Page 27 of Zero Visibility

Chapter Ten

He cleared the last step and the hatch closed. He carefully laid Jen on the floor while people gathered round.

“Help her,” Ben pleaded to no one in particular.

Everett knelt beside Jen. “Are there any medical supplies?”

“There is.” Jordyn grabbed a bag from the back of the plane.

“What can I do to help?” Ben asked. He was reminded of the expression on Kaiden’s face when he’d almost lost Sidney.

“Give me some space to work.” Compassion filled Everett’s eyes. “Let me do my job, Ben. I’m going to do everything in my power to save her and your child.”

Someone urged him into one of the seats. Ben dropped down and hung his head in his hands.

“Go, go, go,” Will urged, and Lincoln didn’t waste time getting airborne.

Tears fell unchecked and Ben wiped his eyes. Focused on the efforts being made to save his wife.

Someone squeezed his arm. He looked their way. Peter sat beside him. “I can’t lose her.” His voice broke as tears made it impossible to speak.

Peter didn’t try to give him false promises. “I know.”

Ben lowered his head and prayed a desperate prayer that she would live. They’d just started working on their marriage again and now this.Please don’t take her, he begged God. As he poured his heart out to his Lord, a peace that didn’t make sense settled around him.

Trust Me.The words popped into his mind. From God? From his own imagination?

“Ben.”

He turned at the sound of his name. Everett stood close by.

Ben jumped to his feet. “Is she okay?”

Everett nodded. “She’s stable. The bullet passed clean through. There doesn’t appear to be damage to any major arteries.”

“The baby?” He didn’t know if he could handle hearing they’d lost their child.

“The baby is stable as well.”

“Thank you, doctor.” Ben rushed to Jen’s side and sank down beside her.

Jordyn placed a blanket over his wife. She touched Ben’s shoulder for a second, and then gave them privacy.

Ben clutched Jen’s hand. She’d lost so much blood. “I love you, babe. Don’t you worry about anything. You just rest and take care of our child.”

No response. No movement. Just like looking at a woman who was sleeping, and yet he knew it wasn’t that peaceful. With tears hovering in his eyes, he clung to her hand and to the promise he believed came from God alone. He would trust Him. Because he couldn’t lose her again.

He scrubbed the tears away, while all the things he’d done to bring them to this point crowded in. All the guilt. His part in getting her hurt threatened to drown him. She’d needed him and he put the job in front of her. He hadn’t shown her how important she was to him. The worst part was he’d known he was screwing up.

“Ben, we’re going to need an alternate plan.”

Ben jerked toward Lincoln who had been trying to get his attention for some time. “We can’t fly back to Montana and put the rest of the team in danger. Legion will be tracking our flight.”

On top of his fear for Jen, they were now without a place to call home. Legion would have full control of all the military branches with the vice president sworn in as Commander in Chief. They were probably scrambling jets to intercept them and shoot them down right now. Every second they were airborne they were at risk.

“What’s our location, Lincoln? Are we in Montana yet?”

“Just crossed the border.”

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