Page 99 of No Mistake

Sophie had never felt so scared or helpless. Ryan was back there in that cabin, fighting with Perez. Her imagination was running overtime. What if more of these armed men went to the cabin? They would shoot Ryan, and they had just left him there all alone. Where were his team? She hadn’t seen any of them yet.

Tracer had his cellphone to his ear.

“I have her. She’s unharmed. Exfil?”

After a long silence where Tracer listened to whoever he was talking to, he moved a few steps away from Sophie. She hugged herself, shivering, as fear and shock took over. She didn’t really know this man. What if he wasn’t a good guy?

Tracer turned back, surprising her by handing her the phone.

“It’s Dex.”

She took the phone. “Dex?”

“Hey, Sophie. Are you alright?”

“I... yes... Ryan. Do you have Ryan?”

“We have him. Listen, Tracer is with us. He is going to get you off the ship. It’s not secure yet, so you do exactly what he says. You can trust him, OK?”

“OK. But I want to talk to Ryan.”

Dex’s silence made her stomach drop.

Then Dex finally spoke. “You can’t right now. Sophie, go with Tracer. I have to go.” Dex hung up and Sophie handed Tracer back his phone.

“What happened to Ryan?” The feeling of dread spread through her.

“His team are with him,” Tracer said.

“That’s not what I asked. If he was there, he would have been the one to speak to me. What happened?”

“Lady. We don’t have time for this. We need to move. Right now. A second team are waiting at the lifeboat with the rest of the hostages. You are getting off this ship. Follow close behind me and stay quiet.” Tracer turned to move, but Sophie stood firm.

“I am not going anywhere until you tell me what happened.” She folded her arms across her chest, determined.

Tracer cursed and stepped closer, towering over here. She was instantly transported back to a time when it was Mark standing before her, glowering, berating her, using his size and power to make her feel small. Not again. She would not stay quiet. She would not be scared. Inhaling deeply, she stood up straight, stood her ground. Glaring right back at Tracer she waited for him to speak. She had to know about Ryan.

“He’s hurt, but—”

“Hurt?” she shrieked.

“Keep your fucking voice down before you get us both killed,” Tracer hissed.

“How bad? I’m a doctor. I should go back. I can help.”

“Not happening. You heard Dex. They have him, and I am to get you off this ship to safety.”

She pushed at his chest angrily. “You left him. Left him! This is your fault. You should have stayed and helped him.”

Tracer grabbed her wrists, holding her tight. “Calm down and listen to me. You know Tyler is a trained medic. He’s got him. A medevac is enroute. It is not going to help Ryan if you get hurt. It’s not what he would want. The way to help him right now is to get out of harm's way. Then the teams can stop worrying about your safety and secure this ship, then the medevac can land and get Ryan to hospital.”

Sophie stared at the man before her, finally seeing what she hadn’t before – he was as upset about this situation as she was. She lowered her arms as the fight went out of her.

“Can you please tell me how bad?” she asked quietly.

Tracer sighed. “He’s been stabbed twice in the stomach. But he’s alive.”

Sophie covered her mouth with her hand and stopped a sob escaping, but tears rolled down her cheeks. An image of Ryan bleeding out on the floor flooded her brain.

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