Page 4 of Duty Bound

"So, what's Lily got to do with all this?"

"She was working with the Afghans, setting up a system, codename Hawkeye, to keep an eye on the Taliban." His quiet words hit hard.

"So, they nabbed her to shut it down?"

Pat let out a dry laugh. "It's live. Lily did her part. According to my DOD sources, she is one of a small number of individuals who have the top-secret codes they need to dismantle the system. I don't know who the others are, but apparently she was the easier target."

Blade's mind raced. With those codes, the Taliban could shut them out. They'd have even less intel than before.

"If they get those codes, everything she did is for nothing." Pat's words were heavy with emotion. Lines of worry etched deep in his face. This was personal to him.

Blade frowned. “Why are you telling me this?"

Pat's eyes were like flint. "I'm going in after her, Blade."

"Are you crazy? That's a job for Delta Force. Hostage rescue is their specialty. You know as well as I do, nobody does it better."

"The brass won't touch it. Not officially. It's no-man's land out there."

Blade knew the score. The troops were gone, the region was a void, and now Lily was somewhere in the middle of it.

"Have you talked to them? Made any deals?"

Pat scoffed. "They're not going to go for it. We've got witnesses. She was forced into a van, left her stuff scattered outside the airport."

Blade was on autopilot, the operator in him kicking into gear. "Tracked her phone? Got any eyes in the sky on this?" He sucked in a breath.

Stop.

Those days were over. This was not his problem.

"We've got drones looking."

"But no rescue team?"

Pat's look was all the answer he needed.

"Unofficial doesn't mean not happening."

A mission in the shadows. He raised a hand. "No. Don't even start." But Pat leaned closer, laying out the details.

"We need a squad of at least four operators, including me. I've organized a ride on a civilian aircraft to Kabul tomorrow at oh six hundred. We're going in as aid workers, it's the only way. A contact in the city will kit us out."

Blade exhaled slowly, trying to keep his shit together.

No fucking way was he going back there.

Hell, he'd barely made it out alive the first time.

Now Pat was asking him to go back? Lily was the only link the man had left to his son, and he wanted to do something to help her. Blade got that. Understood it on a cellular level. Still…

He swallowed over the rising panic, struggling to keep the fear out of his voice. "I know this means a lot to you, but you've got the wrong guy." This was not the answer. He was not the answer.

"I'm not the man for the job. After what happened…" He couldn't think the words, let alone speak them.

"I'm asking you to put Helmand aside, Blade," Pat said, tersely. "I need to do this. For Lily. She's like family to me. I can't just leave her in that hellhole. You know the score. You know I can't do this alone. I need your help."

Blade's gut clenched. He'd re-up in a heartbeat if things were different. Dive back into the fray, earn his stripes again. He'd been at his best when he was operating and missed that version of himself. But the truth was stark in his mind—he was a shadow of who he had been. He had a panic attack when a firecracker went off, for fuck's sake.

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