by Anna Blakely
After flushing the toilet to go along with her ruse, she rushed to wash her hands and face, grabbing a paper towel from the roll on the sink to pat her skin dry. Drawing in a few, deep breaths, she prayed no one would find it and opened the door.
Only Walker wasn’t the one waiting for her when she walked out. It was Bukhari. And he looked pissed.
“Where is the serum?” he demanded angrily.
Oh, god. He knows. “W-what do you mean? I told you, it would take—”
“Two weeks,” he finished for her.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“You’re lying.”
“What? No—”
Bukhari grabbed the front of her scrub top and pulled her to the side. Kat cried out when he slammed her back against the wall. Her still-tender head made contact, but thankfully the cut Walker had stitched up was on the side, so it hadn’t taken a direct hit.
With his meaty fist pressed against her chest, he held her in place. “I spoke to one of my country’s top scientists. He told me if you knew the formula and had all the supplies, it would take days, not weeks to duplicate.”
Shit. Shit. Shit.
She had to think. “Y-your scientist isn’t familiar with my work. It’s not like I’m whipping up a batch of cupcakes. I told you before, this project is complicated.”
The man released her, and for a second, she thought it was because he believed her. She was wrong.
His hand moved lightning fast, the blow sending her straight to the ground. Kat didn’t even have time to recover from that first hit to her face before his booted toe made contact with her ribs.
Crying out in pain, Kat curled into a ball, doing her best to protect her internal organs as he drew his leg back and kicked her again. And again.
“Bukhari!” Walker’s voice echoed down the hallway. “What the hell are you doing?”
“She lied,” the monster accused.
Walker came up beside him. “About what?”
“She said it would take two weeks to make the serum when it should be done by now.”
Kat flinched, making herself even smaller when she saw Bukhari’s foot begin to move again. Walker stopped him.
“Wait.” Walker pulled him back. “Even if what you’re saying is true, she’ll be no use to you dead.”
“I will not tolerate being made a fool of. Especially by an American bitch like her.”
“I get that, but you need to calm down a minute and think. You beat her senseless, she won’t be able to make the product until after she recovers. That’ll only add to that damn timeline you’re so worried about.”
Lying silently on the cold, concrete floor, Kat prayed Bukhari would listen. When he crouched down beside her, she tried to move away from, but her body hurt too bad to make any progress.
Grabbing the hair on the back of her head, he pulled her face up to meet his. Fire burned in her already-tender scalp, and she was certain he was yanking the hair from its roots.
With his nose next to hers, he warned, “You have one more day to get me my serum. After that, I’m sending Walker to finish off your precious Bravo Team.”
Though she fought them, tears fell from Kat’s eyes.
“One by one.” Bukhari finished the threat. “Starting with that boyfriend of yours.”
Chapter 16
“Good to see you again, Turner." The man known to him as Ghost shook Matt’s hand. “Wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Hey, Ghost.” Matt gripped the man’s hand tightly. “Trust me, so do I.”
The six-one Delta operator nodded his understanding.
“You remember Dawson, our team leader?” Matt motioned to Gabe.
“Of course.” The two men shook hands.
“And this is Kole Jameson. He stayed back last time, to protect his wife.”
“Heard a lot about you,” Kole offered Ghost his hand.
“It’s all bullshit,” Ghost teased.
With a chuckle, Kole shook his head. “Seriously, man. Appreciate what you did for my sister-in-law.”
“How is Gracelynn?” Ghost asked, sounding sincere.
“Great. Actually, she and Nate are on their honeymoon.”
With a smirk, Ghost said, “Ah, so that’s why the smartass isn’t here.”
Matt laughed, remembering Nate’s hesitation to work with Ghost and his men. Knowing these guys were going to help him get Katherine back made him even more grateful their two teams had crossed paths.
“Heard King ran into some trouble.” Ghost looked at Matt. “He good?”
“He will be. Took a hit to the shoulder. Busted his collar bone, but he’ll be back with the team in no time.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“Since these three assholes have no manners, I guess I’ll have to introduce myself. Derek West.” Derek held out his hand.
“Shit. Sorry, D.” Matt gave the other man a chagrined smile before turning back to Ghost. “Derek’s actually on Jake’s team. Former SEAL and Alpha’s tech guy. He’s helping us out until Nate gets back.”
“No, I remember. You’re the one who found the pics on Gracie’s phone. The ones who helped us take down that prick Yavuz.” Ghost gave Derek an approving nod. “From what Ryker’s said, you’ve done quite a bit to help figure this clusterfuck out.”
Derek shrugged. “Some. Wish I could’ve figured it out sooner.”
“You guys are here, now. That’s all that matters. Come on.” Looking at Derek and Kole, Ghost tilted his head toward one side of the room, where his men were standing. “I’ll introduce you to the others and then we can get started.
Wearing camo gear similar to Matt’s, the brown-haired captain began introducing Derek and Kole to his men. First up was Fletch. An inch taller than Ghost, the Delta operative’s muscular, brightly tattooed arms were what had stuck in Matt’s memory of the man.
Next were Beatle, Hollywood, and Truck. The one and only time he’d met these three was when they’d flown the team and Gracie back to the States from Turkey. Though they hadn’t worked the actual op with them, Matt had no qualms about doing so now.
At barely under six foot, Beatle was the shortest of the group, the man with the slightly auburn hair had a southern drawl that could possibly out-do Derek’s. With his tall, dark, and handsome feature, Hollywood reminded Matt a bit of Alpha Team’s Trevor.
And then there was Truck.
The last time Matt saw him, the guy was flying the chopper. He’d known the dude was big, but seeing him standing upright was like…holy fuck! The guy was seriously over six and a half feet.
Between his enormous frame, a scar on his face, and a nose that had been broken more than once, the dude could probably just look at Bukhari and send the man running.
If only it were that easy.
Last up was the man who went by the nickname “Coach”. Minus Truck, the six-five, naturally tanned giant also towered over every other man in the room. Matt remembered him as being fairly serious, though his strong, square jaw may have attributed to that thought.
“Heard your girl’s special, like me,” Coach shook Matt’s hand.
“That’s right. You have an eidetic memory, too.” Matt dropped his hand. “Forgot about that.”
“Can’t imagine what that’s like.” Then, the man smirked.
“Funny.” Matt flipped him off with a grin before turning serious. Addressing Ghost, he asked, “Can we get to work, now?”
He had a girl to save, and everything in Matt’s gut said they were running out of time.
Gathering around the safehouse’s large table, Ghost waited until everyone was in a spot to see the large, printed map before starting.
“Here’s what we know. Bukhari’s warehouse is here.” He pointed to a marked spot on the map. “This is Mehrabad International here. This lot houses the airports overflow buildings. General supplies, that sort of thing. The space between that and Bukhari’s warehouse is vacant. To the east of that building is the hospital fo
r District Ten.”
“Which part of the warehouse is Katherine being held?” Matt blurted.
“Hang on, Turner.” Ghost held out a hand. “I know you’re anxious to go in, but we need our plan to be solid first, and you and your men need all the intel we’ve gathered to make that happen.”
Matt nodded. “Sorry. You were saying?”
He knew he was jumping ahead, but fuck if he could help it.
“One of our contacts in the hospital spotted a man matching Adrian Walker’s description.”
“When?”
“Three days ago. He entered the hospital empty-handed but left with a stack of scrubs. When our contact asked around, he found out Walker had sweet-talked a nurse into giving them to him. Said his daughter was home, sick with a fever, and needed something cool to wear. Apparently, she bought it and gave him several pair.”
“They were for Kat,” Matt mumbled to himself.
“That’s what we’re thinking.” Fletch nodded.
Unable to keep from it, Matt looked at the Delta team and asked, “Okay, so do you have a plan of entrance yet, or do we need to figure that out?”
“Well, Turner,” Derek drawled. “If you’d let the man talk, he might tell you.”
Shit. He was doing it again. “Sorry, guys. I’m just…”
“Scared for your woman,” Truck’s deep voice rumbled. “Trust us. We get it.”
Something in Truck’s eyes told Matt the big guy was speaking from personal experience. He already knew Ghost, Fletch, and Coach had stories similar to the one Matt and Katherine were currently living. He hadn’t realized Truck did, too.
As he scanned the group, Matt was shocked to find the same, knowing look staring back at him from both Beatle and Hollywood.
Damn. “Must be something about the women the Delta or R.I.S.C. men choose, huh?” Matt half-joked with the group.
“Sure is,” Beatle drawled. “They’re all smart as hell and tough as nails.”
“I’m guessing yours is no different?” Hollywood asked Matt.
“No,” he answered truthfully. “Kat’s…amazing.”
Beatle gave Matt a slight smirk and said, “Then let’s quit standing around here shootin’ the shit and figure out how we’re gonna get her back.”
It was the best thing Matt had heard all day.
Four long, torturous hours later, Matt and the others were finally geared up and ready to go. Using the Iranian night sky to their advantage, they’d managed to travel through the city undetected to where they were now.
With the airport overflow buildings as cover, they used their night vision goggles to watch for movement coming from the warehouse.
A combination of concrete blocks and drywall, the large structure looked strong and sturdy, but it had definite weak spots that would make for easy targets. They just had to make sure Kat wasn’t within the radius of danger, should they need to go that route.
While Matt and the others had been on the plane to Iran, Delta had found a contact who’d led them to a man who’d worked on the lab’s construction.
From what he could see through the thermal scope on his rifle, there were ten individual heat signals coming from inside the building.
One in the area the other team’s contact said was the lab and nine more scattered throughout the building.
“The one in the lab has to be Kat,” Matt whispered to Gabe, who was positioned next to him.
His team leader nodded. “Agreed.”
Matt couldn’t take his eyes off that heat signal. It wasn’t stationary, like the others. Ones Matt assumed were asleep.
Instead Kat’s blurred image would be still for a beat before slowly moving to another area of the room. After that, she’d go back to where she had started. This happened three more times in a ten-minute period.
“Fuckers are making her work in the middle of the goddamn night,” he bit out angrily.
“Bukhari is desperate,” Derek reasoned. “He knows it’s only a matter of time before we figure out he’s behind this. He wants that serum made so he can mass-market it to his entire army.”
Matt got it. Didn’t mean he fucking liked it. “Let’s pray she’s doing something to stall the bastard.”
God, it was killing him to be this close but have to wait. If they went in, guns blazing, there was a very good chance Bukhari would execute her on the spot. No fucking way was Matt taking that chance.
They stayed in position, watching and waiting until they were certain their timing was perfect. That time came when two more heat signals moved into the lab.
Bukhari and Walker. Matt knew it in his gut.
“All right, boys,” Ghost spoke up. “Let’s do this.”
Like a well-oiled machine, the two teams moved effortlessly across the open lot. Boots pressed into rock and grass, but the men had all been trained to silence their footfalls as best they could.
They were half-way to the building when the area where the lab had been constructed exploded into a fiery ball of flames.
“No!” Matt started to run forward, but Gabe’s strong grip on his shoulder held him back.
“Matt, wait!”
He looked back at the man as if he’d lost his damn mind. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“We do this together,” Gabe growled.
Truck’s large form appeared in front of him as the man added, “All of us.”
Shit. Fuck. Motherfucker.
“Fine.” He glanced back at the burning building. “What’s the plan?”
“We go in the same way we discussed,” Ghost took charge. “Only instead of your team taking the back, see if you can get through the fire and go through the lab. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but they won’t be expecting an attack from inside the flames. Just watch your backs.”
“Roger that,” Matt, Gabe, Kole, and Derek all answered in unison.
“Now go,” Fletch told Matt. “Go get your girl. We’ll take care of Bukhari.”
With a final look, Ghost gave Matt and the others a tip of his head and said, “We’ll see you on the flip side.”
Not willing to wait another second, Matt took off for the building, knowing Derek and his Bravo brothers would have his back. Always.
With his heart in his throat and fear crawling its way down his spine, Matt pushed everything aside and focused on the most important objective of his life…
Finding Katherine and bringing her home.
Hang on, baby! I’m coming for you!
Chapter 17
Three minutes earlier…
Kat measured the chemical additive. Using the dropper, she carefully added it to what was already in the glass beaker, praying she didn’t pull a Todd and blow herself up in the process.
The compound she’d created wasn’t the same as the one he’d used. Unfortunately, Todd hadn’t been kind enough to include those in the grocery list from hell he’d put together for Bukhari. So she’d improvised.
After the jerk had finished beating on her in the hallway, Kat had picked herself up—having refused Walker’s offer to assist—and painfully hobbled her way back here to the lab.
Oddly, it was the only space in the entire building she actually felt safe. Sort of. It probably had to do with how familiar it all was. Crazed murderer aside, Bukhari had done an excellent job of recreating her home away from home.
The throbbing in her head and ribs were a sharp reminder she was most definitely not at home. Familiar or not, Kat was more than ready to get the hell out of here. One way or another.
When Bukhari had been hitting and kicking her, she’d felt hopeless. Ready to give up any thoughts of escaping. She’d silently cursed fate for putting her here. Then she’d cursed the bitch even more for causing Todd’s wife to get sick.
If she hadn’t, he may never have been a pawn in this horrifying game. Her co-workers would most likely still be alive, and maybe…just maybe, she wouldn’t be here.
That thought led to memories of the explosion
, and those led her to where she was now. Or, rather…what she was doing.
Memories from that day had sparked an idea. One with terrifying consequences. But she refused to give those any thought, because at this point, they were moot.
Kat believed Bukhari when he moved the deadline for the serum to tomorrow. She also believed he’d make good on his promise to go after the members of Bravo Team if she didn’t follow through. Knew, without a doubt, the cold-blooded man would kill Matt as a result of her inaction.
She was left with no other choice.
Pushing past the pain, Kat had come back in here and had gone straight to work. Not making the serum as she’d been ordered. Like hell she’d give a man like him something that could help him and his crooked army.
Instead she’d remembered one of the first formulas they’d tested. One that had failed miserably. It wasn’t harmful to the human body, but it wasn’t helpful, either. A person may as well inject saline into their system for all the effect it had.
So that’s what Kat had spent the night creating. She’d filled dozens of vials with the worthless drug praying Bukhari was stupid enough to believe it was the real thing. If only she could inject his dumbass with the worthless shit.
It was a scene she’d played over and over in her mind as the night had gone on. Had imagined making the man think he was momentarily invincible, right before she jabbed him in the throat with something long…and very sharp.
While she’d always believed every person’s life was of value, this experience had taught her a hard life lesson. Some people truly did deserve to die.
Kat continued to work on the final touches to what she hoped would be her way out. Her plan was to wait for the right moment, and then boom! Bukhari would go up in flames. She just hoped like hell she didn’t go with him.
She walked over to the counter at the far end of the room to retrieve the final ingredient. Grabbing it, Kat was half-way between the back wall and where it was when the door to the lab swung open.
