“Aaron says they will,” Rachel replied, matter-of-fact.
“That’s what I’m afraid of! You’ve seen what those bad guys do to war prisoners!”
“I’m talking about the SEALs. They’ll find him.”
I shifted my gaze back to her. “What else did Aaron say?”
“Well, Holls, we talked this morning. It’s actually pretty sad…he’s more torn up about this than he admits.”
“What did he say?”
“Well…” she twisted in her seat, as though checking to make sure we were still alone, even though the house had been silent since Aaron left. “…he was saying how he should have been up there with him when it happened. Aaron used to be Jack’s wingman. He said that if it had been him up there, none of this would have even happened. I think he blames himself.”
My stomach churned. I was scared out of my mind for Jack and that brought a host of emotions that were almost too much to bear. I couldn’t imagine adding feelings of guilt and responsibility to that pile, no matter how off base they might be.
“He didn’t say much other than that, but I could see he was pretty torn up about it.”
I nodded, my heart still breaking for Aaron. “Wow, he’s such a strong, devil-may-care kind of guy. I never even thought about him. I’m so selfish. Damn.”
Rachel took a sip of her coffee. “He’ll be all right. I mean, he has this museum, and he was telling me how he wants to expand on it. Something about a tribute to his dad. I guess he and Boomer were like brothers until he got out—”
“I know! God, Rachel, don’t you think I know all this?”
“Holly! Relax! I was just telling you what he told me. Chill!”
I knew I was losing it. I’d never yelled at Rachel like that. I took a deep breath and got up off the sofa bed and straightened up the sheets, folding the bed into itself and placing the cushions back where they belonged. I didn’t want to fight with Rachel, but she had no idea how I felt inside. She huffed and walked out to the patio and I stood by the couch and called out, “I’m sorry, Rachel.”
She didn’t answer. She didn’t even acknowledge I’d said anything. “I’m sorry!” I yelled out loud enough for her to hear me. She turned and gave me a small smile, but she didn’t move to come in.
To fill the quiet tension, I flicked on the TV and scanned through the satellite channels to find some news. I gasped to find Jack’s naval headshot staring back at me.
“Rachel!”
“…Lieutenant Commander Jack McGuire has been identified as the pilot of the F-18 Naval fighter jet that was shot down in the Sinjar Mountain Range this past Saturday. A team on the ground has determined that McGuire did not survive the impact…”
The reporter went on, but a low, ringing sound filled my mind, and my lungs vacuumed in on themselves, leaving me sputtering for air.
“Holly!” Rachel lunged through the open patio door and grabbed me before I hit the ground. I’d lost all control of my movements and was careening toward the ground. “Holly! Stay with me!”
I tried to nod, but the reporter’s words were echoing inside my head, drowning out all other thoughts.
McGuire did not survive the impact.
Did.
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 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?”