Chapter 20

"When you get outside, you need to pretend to be one of your Army men," Emily lectured Annie. "Move slowly and carefully. Look around you and don't make any sudden movements. Don't forget, the enemy soldiers could be above you."

"Got it." Annie was serious as she nodded at her mom.

"Fletch is out there somewhere, I know he is. Your goal is to find Fletch, or one of his teammates. Understand? If you see one of the bad guys—the ones who took us from our car were wearing camouflage clothes—you need to hide until they're gone."

"How will I know the difference?"

It was a smart question. One, unfortunately, Emily didn't really have an answer for. She tapped Annie's head. "You're going to have to use your noggin." As far as answers went, it sucked, but Emily continued, "Fletch and his friends like to wear all black. Head to toe. You've seen Fletch's clothes, right?"

Annie nodded.

"Okay then, if you see someone out there, wait and watch them. Don't run up to them without making sure it's a friend. Not even if you think it's Truck or any of the others. Some of the bad guys could be wearing black, but I'm hoping they're all in camo clothes. Count to ten inside your head and see what they do. If they look as though they're coming toward you, rather than looking outward, they're probably safe."

"I understand, Mommy."

"I said probably ," Emily warned, not liking anything about this situation, and unconsciously drawing it out. "The bottom line is, if you aren't one hundred percent sure if the person you see is Fletch or one of the other good guys, do not reveal yourself. Stay hidden. It's important, baby."

Annie nodded again.

"I'm proud of you, Annie. You are an excellent soldier. You've been practicing for this for a long time, yeah?" Emily tried to bolster Annie's confidence. She was feeling anything but good about sending her six-year-old out into the unknown, but the alternatives were almost more frightening. Almost. She remembered the looks Jacks had given the little girl. The man was sick, and the last thing she wanted was him getting his hands on her daughter.

Emily kissed Annie on the forehead and pulled her into a tight embrace, not wanting to let her go.

Finally, Emily pulled back and looked into her daughter's eyes. "I love you, baby girl. Be safe. Be smart."

"I will. I love you too. I'll find Fletch and bring him to rescue you."

Emily smiled at her daughter through her tears, suddenly having second thoughts. They hadn't been bothered so far, maybe they both should stay put.

But Annie was already lying on her belly and had her head out the small hole they'd made.

They'd waited until the footsteps above their head were at the other end of the box, trying to time Annie's escape perfectly. Her daughter wiggled and squirmed her way through the small hole until her hips popped through. It was a tight squeeze, but Annie was right, she had been able to fit. The little girl pulled her legs up under her and suddenly she was gone.

Emily leaned down and peered out the hole, but couldn't see Annie at all. It was as if she'd simply vanished into thin air.

One side of Emily was pleased, but the other couldn't help but freak out.

What had she done? She'd sent her six-year-old out into the dark in the middle of what was essentially a turf war between two gangs.

Emily fell back on her butt and scooted backward until her back hit the opposite wall of the container. She hugged her knees to her chest, resting her head on them, and prayed that Fletch or one of the other good guys would find Annie soon. She shivered to think about what would happen if Jacks or one of his idiot friends got their hands on her daughter.

What was done was done, but Emily couldn't help the tears that coursed down her cheeks.

"Find her, Fletch. Please." The words were whispered into the stale air, but Emily hoped someone upstairs was listening.

Fletch glanced at his watch. Seven minutes had gone by since the team had silently stalked off into the night. Thirteen minutes remaining before the colonel and the general brought in reinforcements. Twenty minutes was enough time for the Deltas to take care of business, but they would've been happier with at least forty-five. As soon as Jacks figured out he'd lost…again, there was no telling what he'd do.

Fletch had foregone night-vision goggles, knowing all it would take was one small flashlight beam to screw up his vision for too many precious seconds. There was enough light from the partial moon to allow him to see where he was going. Fletch had only run into one of Jacks friends, and the man had been rendered unconscious without even knowing Fletch was behind him. They really were a bunch of amateurs compared to the Deltas. It should've made Fletch happy that the takedown of the man in his sector had been so easy, but he was in the mood for a fight, one that obviously wasn't going to happen because of their inexperience.

Making his way silently toward the center of the city—where Beth had suggested, and the team agreed, Emily and Annie were most likely stashed—Fletch paused at the end of one of the Conexes. He went to his belly and didn't move a muscle, trying to make out what he'd just heard.

Shuffling noises were coming from around the corner of the box he was lying next to. Someone was trying to be quiet, but they were doing a piss-poor job of it. It was as if the soldier had never had any training in evasive maneuvers before. Pathetic.

Using the tactics he'd learned from spending two weeks in sniper school, Fletch moved slowly—so slowly, if someone wasn't looking right at him, they'd still never see him. Crawling on the ground, he inched his way just far enough past the end of the container to check out what the noises were.

It took Fletch a moment for his brain to process what he was seeing.

He'd been expecting to see one of Jacks's soldiers. But it wasn't. It was Annie . She had flattened herself against the side of the container and was slithering alongside it as if she was trying to meld herself to the metal.

Something in Fletch's belly lurched at seeing the little girl seemingly safe and sound. He didn't immediately do anything to catch her eye though. Peering past her, and all around him, Fletch didn't see anyone else. While part of him was relieved, the other part didn't like that Emily wasn't with her daughter. Why would they have been separated? Had something happened to Emily? Was Jacks using Annie as bait for some reason?

Knowing he'd never get the answers he needed without talking to the little girl, he calculated his odds and decided that getting Annie in his arms and away from her too-vulnerable position was the best move at this point. She was trying very hard to be sneaky, but unfortunately, her blonde hair, her clothes scraping against the metal container, and her upright stance were beacons pointing right to her. She might as well have been running screaming through the makeshift village.

Not knowing how the little girl would react to seeing him pop up in the middle of the darkness, and not wanting his position to be given away, Fletch moved quickly. As soon as Annie was looking the other way, he sprang upward and took a few huge, silent running steps toward her. Gathering her up in his arms, he put one hand over her mouth to keep her surprised shriek muffled, and quickly eased back around the opposite side of the container.

Moving rapidly, wanting to reassure Annie as soon as possible that it was him, he went back the way he came, where he knew with more certainty they were clear of bad guys.

Glancing around and seeing nothing, Fletch knelt with Annie still in his arms, her back to his chest. She was struggling as hard as a six-year-old could. He put his mouth next to her ear and whispered, "It's me, sprite. Fletch."

She stilled as if he'd unplugged her. To make sure she'd understood, he reassured her again. "I've got you, Annie. You're safe."

Seeing she'd heard him, and understood, Fletch turned her and barely held himself upright as she threw herself into his arms. Obviously understanding the need to be quiet, she told him in a soft voice, "I knew I'd find you."

"That you did. You did good." Fletch pried her off him and held her by the shoulders, looking into her eyes. He wanted to spend more time reassuring her, and praising her for being as quiet as she could, but he needed to know about Emily. "Where's your mom?"

"I don't know." Annie's answer was short and to the point. "We woke up in a box. The corner was rustling, and we pried the metal up but it was only big enough for me to get out."

"Rusting?"

"Yeah, that's what I said."

"What direction?" Fletch knew his questions were too brusque, but he couldn't help it. The thought of Emily being desperate enough to send Annie out into the darkness without her was enough to know how precarious the situation was.

Annie pointed back the way she'd come. It looked as if Beth had been right. Fletch had almost made it to the center of the city when he'd come across Annie. He glanced at his watch. He only had ten more minutes to end this his way. He didn't want to leave the little girl, but for the moment she was safe. Emily wasn't.

"You did an excellent job in finding me, Annie, but I need to go and get your mom."

She nodded solemnly. Annie was a unique little girl. She should be freaking out, crying, something , but instead she simply looked him in the eye and waited for whatever direction he was going to give her.

"You know I love you, don't you?" Fletch asked the little girl.

She nodded again.

"You should know, I'm going to ask your mom to marry me as soon as the time is right."

"Really?" Annie breathed, her eyes going wide. "Has it been ten dates?"

Fletch didn't know what the number of dates he and Emily had been on had to do with anything, but answered affirmatively anyway.

"Will that make you my daddy for real?" Annie whispered, tilting her head inquisitively.

Fletch had never thought he was an emotional person, but hearing the awe and hope in Annie's voice almost did him in. "If it's okay with you, and your mom, yes. I want to adopt you and become your daddy legally."

Showing how smart she was, Annie asked, practically hopping up and down in her excitement, "So I'll be Fletch then too?"

He understood what she meant. "Yes, sprite. You'll be Annie Fletcher."

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!"

"But for now, you need to keep this between us…okay? Can you keep it a secret? I want it to be a surprise for your mom."

"Yeah, I'm a good secret-keeper."

She wasn't, but at the moment, it didn't matter. Fletch took a deep breath. Okay, he had shit to do. He spoke into the mic at his throat, giving his coordinates to the colonel, who was listening in and ready to send in men to assist if needed.

"Here's the plan, little soldier," he told Annie in a serious voice as soon as he was assured a Ranger was on his way to their position. It was as if his words tripped a switch inside the young girl. She stopped smiling and nodded at him seriously. Once again, Fletch thought that she acted way older than her six years.

"I need to go and get your mom, but you need to get to home base." Fletch turned Annie so she was looking back the way he'd originally come. "In just a moment, an Army Ranger will be here and you guys will head back to base. I cleared out the bad guys, but you still need to be careful as you make your way through, there still could be some out there. Listen to the other soldier, be stealthy, use what Nancy Drew and I taught you. Can you do that?"

Annie nodded solemnly and turned back to him, looking worried for the first time. "You'll get Mommy? She didn't want to let me go, but I squirmed out before she could change her mind."

"I'll get your mom."

Fletch didn't even need to promise. Apparently his words were enough for the little girl he ached to call his own. As soon as the words left his mouth, the Ranger appeared out of the darkness to escort Annie to safety.

"Okay." Annie told him in a firm voice. "My soldier is here. Go. Time's a-wastin'."

Fletch smiled, having no idea where she'd picked up that saying. He kissed Annie on the forehead and hugged her quickly. "Ten-four. I'll see you in a bit."

He watched as the little girl flattened herself against the container at her back and side-stepped to where the Ranger was standing. He lost sight of them as they disappeared behind another Conex.

Thankful that half his worries were assuaged, Fletch concentrated on Emily. Nine minutes. He went back to where he'd seen Annie for the first time and calculated how many of Jacks's friends were probably between him and Emily, and faded into the darkness toward his future.