Rescuing Katherine (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Bravo Series Book 2)

by Anna Blakely

  “Oh, god.” Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d done. “I almost shot you!”

  “It’s okay, sweetheart.” He grinned. “You didn’t know it was me.” He gave her a quick once-over. “You okay? Are you hurt?”

  “I-I…”

  “Hey, Turner,” Gabe interrupted, pulling their attention away before she could answer. “Sorry, man, but we need to get going. That explosion and all the gunfire is going to have the locals hot on our ass in minutes.”

  Right on cue, they heard the thump, thump, thump of the twin choppers Ghost had obtained for their extraction. That they’d been given the green light by Delta to land meant only one thing…

  The rest of the building was clear and secure.

  Taking precious seconds to cup Kat’s cheek, Matt looked into the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen and asked, “You ready to go home?”

  Fresh tears fell from those same eyes, streaking through the dark soot clouding her perfect skin. “Y-yes.”

  Linking his fingers with hers, Matt used his free hand picked up Bukhari’s pistol and shoved it into his waistband as he led Kat out of the bathroom.

  Waiting until they’d stepped over the man’s unmoving body, Kole asked, “What do we do with him?”

  The look on the man’s face told him Bukhari wasn’t unconscious. He was dead.

  Ah, fuck.

  Apparently, Kat picked up on it, too. “Oh, my god.” She covered her mouth before letting her hand drop again. “I killed him? I-I didn’t mean to.” Shocked, she looked at the others and back to Matt. “I swear. I hit him with a piece from the back of the toilet. Just to keep him from—”

  “Hey, hey, hey,” Matt whispered, cupping her face with both hands this time. “Look at me. You were defending yourself. He would have killed you if you hadn’t hit him. His death is not on you. Okay?”

  Her chin quivered, but she didn’t break down. “O-okay.”

  “Let’s leave his ass here,” Gabe answered Kole’s question. “His people can do whatever they want with him.”

  “If I have to guess, I’d say they’ll probably dance around the asshole’s body,” Derek quipped before turning and heading down the hall. “I sure as hell would.”

  Matt looked down at the man who’d caused so much terror. Not only for them, but also for his own people.

  Countries around the world had been trying to take Bukhari down for decades. The United States, included. In the end, he was taken out by a tiny scientist with a heart of gold.

  Matt couldn’t help but be filled with overwhelming pride knowing that scientist was his, and his alone.

  He gave the asshole one final glance. Not so tough now are you, fucknut?

  Resisting the urge to kick the dead man, he held Kat tightly against him as they walked away.

  Using his handheld radio, Gabe gave Delta a quick update. “Headed to the extraction point with Package A. Seven tangoes down on our end, including Package B.

  “Copy that, Bravo One,” Ghost responded immediately. “One tango for us. Two went running your way. Sounds like you got ‘em.”

  Gabe smirked. “You could say that. What about the last one?”

  There was a slight pause before Ghost said, “Package C was not obtained.”

  “Motherfucker,” Matt bit out. Package C was the label given to Adrian Walker.

  The bastard had gotten away. Again. Matt thought of Zade, hating the idea of telling him. He’d promised to take Walker down this time. It was the one part of the mission he’d failed.

  “The man can’t run forever.” Derek slapped his shoulder. “His time will come, brother. His time will come.”

  Matt knew he was right, but fuck.

  “At least we saved your girl,” Kole mused.

  “Actually,” Gabe corrected. “She saved herself.”

  Matt looked at the woman next to him, his chest swelling with pride again. “Hell yeah, she did.”

  Ghost and Fletch met them at the building’s front entrance, giving added coverage, just in case.

  Knowing there’d be time for introductions later, Matt simply made sure Kat knew they were the good guys as they followed them across the grass where the choppers were waiting.

  About ten yards away from theirs, Kat began to move a little more slowly. All of a sudden, her steps faltered, and she would’ve gone down had he not had his hands on her already.

  “Hey.” Matt held her upright. “Easy, sweetheart. You okay?”

  “No.” Kat shook her head, her face grimacing with pain.

  “Book it, man,” Derek yelled from inside the chopper. “We gotta get these birds in the air before someone around here figures out what we did and decides to take us out.”

  With his eyes still on Kat’s, Matt started to pick her up. “Come on, baby. I’ll carry you the rest of the way.” Her fingernails dug into his shoulders, causing him to pause. When he looked back up at her, his chest tightened.

  Pain clouded her eyes as Kat shook her head again. “C-can’t.”

  Everything had happened so fast, he hadn’t had a chance to assess her physical state. His thoughts worked overtime to figure out what was going on.

  He’d seen the blood on her hands earlier but had assumed she’d gotten cut in the explosion. She’d been acting fine, otherwise, so Matt had guessed any cuts she had gotten were superficial. Now he wasn’t so sure.

  He yanked his small flashlight from the pocket at his thigh and hurried to grab her hands. Turning them over and back again, Matt saw plenty of drying blood but no visible cuts.

  “I don’t see any injuries, sweetheart. Where are you hurt?”

  Kat swallowed, her face grimacing as she lifted the bottom of her black scrub top. Matt lowered the light to see, choking out his denial when he saw the wound there.

  No. His world began to spin. “You’re hit?” he nearly choked on the words.

  Her head bobbed in a weak nod. “S-sorry.” Kat barely managed the whispered word before her knees gave out completely.

  Matt caught her before she hit the ground.

  Looking up at him, her eyes fluttered shut as she said, “L-love…y-you.”

  “No!” He shook his head with the fierce denial. “I won’t lose you. I won’t!”

  Lifting her limp body into his arms, Matt held on tightly as he raced to the chopper. They were literally right next door to a hospital, but given who they were and what they’d done, he knew going there would be a suicide mission.

  Insurmountable fear turned his blood to ice, but he fought against it and kept going.

  “What happened?” Derek’s concerned expression matched the others as Matt reached their chopper. He handed Kat off to the other man long enough to climb inside.

  “She’s been shot!”

  There was a loud and collective, “What?” from the others.

  “But she seemed fine.” Kole sounded as confused as Matt felt. The man grabbed his fist and pulled him up. “How the hell did she manage to fight off Bukhari?”

  “I don’t fucking know!” Matt shouted as he fell to his knees by her side. Bile churned in his gut, panic threatening to take him over. “Adrenaline maybe? Doesn’t matter.” He swung his gaze around wildly. “Where’s the goddamn med bag?”

  He’d no more said the words, and it was there. With frantic movements, he unzipped the bag, rummaging through it to find what he needed as the chopper lifted from the ground.

  Several shouts came from below, men firing their weapons at the giant, metal birds. Thankfully the men behind the choppers’ controls knew what they were doing.

  Ghost and his team offered cover, raining gunfire down on the hostiles while the helicopter Matt was in took off. He was grateful as fuck for the men of Delta, and through his fear for Kat, felt a rush of relief when he saw Ghost and his team were in the clear.

  Doing his best to control his shaking hands, Matt quickly started an I.V. Next, he administered a shot of powerful antibiotics to ward of any infection.

  A
fter checking to make sure her pulse was still present, Matt did his best to clean and dress the area the bullet had entered. There was no exit wound, which meant the bullet was still inside Kat.

  Praying harder than he could ever remember, Matt kept pressure on the wound the entire way to the private airstrip where the R.I.S.C. jet was waiting. With no electronic monitors to rely on, he had to go old-school, like he had hundreds of times in the field.

  Only those times were different. Those were his fellow soldiers. His brothers who’d known exactly what they were signing up for.

  This time, it was Kat. And she was his…everything.

  Once they were on the jet, Matt managed to keep Kat stable, but he didn’t dream of relaxing. Not even when they landed at the U.S. military base in Baghdad.

  A team of doctors met them on the landing strip. After giving them his medical report, they’d promptly whisked Kat away without even giving him the chance to kiss her goodbye first. That was a good thing, though. Because this wasn’t goodbye.

  It couldn’t be the end. Not after he’d finally found her again.

  “They’ve got her now, Matt.” Gabe squeezed his shoulder. “She’s in good hands.”

  Matt looked over at his team leader. “They’d better be the best. She deserves nothing less.”

  Hours later, they were all sitting and standing outside the building designated as the base’s makeshift hospital. Matt had wanted to take her to Landstuhl, the U.S. Naval hospital in Germany. But even in the private jet, the trip would’ve taken too long.

  Kat was strong, yes, but a person’s body could only withstand a certain amount of trauma before it began to shut down. By the time they’d landed here, her heart rate had already begun to slowly drop.

  Matt knew bringing her here was the right decision. He only hoped that decision resulted in her life being saved.

  His phone dinged with an incoming text. Leaning against the metal building, Matt glanced down to see it was from Ghost.

  Any word on your girl?

  He responded…

  Not yet.

  Ghost wrote back…

  Keep the faith, brother. She’s tough. She’ll pull through.

  One corner of Matt’s lips almost curled. Damn, he liked those guys.

  I’ll keep you posted.

  He quickly typed out another text right after that one, adding…

  Thanks again. For everything.

  A few seconds later, Ghost wrote back…

  Anytime, brother.

  Matt allowed himself to grin slightly when he read that last text. The Delta guys may be on a different team, but they were brothers, all the same.

  “You’re smiling.”

  He looked up to see Gabe walking his way. “Ghost texted, asking about Kat.”

  Gabe leaned against the building with him. “Those guys are solid,” his team leader acknowledged.

  “Solid as they come,” Matt agreed. “Not a situation out there I wouldn’t want them watching my six.”

  “Agreed.”

  A few moments of silence passed before Gabe said, “You did all you could. You get that, right?”

  Matt knew what the man was getting at, but he disagreed. “She never should’ve been put in that position to begin with.”

  “But she was. And that’s not on you, either.” He stood straight again and faced him. “You did what you had to in order to get her back. Then you kept her alive long enough to get her here. Kat’s a fighter, man. We all saw proof of that. She’ll pull through.”

  Matt blinked quickly to fight off the burning tears forming behind his tired lids. “She has to, Gabe. I’ve fucked up so much with her, and all she’s ever done is try to protect me.” He swiped angrily at a tear that had escaped, despite his efforts. “I need the chance to make it right. We need more time.”

  “And you’ll get it. You’ve gotta keep the faith.”

  “Trust me, I am,” Matt assured his friend. “She never gave up, so I won’t either.”

  He’d no more said the words when a woman’s voice caught their attention.

  “She’s out of surgery.”

  The doctor’s words had Matt’s eyes flying upward to meet hers. Pushing himself off the wall, he rushed over to where the woman was standing. The other men followed.

  “And?” Matt asked anxiously. “Is she going to be okay?”

  The doctor smiled. “I believe she will.”

  Matt wanted to kiss her. “C-can I see her?”

  “In a minute. My team’s cleaning her up. “The bullet tore through a portion of her small intestine. We extracted the bullet and removed the damaged tissue. After that, we were able reconnect the intestine and sew her back up. With proper care and rest, I see no reason Katherine won’t make a full recovery.”

  He could barely breathe for the relief flowing through him. “Thank you.” He held out his hand. “Thank you so much.”

  The woman shook his hand. “I’m happy we were able to help.”

  For the first time since she’d collapsed in his arms, Matt felt as though he could breathe.

  “What’d I tell ya?” Gabe slapped his back.

  Derek followed suit. “That’s great news, man.”

  “The best,” Kole piped in.

  Letting out a shaky breath, Matt nodded. “You’re right.” He sniffed. “It’s the best.”

  Pinching the bridge of his nose, he squeezed his eyes shut for only a second before wiping a hand down his face. Then he smiled and went to see his girl.

  Epilogue

  Kat took a sip of her champagne, the cool bubbles tingling in her throat as she swallowed them down.

  It had been nearly a month since that horrific day in Iran. Per Agent Ryker’s request, after she’d been treated at the hospital in Baghdad, Kat was transferred back to Dallas.

  Once they were back in the States, she was admitted to Homeland’s private hospital until she was well enough to go home. And Matt had stayed by her side through it all.

  He’d about lost his shit when he found out Adrian Walker had given her stitches. But it had almost bothered him more when she told him about the moments Walker had been kind and gentle. And how, at times he’d, made Kat believe he hadn’t truly wanted to see her hurt.

  Of course, then the bastard left her in that lab with Bukhari, allowing her to be shot and nearly killed. So, there was that.

  Pushing all that away, Kat brought her thoughts back to the present and why they were here.

  Today, Bravo team had come back together at Jake’s ranch for a belated celebration of Nate and Gracie’s nuptials. The couple had returned from their Vegas honeymoon the same day Kat was admitted to Homeland’s hospital.

  At first, Nate had been beyond pissed that no one had told him what was going on sooner. Especially since Adrian Walker had been involved.

  However, once Jake explained it was his decision to keep it quiet, Nate relented. Though he still gave Matt crap about it from time to time, Kat could tell, deep down, the man understood.

  The two newlyweds decided to hold off having a party in their honor until Kat was well enough to attend. She still couldn’t believe how instant everyone had accepted her as part of the Bravo family. Part of the R.I.S.C. family, really.

  Looking around at those in attendance, Kat felt such a sense of love and family. It was so strong, it was almost overwhelming. But in a good way.

  All of Alpha Team had come to celebrate today. Bravo, too…minus Zade.

  Her heart felt heavy when she thought of her new friend. He’d nearly died protecting her. As had so many others.

  When Zade requested some time off from the team, he’d sworn to Matt and the other Bravo men he was fine. Said he needed some time to recharge before coming back to work, now that his shoulder was almost fully healed. Kat suspected that was far from the truth.

  The man was hurting, and Kat could tell the pain wasn’t all physical. Something had changed inside the fun-loving guy. Something she had a feeling he’d left i
n order to find.

  “I still can’t believe you shoved a syringe into your bullet wound.” Olivia, Jake’s very pregnant wife, spoke up. “I’ve seen grown men come through the ER crying and passing out from getting a few stitches. And that’s after they’ve been given lidocaine.”

  Refocusing, Kat chuckled at the woman’s comment. “To be fair, I didn’t exactly shove it in.”

  The woman looked horrified. “Still. And then to fight off the Iranian Army’s general…with a toilet lid, no less?”

  The memory threatened to become prevalent, but Kat forced it into the background. It was still hard to believe she’d killed a man, but surprisingly, that thought wasn’t what kept her up at night.

  “Well I wouldn’t have been able to if it hadn’t been for the serum,” she explained.

  “The drugs may have taken away your pain, but the fighting? Girl, that was all you.” Olivia raised her glass of milk in a toast. “Trust me. What you did took a lot of guts, sister.”

  “Here, here!” Gracie, Nate’s new bride, agreed while lifting her glass of champagne.

  “I second that,” Sarah, Kole’s wife and Gracie’s sister agreed. “To Katherine the Great!”

  Choking on the sip of champagne she’d just taken, Kat pressed her lips together to keep from spitting it out. After a few, hard coughs, she held her drink up with the others. “Well, thank you. Although, ‘Katherine the Great’ might be taking it a bit too far.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that, Doc,” a deep voice rumbled from behind her. “I think you’re pretty great.”

  Kat looked up from where she was sitting to see Matt standing over her shoulder. She smiled wide. “Hey, you.”

  He leaned down, his lips brushing against hers as he spoke. “Hey, yourself.” His warm lips pressed against hers in a sweet, sweet kiss.

  “And, that’s our cue.” Gracie hopped up out of her lawn chair. “Come on, girls. I could use a refill.”

  “Another one?” Sarah teased her sister. “That’s like, what? Your third?”

  “It’s my wedding celebration…barbeque…thingy. I should be able to drink however much I want.”

  “Yep. Sure sounds like you need another one, Sis.” Sarah rolled her eyes and snorted as she and her sister walked past Kat.