Page 51 of Peace Under Fire

But then her instincts kicked in and she paused. The expression on Jacob’s face and the tone of his voice both seemed off somehow. Although she couldn’t say what she was picking up on. And then there was the way he took another step back, retreating from her eager hands, as though he didn’t really want to share the footage with her.

Her hand slowly fell. What was on the video he claimed she needed to see, but was hesitant to show her? “What’s wrong.”

Her thoughts went wild. Did the video show her sisters being tortured? Injured? Or even killed? Was that why he was so hesitant to show it to her?

“It’s just that—” he frowned and scrubbed his hand through his hair again. “It shows the attack on your home and your…sisters…being brought out.”

He looked off balance, kind of shell shocked, an expression she’d never seen on his face before. Was the video that bad? She swallowed and steeled herself. “Were they hurt? My sisters, I mean.”

A frown furrowed his forehead. “Physically? It doesn’t look like it. But the bastards launched some kind of gas into the building and knocked everyone out. Your sisters were brought out on stretchers unconscious, or at least that’s what it looked like.”

“Okay.” Mandy waited. None of what he’d described was unexpected. Of course the cockroaches would knock her sisters out. They certainly wouldn’t want to face Alex, Sybil, or Jo face to face.

“It’s just that…” Jacob shook his head. “Hell—"

Brick appeared over Jacob’s shoulder. “Just show her the footage.”

After another hesitation, Jacob handed the phone over. “We don’t think they’re dead,” he reemphasized. “We’re pretty sure they’re just unconscious.”

Mandy didn’t doubt him. The cockroaches would want them alive. You couldn’t experiment on—or manipulate—dead subjects.

They’d already loaded the video and had it waiting for her. She pressed play and the video started rolling.

She immediately recognized the outside perimeter of the compound. Her home. The place she’d grown up, or one of the places. The other place, the nightmare one, was where the cockroaches were determined to drag them back.

Three black, military style vehicles came roaring down the driveway and slid to a stop in front of the buildings. A slew of men dressed in black and wearing gas masks hopped out of the Humvees and fired big guns at the concrete walls of the buildings. Parts of the walls crumbled. Then they fired what looked like steel canisters through the holes in the walls.

Sybil let loose on the first vehicle, sending it straight up in the air and hurling it back, and then Alex blew it up. Good for them. Mandy smiled tightly. Too bad they didn’t get a chance to blow up more of the Humvees before the gas took them out.

When the whirlwind of birds showed up, Mandy flinched. It must have broken Jayla’s heart to send those birds into the fray knowing that some of them would die during the attack. Yet she’d done it anyway in a desperate attempt to protect their sisters.

Damn those cockroaches for forcing Jayla to make that choice.

Another truck showed up, this one boxy and square. More people dressed in black spilled into the driveway. More people wearing gas masks. Would she recognize the faces from beneath those masks? Were they the ones that had haunted her childhood?

“Keep your eyes on the stretchers,” Jacob said, as a procession of stretchers came out of the living quarters.

Mandy couldn’t have dragged her gaze away even if she’d wanted to. Dana was hauled out first. Her head was turned away from the camera, but there was no mistaking that blonde, fluffy cloud of hair. Kaylee came next, her oval face and pixie black hair turned toward the camera. After that, Giulia, her shoulder length curly brown hair splayed around her head like a frizzy halo. One by one, eight of her sisters were brought out and loaded onto the truck.

The only one they hadn’t brought out was JoAnn. She wouldn’t have missed Jo. Her spiky pink hair stood out like a warning flare.

“It’s Jo. She’s the one missing.” Her voice picked up speed. “We need to turn around, go back home.” Or—maybe his friend could get her on a plane. He seemed to be able to get things done. “Can your friend Tex get me on a plane?”

“JoAnn’s the one missing from the video?” Jacob asked.

“Yes.” Mandy rubbed her forehead with shaking fingers. “She must be terrified. I need to go back. I have to find her.”

“JoAnn.” Jacob repeated beneath his breath. “She’s the one who can heal, right?” When Mandy nodded, he released a relieved breath. “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about her blowing up the reconnaissance team.”

“If I can talk to her, before you team arrives, I can talk her into leaving with us.”

Jacob shook his head. “We can’t take you back, sweetheart. It’s too dangerous. It’s a safe bet the bastards who attacked your family have men keeping an eye on the place. The minute you show up, they’ll go after you.”

Sweetheart? Another pet name? Mandy’s heart softened, until she realized why he was using the endearment, and it wasn’t because she was special to him. He was trying to sweet talk her into placidly going along with what he’d decided was best for her. Which wasn’t best for her at all.

She set her jaw and threw back her shoulders. “I’m not going to leave her alone out there. She’s got to be terrified.”

“Tex’s team will find her and bring her back to the Refuge.” Brick stepped in to reassure her. “But Squish is right. You can’t go back. It’s too dangerous.”

---