Page 75 of Keeping Laryn
No, that wasn’t all they could do. They could get to their chopper, hope like hell one of Laryn’s fellow mechanics had been able to fix their FLIR, and get their asses in the air.
“I’ve got this one,” Pyro said as he lifted the obviously critical SEAL over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
Casper didn’t bother responding, simply wrapped the second SEAL’s arm over his shoulder and grabbed him around the waist.
The foursome began to hobble back toward the chopper. Unfortunately, he’d landed farther away than he would’ve liked from where the SEALs were holed up waiting for extraction.
When they heard something to their left, both the SEAL under his arm and Tate grabbed their pistols and shot in that direction.
Shit, shit, shit. Nothing about this mission was going right. From the fucking FLIR malfunctioning, to the asshole yelling in his ear to hurry up and take off, to Laryn being on the chopper, to them having to land and both himandPyro having to get out of the chopper to extract the SEALs.
He was going to have some serious words with Laryn when they got back to the ship. Both about how the hell the FLIR could’ve gotten fucked upandher insisting on accompanying them on the mission. He could admit that without her there to fix the FLIR a second time, Buck and Obi-Wan would’ve been fucked. Without their night-vision, Casper wouldn’t have been able to provide fire power from the air.
His thoughts were irrational, and he knew it. They were a result of the panic he’d felt at having her in this situation. Fearfor her safety. He certainly didn’t want to leave her while he went to help Pyro, but didn’t feel as if he had a choice. He couldn’t sit there and listen as one of his best friends was in danger and certainly couldn’t leave those SEALs to die.
But he’d leftLaryn. Alone. In the middle of enemy territory with only his sidearm for protection. None of this fucked-up situation was her fault.
He was practically dragging the almost-unconscious SEAL back toward the chopper when he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
Automatic gunfire.
Laryn!
While they’d been busy extracting the SEALs, someone had obviously circled around to the helicopter.
Kicking himself for being so stupid, Casper wanted to drop the man in his arms and sprint toward their landing site. But he couldn’t leave this man behind. He might have his own wife and family back home. Feeling torn, and more terrified than he ever remembered being before, Casper moved even faster in the direction of the chopper.
Just as he and Pyro arrived in the clearing with the SEALs, the sound of an engine starting up to the north echoed in the otherwise suddenly quiet night.
“Laryn!” Casper yelled, knowing it was stupid to bring so much attention to his location, but fuck it.
There was no response.
Casper placed the SEAL on the ground and without checking with Pyro, ran toward the helicopter, his weapon drawn, ready to kill anyone who dared touch his woman.
And yes, Laryn washis. He’d figured that out the second he’d had to take off with her sitting behind him in that chopper. The fear he’d felt in that moment had been so out of the ordinary, it could only be because it was no longer simplyhislife at stake. Itwas the life of the woman who’d somehow managed to burrow into his heart.
He understood Nate perfectly now. All too well. He’d known from the start that Josie was his. It had taken him longer, but now Casper had no doubt that Laryn was the woman he was meant to spend the rest of his life with. Have kids with. To laugh and argue with for as long as they both lived.
“Laryn!” he called out again, to no avail.
Without thought, he leaped into the back of the open chopper. It was a stupid thing to do. Whoever had been shooting earlier could’ve been waiting to ambush him.
But the chopper was empty…and shot to shit.
The silence fully registered then. The rotors were no longer spinning. And from the looks of the instrument panel in the beam of the pen light he held up, the MH-60 wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
The chopper Laryn had worked so hard to get up to speed, to make safe to fly, to outfit with all the bells and whistles he and his fellow Night Stalkers needed to perform their dangerous missions…had been taken out in less than a minute by automatic gunfire.
“Son-of-a-bitch!” he seethed, turning. He didn’t care about the chopper, it was just a hunk of metal.
Laryn was gone.
Whoever shot up the helicopter had made it impossible to follow the vehicle that left the area—the one that had surely taken Laryn.
Grabbing the backup radio clipped to his flight suit, Casper quickly called for assistance. He was all business while he spoke with the person on the other end, summing up the situation and letting him know the SEALs were in critical condition and needed immediate extraction. With a lump in his throat, he also informed the person on the other end of the line that one of his staff had been taken hostage. Laryn wasn’t a US soldier anymore,but she was working for the government. Not only that, but she had knowledge they surely wouldn’t want getting into the wrong hands.
Getting her back was a matter of national security. But for him? It was the difference between living the rest of his life as a broken and lonely man, or living the life he truly felt he was meant to live…with Laryn at his side.
