A Soldier's Reunion

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Questions for Discussion

Chapter One

“Briggs, phone! Chief Petrowski’s on the line. Says it’s beyond urgent.”

U.S. Air Force Pararescue Jumper Nolan Briggs rushed past teammates Brock Drake and Vince Reardon, who stopped rigging parachutes and looked up. The airmen grew sniper-still and spotter-alert as did the other PJs in Refuge, Illinois’s skydiving Drop Zone facility.

Nolan grabbed the DZ phone from teammate Chance Garrison. “Briggs speaking.”

“Nolan, I’m tasking your team to a major bridge collapse.”

Nolan pressed the phone tighter against his ear and processed Petrowski’s words wafting across the line. “Major bridge collapse? Where?” Adrenaline pumping, Nolan eyed his teammates.

They stood at his words and marched close in listen-mode.

“Reunion Bridge over Refuge River—hold on,” Petrowski said.

“Refuge.” Nolan hiked his chin to his team while on hold.

The room erupted in activity as airmen grabbed gear.

Nolan had been placed in temporary command while PJ team leader Joel Montgomery traveled abroad with his wife to meet children they were adopting. Second-in-command, Manny Péna, was in surgery to remove pins, following a two-year-old injury incurred during a skydiving accident.

Nolan yanked a notebook from PJ Ben Dillinger’s pocket. As Petrowski, back on the line, talked about the rescue mission, Nolan scribbled information.

Stiffening beside Nolan, Ben straightened. “Hey, babe,” he called for his fiancée, Amelia, near the round tables across the room. She approached, Ben’s brother Hutton following, his Mosaic Down Syndrome causing his eager feet to shuffle.

“Didn’t Reece have a field trip today, across the bridge at the museum?” Ben said of his stepdaughter-to-be as he grabbed Amelia’s hand.

“Yes.” She scanned the note. Her face turned pasty. “Th-they would have been on the way back. P-probably on the bridge.”

Arms numbing, Nolan tightened his grip on the phone as he observed Ben and Amelia. Dread pounded through his body, incinerating the lining of his gut.

The room stilled as implications of Amelia’s words sank in. Ben’s arms steadied her. “Don’t panic. We don’t know for sure she was on the bridge when it went.”

“What if she was?” Amelia, trembling, slid to a chair.

Nolan squeezed Amelia’s shoulder with his free hand. “We’ll handle it. Okay? I guarantee Refuge divers are already there.”

Amelia managed a catatonic nod. Ben searched Nolan’s face. The only other time Nolan had seen Ben look this rattled was when his father passed away last year.

Nolan leaned close to Ben. “Stay with her ’til you hear from me.”

Blinking rapidly, Ben looked torn. “We’re already two men short. If I don’t go, that puts you at only four.”

“We’ll make do. I can use you here for now. Run the command post. Once we see Reece is okay, you can join us on the bridge.”

Ben gave a short nod. “I’ll call the church. Tell folks to pray. Refuge hasn’t experienced anything like this in its history that I’m aware of. And we don’t know who all was on that bridge…” Ben’s composure faltered.

Nolan knew Ben loved little Reece as though she were his.

“Don’t buckle, Dillinger. Keep your head. Make sure our airmen’s families are accounted for. Have everyone wait here at the DZ or Refuge B and B. Cell and landlines will be jammed from mass calls going in and out.”

Nodding, Ben slipped a bronze arm around his wife-to-be.

Shoulders hunched, Hutton chewed his tongue and blinked close-set eyes while shuffling near. “I praying too, Benny.”

“Thanks, buddy.” Ben hugged his brother, then faced Nolan. “Can we load? I’ll help with that at least.”

Nolan covered the phone and nodded.