Chapter 36

Peach dropped to his knees and caught Harry before he fell. He heard Jax over coms, so he was certain their guys weren't in the blast radius. Harry stood at the same time he did. They both took off, heading deeper into the woods.

Peach told Wild their position and heading. They agreed to meet a few clicks away. They’d accomplished their task, but who knows what kind of mess they’d left behind.

They would give their information to some person in command on the ship and then head home. He couldn’t wait to hold Haisley. She meant so much to him. He hoped she was still there when he got home. He didn’t think she would run out on him. She wasn’t like that. But he’d seen it happen, and his history with serious relationships wasn’t great. He’d made mistakes picking good women before.

The sound of the helicopter was a welcome relief. They met up with the four other men on their team about twenty yards from where the chopper was dropping low for them. They were far enough away, and he was sure no one from the compound would attack, but they were close enough to hear and see the effects of another explosion.

“Damn, I guess they think we’re still there,” Jax said.

“Or maybe they’re just destroying their own,” Andy said.

“Idiots,” Bear threw out as he loaded onto the chopper.

Peach jumped in and positioned himself to take out anyone firing from the ground. The chopper rose, but no one attacked. They were flying low over the trees, heading out to sea. He could make out another fireball rising from the area where they’d just come from.

He hoped they flamed out, and the people left alive could find a different path instead of thinking they had to keep attacking and destroying lives. The Navy had sent Peach's team in to kill the guy because he'd done so many horrible things. It wasn't a decision that had been made lightly. Every mission had hundreds of hours of thought behind them. Different decisions could be made, but sometimes, force was the only solution.

Doing a rundown of what happened took about five hours, then they were allowed to shower and eat. Arrangements were made, and before the sun rose the next day, they were on their way back to the States.

Andy looked worried, and Peach understood. He was worried about Haisley, but she had months before she delivered her baby. He moved to the empty space beside Andy.

“You doing good?”

Andy shook his head. “Something is wrong. I feel it in my gut. I know I’m supposed to be strong, but this is testing me.”

“We’ll be home soon.”

“Fuck, I can’t wait until we get back into US airspace. I know if we land somewhere in the forty-eight, I can drive home.”

“Once we get closer, we’ll see if we can get communication going.”

Andy nodded. “Yeah. I just hope nothing has gone wrong. I just couldn’t take it if something happened to her.”

Peach felt the worry, knowing he would feel the same way about Haisley. It wasn’t cool that they had been sent out on a mission, but because they’d just completed a mission, he knew they wouldn’t be sent out for a few months. Even if things went to hell, they wouldn’t be the next on the list to go out.

A weird feeling filled him and he kept it to himself. The last thing he needed was to make Andy worry, even if Peach felt like something had gone wrong.