Chapter 3 - The Order Grace Ignored
Inside the SUV, Grace could barely see.
The mother’s sweater had twisted around the seat belt latch.
Grace felt along the fabric until she found the webbing.
“Hold still.”
“I can’t breathe.”
“You will.”
Grace sawed through the belt.
The SUV rolled several inches.
Dirty water surged over their faces.
The mother panicked and grabbed Grace’s neck.
Grace forced her hands downward.
“Look at me. Push when I pull.”
Outside, Ben and Nash fought to keep the vehicle from drifting.
The rescue rope strained against a roadside utility pole.
The radio crackled again.
“Archer, withdraw immediately. The road is collapsing.”
Ben answered.
“We still have two victims.”
“You have your child survivor. Leave the vehicle.”
Ben looked at the older man lying across the SUV roof.
The wording was wrong.
Not three victims.
Not civilians.
Your child survivor.
As if command already knew who remained inside.
Grace cut through the final strands of the seat belt.
The mother floated free.
Grace pushed her toward the window.
Nash caught her wrists and pulled.
The woman screamed for her son.
“He’s safe!”
Grace followed through the opening just as the SUV dropped again.
Ben wrapped one arm around her harness.
The road beneath them cracked.
A section of asphalt vanished into the flood.
“Move!” Nash shouted.
They tied the mother and older man into the rescue line.
The crew began pulling toward higher ground.
Grace looked at Ben.
“Who gave the order?”
“Commander Preston.”
The name struck her.
She looked toward the unconscious man’s silver watch.
“Preston?”
Ben nodded reluctantly.
“Rear Admiral Charles Preston.”
Grace tightened her grip on the old man.
“Why would he know this vehicle?”
Ben stared at the C-130.
May you like
“Because that watch belonged to his father.”
👉 The man Grace had nearly drowned saving was connected to the officer ordering them to abandon him.
