Page 114 of Lethal Weakness

“Are these…?” I trail off, studying the artwork on the front of each card.

“Jack’s cards. I kept all of them right here. I liked seeing them every day.”

“Oh, Jack,” I murmur to myself.

Each card is different. A hawk in mid-flight. A cardinal on a snow-covered branch. An owl in a barn window.

I don’t know the spiritual significance of all of them, but I’m sure he does.

He was staying connected to home in the only way he knew how.

Chapter Forty

O’Connor

“Eagle One, entry clear.” My team shadows my forward motion as we descend deeper into the house. The radio picks up our chatter as each room is cleared.

The house shouldn’t be empty. Our team is too advanced to be sent into abandoned terrorist hideouts.

They’re here.

“Eagle One, to the basement,” I relay, feeling the tap on my shoulder from the guy behind me.

My teammate covers me as I lift the solid wood trap door from the floor, but the hinge makes a grating noise as it opens, ruining any stealth as we advance.

“Making entry.” Dirt particles fill the air as my rifle light shines into the dark corridor. The shadows dance as I check each corner of the small root cellar.

It’s empty.

“Eagle One, clea–” Something shifts just out of sight, and I train my sights on it. There’s an old wooden barrel in the corner, too small to hide a man, but I take silent steps towards it.

With a quick maneuver to my left, my light illuminates the backside of the barrel at the same time I register what I’m seeing.

The little girl shakes in fear as she looks up at me. Her bright green eyes glow in my night vision goggles.

“Avery?”

“Help me, Mr. Jack,” her voice echoes off the dirt walls.

“What are you doing here?” This doesn’t make sense. Why is she in the desert?

“Eagle One, are you there?” My radio chirps in my ear.

“Jack, save us,” Linden begs suddenly from the steps where my teammate was just standing.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

“Save us, Jack.” Their voices echo in my ear, and I can’t distinguish them from each other.

My teammates’ voices are in my ear. “Get out, it’s a trap!”

My gaze swings to Avery, and then to Linden. I have to get them out. This place is going to blow.

I snatch Avery up, but I can’t move. Sand rushes past my knees, and it takes all of my strength to make it inches at a time.

My fingers claw at the wooden steps, trying to pull us to safety.

“You said you would save us, Jack,” Linden’s voice whispers from above me.