Page 100 of Ripple Effect
Alessio knocks on the window with his gun. “Come, Diego. It is time to show our prisoners what happens when they don’t obey orders!” His muffled voice sounds cheerful.
Diego lets out a bark of laughter. “You all watch. Watch or same happens.”
We do. Those of us who are left watch as the naked, bloodied captain begs for his life. He begs, he pleads, he rescinds his offer not to help.
And they still shoot him.
Before kicking him over the side of the deck.
My stomach roils. Bile comes up in my mouth. I heave a little, but Linc hisses—just before Diego stalks back into the Titan Bar, with an almost cheerful look on his face—“Swallow it down, Libby. Don’t make them take you next. I wouldn’t be able to stand it. Do. You. Hear. Me?”
I give an imperceptible nod. I swallow the acidic taste down, apologizing profusely to my precious child for the horror it is suffering.
And I’m praying with all my might that Cal understood my last message; I hope he understood I want him to be happy and that I love him in the event I never get to tell him.
70
Calhoun
Year Six - Five Years Ago from Present Day October 23 1100 Hours GMT
The first mission after Libby and I moved in together involved intelligence gathering in a savagely brutalized village in an African country. After witnessing the atrocities done to the women by not only the men of the village but by their male children, I came home practically homicidal. I couldn’t go straight back to Libby’s and my home. For days, I lay in my bunk in the training barracks staring into nothing as teams were deployed to God only knows where, afraid of what would happen if I went home and touched the woman I loved.
If I think back, it was likely that first mission after we were an “us” that solidified when I realized I could never, would never tell her that I wasn’t just working for just a government contractor now. I knew I would have to compartmentalize my life and keep my work away from my soul. I needed to keep Libby’s perception of the world as untouched as the sunflowers I compared her smile to. And yet it was my duty to never let her know mine was hiding the filth they grew in.
But now, as I stand on deck with a pair of binoculars focused on the yacht holding my wife captive in the distance, I wonder if I should have gone home? If I should have let her know who exactly the man was she was going to be married to. Was it worth saving her from worry? Was it worth the hell we’re both going through right now?
Because even though she thinks she doesn’t know me anymore, I know her. While Libby might be sporting a few lines of worry and maybe some gray hairs, she’d still have her smile.
What she wouldn’t be doing is suffering at the hands of captors.
She’d be at home safe. And I’d be free from the horror that’s choking me with every breath I take.
71
Elizabeth
Year Six - Five Years Ago from Present Day October 23 1700 Hours GMT
Ididn’t understand the true meaning of pain until hours passed staring at the sunlight reflecting off the ocean, reliving each moment of my life. Instead of unlimited moments to pretend I’ll be okay, life is whittling down to regrets. My hope is dwindling as fast as the sun begins to set on the horizon. Devastatingly fast and yet not fast enough.
It’s all just a matter of time.
I pull my knees up as close as I can to my chest, despite the burn it causes in my shoulders. My hair falls forward, giving me a shield for just a moment. I know it won’t last long; I’ll likely pay for it, but I need it. I sneak a peek to make sure Linc is still breathing.
By the grace of God or the Devil, he is.
He’s curled in the corner, bruised and bleeding. What they did to him…I shudder. I can see the purplish outline of where Alessio’s boots kicked him repeatedly because the master-at-arms wouldn’t turn over the codes to the ship’s safe. I both admire and hate the ship’s officer because he wouldn’t. I overheard the conversation; they want access to that impenetrable safe where the jewels for the auction are. And the officer is using it to barter for his life.
Of the few of us who are left, I think we all wish we had something that valuable.
I’ve been praying for the life nestled deep inside of me. In the depth of my heart, I’ve already forgiven Cal. And I forgave myself. Why did it take something as catastrophic as this for me to realize the man I love wouldn’t have tried so hard to make me listen if he truly didn’t have an explanation?
He wouldn’t have. He has more honor than that. But while it doesn’t resolve the wear and tear on our marriage, I pray with all my heart he interprets my last message to be happy.
I may never get to tell him that myself. I hear a savage groan from Linc that echoes the truth of my fears.
Emotional pain can’t kill you though it might feel like it. It’s easier to strike out with actions than to listen. If I think about it, I’ve been slowly dying for two months. I’ve suffered by my own hand, due to my own lack of sight, by planting myself stubbornly in one location and not moving. I just wish the people in this room could be spared the mirror of my heart’s lesson.
