Page 93 of Keeping Laryn
“I know,” Laryn said, sobering. “You want to know what I was thinking the entire time?”
“That you wanted to kill those motherfuckers?” Chaos asked.
Laryn gave his teammate a quick smile before turning back to Tate. “Well, yes, but the thought that kept rolling around in my head was, ‘Tate’s coming.’ I had no doubt you were doingeverything in your power to get to me, and all I had to do was hold on until you got there. I stalled as much as possible, figuring the evil I knew was better than the evil I didn’t. Yes, I was uncomfortable, and scared, and hungry. But I wasn’t tortured. Wasn’t beaten. I was just stashed in one of those cells in the dungeon under the hangar for most of my time there. It was dark, smelly, gross, and uncomfortable…but again, I knew you were coming for me. I just had to hold on for one more day, one more hour, one more minute.”
“Laryn,” Tate said, his voice quivering with emotion.
“There’s no crying in the Night Stalkers,” she admonished gently, as she hugged the man she’d loved for what seemed like forever.
“Wrong,” Edge piped in.
Laryn wasn’t even embarrassed that she was having this pretty intense conversation not only with Tate, but five of his best friends. She knew these men, had worked with them for years. Respected them. Loved them, each in their own way.
“We cry,” Edge went on. “We’re human just like everyone else. And there’s no shame in crying. We’ve all done it. Sometimes it’s the only way to get the emotions out so you can continue on with life.”
He wasn’t wrong. But his words also made Laryn wonder what exactlyhe’dcried about. There was a lot about these men she didn’t know. And she was looking forward to getting to know them all better. A lot better. Because if she had her way, she’d be spending a lot more time with them, time outside of work, which was more than all right with her.
She felt Tate’s hand on the side of her head, encouraging her to rest it against his shoulder, which she did gladly. She was exhausted and she felt grubby, but at that moment, in Tate’s arms, safe, she didn’t really care.
Laryn had no doubt that the next few hours, or days, weren’t going to be fun, but after surviving what she had…she could deal with “no fun” without any issues. As she lay against Tate, she felt the sudden need to lose herself in her work. To put the past behind her. And thankfully, she’d have lots of work to occupy her time and mind in the foreseeable future.
She had a lot to look forward to…the most important of which was Tate. Every indication was that he was completely serious about a relationship with her. Something Laryn still had to pinch herself to believe.
She smiled. Content to put herself in this man’s hands. He’d more than proven that he could, and would, stand between her and anyone or anything that might harm her. She couldn’t ask for anything more.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Casper was done.
The last week had been full of nonstop debriefings. He’d gotten his ass chewed for taking a civilian on that flight to extricate the SEALs. He’d argued that Laryn wasn’t exactly a civilian, but since he was still kicking his own ass for not kicking her out of his chopper and taking his chances with the FLIR, he didn’t protest too much at the reprimand.
When they’d arrived back in Norfolk, the meetings didn’t stop. He had to meet with the colonel, explain what had happened in detail.
And amazingly…he found himself face-to-face with none other than Tex. The man had actually come down from his home outside Pittsburgh to meet with him personally.
The legend was actually pretty chatty, which was a surprise. He’d actually been listening in while they were rescuing Laryn, and he’d had no problem speaking up when needed during the mission. It might’ve been annoying, but instead, looking back, it was somewhat amusing.
Tex had been positively gleeful at the intel Osman gave up.He encouraged Casper to keep him talking, to not kill him too soon. And once Tex felt he had what he needed to start tracking down the other moles Osman had paid off, he simply said, “War my ass. Kill him.”
Casper hadn’t hesitated. He’d shot the asshole through the heart…and it had been so satisfying.
In the meeting on base, Tex had a lot to say about the information he’d dug up on Osman and how he’d found the men and occasional women who were feeding him intel. Those soldiers and sailors were now in the process of being charged with treason, including the sailors who’d been onboard the destroyer.
Mustang had called from Hawaii, wanting to check on Laryn, and he sent best wishes from himself and his team, and of course their families. He’d extended an open invitation to Casper’s team to visit them if they ever found their way to Oahu.
The one thing Casper hadn’t gotten enough of since returning home was Laryn. She’d been just as busy. She had her own share of debriefings to attend, as well as meetings with one of the psychologists on base who specialized in military personnel who’d been POWs. Technically, her situation couldn’t be categorized as a prisoner of war, but she’d still been held against her will, tortured mentally by being dumped in that shithole of a cell, and tortured physically by that asshole keeping her hungry, thirsty, dirty, and sleep-deprived.
One morning, when she’d woken up after a nightmare around three o’clock, she’d finally opened up to Casper about everything she went through. She’d admitted that the worst had been the hood she was forced to wear for several days as she was transported through the mountains to the city. She’d cried, and Casper had felt helpless to do anything but hold her as she let out the emotions she tried so hard to keep bottled up.
They slept in the same bed each night, but they hadn’t made love since returning to the States. The timing wasn’t right, andwith Laryn still recuperating from her ordeal, the last thing Casper wanted to do was add the pressure of sex. He’d been overwhelmed with relief when she told him that she hadn’t been sexually assaulted. It didn’t really make the other things she’d been through any better, but he was very thankful she didn’t have to deal with that additional trauma on top of everything else.
Besides the timing being off, they were both dead on their feet by the time each evening rolled around. So they’d eat dinner together, then cuddle on the couch. Before long, one or both of them would end up nodding off.
It was more than time for them to get a break from work; from everything that had happened. Laryn was already retrofitting another MH-60 for him and Pyro, and he knew from experience that her exhaustion wasn’t going away anytime soon. She prided herself on being able to get the chopper mission ready faster than any other mechanic team in the Army.
He’d cleared a day off for her with the colonel, and his plan was to take her home and keep her there for a full twenty-four hours. No meetings, no talk of MH-60s, nothing but enjoying each other’s company and making sure she knew where they stood.
As far as Casper was concerned, they were two people well on their way to spending the rest of their lives together. To getting married and starting a family. He wanted that. With her. And he wanted to make sure they were on the same page. Yes, she’d had a crush on him; yes, she’d admitted that the reason she’d looked into taking another job in the first place was because she didn’t think he’d ever see her as anything other than the mechanic who worked on his choppers. But that didn’t mean she truly believed him when he said he wanted to be with her, and only her. It was past time to erase any lingering doubts she might have.
