and the reason they were going in now. The chaperone with the kids had been killed, and one of the kids had a broken arm. He’d broken it yesterday and intelligence wasn’t sure how long the guy would survive.
They were headed out on a flight in an hour. They would be briefed with updates when they were closer.
After the meeting, he made sure his pack was well stocked. Before they left, he sent a text to Blakely, hoping she would be okay while he was gone. Willa and Pen would step in and make sure Blakely was okay.
Hopefully Grayson would be caught. The man wasn’t just a nuisance. With him setting the fire, he was now a criminal. When the police caught Grayson, he needed to be locked up for good.
The plane took off long before dawn. They were on their way to a mission that would hopefully be successful.
Blakely woke up, excited to see what the day would bring. She left the bedroom and called out for Jump. She found the note in the kitchen and her shoulders slumped.
Jump had told her that sometimes he had to leave on missions without warnings. She drew in a slow breath, wondering if she could do this.
It would have been weird if Jump would have come in to wake her up. They’d kissed, and she was interested in him, but they weren’t at the point of sleeping together. Leaving the note had been the right thing for him to do.
She poured coffee into a mug as she reread the note. This was what it would be like if she was with Jump. Was she okay with it?
This was much better than the prospect of being with Grayson. She wanted a future and a career. With Jump in her life she could have something good for herself.
Her phone rang, and she answered without checking who was calling. “Hello.”
“Hey, it’s Willa.”
“Hi. What’s up?”
“Just checking in to make sure you’re okay. That first day can be tough.”
“Oh, so Cy is gone. I guess that makes sense.”
“Foster is gone, so Pen is alone, too.”
“Oh.” She sipped some coffee, realizing she really knew little about all of this. “I really don’t know anything about this stuff. I mean, Jump told me with his job he might be called out, but honestly, I’m surprised they are all gone.”
Willa chuckled. “I knew nothing about it in the beginning. So Pen and I were getting together this evening for dinner. Want to come over?”
“Sure, if that’s okay.”
“Of course. I’ll swing by and pick you up.”
“Thank you.”
“Sure. We support each other when the guys leave.”
“That’s so cool.”
“Awesome. I’ll be by at around six.”
“Sounds great.”