How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

The convoy turned and drove away.

Elodie watched the lead car up ahead, realizing they had no idea where they were being taken.

But...

She glanced at her colleague's basic phone-not the smartest device, but good enough. She quickly sent Jarrod a few updates: their real-time location, the route, anything that could help.

To be safe, she sent some of the information to Esmeralda as well.

As soon as they got a signal, the messages would be delivered automatically.

On Esmeralda's end.

She'd been among the first group evacuated.

The chaos happened so suddenly she hadn't even gotten a chance to look for Elodie.

Now, anxiety kept her pacing, unable to sit still.

Elodie's phone had gone dark. Esmeralda had asked the person in charge here, but the answer was always the same: "Sorry, we're still coordinating and checking. The moment we have any news, you'll know right away."

"So, you're saying Elodie might still be trapped inside?" Her breath came quick and shallow, her eyes red from worry.

She was so agitated that the gash on her lower leg-scraped in her frantic escape -had started bleeding again.

She couldn't care less about the pain, and kept asking the same question, over and over.

"At this time, we can't confirm anything. I'm sorry."

Each time she heard that, Esmeralda's hope shrank a little more.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She wasn't like Elodie, who could stay calm no matter how bad things got. Esmeralda couldn't stop imagining the worst.

Just then, voices sounded outside the door.

Esmeralda looked up and instantly spotted Fleming at the front of the group.

For a moment, it was as if she'd seen a lifeline. Limping, she hurried toward him. "Fleming, where did you just come from? Do you know anything about the situation at base camp?"

Fleming's eyes were cold and steady as he looked her over. Esmeralda was a mess-tear streaks mingled with the dust on her face.noveldrama

He was here to report on the training base.

He shook his head at her question. "It's pretty serious over there."

He'd known before he arrived that something had gone wrong at the camp.

In this country, emergencies were the norm, but this time was different—a terrorist attack, right next to a major base.

Esmeralda didn't care about any of that now. She grabbed his sleeve, gripping so tightly her knuckles turned white. "Can you help me? Please, can you help me find Elodie?"

Fleming was a special-ops pilot; if anyone could fly in and get someone out, it was him.

He understood how she felt, but he looked down at her wrinkled shirt and answered in his usual official tone: "That's not allowed. I can't just take off without orders."

Any movement at all required clearance.

Esmeralda's face went pale. "But this is an emergency, isn't it?"

"No matter the situation, it would still be a personal action," Fleming replied, not giving an inch.

His cold professionalism stung like a slap.

Her grip on his sleeve loosened. "If it were me trapped in there, would you still

stand by and do nothing? Just wait for your orders?"

Something in her words unsettled Fleming.

He pressed his lips together, staring at her, silent.

She looked up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. "What if it was Lucy?"

At that, Fleming's brow furrowed, almost involuntarily.

He clearly hated hearing her say that.

And suddenly, Esmeralda understood.

Fleming couldn't even bear thinking

about Lucy being in danger. It was

like-she was bleeding right now,

was

and he hadn't even noticed. But last time Lucy so much as scraped her knee, he'd dropped everything to rush over.

The contrast stung.

Esmeralda clenched her fists so tightly her nails dug into her palms. Tears streamed down her face, but, she smiled at him through them. "Fleming, I'm begging you—just this once, help me save Elodie. If you do, 'I'll break off our engagement, just like you wanted."