another clearing, “you need to hang on, because we can’t have you gone. We can’t have missing holes in our stories.”
At the edge of the terrain, I lowered Daniel and did another quick evaluation on him. His hand moved to cover mine for just a beat before it fell back down.
“We got this, sir. Just stay with me.”
Though it was clear his leg was broken, and he had a concussion, I suspected without removing his gear that he also had internal injuries. I worried about his condition, but I knew we had to keep moving. I had to push my own pain aside and keep my head clear because one wrong move could get both of us killed.
“Sorry, Daniel.” I checked all around the murky landscape for another route, but the only way around would have added too much time—time we didn’t have. “Sorry, sir, but you’re going to get wet.” I inflated the life jackets and did my best to place them under him, so he’d float, and to my surprise, it worked. I struggled to keep his head above water. Some places were deeper than others, but for the most part, it was mostly waist deep. I pushed what was possibly swimming around us out of my head and focused on the horizon. The mud under my feet was like quicksand, and the effort it took to cross was exhausting. Thigh-deep sludge had my muscles burning, and they begged for water as the rest of my body begged for some calories to keep me going. Every so often, I’d allow my mind to think of her. I’d remind myself of her smell, her touch, the way her intense blue eyes saw through my bullshit and made me live in the moment rather than the past. I stumbled during one of my memories, and the stretcher tipped.
“Shit, sorry.” I regained my footing. Mind over matter, I thought to myself. Mind over matter was what was going to get us through this. That, and my training. So, I turned that side of my mind off and focused on nothing more than putting one foot in front of the other.
Once on the other side, I looked up the hillside ahead of us and took a deep breath. The climb was going to be rough on both of us.
“Almost there,” I reassured him through gritted teeth. Again, I let my mind wander where it wanted to and focused on the thought that I would be that much closer to seeing Sloane. She was the one person who had me moving forward. She made all the horrible moments seem obsolete.
Finally, we reached the top. I lowered Daniel on the ground and dropped down next to him, feeling exhausted, hot, and parched. There was still a lot to process, and my head just couldn’t go there yet. I needed to focus on keeping us under cover and alive.
“Black.” Daniel licked his dry lips and stared up at the sunset. We had been taking cover on the hillside, waiting the last thirty minutes until dusk. “Talk to me more about something,” he barely whispered. “Make it up if you have to.” He winched as he coughed.
“I bet Livi has Liam and Ethan tied to a tree somewhere.”
“Ahh.” He grinned through white lips. “That little girl has us all fooled.”
“Yeah, she’s just as bad as the rest, but it’s her cuteness that saves her.” I opened my shirt, desperate to cool off. “She is going to run that house someday. I guess she does already.”
“I bet she’s worried that you aren’t there.” He took a strained breath. “You two have been working hard on your project.”
“I wouldn’t do that for anyone else but her.”
“I know that.” He coughed and tried to keep the conversation going, but I could tell it was a struggle for him. “You’re great with her, just like you will be with your own kid someday.” His glazed eyes moved to find mine. “You know a father can’t die without knowing all his boys will be okay.” His eyes closed, and I knew he was too tired to keep them open.
“Don’t even think of dying on me, Daniel. Cole will have my hide. Besides, you’ve been through a lot more shit than this. You really want the cartel to be the reason you go out?” I waved him off. “Nah, it would have to be something more epic than that. Like tripping over Tripper or stepping on one of Liam’s Army trucks.”
“God, I