Family Business

Chapter 55.

~Bruce POV~

~back a little bit~

I grip the bar on the truck door, staring at Beck getting smaller and smaller in the distance. "He ordered us to go," I say, more to myself than anyone else. Beck's words echo in my mind, "Get in the car, drive away. Don't turn around! I don't care what Base says. You're not going to see me blown to bits. I won't let that scar you. Go! NOW!"

"Screw orders! We need to go back for him!" Johnny snaps, fists clenching and unclenching as the truck drives further away. "The General will be livid with us if we leave him!"

Kent turns to him slowly, "You want Gen's wrath or Lieu's?"

Johnny swallows, "I-I don't know!"

"Stop the truck!" I growl, jolting in my seat as James slams on the brakes. I whip around, looking over our unit. I am not second-in-command, that falls to Kent, but as the eldest member of the unit, the men respect me equally. "Turn around."

The second James throws the truck into reverse, there is an explosion in the distance. Everyone pales. I take off my hat, a few other men doing the same as we sit for a moment, frozen. "Drive!" Kennedy growls. We make record time, parking then carefully patrolling the area. It is nearly impossible with the burning foliage and threat of more bombs. Kyle steps on a malfunctioning bomb, managing to throw himself to the side before it erupts. After that, Kent calls off the search until the bomb squad can cover the area.

"Let's go get these guns back to the General," I said in a gruff voice. This was not how anyone expected the raid to go. A few bullet wounds, perhaps, but not this. Not the death of our leader. I drag a hand over my face, wiping away the tears. One glance back at the men shows that they are in similar, if not worse, places than I am right now. Kent's shoulder move as if he is crying. I grit my teeth, taking control of the situation. Many of these men, boys, have never lost someone. Not like this. I take a shaky breath before calling General Sawyer to fill him in on what happened today.

We drove back to camp and pulled up next to another truck. I went inside and saw him, holding his girlfriend in his arms. I confirm the news that Beck is been killed, although I lied about Beck going quickly. She did not need to hear that, poor young thing. Johnny came to check on what was taking so long and saw me watching the General comfort her.

"Come on, man. Caine needs help unloading," He murmurs softly, pulling my arm.

Later that night, we all sat around a fire with the rest of the unit. We told them what happened and we all were quietly drinking to Beck's sacrifice. Kent invites Beck's niece, the General's girlfriend. He sent one of the rookies and he came back with her. She sat on the side, staring at the fire, tears rolling down her face silently as she drank her cup. The poor thing never said a word, even as we shared quiet stories. She looks traumatized. We stay up for another hour or so before turning in.

~Aria POV~

It takes an entire week for me to even remotely recover from the news of Beck's death. It had shaken me badly and while I kept Sierra's routine the same, I took time off from work to process. Sebastian came to watch Sierra as much as he could but I mostly was home, except for when I had gone to drink with Beck's unit.

I decide to send a letter to Draven to let him know that his best friend passed; it is only fair and the least I can do. I am too scared to call, not wanting Fletcher to trace it back to me. I stared at the piece of paper for a long time before picking up the pen and writing:

Dearest Draven, 15 April 2038

I write with a heavy heart and regret to inform you that our stand-in brother, security guard, and friend, Beck, has passed away. I'm told that he was killed in a landmine on a mission to get arms from Xander's men. Sierra and I are doing alright without him but we miss him.