Page 27 of Keeping Laryn
“Well…yes,” Laryn said.
“Wrong,” Buck said in a low tone. “You could be taken captive and forced to do the work he previously would’ve paid you to do. And you’d have to do what he asks, because the alternatives wouldn’t be pleasant. Even if we knew who took you, we wouldn’t knowwhereyou were taken.”
“We’ve been on rescue missions for American prisoners of war, and trust me, the conditions those soldiers and sailors have been found in when we recovered them weren’t pretty.” Pyro sounded serious, and Laryn shivered as he continued. “The strongest special forces soldier is often no match for months of torture. You’d break, little Laryn. You’d go back on every oath you’ve made to our government to keep what you do to yourself, if only to make the pain stop.”
“Enough!” Tate barked at his friends. “No one is going to take Laryn captive. And you’re scaring her.”
“You don’t think sheneedsto be a little scared?” Chaos asked. “Maybe she doesn’t understand how much the knowledge she has in her head is worth. How desperate enemy countries would be to acquire it…by any means necessary.”
“I’m serious, no more,” Tate growled in a voice that was so unlike anything she’d heard from him, Laryn almost felt afraid ofhim. “There’s nothing wrong with Laryn knowing her worth and wanting to look for more compensation and better benefits because of her skills. Isn’t that what we all did? We knew our worth, so we convinced the Army to give us a special contract so we could be stationed here, instead of with the rest of the 160thSpecial Ops Aviation Regiment at the bases in Kentucky, Washington, or Georgia. Doesn’t matter how or why Laryn ended up on this asshole’s radar, just that she has, and it’s our job to protect one of our own. I don’t want to hear one more fucking dire warning aimed at Laryn.Period. You guys in or out?”
“In,” all five of the other pilots said at the same time.
“I’m sorry,” Laryn couldn’t help but say quietly. Tate standing up for her so vigorously and aggressively had taken her by surprise.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said without hesitation.
“I think I do. Chaos isn’t exactly wrong. I did ask a friend if he knew about any contract jobs. How word spread so fast from there, I’m not really sure. But Iwasthe first to reach out.”
“Why?” Pyro asked. “Are you so unhappy here? With us?”
That was a tricky question to answer. And there was no way Laryn was going to admit that she’d asked her friend if he knew about any jobs because she was feeling down about being around Tate all the time, when he barely acknowledged her presence.
“No. I just…I think I was in a rut. I thought that going someplace new would make me feel…” Her voice trailed off. She realized almost too late that she probably shouldn’t say what she was thinking. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
“Feel what?” Edge asked.
Laryn licked her lips, then sighed. “More like part of a team,” she said quietly. “I mean, I know I’m not a pilot or anything, and I do like the other mechanics I work with, but they treat me strictly like a boss. For a long time now, I’ve been feeling as if I work in a bubble. Do my thing, go home, come back to work. I guess I kind of wanted to shake things up.”
As soon as the words left her lips, Laryn felt bad, because all six men around her had stricken looks on their faces.
“Youarea part of our team, Laryn,” Pyro said. “You think we could do anything we do without you?”
“Without you, I’m not sure I’d be as confident as I am when I fly,” Obi-Wan agreed. “I don’t hesitate to do some crazy shit because I know the bird isn’t going to fall apart under me…because you’ve gone over her with a fine-tooth comb to make sure everything’s working properly.”
“We’ve obviously failed in making sure you know how important you are to us,” Edge agreed.
“From now on, we’ll do better,” Buck reassured her. Then he grinned. “You’re going to be so sick of us. All up in your face, wanting you to hang out. Dragging your ass out of bed to come out to Anchor Point for a beer and to play some cornhole.”
“I’m not playing cornhole with you guys,” Laryn said. “I couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn if my life depended on it. I’m sure you can all sink that stupid beanbag every throw.”
Everyone chuckled.
“He’s right. You’re right,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “We’ve let you down. Haven’t made sure you realize what an integral part of our team you really are. Jesus, it’s why the colonel insisted you be included in our contract in the first place, to be stationed here in Norfolk. Casper made sure you were assigned as our lead mechanic and would go wherever we went.”
Laryn looked at Tate. Once more, his gaze was locked on hers. “You did?” she asked.
“Yes.”
It was only one word, but the emotion and heartfelt honesty behind it made Laryn feel like an idiot for ever wanting to work elsewhere.
“I didn’t know,” she said lamely.
“Which was our mistake,” Tate said. “We didn’t make sure you knew, and we didn’t make you feel as if you were one of us. Which ends now. Starting with making sure this Osman asshole knows you’re off-limits. That you aren’t going anywhere. No means no. And begging, threatening, or otherwise making you feel vulnerable isn’t going to change your mind. Will you let us help you? Let us have your back, just as you’ve had ours for the last three years?”
How could she say no to that? Laryn nodded.
“Good. Now, I never did get around to telling you what the colonel told us in the meeting last night. Bottom line is that he has no doubt the MH-60 will pass the trials, so he’s already arranged to get it to the Mediterranean Sea, to the destroyer ship positioned there. It’s a change of plans from when we thought we’d be in the Arabian Sea. We’ll follow and rendezvous with Navy SEALs preparing for missions in that area.”
