The compound. Jack Mankel. Reaper's team. Marley. "Where is she?"
She'd run to him in the courtyard and he hadn't been able to speak. He needed to tell her he was sorry, that he'd been wrong.
"She's gone. Left yesterday."
A gut punch of pain had his vision blacking. How could she have left him?
"And you let her?" Mack tried to sit up but all he managed was a weak shove and then a grunt before he fell back onto his pillow, the room dipping and spinning around him.
"Whoa, you better chill with that crap before you rip open your stitches and end up staying here another week." Riser put a hand on his shoulder and urged Mack against the bed.
"Why the hell did you let her leave?" What if he never saw her again? Did she hate him for the way he treated her? She would if she was smart. Marley had been protecting her daughter, and he'd been too blinded by hurt to see the truth.
"First off, I haven't known Marley long, but she doesn't seem the type to listen to orders from a grunt. Second, I don't blame her for leaving." The condemnation in Riser's voice was as clear as the glass in the window on his right.
"What about her daughter? Is Maddie safe?"
"Agent K called this morning. Maddie and Marley are reunited and safe at home. He did what you promised."
It was a hollow victory for him. He'd gotten Maddie safe and made sure Marley made it back – but he wasn't with her. He needed to be with her. The aching hole inside him had been filled when he was with Marley. He didn't want to go back to an empty life with no family. No Marley. Living without her would be like living without the sun. Cold, dark and lonely.
"Get me out of here. I have to talk to her." Slower this time, Mack tried to sit up, but he fell back again weak as a damn baby. "No more pain meds."
Riser pinned him with a hard stare. "If you don't quit jerking like that, I'm going to tell the nurse to pump you full of morphine until next Sunday. Your not getting out of the hospital today or tomorrow. You lost too much blood. If you left now, you'd bleed out."
"But Marley – "
"If you're really hell-bent on trying to win her back, then you need to get better first. You're no good to her dead." Riser settled back in the chair and crossed his arms with a look of stubborn mutiny. "I'd say you need to stay here at least a week."
He needed a clear head to create a solid plan to win Marley back. His head felt groggy and heavy. There was a large white bandage covering his left shoulder, and then another on his side. They were clean, probably recently changed. Mack shifted his arm, testing out the stiff and sluggish muscles. Pain shot through him. "Not staying here more than two days."
He could make it two days, but then he was out. Traveling that soon would hurt, but it wouldn't be as agonizing as losing Marley forever.
Riser leaned back in his chair, shifting shoulders as he got comfortable. "That was more than I was hoping for."
"Why the hell did you say a week then?"
"Everybody knows you have to start high when you're bargaining. I expected you'd only wait one day, but two is even better."
The hospital room door swung open and his entire team shuffled in. Hunter grabbed the remote to the TV, and clicked it on. "You've got to see this."
A dark-skinned woman wearing a brightly colored turban was speaking in French. The screen changed to a video of a village filled with men and women who'd formed a half-circle around a white man kneeling on the ground. "Mankel."
Hunter nodded, his expression grim. "Looks like Mankel is finally getting what he deserves."
The man standing behind Mankel lifted a huge machete and swung. No one in the room flinched. Hunter clicked off the TV and faced Mack. "We haven't heard from President Ali. I've contacted his office, but was told he was unavailable."
"Why?" Mack asked. The president had been sincere when he'd promised Mack his men would question Mankel before killing him.
Hunter's face fell flat and he crossed his arms. "Because while you were out, our government imposed new sanctions against the Democratic Republic of Congo intent on curbing the flow of cash for insurgents to purchase weapons. The sanctions halted all US imports and exports for a period of no less than six months. President Ali is not happy."
It took Mack a moment before he could wrap his sluggish mind around the news. "So, by killing Mankel, we've severed any hope of getting Caroline's location."
Dammit. Anger ripped through him, but he was too sluggish to do anything other than lay there helplessly.
"We didn't have a choice. Ali had us surrounded. He would have taken Mankel no matter what," Hunter said. "We aren't giving up on her, commander. As soon as you're better, we'll resupply and find her."