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The compound stood deathly still in the middle of the night. Sentries kept watch but their attentions focused outward and away from the compound, allowing Damien to steal through the corridors up to the roof. Cold night air stung his cheeks as he made his way to the northernmost point of the roof. At the corner, he sat on the edge, dangled his feet over the side of the wall and looked out over the darkened landscape.
A full moon bathed the savannah in a ghostly glow. Damien saw movement in the distance, too small for a human but large enough to be seen slinking through the grasses. The creature stalked through the vegetation, prowling the night for prey. It pounced and when it turned, the moonlight showed something small and limp hanging from its mouth. It spun away and fled into the distance.
Damien rubbed a hand over his face. Too wired to sleep, he chose not to stay in bed but come out for some air. The enormity of the task ahead warred with the slimmest of hopes in his gut. He glanced down at his phone. The darkened screen couldn’t erase what he’d seen, and the image of his wife’s face had triggered memories to remind him of what he once had with Penny, highlighting a stark sense of despair.
Behind him, a footfall sounded. He whirled and found Riley approaching.
“Sorry,” Riley smiled. Moonlight reflected off the silver scar on his cheek. “I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
Damien’s heart knocked against his ribs. “I may not be armed but I could’ve taken you.”
Riley sat by his side. “I don’t doubt it, old man.” The affection in his soldier’s voice didn’t lessen how much he hated the term. “Can’t sleep?”
“No. You?”
“Nah.”
“Did you talk to Stevie?”
Riley grinned. “You know it. Kate’s staying at the homestead with the twins. All the girls had dinner together.”
“She’ll never say it, but she’s worried you won’t come home.”
Riley leaned over and patted Damien’s hand. “I love her too much to get killed. Don’t worry about me. You should worry about this JP fella.”
The warning in Riley’s voice reassured Damien he always had support. “There’s no need.”
“He could be playing you. He gives you a whole bunch of photos and not one of Penny?” He sounded thoroughly unconvinced. “Sounds like trickery to me. Can you really trust him?”
Damien picked up his phone and restarted Penny’s video. Handing the device to Riley, he listened again to the disbelief and fear in her voice. She still believed he was dead, and she was probably wondering who the hell was going to come for her.
Riley swore.
“Exactly,” Damien agreed. “I know you don’t believe JP is trustworthy, but he owes me a favor. He’s old school, wants to wipe out his debts before he hangs up his boots.”
Riley frowned. “I may not have been around as long you, Damien, but I don’t buy it for one minute. That man will never retire.”
Damien mulled over the thought for a minute. Riley might have a point about not being as experienced, but he didn’t know JP the way Damien did. Saving the man’s daughter from certain death had earned Damien a lifetime of favors. The similarity between that and the way Riley had kept Stevie alive wasn’t lost on him. He’d forgive Riley just about any transgression, and he knew JP would feel similarly grateful.
“But this is—” Riley continued, waving the phone in the air, “—hard to deny. It would seem that she is alive, Damien.”
“So, it would seem.” He winced. “How on earth did the woman I love end up in this predicament?”
Admitting his world had been pulled out from under him just by thinking Penny was alive made him feel too vulnerable—but with confirmation in hand, Damien couldn’t tell left from right any more. He’d always counseled Riley and the others, led them, guided them. Never the other way around. How could he call himself a commander if he needed commanding?
“This video was meant for you,” Riley murmured, “and if you were still Hell’s Angel, you would have seen it. I’m worried about you, Damien.”
“Thank you.” Riley’s honesty lightened the doom strangling his throat. “Truth is, we have to get her back.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Riley spoke again. “We will, and when we do, you’ll have everything you need.”
Damien sighed and let his eyes wander the plains again. “That’s a very dangerous desire. We can’t go back in time. So much has happened.”
Riley waved a hand. “Water under the bridge. It’s Penny, it won’t matter.”
Damien turned and eyed him. “When did you get so smart?”
He nodded. “I had a good mentor.”
The cold night air numbed his fingers. Rubbing his hands together, Damien thought over Riley’s words. Could he and Penny let twenty-three years of life wash away and somehow find their way back to each other? And if they couldn’t, would Damien be washed away with it?
“Look, we should probably discuss some things,” Riley said, his voice matter-of-fact. “You know, if someone doesn’t come home.”
“No.”
“Damien,” he warned. “We need plans in place. I mean, I have a will and Stevie and the kids will be looked after but—”
“I said no.” Damien did not want to discuss how his daughter would go on if he let her husband die. “Just make sure you go home.”
“And you?”
Damien blinked. He hadn’t thought of it like that. “Take care of her like you promised.”
“Ignoring the risk won’t make it go away, Damien. You taught me that. It’s not just you and I, either. Benny, Hollywood, Gabe, Magnus.”
He didn’t need reminding how many lives he’d put on the line for this job. “No one is going to die.”
There, he said it. Now all he had to do was make sure he kept the promise.