Page 43 of Honoring Lena

Twenty-Two

“They ditchedthe bird at Walker Field.” Bjørn stepped into the emergency room. “My buddy watched them land and take off in a jet less than a minute later.” He pushed his hand through his hair. “He’s looking into the flight route and call sign for me.”

Lena’s chest burned like a moose sat on it, refusing to let her breathe. Marshall paced the short distance along the wall. He kept staring at his hands and flexing them. Nothing she said could erase his failure to save Carter.

“I’m just going to take a look.” The doctor who refused to leave stepped in front of her with his otoscope at the ready.

“I’m fine.” Lena swatted the doctor’s hand away as he flashed the light in her eyes.

She pushed off of the examination table with her working arm, cringing as pain ratcheted through her entire body. It didn’t compare to the searing heat in her heart.

“We need to leave. Zeke is setting up transport, so let’s get to the airfield.” She snatched her pack from the chair just as Gunnar strode into the room.

“You done?” His gaze darted around the room.

“Yes.”

“No,” the doctor said at the same time as Lena, causing her to glare his way. To his credit, he didn’t flinch. “I haven’t looked at her arm yet or the abrasions.”

“They’re fine.” Lena stomped out of the room. “We’re leaving now.”

Marshall stepped up beside her, his hands shoved in his pockets and his shoulders slumped. Why hadn’t she stayed in the chopper until everyone was out? She’d let her guard down, and now the organization had Carter. She needed to come up with a plan, and fast.

“Marshall, we’ll find him.” She slid her hand down his arm, but he flinched and pulled away. “I put trackers in his shoes. Rafe is pinpointing where he is now.”

“What if they hurt him? What if—” Marshall’s voice cracked, and he shook his head. “What if I never see him again?” He speared her with a look so full of anguish, his pain almost doubled her over. “What kind of father lets a stranger take care of his son? Why didn’t I take him out of his seat myself?”

They stopped at the curb, the cold, humid breeze from the ocean chilling her skin. She stepped into Marshall’s space, willing him to not blame himself. How were they to know the pilots were part of the organization after Marshall? She’d watched the co-pilot and his jovial act, like all he wanted to do was help. She had never expected him to be a kidnapper, so why would Marshall?

“Rafe will locate Carter, I promise.” Lena praised God that Rafe had been able to reverse-engineer the tracking device Piper’s stalker had used on her. “The trackers in Carter’s shoes are the best. We’ll figure out where they’re going, and then we’ll go get Carter back.”

Marshall paced away, frustration rolling off of him. “They might kill him before that.” He turned back to her, his hands spreading wide before he speared his fingers in his hair and pulled. “I can’t lose him too.”

She closed the distance between them and took his hand. “If they want you to cooperate, they need him alive. That will give us the time to mount an assault.”

“But how will they even contact me to tell me what to do?” His confusion showed just how unnerved he was.

“If they can find us in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, I think they’ll be able to call you.” Lena threaded her fingers through his and pulled him to the vehicle Bjørn drove up to the curb in. “Come on. Let’s get in the air.”

As they pulled away from the curb, Gunnar turned in the passenger seat. “I’ve been wondering about how they set all this up.” His forehead creased, and he shook his head. “The pilot acted like he didn’t know where to go, but he was pretty insistent on going the way we went. We talked through possibilities, and his thoughts made just as much sense as anything we came up with.”

“Maybe they were just banking on us finding them.” Bjørn turned onto Tudor Road as he made his way to Ted Stevens International. “They infiltrate our troops, they don’t have to work so hard.”

Just like they’d infiltrated the military and sabotaged the Colombia mission, killing Ethan. Just like they’d used General Paxton’s friend Colonel Johnson to get to June and her Supersuit. They influenced civilians like Kiki’s family and government officials like the colonel to reach their gains, sliding their slippery tentacles into every possible crevice. General Paxton didn’t need a small team to stop whoever was behind this. He needed an army. With everything she knew, how could she not join him in this fight? She peeked at Marshall, who stared at his hands clenched between his legs. How could she not do everything she could so more families weren’t destroyed?

“Yeah, but it could’ve taken us days to find them.” Gunnar huffed.

“We wouldn’t give up.” Bjørn shrugged. “They—”

Born to be Wild blared through the cab, causing her to jump. Gunnar twisted in the seat and pulled out his phone. Her lips twitched as she watched him, though nothing about this situation was funny. At least some things never changed. That her brother still claimed that song as his eased her tension a little. With him and Bjørn here, she didn’t have to figure this out alone.

“Hello?” Gunnar answered the call, a hesitance in his voice. His eyebrows shot up, and he handed the phone back. “Marshall, it’s for you.”

Bjørn swerved into The Bear Paw parking lot and slammed into a spot. Marshall’s hand shook as he took the phone from Gunnar. What would they demand now? Lena placed her hand on Marshall’s leg and mouthed “Speaker.”

He took a deep breath, tapped the speaker icon, and cleared his throat. “This is Marshall.”

“Mr. Rand, you’ve been a troublesome man to track down.” The cultured voice of a woman shouldn’t have surprised Lena with how Kiki’s aunt had been running the organization’s complex in Colombia, but it did.

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