Page 108 of Enemy of My Enemy

Ethan stared.

He watched Jack gently carry Leslie over and hand her to the flight medic kneeling on board. Watched Jack brush the matted hair from her face. Watched him smile a wavering, watery smile at her and watched Leslie smile back at him.

Time slowed, stretched. He felt every beat of his heart.

Sergey and Sasha knelt at his side, silent.

“Time to go!” Daniels shouted over the roar of the Osprey. “We have to get out of here!”

Then Jack turned and jogged back to them, and Ethan could breathe again. His eyes tracked Jack, every step, every footfall.

Jack never looked his way.

He crouched in front of Sergey, instead. “We’re headed for Turkey. We can take you, too. Give you political asylum.”

“No.” Sergey shook his head. “No, Jack, I have to stay. I have to fight for Russia.” Nearby, police sirens wailed; the gunfight between the police and the Russian military was getting closer. “I have to help my people.”

“Sergey, that’s suicide—”

“Yes, Jack. Maybe. But I will die the right way.” He reached for Jack’s shoulders. “Go. Get out of here. Save yourself.” He turned to Sasha. “Sasha, you should go, too. You should save yourself—”

“No.” Sasha glared at Sergey. “I will stay with you.”

Jack grasped Sergey’s elbows. His face twisted, anguish and bitter fury warring for dominance. “I’ll doeverythingI can for you. Everything.”

Sergey nodded. he released Jack. Sasha at his side, he ran for the darkness on the side of the road and took cover from the Osprey and her imminent takeoff.

“Jack.” Ethan reached for his lover.

Jack stepped back, out of Ethan’s reach. “Let’s go.” Turning, Jack jogged back to the Osprey.

He never looked at Ethan.

Daniels ran with Ethan as the police sirens wailed, getting closer. Gunfire peppered the asphalt behind him, kicking up sprays of concrete and tar. He stumbled as the world moved in slow motion, sounds fading away, bleeding into a deafening, all-consuming roar. His vision narrowed, the world going dark aside from the pinpoint of perfect clarity that saw Jack climbing into the Osprey and reaching for Leslie, pulling her into his arms.

Reality snapped back as Scott hauled him into the Osprey, clasping his hand and hefting him up. “Here we go,” Scott grunted, setting Ethan down on the opposite bulkhead from Jack. Scott kneeled in front of him, blocking his vision. “Are you with me? You with us?”

Daniels collapsed beside Welby and Hanier. Ethan blinked. The Osprey’s VSTOL engines roared, pushing them in a vertical climb over the erupting gun battle in front of Olympic Stadium. Below, Sergey hunkered down with Sasha, firing at Moroshkin’s forces, and then ran toward the line of police vehicles and their strobing lights.

Scott grabbed the handholds on either side of Ethan. Over Scott’s shoulder, Ethan spotted Jack holding tight to Leslie, his face buried in the curve of her neck, his eyes clenched tight. Tears poured from the corners of Jack’s eyes.

He still wouldn’t look at Ethan.

Ethan grabbed his rifle and took up position at the open cargo door. He scanned the ground, scanned the skies, and tried to crush his wailing heart. Roaring drowned out the world, the engines mimicking the sound of his soul. His vision blurred, and each breath came harder than the last. Had he been shot? Or was this just his heart cracking in half? Was this what it felt like to die? Or just to wish he was dead?

No. It was going to be all right. This was shock, surprise, desperation. Adrenaline, and crazed emotions.

He and Jack loved each other.

But Jack had loved Leslie, too, and he’d never fallen out of love with her. She’d just been ripped away from him, and an unanswered question hovered in Jack’s life: what if?

Holy God, what if?

* * *

Russian Parliament Leveled In Coup

Martial Law Declared