The Elite: The Complete Series of Boomer and Player (With Bonus) (28 page)

Rachel crossed to the fridge and opened the door. “You didn’t tell me Jack’s friend was such a hottie,” she teased, her head buried in the fridge as she rooted around through the contents. When she turned back around she was holding two bottles of juice and wearing a broad smile.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t stifle a giggle. “I know. Worst best friend ever.”

Rachel tossed her head back, letting her long sun bleached hair fall down her back as she laughed.

“Wanna know something else about him?”

“Sure! You know secrets?” She replied as she handed me a bottle of juice.

“His call sign? Player.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, you mean like a player-player, or just a player?” She laughed again.

“Let’s just say, I’m not talking football!”

It felt good to laugh again. With the pressure of talking to Aaron off, and Rachel, Hunter and Princess by my side, it was easier to relax. I knew I just had to hang on long enough for Aaron to get us some answers.

Chapter Thirteen

Holly

“Do you think it’s a good sign or a bad sign that this is taking so long?” I asked Rachel, pacing back across the small employee lounge space for the countless time since Aaron had left to go make phone calls.

Rachel shrugged. “Why don’t you come sit down?”

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around myself. I glanced at the clock on the microwave and calculated how long Aaron had been gone. It had been an hour and twenty-two minutes. I spun and paced back across the room.

“Holly…” Rachel said, her voice gentle but firm. “Come on. Have a sandwich or something.”

With a sigh, I gave into her request and crossed back to the couch she was occupying. She handed me one of the sandwiches we’d taken from the fridge and I peeled back at the plastic wrapping with the tip of my fingernail. The last thing I felt like doing was eating a sandwich, or drinking coffee, or anything else that would make it seem like my life was normal right now.

Hunter and Princess came back into the room, trotting side by side, their nails making clicking sounds against the laminate flooring. Hunter cut away to come over and investigate the food Rachel and I had. “Huntey!” Rachel squealed, pushing his head away from her lap, right as he’d been about to snag the second half of her lunch.

Princess sat down in the middle of the room and Hunter jerked around to look at her. He loped back to her and sat beside her, mimicking her posture.

“Wow. She knows how to keep him in line,” Rachel commented, smiling over at the two dogs.

I laughed. “Yeah. He’s been like that with her since the beginning. I was telling Jack—” my statement died on my lips, as I was struck by how odd it was to talk about him.

Rachel reached out and touched my shoulder. With a sympathetic look, she spurred me on. “What did you tell him?”

“I—uh—I was telling him I needed to borrow Princess to get Hunter back on his best behavior,” I finished, offering a sad smile that didn’t reach my eyes.

Rachel mirrored the smile but didn’t say anything.

Footsteps in the hall tore my attention from Rachel, and I jumped to attention as Aaron stopped in the doorway. Hunter and Princess went over to him, wagging their tails expectantly. Aaron smiled down at Princess, but there was something dark and distracted behind his eyes as he looked down and scratched her on the top of her head. “Sorry, girl, no cookies right now.”

It was obvious in his tone that something was wrong, and a bubble of panic welled up from my stomach, threatening to choke out my breath again. I wanted to scream, to demand answers, but couldn’t even get out one word. I was rendered silent and helpless as I waited for him to shift his attention from Princess. When he finally dragged his eyes over to mine, I sucked in a breath at the intensity I found looking back at me.

“It was Jack.”

It wasn’t a question.

It was a confirmation.

Aaron nodded after a moment, the corners of his mouth set with deep frown lines. “I’m sorry, Holly.”

Rachel jumped up and wrapped her arms around me as I broke into sobs. “No, no!”

My body wracked against her as she held me still, whispering comforting words in my ear. Not that any of them took away the sharp pain in my chest. As though a white hot knife had just sliced through me. “What am I gonna do?” I sobbed. “It can’t be, he has to be all right, he has to, Rach.”

“I know, honey. We’ll figure it out.” I barely heard Rachel’s whispers over my sobs and Aaron took my hand and squeezed it lightly. I knew he was trying to comfort me, but the pain was so great—it hit me at my core—my soul. He pulled his hand back and cleared his throat.

“One of my friends back at the base gave me the full story, and confirmed that it was Jack’s plane that was shot down,” Aaron said.

My sobs hitched at the term
full story
and I pulled out of Rachel’s arms. “What else did they say?”

Aaron pocketed his hands in the front of his faded jeans. After a deep breath, he continued, “Just so you know, the regular news isn’t going to report this, so it has to stay here,” he waited for Rachel and I to agree, “they were flying an operation to drop some bombs on a group of rebels that had overtaken some of our guys on the ground. Before they reached their target, they came under heavy fire and Boomer’s plane was shot down.” He paused and took a deep breath.

“Oh God no.” I didn’t want to believe Jack was gone. He couldn’t be. Aaron looked at Princess and back at me and continued.

“Boomer was flying cover for the bombers. His wingman, Sparks, saw the whole thing. After that hit, from some type of anti-aircraft missile fired from the ground, it knocked out the communication system and the next thing Sparks saw was Boomer’s plane going down.”

I nodded, absorbing each word and imagining the plane hitting the ground. Silent tears streaked down my face, but I was too numb to wipe them away.

“Um—there is one piece of good news, but it’s unconfirmed—” Aaron paused, as though hesitant to even offer the tiny crumb of hope.

“What is it?” I demanded, suddenly exploding out of my state of shock, and ready to lunge across the room and shake it from him.

“Shh, Holly,” Rachel cooed, reaching for my arm to calm me.

I jerked out of her grasp. “Please,” I said, making a concentrated effort to soften my tone.

Aaron reached up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Sparks is pretty sure he saw Boomer eject before the crash.”

“Pretty sure?”

“It was night and there’s nothing out there in the desert.” Aaron explained, a tinge of annoyance in his tone. “And with the rest of Boomer’s plane in a million fuckin’ pieces on the side of some God damned mountain, there isn’t any way to confirm.”

His cutting tone and rage filled eyes shook me from my own anger. I wiped away the remnants of my tears and vowed to keep it together. “I’m sorry, Aaron, I just don’t understand…”

Aaron heaved a sigh and looked down at the floor. “It’s all right. This whole thing’s fucked up. This morning, everything was fine…and now…I should’ve just fucking been there.”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, unsure of what to say or do. I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn’t find one tiny light to shine on the grim situation. “Even if Jack had ejected from the plane before he crashed, what were the odds he’d make it safely to the ground? And, even if he had, is he safe?”

“Not with a desert full of crazy ass motherfuckers who wouldn’t think twice before killing him in the name of war. Or worse, taking him prisoner. Fuck!”

“So, this Sparks dude, did he see anything else?” I asked, feeling stupid and out of my league once the words left my mouth.

Aaron looked up from the floor and met my gaze. His eyes were still steely and intense, but the edges had softened. “They’ll find him. I have a buddy who’ll call me as soon as they find out anything else.”

“Why didn’t they call and tell you when all of this happened?” I asked, thinking back to how Aaron hadn’t known anything about the crash when Rachel and I had arrived.

“Technically, I’m not supposed to know any of this. I’m not in the Navy, anymore, so it’s not my place to be involved, even when it comes to Boomer and his operations. My buddy’s going out on a limb and risking his job for even telling me as much as he already has.”

I nodded, silently thanking whoever it was who had spoken to Aaron. “What do you think? And be honest with me, trust me, nothing you say can be worse than the scenarios I’ve already imagined.”

Aaron considered me for a moment, then looked to Rachel, who nodded in agreement. “If anyone can make it out of that god forsaken place, it’s Boomer. You may think he’s some calm cool dude, but Boomer...that man has the heart of a warrior.”

Relief washed over me at Aaron’s solemn statement. The news that he’d ejected was starting to sink in, and change into a glimmer of hope after all. “I hope you’re right.”

“I’ll do my best to keep you informed, Holly. I know Boomer’ll ring my fuckin’ neck if I don’t.” He grinned and his stiff posture relaxed slightly.

“Thanks,” I replied. “I appreciate your help. I’m sorry we showed up, unannounced.”

“No worries,” he said, shrugging. “Listen, I’ve got my phone on me, and I’ve already got your number in there, so if you guys wanna go, I understand.”

Something about the way he said it, made me think he didn’t really want us to leave. He was Jack’s best friend, and from what Jack had told me, they were more like brothers. I knew that without Rachel beside me, I would’ve turned into a basket case—more than I already had—and maybe Aaron needed some support as well.

“We could stay,” I offered. “Maybe help out around here? I know I could use a distraction.”

Rachel nodded and I suppressed a smile, knowing she wouldn’t mind getting a chance to provide some distraction for Jack’s handsome friend if she got the chance.

After a moment, Aaron’s smile grew. “Sure. I have a flight tour for the next hour, but feel free to look around, hang out, and I’ll come find you when I land. Then we can go get dinner or something.”

Rachel nodded and linked her arm with mine. “We’ll be right here. Have a safe flight.”

* * * *

Later that night, Aaron took us into town and we ended up going to a little pub that was big on charm and had an outdoor seating area right on the beach. Aaron was a complete gentleman, making sure we both had full drinks, and made recommendations for what to order. He knew everyone in the place by first name, and the waitress fawned over him like she was a high school cheerleader and he was the captain of the football team. The evening was as pleasant as it could be, but every time Aaron’s phone chirped, an eerie, tense silence would fall over the table, until he checked the name on the caller ID, sent the call to voicemail, and returned his attention to his meal.

Waiting for him to get more information was sheer torture. But I felt better being with him than I had sitting at home, with nothing to do but listen to the news regurgitate the same stories for the hundredth time.

“So, Rachel, what is it that you do?” Aaron asked, smiling in Rachel’s direction from across the table.

“I’m a dental hygienist in Newport Beach.”

“Do you like it?”

“It pays the bills,” she replied, giggling. She tossed her long sun bleached hair over her shoulder. She was wearing a long, silver chain necklace that shimmered against her stunning tan. “I spend a lot of time at the beach, so the hours are nice. No weekends.”

Aaron nodded thoughtfully and took a pull on his beer. If he was about to ask a follow up, it was interrupted by the now-familiar sound of his ringtone. “Hold on.”

He pulled the phone out of the pocket of his jacket and my heart jumped into my throat at the look on his face as he read the display. Without a word, he answered the phone, got up from his seat, and stalked out the side door.

Rachel wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

“God, I can’t take this anymore,” I said, my voice hardly audible in the loud bar setting.

“I know, honey.”

I tapped my heels on the floor, counting out some rhythmic beat in my head to distract myself from the dark, despairing “what if” scenarios that flashed through my thoughts. My eyes were trained on the side door, waiting for Aaron to reappear. Rachel kept an arm around me but didn’t offer up any further words of comfort.

There were none.

Aaron finally came back through, his phone still in hand, and his expression hard, and unreadable. He dropped back into his chair, put his elbows on the table, and leaned in so as to not be overheard. “A team of SEALs just made it to the crash site and confirmed Boomer ejected before the crash. They have drones scanning the mountainside for sight of him, while the SEALs search the ground.”

A strangled sob chocked me as I nodded that I’d heard him. “What happens if—” I stopped to suck in a deep, rattling breath. “—if they can’t find him? How long will they keep looking?”

“There’s not really a hard timeline. With the drones on the hunt, it shouldn’t take too long to find his drop site. There’s only so far he could have landed, and then, on foot, he won’t be able to make it too far. Not with that kind of terrain, and he’s smart enough to stay hidden. He’ll use the mountains to his advantage. If I had to guess, he’s hunkered down in some cave, waiting it out, and counting down his rescue.”

I nodded, gripping onto his words for dear life.

“How long can he survive out there? I mean, assuming…” Rachel paused, cutting a glance in my direction before continuing, “…no one else does first.”

“He’ll have his emergency pack. It deploys with the parachute. It has four days rationed.”

I cemented that tidbit of information in my mind.

Four days.

The SEALs had four days to find him and get him out.

Otherwise…I squeezed my eyes shut and dismissed the rest of the thought. There was no room for
otherwise
. Jack had to make it home.

Chapter Fourteen

Jack

I spent my second night in a cave, just as I had the first night. I figured I’d made it a good five miles from my original landing site, and was content to stay put, knowing a rescue team would be looking for me. By now, they’d have found whatever was left of my plane, and they would know that my broken body wasn’t lying in the wreckage. It wouldn’t take them long to find me, and despite my worry, I hadn’t encountered any signs of life in the mountains during my trek. I didn’t want to press on much further, because it would only be a matter of time before I found rebels or refugees hiding out and that was something I couldn’t afford.