Page 75 of The Only Reason (The Trident Trilogy 2)

“Who?” I say.

“Fareed Custovic. He was just here with me returning fire. Is he down?”

The guys all look around for another body near the car. There’s no one. They all instinctively drop to a knee—facing out, rifles drawn.

“Base. This is Echo One. We’ve got a potential squirter. You see anyone on the run?” I say.

“Negative. Echo One. The only live bodies we see are yours and three headed your way from north of your position.”

Butch looks up over my shoulder.

“Mase,” he says, nodding his head up the hill.

I turn around to see Chase, Raine, and Mack—armed with rifles—walking toward us. I move in front of Millie and block her view temporarily.

“Keep your eyes peeled for Custovic,” I say to my team. “He could have made it to one of these houses.”

“You want us to clear them?” Hawk says.

“Negative. He’s not our problem. We need to get to the evac site.”

I pull Millie up off the ground, still shielding her from her dad. I get down on her eye level.

“Millie, look at me.” She looks up, her eyes narrowing as she sees the concern on my face. “I just want you to know everything is going to be okay. Whatever happens next, you’re going to be fine.”

She nods and tries to smile. She looks confused. I kiss the top of her head before I step aside. She looks up the hill. I can tell her eyes haven’t focused on who they are yet. I look up the hill, too. I feel her body fall back against mine as they get closer. I’m about to start whispering to her when something catches the sun to the left of where Mack is walking. I see the barrel of a pistol pointed right at Mack. He’s only ten feet away from us now. I throw Millie to Bryce and run toward Mack.

“Nooooooo!” I shout as Fareed Custovic stands up and fires.

I knock Mack out of the way as I feel the bullet enter my neck just above my body armor. As I fall to the ground, I hear Millie scream. She’s on me almost instantly, collapsing down on my chest. I see Mack pulling her off me, just as I fade into blackness.

---