The Soldier Next Door

It feels like winter has set over my body as I hear the words coming from Ray on the other end of the line. A coldness has not only but numbed my desire to move but also grown over my heart, icing every single emotion that I should be feeling at this very moment. It is not that I do not care for what has happened, but the mere fact is that my entire world has been taken away.

How the fuck did this happen?

Never once did I expect that my biggest rival would be part of the very people that we were trying to kill me. I will give this to him; he has god some balls. But I still have no idea, and Ray is not very forthcoming, but I have no clue as to why the man has gone this far in taking my wife and even further that he has been trying to kill me without much luck.

I can only think how such a failure much hurt that ego of his. It is a wonder that he has not come and do the job himself yet, or has he and I have just not noticed it?

Now, what is our next move?

First, I need Ray to come clean with me. So I compose myself and ask him the very same question I have been repeating, “Ray, why would he take Ana?”

I can hear the hesitation in his voice as he tries to avoid the question, “Ethan, let us just focus on getting Ana back for now.”

Well, I do not think that is going to happen, “Ray, I need to know what I am up against.”

“All you need to know now, Ethan.” He pauses for a few seconds; then, he continues with a much firmer voice. “The only thing that matters now is that we get Ana home.”

With that, I drop the call rather frustrated. Ray is making it hard for me. How the fuck am I supposed to protect Ana if he is holding back on me.

So very annoyed, Williams, Gibbs, and me pile into my car and make our way over to Ray. Now the weather has still not played on our side. It is coming down hard and beating with force against the body of the car. Visibility is near damn impossible, and let us not even mention the rate the car is sliding over the road.

If I was this goddamn asshole, this is the perfect weather that I would strike. We are like a little sitting duck in the pond, and ya, the man thinks he is invisible. Well, I have got news for him.

But if I were him, I would be shitting my fucking pants.

When I lay my hands on him, I shall rearrange that face of him that not even his grandmother would recognize him. He shall suffer my wrath. If I think about this now, and again, how would I have ever expected it? But yes, he did try and drive a wedge between Ana and me that time. I should have fucking knocked him out when I wanted to; in fact, I should have knocked him out the very first he threw a wise-ass comment my way.

After what seems like hours, we are finally pulling into the driveway of Ray.  And as I scope the grounds, I don’t see anything out of place, but ya, we don’t know if they are lurking in the shadows. The moment we come to a stop, Ray is already waiting for us at the doorway.

So I nearly stumble out of the car as I rush over to where the idiot is so casually waiting, “Do you want to get yourself killed?”

“If I was not so consumed with finding Ana,” I listen to him as his voice grows louder. “Then I would have fucking break your fingers.” Then he pauses for a few moments again, but when he sees that I am looking fairly calm, he continues again. “How are we going to get Ana back?”

“Well,” I bite down on my lip as several scenarios start running through my head. “We can always just go fetch her, but we don’t know if she is really at his place.” I then shake my head as I do not agree with my own plan, then I continue. “We can wait and see what his next move is.”

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So, “I think we must hit him. He would probably be waiting for us, but hey, they are probably outside here somewhere on the ground already ready to strike.”

“Then,” Ray turns around as he heads down to his study, “Let’s get our shit ready and go find Ana.”

This is knocking Ray pretty hard, for not only does he feel like Ana is as a daughter to him, but he has promised me that no matter what, he will always protect her. And right now, the man feels like he has failed both of us.

After what seemed like forever, Ray fucking walks up to us with a damn arsenal; I only but shake my head at him, “Ray, no disrespect, but is all that shit necessary?”

“A man needs to come prepared,” he tries to explain to me.

I shake my head at him as I take away an extra Ruger, a pump-action shotgun, and even fucking grenades. The damn man is insane.

Finally disarming the man off his entire ‘hit gear,’  the four of us get into one of the SUVs. Now, if four is going to be enough to hit this damn asshole, well, that is what will are about going to see.

We make it down to the south where his place is, under the darkness of the dreadful weather, and I stop about a block away and start making our way per foot closer to the house. Now, this damn asshole has more fucking windows than are normal in his damn house. Trying to get in unseen is going to require some skill which, in no disrespect, I think Ray does not possess at the very moment.

But ya, you try telling the man to stay in the car.

I quite frankly, at this very stage, don’t give a fuck about protecting him; I only want Ana.

Now, it is too damn dark to see where he has his men positioned. All we can do is try to stay against the fence wall and hope that we do not trigger something, for I would not expect anything less from him.

But what does count in our favor is the fucking amount of trees he has on the outside of his house. So with this stroke of luck, we can easily make our way up to the back.

Ya, whom the fuck walks into the front.

Williams is the first to find himself over the wall, well, not-so-high fence either. I much say he is one stupid asshole. No wonder they steal half of his shit all the time; the man knows nothing about protection.

As Williams’s feet hit the ground, he scans from the left… to the right…it is clear, then again, left… to the right… clear. He softly signals for us that we can jump the fence behind him.

With feet firmly standing on the ground, which is yet another invitation for a clear war, I softly whisper to confirm our plan of action.

And so we go.

As Gibbs and I make it unnoticed from the fence to the back door, he slowly creeks it open. He waits for a few seconds to make sure that the noise has gone unheard. Then we make our way with a snail’s pace inside, keeping our backs hunched and our guns armed.

We start making the way to the kitchen. It is dark, and I cannot sense any movement. I swear if some fuck jumps from behind the fridge, then I will die.

While we are moving in from the back, we slip our way in and then out of the kitchen; we can safely say that all is clear on this side of the house.

Next is the lounge.

Oddly. Strangely. But most worryingly. It is clear.

But, just as we are about to head up the stairs, the front door opens.

Fuck…my body freezes, and my reality sets in…today, I am going to die.

But, just as I am about to thank my maker, goddamn Ray and Williams come through the door.

I raise my eyebrows, somewhat confused at the fact that they have gained entry without any resistance from inside.

I push this aside and head upstairs to his bedroom that should be coming up on the righthand side.

But as I sneak through the hallway, everything is eerily quiet.

Each room…is quiet.

There is nobody in sight.

I shake my head out of frustration and look Ray straight in the eyes, “Ana is not here.”

But then…