Chapter 16: Jack

After dinner, we finish our preparations.

Ruth has her guns and ammo laid out on the counter in the bathroom. Micah has set up his small arsenal in Ruth's bedroom, where he can keep an eye on the east side of the cabin, as well as on his sister.

At the moment, the bathroom door is open, and I stand there taking in Ruth's arrangement of her shotgun and two 9mm handguns. She's in the process of arranging boxes of ammo and loading spare magazines for the 9mm's.

"You doing okay?" I ask.

She glances at me, her expression remarkably calm. This woman is hard to rattle. "Yes. I just never thought I'd have an occasion to use these things."

"Ruth—" There's so much I want to say, but now isn't the time. The shit's about to hit the fan any minute now. We can't afford any distractions.

"Yes?" she asks.

I step into the small room to inspect her preparations. Besides the guns and ammo, she has a couple of bottles of spring water and some protein bars. I have to smile. "You look prepared for anything." I reach for her hand, and surprisingly, she lets me have it.

She surveys the black vest strapped to my torso, as well as the one I'm holding in my free hand. "Is that what I think it is?"

"It's body armor." I lift up the spare. "I want you to wear this. It's bulletproof."

She eyes the vest, then me. "Okay."

"What!" I pretend to be shocked. "You're not going to argue with me about it?"

She makes a wry face. "I may be stubborn, but I don't have a death wish."

Ruth stands perfectly still as I strap the vest to her torso, cinching it tight.

After examining the fit, I stand back to observe. "This will protect most of your vital organs."

She frowns. "But not my head, obviously."

"True. But the point is, you're going to stay indoors where you'll be safe. I won't let Yevgeny or his men breach the cabin. And since you've got Micah in here with you for backup, you'll be fine." I reach into my front pocket and pull out a surveillance comm device.

"One last thing," I say as I clip the comm device to her vest and tuck the power pack in her pocket. "This is a two-way radio. You'll be able to hear everything we say with this, and in the event of an emergency, you can speak to us by pushing this button here. Otherwise, just listen in."

On impulse, I take her hand in mine. "When the shooting starts, you keep out of sight, no matter what you hear. I can't do what I need to do out there if I'm worried about you, all right?"

She nods. "I will."

I squeeze her hand hard to make my point. "I need you to promise me, Ruth."

"I'm not stupid, Jack. This is all way over my pay grade."

"Good. Keep that promise." And then, because I can't help myself, I throw caution to the wind and move in to kiss her.

To my surprise, she kisses me back, unreservedly, her soft lips clinging to mine. No snarky remarks, no recriminations. She kisses me.

"Now you promise me something," she says, pulling back and looking me directly in the eye. "Promise me you'll come back in one piece."

I nod. "I'll do my best."

She doesn't look happy with my reply, but instead of giving me crap over it, she leans in and gives me a peck on the cheek. "You'd damn well better."

I press the talk button on my comms device. "Comms check," I say over the radio. "Bravo 1."

"Bravo 2," Mike says.

"Bravo 3," Aleksa says.

"Bravo 4," Diego says.

"Saved the best for last," Lenny says with a soft chuckle. "Bravo 5."

"Ruth, try your mic." I say.

"Hello? Can you guys hear me?" she replies.

"Loud and clear," I say. "You're fine. Micah?"

"Yeah, I'm here," he replies.

"Good. Let's keep the line open and quiet. Once the op is underway, Bravo Team, I want you to check in every fifteen minutes."

And then the comms go quiet as we wait.