Page 54 of Peach

"I did. But I've had so many miscarriages I couldn't. I thought really hard about it, but after learning I was pregnant, I figured it would die inside like all the others did. Then, after ten weeks, I was still pregnant, and I knew this was different. That's when I went to the pastor and told him he needed to come clean. Ellen, Peach's mom, was there in the back and heard the argument. He threatened me, and that's when she came out and told the pastor to go to hell."

“Wow, that’s great that she stood up for you. It’s sad that they ended up dying in Colombia.”

“Yeah. I don’t know if Peach has heard anything about Audrey.”

“Wait, who is Audrey?”

They had been walking for almost an hour, and they hadn't seen another car on the road. They also hadn't heard anything in the forest. She wondered if they should stop and rest. Mel had to be tired, but if they stopped, Eason and Will would find them.

“Before I tell the story, do you want to stop and rest or keep going?”

“Keep walking. I can’t think of them catching us again.”

“Okay. Let’s keep going. We’ll walk until we find help.”

“Now, tell me about Audrey.”

“She was a neighbor’s daughter who went missing. I don’t know why, but Ellen and John, Peach’s parents, thought they could find her.”

“Did they just head down there without any help?”

She shrugged. "There was a photo of Audrey. I guess they thought they could do it. Peach says he told his parents about a few of the rescues he did, and he feels it's his fault for making it seem easy."

“But they had to know it wouldn’t be easy. They had to understand the SEALs have a team.”

Haisley blew out a breath. "I don't know if they wanted to play the hero or if they really didn't think about what they were doing."

"Dang. I'm sorry, and that sucks."

“It does. Now, there are people in the government looking for her, but I don’t know what happened. When we get home, I want to look into it.”

When she caught a slice of sky, she noticed it was getting lighter to their left. That meant they were going south. She hoped south was a reasonable way to go. Eventually, they would have to rest. Mel was doing fine now, but if something good didn't happen soon, they would be in trouble.

Chapter 36

Peach droppedto his knees and caught Harry before he fell. He heard Jax over coms, so he was certain their guys weren't in the blast radius. Harry stood at the same time he did. They both took off, heading deeper into the woods.

Peach told Wild their position and heading. They agreed to meet a few clicks away. They’d accomplished their task, but who knows what kind of mess they’d left behind.

They would give their information to some person in command on the ship and then head home. He couldn’t wait to hold Haisley. She meant so much to him. He hoped she was still there when he got home. He didn’t think she would run out on him. She wasn’t like that. But he’d seen it happen, and his history with serious relationships wasn’t great. He’d made mistakes picking good women before.

The sound of the helicopter was a welcome relief. They met up with the four other men on their team about twenty yards from where the chopper was dropping low for them. They were far enough away, and he was sure no onefrom the compound would attack, but they were close enough to hear and see the effects of another explosion.

“Damn, I guess they think we’re still there,” Jax said.

“Or maybe they’re just destroying their own,” Andy said.

“Idiots,” Bear threw out as he loaded onto the chopper.

Peach jumped in and positioned himself to take out anyone firing from the ground. The chopper rose, but no one attacked. They were flying low over the trees, heading out to sea. He could make out another fireball rising from the area where they’d just come from.

He hoped they flamed out, and the people left alive could find a different path instead of thinking they had to keep attacking and destroying lives. The Navy had sent Peach's team in to kill the guy because he'd done so many horrible things. It wasn't a decision that had been made lightly. Every mission had hundreds of hours of thought behind them. Different decisions could be made, but sometimes, force was the only solution.

Doing a rundown of what happened took about five hours, then they were allowed to shower and eat. Arrangements were made, and before the sun rose the next day, they were on their way back to the States.

Andy looked worried, and Peach understood. He was worried about Haisley, but she had months before she delivered her baby. He moved to the empty space beside Andy.

“You doing good?”

---