Page 92 of Beyond the Rules
I couldn’t get away with anything when Nina was around, and that includedself-pity.
“I’d like to make my own decision,” I said. “If I pass, I’d get todothat.”
“You think you’dgoback?”
I spotted the fear in her eyes. “Don’t know.Depends.”
“Onwhat?”
“Lots ofthings.”
“What would you do if you didn’tgoback?”
“I’d keep working with Phoenix Prime and Fire Forged. I like my life here. Maybe…” I raked my fingertips through my stubble, which itched like hell with three days’ growth. Would she think I was crazy if I shared my ideawithher?
She elbowed me in the ribs. “Maybewhat?”
I took a deep breath. “Maybe I’d organize a program up here, you know, for veterans with PTSD? I’ve given it some thought. We’ve got plenty of land. Put up a few cabins and it’s a go. Nothing fancy. No meds or shrinks, just nature. Maybe the mountains can heal others, like they’rehealingme.”
She stared at me with big, round eyes. “Oh, my God,Aiden…”
“Crazy,huh?”
“Crazy? No!” Her smile rivaled the sunset. “It’s afantasticidea.”
“Yeah?” Her enthusiasm surprised me. “You think I could makeitwork?”
“I’m sureofit!”
The grin on her face made my chest swell with new breath and powered my confidence, but reality tempered my mood. “Before I get to that, I have to pass the eval.” How was I gonna help others if I couldn’t helpmyself?
“You could pass,” she said. “I know you could. We can work on it, plan a few outings, go places to get you ready foryoureval.”
We. This woman. She was like a rescue Blackhawk to my mission, capable of extracting me from the darkest hellhole. Plus she was talking in future tense. That was enough to give me hope. As we watched the sun sinking behind the mountains, I squeezed her to my chest and smiled intoherhair.
There was no need to tell her about the places I’d been over the last few days, about the mental labyrinth of flashbacks I’d been navigating and how those memories sank me until the waves were crashing over my gunwales and the dark, cold ocean had been pouring into my soul. With her smile, she’d pluggedthehole.
“Come on.” My knees creaked as I pushed myself to my feet and offered Nina my hand. I’d been sitting on my ass too long. “It’s gonna get dark soon. Let’s get off thismountain.”
She clasped my hand and got up. Together, we cleaned up the remains of our meal and stuffed the empty beer bottles in my backpack, strapped down the tent and securedthecamp.
“Just one thing,” Nina said as we got ready to begin ourdescent.
“Yes?” I strapped on my backpack plus the one she’d borrowed fromTanner.
“Promise me that, if you ever decide to bail on us again, you’ll take me with you.” Fear sparkled in her eyes, the memory of being deserted by her brother. “Promise me you won’t ditch me and leave mebehind.”
“Baby, I’m gonna hang on to you with all I’ve got.” I pulled her into my embrace and squeezed her against my chest. “I’m never, ever leaving youbehind.”
Chapter26
Nina
The next few days went by in a rush. The guys were psyched, so I knew stuff was happening on the Dimayev angle. Even if they’d wanted to tell me, I knew they couldn’t. The full taskforce was involved now, and that included the federal government. Classified wasclassified.
We’d fallen into a sort of routine. Each guy got a night. I didn’t want to mess up the house’s carefully calibrated balance, so I made sure everybody got my time and attention. It was a fair timesharing method, but it didn’t feel true to my heart. Something was off. I wasn’t sure if it was the hunt or what, but the atmosphere in the house was heavily charged and the guys were walking around like bulls caged inapen.
On Thursday, I had just arrived at the shop when I heard a terrible crash. I ran into the workshop, but stopped short by the front door. I heard words growled in a guttural language I could hardly identify as human. I peeked through thedoors.