Page 33 of Finding Lexie
They arrived at the outskirts of the neighborhood they’d been walking in and Midas stared out at a large expanse of desert. It was fascinating how the town simply ended and the desert started. There were literally no lights in front of them, only sand as far as the eye could see…which wasn’t very far at the moment, since it was dark.
“Can she run in those huge sneakers?” Pid asked Midas.
“I can run,” Lexie answered for herself.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to talk over you.”
“It’s okay. I know I’m just the chick you were sent in to rescue, and I’m no Navy SEAL, but I’m not helpless either,” Lexie told him.
“I’m guessing there’s a story behind those shoes,” Jag said. “As far as I know, you weren’t wearing them when we rescued you from the desert.”
“Nope. Shermake gave them to me,” Lexie said.
“Yeah, Baker will definitely want to help,” Slate said, understanding how important a gesture it was that the teenager had given up his shoes.
“You all ready?” Mustang asked.
Everyone nodded.
“Ready for what?” Lexie whispered to Midas.
“To run. When that chopper approaches, everyone in town’s gonna know. And the people who don’t want you to leave will try to get here as fast as they can,” he told her.
“Then it’s a good thing they can’t run faster than the helicopter can fly, isn’t it?” Lexie asked.
Midas heard his teammates chuckling, but he couldn’t take his eyes off Lexie. She looked incredibly sad, but now she also had a determined gleam in her eye. She also still looked as if she’d been through hell and back, but it was now somehow part of her charm. “Definitely,” Midas agreed. “Stay by my side,” he told her. “Mustang and Aleck will take point, we’ll go after them, and Pid, Jag, and Slate will have our backs. When we get to the chopper, just hold up your arms and Mustang and Aleck will help you inside. Crawl away from the door as soon as you get inside. Okay?”
“Okay,” she said immediately. “And I’ve already done this once, remember? Piece of cake.”
Her voice wobbled a little, but she lifted her chin as if daring him to comment on it.
There was no way Midas was going to say a damn word. He’d be worried if she wasn’t a little scared of what was about to happen. But Midas had the utmost trust in the Night Stalker helicopter pilots. They were badass in their own right and could fly in the worse of conditions. As long as they could get inside the chopper, they were good to go.
“Incoming,” Mustang said.
Midas heard the rotor blades of the helicopter as it flew fast and low toward the LZ.
Within seconds, sand flew in all directions and Midas felt Lexie duck her head against his chest as she did her best to protect her face. He took her hand in his and leaned down. “On the count of three, run like hell. Keep your eyes closed. I won’t let you fall.”
She nodded, and his belly clenched with the amount of trust she was literally putting in the palm of his hand.
“One, two, three,” he counted, then took off running, Lexie at his side.
The sand hurt his face but he ignored it. Getting to safety was more important than a little discomfort right about now. He watched as Mustang and Aleck leaped into the opening of the chopper and immediately turned with their arms outstretched.
Midas positioned Lexie at the door and shouted, “Arms up, Lex.”
She immediately complied and disappeared inside the helicopter. Midas leaped in behind her and was quickly followed by the rest of his teammates. Within seconds, he felt the chopper lurch, then they were in the air once more.
Everyone was tense for several minutes as they flew fast back toward the desert—and hopefully away from anyone who might want to try to shoot them down.
But their exit from Galkayo was uneventful. As the lights from the Somali town got smaller and smaller, Midas breathed out a sigh of relief. He turned to Lexie and gave her a thumb’s up. They hadn’t paused to put on headphones, so they couldn’t talk, but it didn’t seem to matter. She beamed at him and returned his thumb’s up.
Yeah, it was safe to say Lexie Greene was officially under his skin. And Midas had no idea how he was going to be able to give her up.
Chapter Seven
Lexie did her best to put on a positive and happy face for the SEALs. She was certainly thankful to be out of danger of being re-kidnapped, but her future was still so uncertain. Not to mention, she was completely out of her depth. She didn’t know much about the military, and being deposited on a US Navy ship was so far out of her comfort zone, it wasn’t even funny.
