Page 27 of Fighting for Family

The men nodded their agreement. Saint disconnected the communications while Ragu packed up everything. Shadow continued his watch.

“What do you think about this, Saint?” he asked as he scanned the horizon.

“I think we need to crack this case and find our brother before they ship our asses home. I can’t stand another day here, and I’m not leaving Leo to rot in some damn enemy territory,” Saint said vehemently.

“Then we’d best get down to the village. Cole needs to figure out the link between Sergeant Ford and whoever he’s working for,” Ragu said as they made their way down the mountain.

“We will, or we’ll die trying,” Saint vowed. “He’ll pay for contributing to Leo’s death.”

They entered the cave where the rest of the team waited.

“What’s wrong?” Sparky asked as she heard the men file in.

“Catherine ordered us home,” Saint announced to the team.

“Shit,” Hollywood said, shocked. “Why?”

“She says Leo wants us to move forward. We may never find him, and we have our own families,” Shadow explained.

“What about Sergeant Ford?” Cole asked, petting Striker.

“We’ll have to divide the team,” Ragu suggested.

“No,” Saint replied. “When we lose sight of one another, trouble happens. We stick together. First, we’ll investigate the village and see if Sparky’s idea has any merit. Then, we’ll take care of Sergeant Ford and his friends.”

“Whiskey plans to keep searching. We’ll go home and say goodbye to give Catherine some closure. Then, we’ll rotate teams until we discover what happened to Leo,” Shadow informed them. “I plan to spin up as soon as we attend the funeral and I check on Avie and Deni.”

“We never leave a man behind. We know what we’ll most likely find, but why does it feel like we’re letting Leo down?” Patch said, seeming disappointed.

“He’d never stop searching for us,” Knight murmured.

“We’re not giving up,” Saint said firmly. “We’ll rest, regroup, and succeed. Failing isn’t an option.”

“The only easy day was yesterday,” Sparky repeated what the men said every day. She held her hand out, and the men stacked theirs on top of her delicate one. “Here’s to finding Leo and taking Sergeant Ford down.”

“Hooyah,” Saint said, his voice cracking.

“Hooyah,” the group repeated. They refused to fail their leader.

CHAPTER 10

By the time they reached the cabin, Bryanna already put the kids down for the night.

Catherine blew her nose and dabbed her eyes, trying to feel brave. Telling the team to return felt like the hardest thing she had ever done. Her heart ached and felt heavy as Kassie shut off the engine.

“It took courage to do what you did tonight,” Kassie said quietly. “I don’t know if I’d have the guts to do it.”

“As soon as I read Leo’s letter, I needed to do it,” Catherine sniffled. “Part of me doesn’t want to stop. Maybe it’s wishful thinking. Or part of me wants to believe I dreamed this whole thing.”

“I wish,” Kassie whispered. “Come on. The kids have settled, and you need to rest. You insisted on doing this, and I don’t even want to think about your blood pressure.”

“All right, Mom,” Catherine said, sighing. “I’m ready for this day to end.”

Kassie helped her out of the car and into the cabin. Bryanna hugged her as she entered. “I finished the laundry and fresh pajamas are in the bathroom for you.”

“You’re amazing,” Catherine said. “Thanks for watching the kids.”

“Melody helped me. She’s such a great big sister,” Bryanna praised her.