Page 10 of A Gathering Storm

Gently pushing his jacket away so that she could have a good look at the damage, her worried gaze found it. “Oh, Brookes.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s take your jacket off.” Holding his breath, he slipped out of the garment.

Brookes swayed and claimed the seat she’d vacated. Abby’s sure fingers unbuttoned his shirt.

“I heard them speaking in German,” she said in a low tone. “They’re waiting for someone else to start the interrogation. We’ll have to act quickly.” When the full extent of the damage was revealed, she squared her shoulders. Abby was one of the best combat nurses around, and he’d seen her work miracles. “This is going to hurt.” Without waiting for his response, Abby felt along his back.

He clamped down on his bottom lip to keep from making any sound.

“I’m sorry. But the good news is the bullet exited cleanly.” She looked around for something to use and found a half-roll of paper towels. Abby grabbed them. “This should help seal the wound and stop the blood loss.” Working quickly, Abby used what she could find to bandage the wound and secure it as best as possible.

When she finished, he felt much better. He rose and went over to the windows lining one wall. What had happened to the rest of their team? Had Kevin managed to get the president and his wife out of the hot zone in time?

The bottom half of the windows had been painted white, but the paint was peeling. Brookes could just see outside through several quarter-size holes. “This appears to be an airport.”

Abby peered over his shoulder. “From what I remember, I’d say we’re around twenty to thirty miles from where we landed.” She removed her boot and took out her backup phone. “I’m so glad they didn’t do a thorough search.” She powered up the phone and called their team.

“Are you both okay?” Cole’s welcomed voice. Brookes leaned close to the phone.

“Brookes has been shot.” Abby described the injury. “Do you have our location locked down?”

“We do. I have men coming your way.” Cole confirmed that they were at a regional airfield outside of Hinton. “Michael Hurst will be your contact. He’s a former Army Ranger, and he has several ex-military men with him. They’re half an hour out. Where are you being held? Is there a possibility of escaping?”

“We’re not sure. I have no doubt they’re watching the door, so we can’t go out that way.” She told them about being forced into the room and the door locked. “There are windows, but I’m not sure we can climb out without being heard, but we’ll do our best.”

“Don’t put your lives on the line. Keep the phone close but on vibrate. As soon as Michael’s team is within range, I’ll have them contact you. Be ready.”

Brookes asked about the rest of the team. The length of time before his answer came had him wondering if the task of flying out of a battle situation had been too much for Kevin. It was his fault. He shouldn’t have given someone with limited flight time such a critical task.

“We’re not sure. The chopper crashed. Michael has sent some of his friends to evacuate them. They’re closing in on the crash site now.”

Had his mistake cost the lives of his team?Please,God,no.

“You two stay safe. As soon as the rescue team is close, they’ll be in touch.”

“Copy that.” Abby ended the call and put the phone on vibrate.

Brookes checked the windows. He tried several but couldn’t get them to budge. “The paint is acting like glue. We’ll never get them open.” Their eyes met.

She placed her hands on either side of his face. “We’ll be okay. We just have to stay alive until our rescue team comes for us.” She kissed him tenderly and clasped his hands. He loved this woman so much.

A few weeks earlier, Brookes had asked Abby to marry him and she’d said yes. They were planning a future together. More than ever, he prayed they would have that opportunity because he had a bad feeling the future was in danger. . . for all of them.

Chapter Four

“We’ll get them back, Cole.” Eva’s heart went out to her husband. With the world in turmoil, having men down and unaccounted for was bad enough. But having two captured by the enemy was terrifying on so many levels. And she knew him well enough to know he was taking all the blame for what happened.

He managed a smile. “I know. How’s Sadie holding up? This is no way for her to learn that I'm her father.”

Eva clasped his hand. “She’s fine. Athalia and Moshe took her to explore close to the lodge.” Because of her, Cole had lost so many years with Sadie. She was determined to right that wrong. “And Sadie is going to love having you as her father.”

The weariness on his handsome face tore at her heart. “We’re all praying for our teammates. They have God’s protection, and Michael Hurt’s team seems highly qualified. We’ll get them back.” She wished there was something more she could do to ease her husband’s pain.

“I know we will.” Still something was troubling him. “With so many bad people hunting for us, I have to wonder how long we’ll be safe here.”

The thought was alarming. Eva couldn’t imagine having to move a group as large as the Strike Force family again. “How do you think they found the location of the chopper?” Had someone on the team betrayed them? If so, they’d have to be extra vigilant.

Cole looked around the room at the men and women of Strike Force who were working overtime to defeat an enemy that was growing in strength and power. “There’s only one person I can think of. The man from Denver. Barry Newton. He managed to fool us, which is infuriating.” He shook his head. “Garrett has been trying to pin down Newton’s phone for his location, but the man has gone dark.”

Something occurred to him. “Hang on a second.” He went over to where Garrett was working. Eva followed. “I had a thought,” he told the intelligence officer. “If Newton is working for Kirkpatrick in some capacity—and after what happened, we can be assured he is—then he’ll want to be part of what’s happening. I’m guessing he’s on his way to the airport since the chopper crashed after Abby and Brookes were taken. We need to let our people know to watch out for another possible threat.”

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