“Okay.” Not sure what you’re apologizing for. That was slick.
The general put his gun away—he didn’t look surprised at all. Tyler on the other hand was stunned. “Whoa. Where’d you learn—”
“Twenty-two years as a general’s daughter. A lot of martial arts lessons,” she said nonchalantly. Then she turned to Hayley. “Nice bow.”
“You shoot?” Hayley asked.
“A little,” Ava answered.
The general laughed.
“I take it that was a modest response?” I asked.
“Slightly. She’s a three-time national archery champ.”
“Where?” Hayley asked. “Only three-time champ I know of is named Shadley.”
The general pointed his finger at his daughter. “Shadley.”
“Seriously?” Hayley couldn’t hide her awe.
Ava nodded. “Mother’s last name. She kept it when she married Dad and I kept it when I married John. He’s…” She went quiet suddenly, looking back toward the cell they’d been in.
“He’s in there?” I finished for her. She nodded again.
Suddenly I heard Tyler mutter from the floor, “Mother of…”
I looked at him, and he was staring behind me. I turned enough to see that Eddie had emerged from the darkness. I had forgotten how huge he could look at first glance. And he’s slightly bent over due to the low ceiling. “Everyone,” I said, “this is Eddie.”
“Were you in that Green Mile movie?” Sheffield asked.
“No.” Eddie replied dismissively as if he’d been asked that a hundred times before—which he apparently hadn’t. “Never heard of it.” Eddie turned his attention to Niles. “General, I feel like I must apologize for my country, for my people—for myself. We were told America had killed our families. We—”
The general waved him off. “Say no more. I have been told a great many Qi Jia men defected and were killed. They too claimed the same—that they were lied to. I believe you. There’s no end to the depth of damage caused by Qi Jia’s false front. My question is what is there for you in all of this? What are you hoping for?”
“Honest? I’m not even sure. I am here to serve Danny as he needs me—as America needs me. He saved my life once, too. My brother, he made some bad choices.” Eddie pointed at Hayley. “I hope to atone for those acts.”
The general nodded and extended his hand. “Eddie… I am sure atonement is not necessary, but if you do succeed in helping Danny get my daughter to safety, I will be eternally grateful.”
“I will do my best, General.” Eddie shook his hand then stepped back. “Sir, by chance was there a little girl in there?” Eddie pointed at the bunker.
“With us?” Niles asked.
“No. An African girl with the Libyan commander.”
“Yes.” Ava replied. “There was.”
“You’re right.” General Niles agreed. “She left with him. Why?”
“She is my niece, sir.”
“You’re kidding!?” Ava exclaimed.
The general nodded. “Ah…” Eddie’s explanation seemed to have validated his presence. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“She is, at least, alive?”
“Last we saw.” Ava confirmed.
Kellen moaned then and rubbed his jaw. He slowly sat up and glared at Ava. Then he saw Eddie standing behind her. He shrunk back against the tunnel wall. “Wait—you hit me for that?” Kellen pointed at Eddie. “For him?”
“You didn’t give me a choice.”
“You’ve known me for ten years,” Kellen objected.
“And you’ve been a stupid ass for all of them. You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore.”
“Everything I did—”
“What, are you going to serenade me now, Bryan Adams? Save it.” Ava turned away from Kellen.
I walked over to him. “I’ve got a problem right now.” I looked down at Kellen. He didn’t so much as glance at me. “I don’t put my life in the hands of people I don’t trust.”
“Good for you.” Kellen laughed.
“Danny, it’s okay. He will stay with me.”
“General, no—” Kellen suddenly stood up, the cold front gone. “Please—”
“Well, it’s got to be one or the other. You wanted to kill the major, and you pointed your gun at Danny. I wouldn’t want you with me if I were the captain.”
“Sir.” Kellen tried to speak again.
“Enough,” General Niles said, as loudly as he’d said anything yet. “You made your decision when you didn’t immediately apologize, when you glared at my daughter, who probably saved your life. And thumbing your nose at getting out of here… forget it. Ten bucks says there’s a man in the darkness there who had a rifle on you and was ready to take the shot if Ava hadn’t knocked you out.”
I was impressed. Niles had pegged Blake perfectly.
“Sir, can I apologize now?” Kellen asked.
“You can, and you should,” Niles replied. “But it changes nothing. You will stay with me.”
Kellen sank to the floor. He looked like he was about to cry. He offered up weak apologies to each of us—even to Eddie—but I knew he was struggling with the reality of his future. General Niles had no intention of trying to accompany the rest of us to Hawaii, and I doubted Tyler thought he could make it either.
“So what do I do?” Kellen asked General Niles.
“As I’m sure Captain Miner is aware, there are double garages at the end of this tunnel with a souped-up Hummer in each of them. When we get there, you’re going to drive one of them, and Sergeant Sheffield will drive the other out of here. We’re going to race south for the Mexican border as fast as we can, hopefully diverting any and all attention away from the rest of you.” Niles motioned at us.
“But, sir, that’s—”
“Suicide?” Niles smiled. “I’m dead either way. Maybe we make it to Mexico. I don’t know. But the only chance they—you all—have is if we make Qi Jia think we’re all out—that we’re done.”
“General.” I changed the subject. “Something’s been bothering me. How did you know—”
He read my mind. “The president was my best friend. He had a little too much to drink one night and showed me a book. There were four such books. One went down on Air Force One with him. I assume you know where another is?”
I nodded.
“And then there are two more—somewhere. As long as you don’t have the book on you—ever—you should be good,” he added.
I could feel Blake’s eyes burning into the back of my head. “Yes, sir.”
“Well, you all have about fourteen hours ‘til nightfall—fourteen hours to get the sergeant and me to the other end of this tunnel. We might as well get started.”
A circle of nodding heads showed everyone was in agreement—everyone but Kellen, of course. We gathered up our gear and began the methodical journey through the darkness—carrying Niles and Tyler—to the Hummers awaiting us at the end of the tunnel.
It was hard to walk away from Keena, from Silas, John, and the others. Even though I had Hayley with me—and for the time being we had General Niles—I felt like we’d failed. Everyone seemed to share my disappointment to some extent.
In all likelihood, Commander Boli was in the bunker now, looking for evidence, looking for a trail. He wouldn’t find one in there, and that would infuriate him. General Niles knew we had to give him a “rabbit” to chase—soon—or he’d keep hunting. The two Hummers heading south out of the mountains would be convincing, and they’d contain three of the people missing from the bunker. The only person Niles wasn’t willing to sacrifice was his daughter.
As we walked away from the doors to the bunker, Flynn held back, staring at them. I dropped back with her. “What’s going on?” I asked.