Echoes at Dawn (KGI #5)(62)

He called Sam the morning after he’d retrieved Grace. In terse tones, he informed Sam they were short a man. When Sam asked, Rio would only say that it wasn’t because they’d engaged the enemy.

Sam was wise enough to leave the running of Rio’s team to him. He trained his men. He trusted them. He dealt with any issues that arose. Rio’s men followed him and him alone. They didn’t take orders from Sam or KGI. They came from Rio.

“I’ll send someone to you,” Sam said.

“No,” Rio said shortly. “I need a few days here and then we’re going to move out. That gives Steele time to be back from his assignment unless you have him scheduled for something else.”

“No, we’re clear right now. I can provide all the backup you need.”

“I’ll need it when we bug out. I don’t want to draw attention by having you guys swarm in here. We’ll move out and then meet up with the teams at a different location.”

“Name it and I’ll make damn sure we have the manpower there,” Sam said.

“What’s the word on Shea? I’d like to be able to give Grace good news when she comes out of this.”

There was a long pause.

“What the hell happened, Rio? When we spoke last, Grace was doing better, or so you said.”

“She will be better,” Rio said, determination resonating from deep within. “I won’t let her be anything else.”

There were several more moments of silence and then Rio said grimly, “We’re going to have to fight, Sam. There’s no way around it. Titan’s not going to give up and we can’t run forever. I’m buying as much time as possible because I need Grace as close to a hundred percent as I can get her before the shit hits the fan. But it’s coming and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.”

“No pissant special ops wannabe group is going to get one over on us,” Sam growled.

Rio laughed at Sam’s arrogance. Titan was far from a special ops wannabe, but Rio liked the insult that Sam hurled out.

“Now tell me about Shea so I can give Grace something when she comes around.”

“She’s not happy with you or me at the moment,” Sam said dryly. “When I told her that you’d called, she immediately wanted to talk to her sister. Telling her it wasn’t possible because I didn’t exactly know where you were wasn’t one of my more favorite moments in my leadership capacity.”

Rio chuckled. “No, I don’t imagine it was.”

“But she’s fine. Tell Grace she’s doing far better than Grace herself is from the sound of it. Nathan is taking very good care of her. She’s desperate to reconnect with Grace, and she asked me to pass along that she’s felt close to the path more than once. She wanted Grace to keep trying.”

“I will,” Rio said in a somber voice. “Grace has been trying. It hurts her that she’s been unable to forge that path again. If you could talk to Shea again, tell her…Look, I know Grace hadn’t wanted Shea to see what all she’s endured. But Grace needs her help. She wouldn’t want me to say it. She wouldn’t want me to involve Shea, but right now I’ll take whatever I can get. She’s not doing well, Sam,” he said bluntly. “If Shea can somehow break through to her, I think it would make a world of difference. I need…I’ll do whatever it takes to get her back.”

“What the hell happened out there, Rio?”

Rio hesitated a moment and then said, “Someone I trusted took advantage of what Grace is able to do. He put her in a position where she couldn’t say no, and she was in no condition to be healing another. She nearly died when I found her, and now she lies here hovering between life and death, fighting a battle that I can’t help her with.”

“You care for her. More than just in a capacity of the mission.”

Rio dth#x2went silent, refusing to acknowledge Sam’s realization.

“I should have seen it when you jumped on this mission the way you did,” Sam murmured. “I’m sorry things aren’t good, man. I’ll talk to Shea immediately. She’d want to know. Nathan won’t be happy about it but he can’t very well tell Shea she can’t help her sister out. Particularly when Grace helped Nathan and Swanny when Swanny was injured during their escape.”

“I appreciate it, Sam,” Rio said in a low voice. He hated asking for anything, but for Grace, he’d set aside his pride. He’d do anything to get her back. “I’ll be in touch.”

“Tell me when, Rio. I’ll have everyone in position on your go.”

“I’ll contact you in forty-eight hours. Hopefully the situation here will have changed for the better by then.”

“I’ll be waiting,” Sam said. “We all will be.”

Rio ended the call, and then returned to where Grace lay so quiet and still on the bed. He sat on the edge, angling his body so that he could see her face. He reached out to touch her, flinching at the chill of her skin and how pale and translucent her face was.

She looked so vulnerable and defenseless even though Rio knew her to be far from it. She had the courage and resiliency of the strongest of warriors. He’d never witnessed anything like it.

“Come back to me, Grace,” he whispered. “I won’t let anything hurt you. You’re safe here. Just come back to me. Fight this, baby. Fight one more time. Come back to the people who love you.”