Unraveling The Past. Elisabeth Rees

need help.”

      Ed remained silent for a few seconds before answering. “Everything okay, Tyler? Nobody’s called me by the name Ed in a long time.”

      “What do you mean?” Tyler asked, confused. “Did you change your name?”

      “Um, not exactly,” Ed replied with a note of concern. “But since I lost my leg, my buddies all call me Blade, remember?”

      “What!” Tyler exclaimed. How could he have forgotten something like this? “You lost a leg?”

      “Yeah, right after Dark Skies. What’s going on, Tyler? What happened to you?”

      Tyler stared down at the photograph, now understanding why he had written the word Blade above the number. “I somehow lost the last seven years of my life,” he said. “And now I’m on the run from the police, trying to protect a deputy who’s been wrongly accused of a crime, and my face is all over the local news.”

      Ed obviously took a little while to let this information sink in. “I’m not even gonna ask how this happened,” he said finally. “Because I’m guessing you don’t have a lot of time. You need somewhere to hole up, right?”

      “Right.”

      “Where are you?”

      “Northern Arkansas.”

      “Are you close to Millington, Tennessee?”

      Tyler pictured a map of the area in his mind. “Yeah, it’s only a couple of hours away. There’s a naval base there.”

      “That’s right. The navy sometimes uses the base for top-secret training, and they own a log cabin in the Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park for secret personnel to stay away from prying eyes. I went there once before I was medically discharged—”

      Tyler cut him off. “You’re not a SEAL anymore?”

      “Tyler,” Ed replied with a low laugh, “I just told you that I only have one leg.”

      In spite of his situation, Tyler laughed, too. “I’m sorry, Ed, this is a lot to take in.”

      “I might need to call in a favor or two to gain access to the cabin. I’ll contact Dillon. He transferred into the coast guard a little while back, but he’s a lieutenant now, and he’ll be able to pull a few strings.”

      Tyler felt a swell of gratitude in his chest. “I realize I’m asking you to take a big risk.”

      Ed came back quickly with the words of a SEAL motto. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks...”

      Tyler finished the sentence: “Will accomplish nothing in life.”

      “Exactly, my friend. Go to the state park and keep your cell phone on. I’m in North Carolina, so it’ll take me nine or ten hours to reach you by car, but I’ll get there.”

      The faint sounds of a police siren drifted into the bathroom. Tyler inhaled sharply. Had the sullen teenager at the reception desk recognized them after all?

      “I gotta go,” he said. “I hear sirens.”

      If any gang members listened to police scanners, it could mean that Crusher might not be far behind.

      “Go,” Ed said firmly. “But remember—Audentes Fortuna Iuvat.”

      Tyler translated the Latin phrase that his SEAL team would often recite before missions: “Fortune favors the brave.”

      He ended the call, flung open the bathroom door and picked up his motorcycle key from the dresser, ready to jump into action. Tyler may have lost a significant portion of his life, but he most definitely remembered how to be brave.