Page 33 of Sworn to Lead

She shifted back into the left lane. The sedan did the same. There was a tingling in her hands and feet. Something was not right. What would Neo want her to do? Who was this man and what did he want from her? Or perhaps she was losing the battle with some kind of undiagnosed mood disorder. There was no reason someone would want to hurt her, save for Fergus. She fought to expand her shallow breaths, but her lungs burned in protest. Her knuckles were white against the steering wheel. She needed to calm her heart, or she was going to pass out. Get off the road. Find a police station or hospital. She could run inside and call for help.

Without bothering to flick on her directional, she shifted hard, crossing the lanes and narrowly missing the exit. With trembling hands, she touched the voice-activated search on her GPS. Thank goodness. There was a police station only a mile away. The sedan had taken the same exit. The man waved at her and pointed to the side of the road. Were her tail lights out? Was he just a good Samaritan? Maybe he was trying to tell her something was wrong with the van. Thoughts flew through her head like rapid fire as hysteria clawed up her throat, choking her. She glanced at the map on the GPS. Almost there. The man kept gesturing to her, but she didn’t intend to stop.

Neo had programmed several phone numbers into her cell. She fumbled with the search feature. With the way her hands were shaking, there was no way she could scroll down to the numbers. Her heartbeat had taken on a strange rhythm, as though the organ was beating outside of her chest. The hood of the sedan was mere inches from her bumper, but the police station was just up ahead. Following the GPS instructions, she took a left and realized instantly that she’d made a terrible mistake. The road before her was a desolate side street, lined with thick trees. It might lead to the police station, but the person behind her had a lot of opportunity if he wanted to hurt her. She couldn’t get enough oxygen into her lungs as the car sped up on her tail. Using the voice search, she called up the commander’s phone number. She squeezed the wheel as it rang once, then twice. The call went to voice mail. “This is Brynn-n…” she stammered. “I work for Neo Godfrey—R-Ransom. I think I’m being—” She didn’t get another word out before the sedan careened into the SUV.

“Everything’s going be okay. Everything’s going be okay.” She did her best to grip the wheel and stay on the road. The vehicle she was driving was much bigger than a sedan. Did he really think he could run her off the road? He must’ve come to the same conclusion, because suddenly there was something flashing in his hand. Something sounded behind her—like balloons popping. Glass shattered and adrenaline drenched her system. Thank God she’d dropped Jacob off at school. He’d be taken care of until Neo returned from his mission.

There was another pop and the car tipped to the right. The air pressure gauge lit up on the display screen. She pressed on the gas, desperate to get out of the situation, but the car spun and hit a tree. Something exploded by her head, and shattered shards of glass rained down on her. Warmth trickled over her face.

“I’m going to die,” she whispered.

She hadn’t even told Neo that she loved him. Would he ever find her body or would he think she’d abandoned him like everyone else had? The car creaked or maybe it was the tree she’d crashed into. There was a deafening crack, and whatever was holding the SUV in place broke free. The vehicle began to roll down the embankment. A scream was caught in her throat. Her body tossed and jolted with the car. Something smashed into her head and there was pressure in her hip, but she couldn’t feel any pain. Finally, something stopped the car’s forward motion, leaving her hanging upside down.

The scent of gasoline hit the air and smoke billowed from the front of the car. Tiny flames erupted and danced along the hood. She needed to get out. The glint of steel drew her gaze. Scooter’s dog tags dangled against the shattered mirror. She reached up, her fingers closing over metal. A rush of hope and determination slid through her. With the tags in one hand, she clicked frantically at the seat belt release with the other, and finally it unlatched. She dropped onto her neck, folding at an awkward angle. The steel frame was crushed on the driver’s side, making the window inaccessible.

She dragged herself across the roof to the passenger-side window. The edge was lined with jagged glass, but she didn’t have a choice. She pulled herself through the tiny opening. Her legs didn’t seem to be working, so she used her elbows to wiggle away from the vehicle, only she was still on a slope. Her body started to slide downward, driven by gravity. She dug her fingers into the ground, but the incline was too steep.

Her nails ripped off as she desperately clawed against the side of the hill. Blood coated her hands, and she continued to tumble out of control. She wished she’d been stronger, smart enough to save herself. Finally, she slammed into a rock and heard a loud crack. She worried she’d broken several bones, but before she could gather her wits, an earth-shaking roar rocked her. Heat blasted against her face and flames shot over her. If she hadn’t moved through the car window, she would’ve been blown to pieces. Her ears rang and her vision wavered. Dark closed in and she was falling again.

Chapter Twenty-One

Neo leaned back in the hard metal seat of the helicopter. The headset over his ears crackled as the pilot announced their descent. Branch had been right. The mission had been cut and dried, in and out. They gone in and eliminated the root of the terrorist organization, then made it to their rallying point without any interference. Even the dip and sway of the aircraft and the weightless feeling in his gut as the chopper dropped didn’t bother him. He was missing Brynn and Jacob. Couldn’t wait to burst through the front door and wrap them in a hug. The scent of fuel, sweat, and antiseptic filled the aircraft. They had cleaned up some grazes and surface injuries with the wipes they carried. The team would have to report to the commander on base and debrief. He was itching to undo the heavy straps around his shoulders, anchoring him to the seat.

“Shit, Ransom. You got ants in your pants or something?” Silver said into the headset. He elbowed the older man beside him.

“You would, too, if you had someone waiting for you at home, old man,” Joker piped up. Branch had his head tipped back, eyes closed, and although they couldn’t hear him with the headphones on, he was sure his teammate was sawing wood. Branch was constantly voted worst snorer among the team.

The blades sliced through the air with a noisy whine as the chopper landed inside the chain-link perimeter of the base. Once the skids bumped against the ground, he discarded the headset and tore off his seat belt. Being confined to the enclosed space had never been his favorite thing, and now the anticipation of seeing his family overrode everything else. His family. Something he never imagined in a million years he’d have, let alone cherish. The word used to conjure nothing inside him. It was a blank, empty word. One of numbness and envy. Now, the word evoked images of Brynn and Jacob. A place of support and connection. A life outside the Teams. Wind whipped through the door as they jumped out onto the tarmac and snuck inside his sweat-dampened shirt. His boots slapped against the wet pavement as he and his team headed to debrief. Rain lashed around them, and he pulled his cap down lower over his forehead.

Despite the dark, the floodlights surrounding the main building broke through the shadows, highlighting his commander’s form. Anxiety tightened his chest as the man began to jog toward them. A prickle of unease swept over his scalp, and he started to run, feet pounding against the solid ground. The wind and rain that had made him cold upon landing evaporated and suddenly he was a roaring furnace. Something was wrong. He could feel it in his bones.

“Ransom,” the commander barked. “Conference room.” The man didn’t wait for confirmation, but hurried out of the rain. He cast a glance over his shoulder. His team was right at his back, just where they always were, and he was grateful.

The commander held open the door of the concrete building and walked briskly down the hall. The man’s shoulders were tight, his neck corded, setting off warning bells in Neo’s head. Lt. Commander Richardson plowed through the door of the conference room, and the team filtered in around him.

Beneath the florescent lights, the commander’s lips were set in a tight line. “I received a voice mail this morning.” The entire team was around them, but the commander addressed him directly. His pulse began to quicken. “I was in a meeting with the governor, and I missed the call. You need to hear it. Brace, Ransom.” The commander put his phone in the middle of the conference table and turned it on speaker. His team was silent, all eyes trained on the phone. He gripped the chair in front of him, fingers digging into the upholstery.

“This is Brynn.” Her breathless voice laced with terror nearly brought him to his knees. “I work for Neo Godfrey—R-Ransom. I think I’m being—”

Her voice was cut off by a loud crash, but the call was still being recorded. Metal scraping against metal flooded the line. Tires screeching on pavement. Brynn’s labored breaths spiked sickening fear into his gut. She was whispering, “Everything’s gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna be okay.” He bowed his head, unable to breathe. Then came the gunshots. Glass shattering. A terrified scream. There was a crack that made the whole boardroom seem to shake, followed by another harrowing whisper. “I’m going to die.” No. Don’t, sweetheart. Christ, don’t. He hated the conviction and resignation in her voice. There was a series of thuds, as though the car was tumbling over a cliff. The sound of flesh pounding into something solid had bile flooding his throat.

Then silence. The car must’ve stop moving. Please, Brynn. Please. Each sound he’d listened to was acid eating away at his insides, but he’d shoulder it if he could hear some sign of life. Her breath, her voice. Goddamn it. Time had no relevance—it could’ve been minutes or seconds. He was clutched in fear, and then he heard some wrestling, the click of a seat belt. A thud and then breathing. Thank fuck there was more breathing. Glass being crushed, the crunch of leaves. The sound faded and a whoosh filled the line. Then there was silence. Neo barely made it to the trash can. Vomit burned up his throat and filled his mouth.

His team was standing around the table in stunned silence.

“Fuck!” he cried, and the scream echoed around the room. Seemed to shake the foundation of the building. Or maybe it was him shaking.

His insides were quivering. “What the hell was that?” He spun around to the commander. “Please tell me you found her.” He raked his hands over his scalp. “Was Jacob with her? Where the hell is she now? Fuck, I never should’ve left.”

Silver was pacing across the room. He barely registered the heavy hand on his shoulder.

“The crash happened this morning,” the commander said as Silver gripped him more tightly. “I’ve had law enforcement keep me up to date. So far, the timeline is she dropped Jacob off at school and was driving on a low-traffic road. Tire tracks show two cars. One was the aggressor. Shell casings were found all over the scene. The audio makes it sound like Brynn might’ve escaped before the explosion, but we haven’t been able to find any trace of her. I’m sorry.”

“She’s alive. I know it,” he bit out. How dare the commander suggest otherwise. He balled his hands into tight fists.

“Ransom.” The commander’s tone was laced with sympathy and understanding. “Kills me to say it, but if she got out of that car alive, she would’ve had to travel a hell of a long way out of the range of the explosion. They heard the blast from the police station up the street. Emergency response was there within minutes. No one saw anyone meeting Brynn’s description. By the time they got control over the blaze, it was pouring. Search and Rescue combed the area, but nothing was found.”

His chest was heaving. The room blurred and tilted.

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