Page 26 of Behind the Cascades
The wound on the side of his upper thigh is pouring blood like someone turned on a faucet. His entire body is already turning a dangerous shade of white from the blood loss.
"You're not going to like this." He needs a tourniquet and surgery. Which means he's getting a med-evac out of here, no matter what.
"Just fucking do it." His normal gruff tone sounds hollow. I can guarantee if it weren't for the adrenaline still coursing through his veins, he'd have passed out already.
Unzipping the small med bag that I never leave without, I pull out the tourniquet and get to work as fast as I can. Trying to treat a nightmare of a wound in a nightmare of a situation. At this point, I don't even know if his leg will be salvageable by the time he gets to the operating room or if he will even make it there. I don't have time to dwell on it though, Linc’s evac is about to arrive. Guns blazing.
I throw Lincoln over my shoulder as Drew and Keller take point to cover us. We've got a dark narrow hallway to get down, and then once we are out we need to get to the back of the building. The only problem being we will be completely exposed the second that door opens. We have to plan it just right so that the Apache we called in can be our distraction. It'll rain hellfire like no other to clear the way for the Black Hawk.
We all move in sync, letting our muscle memory take over. The door stays closed as we wait for the signal.
"Party in ten, gentleman." Comes through and I almost grin.That guy is saving our ass and he sounds a whole hell of a lot like Everett. I don't know if it's him, but I guarantee we'll never hear the end of it, if it was.
On cue, ten seconds later we hear the signature sound of laser-guided hellfire missiles hitting the coordinates we called in. Drew opens the door, nods and we all file through. Sticking close to the side of the building as we make our way around it.
Within thirty seconds, we hear the familiar buzz of a Black Hawk. It doesn’t even land, just hovers as two men start propelling down.
I gently set him down and then squeeze his shoulder. His eyes are open and staring at me but the way his lips are quivering tells me even he knows how bad this is.
"Don't you dare give up, Linc. You see that light you turn the fuck around." I know he can't hear me, but it needs to be said. "See ya soon, brother."
With a nod, I back away and let the medics do what they need to. Once he’s safely in the bird, I watch as it flies away. It takes no time at all before it’s gotten the hell out of here as fast as it could.
I make eye contact with Drew. A silent conversation about how messed up this entire situation passes between us.
Keller starts giving commands, and we both start moving again.
Back to the shitshow that has become our life.
Happy fucking birthday to me.
Chapter Seventeen
Charlie
Monday, November 27.
The next several months passed in a blur. Olivia wasn't exaggerating when she said she was overwhelmed and behind. After seeing how much she's been doing alone, I'm shocked it wasn't worse. She’s running a multi-million-dollar company by herself and as much as I love Dan, he’s solely focused on his career right now. I haven’t minded the challenges it’s all brought, though. It’s kept me plenty busy—a respite from everything that happened in South Carolina.
I drove the motorhome back to Heartsville a few weeks ago. The detective on the case, Detective Paul, thought that it was important that I be at the trial and give my victim impact speech. Carter never stopped looking at me—the obsession still lurking under that creepy smile. The way he watched me even had Detective Paul on edge, so I left immediately after I gave my statement. To my relief, Connie stayed and was the one to tell me he would be going to prison.
Evidently, I wasn't the first of Carter's victims. When he was aminor, he was stalking a girl he went to high school with. Because of his age and social standing, he barely received a slap on the wrist. This time, though, he wasn't so lucky. The same judge who presided over his original case, Judge Shapiro, was appointed to this case. Not only did she remember him, she was determined to ensure justice was served this time around. Carter received the maximum sentence—five years— and was ordered to undergo mandatory counseling for his behavior.
I was on a flight out of there the day after the judge gave her ruling. Back to my new home. My safe place.
I'm not going to lie and say it hasn't been hard to readjust back to normal life, but it isn't as hard as I thought it would be. Especially now that the contractors have finally finished making our office building beautiful—if you can call a brick building beautiful. The second floor has the set-up of most people’s dream home. The full kitchen itself is a masterpiece—I don’t even like cooking but I might start just so I can use all the fancy equipment. The game room has a huge TV, bean bag chairs, and a Lego table that is bigger than my kitchen. Our actual "office" has views of the Cascade Mountains that take my breath away every time I look out the window.
Olivia and I have been exhausting ourselves the last few weeks, making sure we have everything we could ever need for the office and a new baby. Her due date is next week, but that hasn't stopped her from working. She walks up and down the stairs, carrying “light” boxes, claiming she's trying to induce labor. Meanwhile, it only worries Dan and me that she’s overexerting herself. We both end up doing double the amount of work so that it's done faster and she will just sit. So far, it isn't working.
Finally, after an exhausting number of trips up the stairs, Dan couldn’t handle it anymore. "Olivia! Please, baby, just stayup here and start organizing. We know that you can handle all of the work, but Charlie and I can't handle watching you do it."
Her eyes narrowed in response, looking fully pissed off.
I almost laugh every time I see her so angry. She's been like this for the last three weeks. Everything he says sets her off, and I can tell he's scrambling to appease her.
"I'm fine!" She growls out.
"Yes, you are!" I offer my insincere support. "Get things moving! That way, when it's time, you'll be so tired that they'll have to give you a c-section. Just lay back and let them do all the work." I shrug nonchalantly, knowing that's exactly what she doesn't want.
