Free Closer by Sarah Greyson

talking about, Michael?” Rob asked playing it cool.
    “You can cut the shit Rob, I know about the GIA’s involvement. I know that you had me working for a fucking terrorist organization,” Michael bellowed. “How could you?” Michael pressed.
    “Look man, you don’t understand,” Rob pleaded.
    “Make me understand. Make me understand how my best fucking friend could set me up,” Michael sneered.
    “They have Lizzie,” Rob groaned.
    Stunned into silence, Michael sat back down onto the bed.
    Rob continued, “They told me if I ever wanted to see her alive again, I would find a way to deliver Emma Welby to them.”
    “Why didn’t you just tell me that? You know I would have helped you retrieve her,” Michael explained.
    “I know you would have man, but I didn’t have the time. I could hear her…I could hear her screaming in the background. I would have agreed to anything at that point,” Rob claimed. “Please tell me you are still making the drop. Please tell me nothing has changed. You already received half the money,” he rambled.
    “I can’t,” Michael murmured into the phone as he hung his head into his hand. “Somebody else is in play. Some government official ran us off the road and kidnapped Emma at gunpoint. I don’t know what is going on. All I know is I can’t lose her,” Michael confessed.
    “Where are you?” Rob asked.
    “The Kennebunk Inn, in Kennebunkport, about an hour south of Lewiston off of I95,” Michael continued, “Why? What do you have in mind?”
    “I think it’s time to do what we were trained to do. Get Lizzie and your girl back, man,” Rob implored.
    “Now that’s the best idea you’ve had in a long time,” Michael concurred.
    “I will call the guys and get them to haul ass to Lewiston. How fast can you make it back to my place?” Rob asked.
    “Once I acquire a car, an hour tops,” Michael exhaled, “And Rob, I know some things went down between you and Tony, but we need him, man. Call him in too.”
    Tony was the Unit’s Communications Sergeant, but before he entered the Army, Tony spent a lifetime as a hacker. They were going to need his particular brand of expertise if there were going to figure out where the CIA was holding Emma. She was, after all, the necessary ingredient to getting Lizzie back.
    Michael walked out of the emergency exit and found the first car he tried unlocked. People really shouldn’t be so trusting . He opened the front door and lowered himself to the floor. Thirty seconds later, the car started. He got up, hopped in, and closed the door.
    “Hang on, Emma. I’m coming,” he thought.

 
     
     
« Chapter Eight »
     
     
    Michael parked on the street in front of a two-story colonial style house. Rob’s house had gray siding and maroon shutters. Michael walked down the curved walkway to Rob’s front door. He rang the doorbell and waited. Michael was the second to arrive at Rob’s house. Steve must have been close by because he was already there. Michael walked in and Rob walked straight up to him, locking his sad eyes with Michael’s, silently pleading for his forgiveness.
    Rob’s face was flushed, and he was blinking back the tears at the thought of betraying his best friend, his brother. Michael wouldn’t have understood what Rob did before meeting Emma, but now he understood completely; one does anything for love. Michael took Rob’s hand and shook it and then bumped fists with his brother. Rob pulled him into a one-arm embrace, and the men patted each other on the back.
    Seeing Steve hanging back, Michael walked over to him and extended his hand, but to his surprise, Steve pulled him into a hug. It had been six months since they’d left the Army, six months since he had last seen his brothers. Still he knew, without a doubt, they would all come.
    About an hour later, Tony rolled in straight from the airport. He picked up his rental car and drove straight to Rob’s house. It was a good thing Rob liked his guns. His