reached out to take the hand he held out. “I won’t let you down.”
“I know.” He granted me the first smile I’d seen from him.
As I was about to leave, his gaze moved over my shoulder, and I turned to see a general standing by an SUV. He stared right at me and gave my commanding officer a nod before he got back into the vehicle.
What was that about?
“He’s been out for a while.” Sloane’s voice brought me back to the present. I tried to pull myself up from the depths as I felt someone touch my arm.
“He needs his rest, and this will help. We’ll move him later.”
“It’s only been four days. Are you sure he’s okay to be moved?”
I was sucked downward again, and as I let myself go, images of my time in Delta flashed before me like a flip book.
“My leg!” Waters screamed into the dead of the night as rain pelted our faces. Chaos and panic surrounded us like a thick blanket of fog. We had done this jump thousands of times, but this time the chopper had swung up to the side to avoid being hit by incoming fire. Waters lost his grip, and the rope had tangled around his thigh as he jumped. He was now hanging upside down, staring death in the face.
“Black!” His red face desperately pleaded as his bulging eyes latched on to mine. He dangled sixty feet above the ground, a perfect target for those below.
I knew the rest of the team had landed and were moving into their positions by now.
“Shit!” Waters flexed his stomach at the sound of the bullets that were randomly being sprayed into the sky.
I hated those assholes!
I only had one choice. I reached out, grabbed my rope with my knife in my mouth, and slid down to where he was.
“Quick, Black. I need my leg!” he screamed.
I clenched my rope and kicked my feet out hard, and as I slammed into him, I wrapped my legs around his stomach, and with a quick swipe of my knife, I cut the rope that held his leg. We both dropped like rocks. I couldn’t use my feet to control my speed, and he was upside down and couldn’t control the speed with his arms.
The sound was haunting as the rope zipped through my gloves, and we picked up momentum as we fell.
In one last desperate effort to save our lives, I shouted to Waters to squeeze the rope with all his might. I did the same, and just before we hit the ground, we were able to cut our race toward death in half.
Whack!
We hit hard. The air jolted from my lungs, and I blacked out for a half a second. The moment my head cleared, I was on my feet and grabbed Waters to check him over.
“How are we alive?” Waters started to laugh.
“Don’t ask questions we can’t answer.” I joined in on the laughter in a need to shake off my adrenaline rush.
“Together to the end.” Waters smacked my shoulder, then we both hauled ass deep into the desert to join the others.
Later that night back on US soil as we piled out of the chopper, I was stopped by my commanding officer, who was waiting on the tarmac.
“General Mac wants to see you, room three.”
Oh, shit. I knew I was probably going to be grilled for what happened. Swiftly, I moved inside and told the soldier at the desk I was there at General Mac’s request. He indicated a chair outside a closed door. I took the seat and rested my head in my hands. I really needed some time to rest so I could digest the last mission. There was protocol for what happened, but if I’d followed the rules, Waters would have lost his leg or worse.
“Tell me about Black.” A voice came from the other side of the door and stopped my thoughts.
“He’s a born Delta member,” General Mac replied in his distinctive voice. “Mentally unbreakable, smart, he’s liked by all, and on this last mission he risked his own life to save one of his men when his leg got tangled up in the jump rope.”
“Impressive.” There was a pause. “Not many of them would do that.”
“My thoughts too.”
“I’ve been searching for the right person to complete my team, and I think Black would be the perfect fit.”
I leaned back and rested my head on the cool tile so I could hear better.