Page 76 of Hostile Extraction

Asia sat shell-shocked on the helicopter ride back to Miami, and then again on the plane to Dallas, and now on another helicopter ride to Tri Star’s headquarters with Big Al at the controls.

She and Zoe had been interviewed by the FBI upon arriving in Miami. They’d taken statements and also all the photos and videos that Stan had shot. Zoe had been reunited with her family, and she’d hugged Asia goodbye, thanking her for coming back for her.

Asia hadn’t wanted to leave Miami, but the team insisted she needed to get out of the area. They couldn’t protect her and go in after Dusty. They didn’t have the manpower or the time to argue about it.

The last she’d seen them, they were boarding a helicopter to return to the island.

Thoughts of Dusty tormented her, and she was so filled with worry, she could barely concentrate on anything. The Texas scenery rolled past under them as the helicopter blades whirled above, but it barely registered with her. She was in a daze.

She’d lost him. She’d lost Dusty forever. And this was all her fault.

She chose this. She chose to break it off with him, to beat him to the punch and dump him before he could dump her. And now she had to live with it.

Silent sobs racked her body.

Maybe if he’d thought she believed in him, maybe if he’d thought he had a future with her, he wouldn’t have done something so stupid and risked his life like that.

She knew he’d done that for her.

He’d sacrificed himself so she could escape, so they all could escape.

How would she ever live with that?

How would she ever live without him?

After all they’d shared, she knew now there would never be another man who could come close. No, there would never be another man for her.

Not after Dusty.

“You all right, Miss Fox?” Al asked her through the headset he’d given her when he’d strapped her in.

She nodded. “Have you… had any word about Dusty?”

“Stan, Grady, and Chris are there now. They’ll find him. They’ll bring him back.”

She heard his words, but she knew Rocco could have already killed Dusty. What reason would he have to keep him alive, except maybe to lead them to her?

“I do have news about Amorosi. He was arrested in the Bahamas and is being extradited to the US to face a long list of charges. They also arrested his accomplice, Giselle Winstead, at the Miami airport. They took her off a plane about to take off for Rio.”

“Good.” She was glad the nightmare would stop, and no other women or girls would be harmed, but it was hard to care about anything except if Dusty was okay. Her leg bounced up and down. Every minute dragged on like hours.

“There it is now,” Al said, pointing to a glass and steel building sitting in a large tract of land. She spotted the red x that marked the helipad, and they slowly descended toward it. “Looks like you’ve got a welcome party waiting for you.”

Asia spotted her brother, Carter, and her best friend, Emily, standing off to the side, waving frantically with excitement. Emily was practically jumping up and down.

“They’re good people, those two. They never gave up on you.”

The helicopter landed with barely a bump, and Al unhooked her belts and took the headset.

Carter raced over and opened the door, and she practically fell into his arms, crying.

Emily hugged them both, tears streaming down her face as well.

“Oh, Asia. We were so worried about you. Are you okay?”

Asia nodded. She wasn’t… not really. But the hurt she felt wasn’t the kind they could do anything about.

Al led them all inside, and they waited in the conference room for word from the team. Heather got them all food and drinks, though Asia couldn’t touch a bite. She couldn’t pretend anymore that things were okay. She put her head in her arms and rested them on the table, her sobs overtaking her, shaking her body until Emily wrapped an arm around her and held her, brushing her hair and murmuring that things would be okay.

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