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Back Critical Alliance
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Endorsements
  3. Half Title Page
  4. Books by Elizabeth Goddard
  5. Title Page
  6. Copyright Page
  7. Dedication
  8. ONE
  9. TWO
  10. THREE
  11. FOUR
  12. FIVE
  13. SIX
  14. SEVEN
  15. EIGHT
  16. NINE
  17. TEN
  18. ELEVEN
  19. TWELVE
  20. THIRTEEN
  21. FOURTEEN
  22. FIFTEEN
  23. SIXTEEN
  24. SEVENTEEN
  25. EIGHTEEN
  26. NINETEEN
  27. TWENTY
  28. TWENTY-ONE
  29. TWENTY-TWO
  30. TWENTY-THREE
  31. TWENTY-FOUR
  32. TWENTY-FIVE
  33. TWENTY-SIX
  34. TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. TWENTY-NINE
  37. THIRTY
  38. THIRTY-ONE
  39. THIRTY-TWO
  40. THIRTY-THREE
  41. THIRTY-FOUR
  42. THIRTY-FIVE
  43. THIRTY-SIX
  44. THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. THIRTY-NINE
  47. Author’s Note
  48. Acknowledgments
  49. Another Thrilling Story from the Author
  50. ONE
  51. About the Author
  52. Back Ads
  53. Back Cover

“We kept changing our route, but finally, we had to stop at a checkpoint. We slowed to a complete halt. Something we never wanted to do in a motorcade carrying a high-profile asset. Jacobs, the TC—tactical commander—got out to go talk to them and the situation escalated.”

Mackenzie imagined she could see the weight on his shoulders. She wasn’t sure if he would lift his head again, and her breath hitched. She knew his next words would reveal a mission gone wrong.

“Everything that happened next replays in my mind over and over.”

She so got that. She was guilty of that kind of mental torture, but now wasn’t the time to speak. She needed to listen. Apparently, he needed to tell her.

“It’s like it all happened at the same instant, but in slow motion.” He closed his eyes. “I don’t want to relive this over and over.”

And I’m making you . . .

“It was an ambush. Jacobs was gunned down. A massive explosion rocked the Suburban in front of me. The blast destroyed the engine and set the vehicle on fire. The cab maintained integrity and protected the passengers from the blast, but they still had to escape the fire. Then a machine gun from an approaching vehicle started in, trapping them. We were trained to protect, but that protection starts with not getting into these situations. I radioed for the HIRRT—the US embassy’s Helicopter Insertion Rapid Response Team.

“I tried to save them. I tried . . . but team members held me back, thinking I would only die too. In the end, two of our guys died. Two of our guys plus . . . our protectee. The mission was a failure all around. I lost people. I lost Jacobs. He was a friend. He had a wife and a kid.”

He pressed his face into his hands.

TWENTY-THREE

Alex blew out a breath and lifted his gaze to meet Mackenzie’s beautiful eyes, so filled with concern. And tears.

For him? She suddenly jumped up and rushed around the couch. But he caught her wiping at her eyes. He hadn’t meant to add his pain to her burden. Alex got up and followed Mackenzie, who had moved past him and stepped out onto the porch. He waited a breath or two to regain his composure after what he’d just shared, then joined her.

She leaned against a pine post, and he did the same against the opposite post.

She sighed. “Would you look at that? They set up the cabins to have the perfect view of the sunset, didn’t they?”

“Looks like it.” Bright purple and reddish-pink colored the billowing clouds that remained after the storm had moved out. He drew in the fresh scent that came after a drenching rain. The pines and spruces and cedars.