The Elite: The Complete Series of Boomer and Player (With Bonus) (30 page)

Not.

Survive.

“Holly? Can you hear me? Holly?”

I heard the voices, heard them calling my name, but my head felt like it was underwater, the voices were garbled and faint.

“Holly?”

I opened my eyes and saw Rachel staring down at me, her blue eyes wider than I’d ever seen them before. She gasped as our eyes met and squeezed me. “Oh my God! Holly!”

Before I could ask what had happened, Aaron’s strong deeper voice reached me. “…it’s not true. The reporters were fed the wrong information in order to keep Boomer safe.”

“Safe?” I repeated dumbly.

Rachel nodded and cut a look over from where Aaron’s voice was.

“To keep Boomer safe from the dickheads in the mountains fighting against our guys. If they know Boomer is out there, that he ejected, they’ll be combing the entire mountainside looking for him. They’d love to use him as some sick trophy kill.”

A chill ran down my spine at the picture and I closed my eyes, trying to blink it away as quickly as it had come in.

“Holly, you have to believe me. I just got off the phone with my buddy. He said it was a purposeful misdirect to keep Boomer safe. They wouldn’t say anything if they thought he was dead. They found his parachute and there are boots on the ground in the area. They’ll find him. They gave the false report to throw the bad guys off his trail. Gives us a chance to get in and get him out.”

“That’s cruel!” I burst out, hot tears soaking my cheeks. I shook my head and pulled my legs up to my chest. “What about his family?”

The whole plot was outrageous. Of course I wanted him to be safe, and I knew if he ended up in enemy hands, his fate would be worse than death, but all the same, I couldn’t believe they could pull such a stunt without notifying his loved ones and spare them the heartache.

“I just got off the phone with his mother. They all were notified before the report was released.”

“Well, I didn’t get a call! Obviously!” I spat back, instantly regretting my harsh tone. Aaron was only trying to help, and I knew he wasn’t the problem.

Rachel sat down beside me and began to stroke my hair, like I was an upset child. I was about to push her away, but the simple touch had a calming effect, and I gave into it, leaning against her. Aaron nodded. “You’re right, you should have. But, Jack didn’t have time to go through the paper chain to get you added as his emergency contact before he shipped out. That’s why he asked me to…” Aaron’s voice trailed off as he glanced beyond me for a moment, gathering his thoughts. His dark eyes returned to mine and he continued, “Jack asked me to be the one to tell you if anything happened. He made me swear that if anything happened to him on the tour, that I’d drive to Irvine, find you, and stay with you as long as it took for you to be okay. That was a promise I made to him.”

I nodded, my heart stretching and breaking all at once. The fact that he’d made his friend give him an oath before leaving spoke volumes to his feelings for me, and the depth of how much he cared. It warmed me from the inside out and I clung to that feeling to get me through the reality of the situation.

“You both are welcome to stay here with me as long as you need to. Either way, I’ll make sure you know what I know.”

“Thank you, Aaron,” Rachel replied, her arm wrapped around me as her fingers still toyed with the ends of my hair.

He nodded and took that as his dismissal, striding from the room with long, powerful steps.

“It’s going to be all right, Holly,” Rachel said once Aaron had left the room.

I rested my head down against her shoulder. “That’s what everyone tells me. I just want him here. Right now.”

Rachel said something, more words of assurance, but I didn’t hear any of them as my eyes drifted back to the TV that had been left on, although the volume was muted. My eyes glazed over as I watched the image of a plane hitting the side of a mountain, bursting into a billow of smoke.

Chapter Sixteen

Jack

It worked.

Perfectly, flawlessly, unbelievably.

It fucking worked.

I still couldn’t believe it. It was like being transported to someone else’s reality. One minute, I was standing on the side of a mountain, in the middle of the fuckin’ desert, my hands sweaty as I gripped my 9mm, and the next—or, at least, what felt like the next—I was in the cockpit of a plane, flying above the site where I’d just managed to drop a shit ton of fire on a secret den full of enemies.

Once my hands stopped shaking, I went to work on getting in contact with friendlies, who’d be able to get me to safety. It took a little finagling, but I got the radio to finally transmit my message and before I knew it, I was being directed to cross the border and land at an airstrip.

The events blurred together, as I was greeted by a team of soldiers, all who fired off questions at a hundred miles an hour. I was assessed by a medic who was able to stitch up the cut in my leg, and got me some painkillers, even though I’d insisted it wasn’t hurting anymore. After that was done, I was ushered into a room full of high ranking officials who were stationed at the base, who repeated the questions the welcome party had already asked. I sat down at the head of a long table and when prompted, unfolded the entire order of events, about what had happened, how I’d come across the rebel base, and how I’d managed to use the cover of night to sneak aboard their plane, commandeer it, and take off into the night, but not without a parting gift of unloading the rest of the ammo on board to bury their den.

When I finished the retelling, the room of officers was silent, all of them staring at me with blank faced shock.

“Hell, Sailor, that was some ballsy shit!” General Fleiss boomed, shattering the silence. I grinned at the General’s words. High praise, from a very high ranked official. “We’ve obviously got some questions for you.”

I laughed. “I’ll do my best, but I’d be lying if I said any of it is gonna make sense. I got very, very lucky.”

The General was still smiling, but he shook his head. “McGuire, give yourself some credit. What you did wasn’t some accident. That was a calculated attack, with incredibly high risk to your own safety.”

I ducked my chin, not wanting to argue with him. “I’d be more than happy to help in any way I can, sir.”

“Good to hear it. We’re going to get you on the first flight out of here, and we’ll do the debriefing at our checkpoint in Turkey.”

“Yes, sir. I’d like to get back to my boat, sir.”

“Well, McGuire, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. You’re a hero.”

‘Thank you, sir. I was just doing my job.”

“No, son, thank you.”

* * * *

A few hours later, the sun was setting, and I watched from behind the glass in the commander in chief’s office in the base in Turkey. Even though an entire night, and half of a day had passed, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was existing in some kind of dreamlike state. All of the events that had transpired had felt very real in the moment. I’d felt every jolt of adrenaline, every slamming heartbeat, and ripple of terror.

After commandeering a military plane and getting my freedom, all I wanted to do was get on a plane back to the states. After all of the questions had been asked and answered, there was one remaining thought, and that was getting back to Holly as fast as possible.

I turned at the sound of the door opening, and saluted at the General’s entrance. He’d traveled with me to Turkey and had been part of the panel of officers that had questioned me about the events since my plane went down.

“At ease, McGuire.” He crossed and looked out over the landscape I’d been studying. “The panel is satisfied with the information and we thank you for your tireless explanations. We’ve been in communication with your Commander aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, and we’ll be sending you stateside first thing in the morning.

“Sir?” I chocked at the order. It was more than I’d even hoped for.

He smiled, as though he knew how welcome the words were to my ears. And to my heart. “You’ll be back in California tomorrow.”

My heart thumped out a triumphant beat and I tensed my jaw to keep my emotions in check. “Thank you, sir,” I finally grit out.

He clapped me on the shoulder, gave a nod, and started back towards the door. “Come with me and we’ll get you bunked up for the night. I’m sure a proper meal and a good night sleep will be a welcome change.”

I laughed. “I’ll never complain about the standard issue pillows again. That’s for sure.”

The General roared with laughter as we headed out into the hall.

“I do have a request though, General,” I said, as we rounded a corner.

“Of course.”

“Any way I can make a phone call?”

The General turned and smiled. “That can be arranged. Let’s get you set up and then I’ll get you to a phone.”

I was surprised to be given an entire room to myself. It was an honor usually reserved for only the highest ranking officials. In some ways, I would have almost preferred to be in a room full of other men. I knew they’d ask a million questions and keep me up, but after three days alone in the desert, it would’ve been nice to have some company.

I showered and changed into a pair of loose athletic shorts and a PT shirt that the General had gathered for me. I smiled as I looked at the shirt in the mirror on the bathroom wall. It was identical to the one I’d stashed in Holly’s luggage before she’d left Holiday Cove. And the one she’d been wearing in the picture that was still burned into my mind. All at once, I was grateful to have a room to myself. Especially when a Sergeant brought me a phone and let me know to take as long as I needed.

When he departed, I closed the door, settled into my bed, and dialed Holly’s number, having committed it to memory back when we were still together at the beach.

She answered on the third ring, and my heart flew into a frenzy at the sweet sound of her voice as she said, “Hello?”

“Holly.” I pressed my eyes shut tight, the emotion and strain finally catching up to me. With her on the other end of the line, I could finally relax and began to shed the stress and ragged feeling that had gripped me since that second missile had hit my jet.

“Jack?” Her voice was thick with emotion and I would have sold my soul to be able to see her face, to touch her hair, to kiss her perfect lips.

“It’s me, baby.” The sound of a strangled sob wracked over me and twisted my insides. “I’m okay, baby girl. I’m coming home.”

“What—? How—?” She sucked in a breath. “Jack, where are you?”

“I’m in Turkey, at an Army base. It’s a long story, baby, and I promise I’ll tell you everything when I get back home.”

“When?” Her question was urgent.

“Tomorrow. I’ll be flying out in the morning. I’m not sure how long the trip will take, but the General said I’d be home tomorrow.”

Silence filled the other end of the line. I couldn’t even hear Holly breathe.

“I’m all right, Holly.”

“I’m at Aaron’s. I—we...Rachel and I came up here...I thought you were dead…”

My heart took a nosedive inside my chest, dropping right through to my stomach. “I’m so sorry, baby. How is he?”

“He’s good. He’ll be better when I tell him you called.”

I let out a long sigh. “I can only imagine how the last few days have been for you guys, baby. Can you stay with Aaron until I get there?”

“Yeah, Rachel and I have been crashing on his couch. Hunter is a happy little guy. He really loves Princess.”

I smiled, thinking of the two dogs playing. “That’s good. I can’t wait to see you guys. This whole thing has been such a freakin’ nightmare.”

“It’s okay, none of that matters anymore,” she said, her tone brightening, but still thick with emotion. “You’re safe. You’re coming home.”

“That’s right, I am.”

She was quiet again and I settled back onto the bed, thankful to have a soft place to sleep again. I didn’t want to hang up, even if we had nothing to talk about. I was content to say nothing at all, as long as I knew she was there, and that she knew I was on the other side.

“I can’t wait to see you,” she finally said.

I nodded and fought off the tears that sprung to my eyes. “You have no idea.”

She laughed softly.

“Listen, I need to call my family and make sure they got word that I’m all right. But, I’ll call tomorrow when I’m back in the states.”

My heart ached at the thought of hanging up on her, and severing that connection that I’d been craving, but I also needed to make sure my family was taken care of and not worried sick over whatever the news had reported following the crash.

“I understand. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“God, I love the way that sounds,” I said, resting my head back so that her words could drench me. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Holly.”

Chapter Seventeen

Holly

“Hey! Where did ya go?” Rachel asked me as I rejoined her at the table outside Carly’s coffeehouse. I dropped my phone into the purse I’d left on my chair as my mouth dropped open, preparing to answer her question, but suddenly unable to find words.

Rachel and I had decided to stay in Holiday Cove another night, and were passing the day in town, wandering the shops, and had stopped at Carly’s for lunch. It was good to see Carly again, and with Rachel’s help, I’d managed to keep from mentioning the entire situation with Jack. I told her I’d come back just for some of her scones.

“Holly? Who was that?” She asked, jerking her chin towards the phone I’d discarded.

Rachel had been inside getting coffee, when my phone rang. I shook my head, thinking that I’d almost let the call go to voicemail. It was an unknown number, and in my experience, that usually meant a telemarketer or a politician—and I didn’t want to talk to either.

When I’d answered and heard Jack’s voice on the other end, I nearly melted into a puddle of tears right there on the patio of the coffeehouse.

He was okay. Not only that, but he’d be on his way home the next day.

Within twenty-four hours, he’d be back in California, and I would be back in his arms.