Heir to the Nightmare by J J Carlson

Author:J J Carlson [Carlson, J J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

The call went to voice mail for the tenth time. Eli listened to the outgoing message; he closed his eyes and gathered his thoughts. But when the tone finally came, he found himself at a loss for words. He had left too many messages, begged too many times for her to call back. A voice mail wasn’t good enough. Not anymore.

He paced circles around the living room of his one-bedroom apartment and dialed again. The ringtone chirped in his ear six times then went silent. He waited for the familiar greeting but heard nothing but faint white noise. He frowned and looked at the call log, wondering if he had been disconnected. The seconds still ticked by on the screen.

His heart leapt into his throat, and he pressed the phone tight against his ear. “Janson? Are you there?”

There was no response.

He checked the call log once more, then listened for the sound of her breathing. “Okay, fine, you don’t have to talk. Just…don’t hang up. Please?”

The white noise continued, which he took as a sign that she was willing to listen. “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, and I won’t pretend that everything is going to be okay. You’ve been through hell for the past few weeks, and it sucks. You lost someone you loved, and then the people you thought you could trust lied to you in the most awful way possible. No one should have to feel alone, and especially not you. Not after everything you’ve sacrificed.”

He took a deep breath, dreading what he had to say next. “But this isn’t you. The Janson I know never runs from a fight and never abandons her teammates when they need her.” He bit his lip and fought back tears. “When the fire started in Siberia, I thought I was dead. There was no way out. I gave up, said my prayers, and waited for the end until I passed out. But instead of dying, I woke up and saw you. It didn’t make any sense for you to rescue me. You should have finished the mission on your own and left the rest of us to die.”

He swallowed. “But…you didn’t. It wasn’t just about the mission to you. It was about the team, too—keeping as many of your people alive as physically possible. And I thank God every day you were on that Op with me. But right now, I’m having trouble believing you’re the same person. Because I need you more, here and now, than I did in the fire. And so do millions of other people.” He took a deep breath and felt a stabbing sensation in his chest. It pained him to say this to his best friend, but he knew he had to.

“You’re letting me down, Janson. You’re letting us all down. And you know what? Ford was no friend of mine, but you can bet your ass he wouldn’t walk out on me when I needed him most.”

No longer able to hold back the tears, he ended the call and threw his phone against the wall.

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