Six Minutes to Midnight

by Elle James

  Immediately, Kinsley knocked the hand away, and she shot to a sitting position. “What the hell?”

  “I knocked lightly, but you didn’t answer. I couldn’t knock louder without waking others.”

  She pushed the hair out of her face and stared up at T-Mac. “It’s okay. You just startled me.”

  “You left your door unlocked.”

  Agar nudged her fingers with his cool, damp nose.

  Kinsley smoothed a hand over his head and neck. “I know. With you out there, I wasn’t worried someone would break in.”

  “What if someone slit my throat?”

  She yawned and stretched. “Agar wouldn’t let that happen.” The room seemed smaller with T-Mac in it. “Why did you wake me?” Her eyes widened. “Oh. Is it time?”

  He nodded. “Get your gear. Harm’s outside. I’ll be back in less than five minutes to get you.”

  She nodded.

  He turned toward the door. “Oh, and did you know you snore?”

  “No, I do not.” She frowned. “Do I?”

  He grinned. “You do. And it’s cute as hell. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” He left her sitting on her bunk with her mouth open.

  As soon as he shut the door, she was off the bed and dressing in her uniform, body armor loaded with ammunition and a first-aid kit. She pulled on her helmet, grabbed her rifle and snapped Agar’s retractable lead onto his collar. By the time she was ready, a soft knock sounded on the door. She opened it to find T-Mac standing on the other side.

  Without a word, she stepped out with Agar, closed the door softly behind her and locked it.

  They hurried toward the helicopters on the flight line where the rest of the SEAL team had assembled. Already the rotor blades were turning. If someone didn’t know they were about to go on a mission before, they knew now.

  The SEAL team loaded into the helicopters. Agar jumped in, and T-Mac gave Kinsley a hand up. Even before she had her safety harness buckled, the chopper left the ground and rose into the air.

  Kinsley settled back in her seat and willed her pulse to slow. Agar sat between her legs, his chin on her lap. She stroked his fur, calming him as well as herself. The mission seemed to be happening so fast. The silence made it seem all the more dangerous.

  She could imagine what it would be like to be one of them on a mission without her and the dog. They probably moved like a well-oiled machine. Each had a position or a part to play, and they did it well. Perhaps T-Mac had been right in concluding she was a distraction. She didn’t belong in this group of highly trained fighters.

  Sure, she was a good shot and knew basic fighting tactics, but she wasn’t like them. They were finely honed weapons in and of themselves.

  Then again, the SEALs weren’t like Agar. The dog would help to protect them when they couldn’t sniff out danger lurking beneath their feet.

  She tried not to be so completely aware of T-Mac’s thigh pressed against hers. She couldn’t move away from him, since they were packed tightly together and Agar gave her no room to shift her legs.

  The heat from T-Mac’s thigh scorched her own, sending electrical currents through her leg and straight to her core, making her burn with sexy images of him in his PT shorts and bare chest. Her fingers tingled, itching to touch him, to run her hands over his taut muscles and down to... Sweet heaven, how could she even think naughty thoughts of the man when they could be descending into yet another hotbed of enemy activity?

  Her mind should be on the task ahead, not the man beside her. She should be planning her and Agar’s next moves. But T-Mac was right there beside her, tempting her like no other man ever had.

  After half an hour in the air, she’d settled back in her seat and tried to relax, determined to conserve her energy for whatever lay in store for her next. But she was too wound up, thinking about the last time she’d gone out on a mission. Her heart pounded in her chest and her ribs were still sore from the impact of the bullet on her armored vest. At her current pulse rate, she’d be worn out before they landed. She let her hand fall to her side between her and T-Mac.

  A moment later, T-Mac’s fingers curled around hers, hidden between them from anyone else’s view.

  His touch at once calmed her and excited her for an entirely different reason. She didn’t question it, just drew on his strength.

  By the time they landed, she had pulled herself together, ready to face whatever fate had in store for her and Agar.

  As soon as the helicopters landed, the SEALs leaped to the ground. Agar was quick to exit, and Kinsley jumped down beside him.

  T-Mac was there with a hand on her elbow to steady her until she had her balance.

  As soon as they were all on the ground, the helicopters lifted into the air and headed back the way they’d come. The crew would wait within radio distance for the call to extract the team.

  Kinsley couldn’t help but feel a little stranded as she watched the choppers disappear into the night. She hefted her rifle in one hand and gripped Agar’s lead in the other.

  “Comm check,” Big Jake said.

  Kinsley worried that his slight limp would slow him down. But the big guy seemed as determined as the rest to find the people responsible for the attack on them in the last operation that had gone south.

  One by one, all six of the SEALs checked in with only their call signs.

  Once all of the SEALs had called out their names, T-Mac nudged Kinsley.

  “Dog handler and Agar,” Kinsley added to the tail end of the comm check. She could hear her voice in the radio and was reassured by the sound. If nothing else, she was connected by radio. If she got separated from the others, she could still connect this way.

  “Let’s do this,” Big Jake said.

  T-Mac touched Kinsley’s shoulder and nodded in the direction they were heading.

  “I’m right next to you,” he said into his mic. “We have a lot of ground to cover between us and our target.”

  Kinsley warmed at his voice coming through the radio in her ear. With T-Mac at her side, she didn’t have to worry if she was going the right way. While she concentrated on Agar, T-Mac would make sure they were on track.

  Giving Agar the command to search, she followed the dog, moving out quickly. If they wanted to get there in a hurry, Agar had to work his magic without interruption.

  As before, the dog sailed past the first mile without stopping.

  The second mile, they traversed over rougher terrain, heading into hills with lots of scrub trees and bushes blocking their view ahead.

  Agar kept his nose to the ground, working his way back and forth across the path.

  Kinsley never let her guard down, constantly watching for any sign from the animal that things weren’t all they should be.

  “We’re getting close to the target coordinates,” T-Mac warned. “Slow the dog.”

  Kinsley pulled back on Agar’s lead, checking his progress. The dog immediately returned to her side and looked up at her, his tongue lolling.

  She would like to have given him some of the water she carried in her CamelBak thermos, but they didn’t have time to stop. Keeping Agar on a shorter lead this time, she sent him forward to sniff for explosives.

  “Half a click,” T-Mac whispered. “Be on the lookout for guards on the perimeter.”

  “Roger,” Big Jake answered. “You, too.”

  Ten steps later, Agar lay down.

  Kinsley stuck a flag in the ground where he lay and moved on. Five flags later, Agar was moving faster again.

  She gave him more of a lead, allowing him to swing wider from center. When he didn’t come up with anything, he raced back in the opposite direction, clearing a wider path.

  Kinsley understood the need to move slowly, but she also knew the element of surprise could require striking swiftly. The SEALs liked to get in and get the job
done.

  But she focused on her work with Agar, determined to deliver the team safely to the coordinates. That was her and Agar’s primary responsibility. If they didn’t accomplish that, what was the purpose of including them on the mission?

  T-Mac grabbed her arm and pulled her to the ground. “Tango at two o’clock.” He held up his fist for the guys behind him, indicating they should stop in place.

  Agar was as far out as his retractable lead would go, still sniffing out bombs and land mines.

  Kinsley couldn’t call him back without alerting the man pulling guard duty on the perimeter. She tugged the lead.

  Instead of coming, as he usually did, he braced his paws in the dirt and strained against his lead.

  Kinsley tugged again. Resisting a touch command was not like Agar. The dog always came when he was called or tugged.

  “Why is he just standing there?” T-Mac asked.

  “Something or someone is out there, not too far from where Agar is standing.” Her heart pounding, Kinsley remained in position with one knee on the ground. She aimed her rifle in front of her, ready to take down anyone who tried to attack the team or Agar.

  “I’m going forward,” T-Mac said.

  Kinsley wanted to hold him back, but knew she couldn’t. Agar had cleared the path between them, but not beyond. All she could hope was that there were no more land mines or other explosives between Agar and the Tango crouched out of sight beyond.

  When T-Mac moved past Agar, Kinsley tugged hard on his lead, calling the dog back to her side.

  This time Agar complied, as if he knew he’d done his job and T-Mac would take it from there.

  Kinsley held her breath, praying no explosives lay in T-Mac’s path. She squatted low to the ground, her hand on Agar’s back, her heart pounding an erratic tattoo against her ribs.

  T-Mac moved from bush to tree, clinging to the shadows cast by the starlight. Before long, even Kinsley couldn’t make him out against the gloom of darkness. The man was like a cat moving through the night after his prey.

  A movement beside her made Agar growl low in his chest.

  Harm dropped to his knee at her side. “Do you see him?” he asked quietly into her headset.

  “No,” she responded. “I lost him.”

  “He’s almost to the guy.” Harm pointed into the darkness. “Let’s hope the guard is asleep.”

  Kinsley nodded, never taking her gaze from the last place she’d seen T-Mac.

  “One down,” T-Mac whispered into her headset.

  Then a shadow leaped up from a different location and ran away from the team.

  “Got a live one on the loose,” Harm called out softly.

  “Hold your fire. We can’t alert the rest of the camp until we can no longer avoid it,” Big Jake warned.

  “But he’s going to alert the others,” T-Mac said.

  “Not if I can help it.” Kinsley unclipped the lead from Agar’s collar and gave him the command to take down.

  Agar leaped forward and chased after the running man. Within seconds, he hit the man in the back, knocking him to his knees.

  The SEAL team closed in.

  Kinsley ran to catch up to Agar.

  But before she could reach him, a shot rang out.

  Shouts sounded ahead and lights flared out of the darkness. Half a dozen pairs of headlights came to life, chasing away the darkness and ruining any night vision they could have hoped for.

  “Get down,” Big Jake spoke sharply into the headset.

  Kinsley didn’t have to be told twice. She dropped to her knees, then down to a prone position, her rifle in her hand, aimed at the headlights, waiting for movement.

  “Things are about to go sideways,” Big Jake said. “Take out who you need to—save a live one to bring back.”

  Shouts sounded from the camp and gunfire echoed in the sky.

  The men moved forward, slipping into the shadows now cast by the many vehicle headlights glowing.

  Kinsley eased her way toward Agar and the man whose arm he held between his razor-sharp teeth.

  Harm had been there a moment before, dispatching the man with a clean swipe across the neck with his wicked Ka-Bar knife.

  Kinsley shuddered and gave Agar the command to release. Agar shook the dead man once more and then let go of his arm and returned to Kinsley’s side.

  Harm moved on, leaving Kinsley and Agar alone with the dead man.

  As Kinsley moved past the man on the ground, he reached out and grabbed her ankle.

  Kinsley screamed and dropped to the ground, kicking at the hand.

  Agar leaped to her defense, sinking his teeth into the man’s arm.

  Kicking wouldn’t release the man’s grip. She reached down and peeled back the fingers on the hand, finally freeing her ankle.

  “Kinsley, are you all right?” T-Mac’s voice sounded in her ears.

  “I’m okay,” she said.

  “Where are you?” he demanded.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Not far from where you left me, I think.”

  All the SEALs had converged on the camp.

  “Stay put—I’ll find you.”

  Moments later, T-Mac appeared in front of her.

  Kinsley leaped to her feet and fell into his arms.

  More headlights flashed from another direction, heading toward the position where Kinsley, Agar and T-Mac stood.

  “Come on. We have to get out of here.” T-Mac took her hand.

  Together they ran around the perimeter, away from the vehicles heading into the camp.

  At one point, T-Mac pulled her down to a crouch.

  He glanced back in the direction from which they’d come. For a moment, he remained silent. Then he spoke into his headset. “Gang, you need to get out of there. Four trucks loaded with at least ten men each, all armed, are on their way in. You’re about to be grossly outnumbered.”

  “Calling for extraction.” Big Jake’s voice came over the radio. “Meet at the alternate pickup point, ASAP.”

  “Where’s the alternate pickup point?” Kinsley asked.

  “Two kilometers north of our original drop zone.”

  “Aren’t we—”

  “South of the camp and our pickup location?” T-Mac grunted. “Yes.”

  “And aren’t those trucks filled with all those reinforcements standing between us and our ride back to Camp Lemonnier?”

  “Give the girl a prize.” He touched her shoulder. “We’ll be okay.”

  “We have a man down,” Harm called out. “We’ve got him, but we’re moving slowly toward the pickup point. Someone cover our backs.”

  “Gotcha covered,” Diesel said. “Go!”

  “Getting hot in here,” Buck reported. “Heading out. Don’t shoot me.”

  “Those trucks are less than a kilometer away,” T-Mac reminded him. “If you’re getting out, now would be a good time.”

  “What about you?” Big Jake asked. “Give me a sitrep, T-Mac.”

  “We’re between a rock and a hard place. Get the injured back to the Lemon. The dog handler and I will stay low until you can send reinforcements back to collect us.”

  “We’re not leaving without you,” Big Jake said.

  “You can’t delay getting that man some medical attention. We’ll be all right.”

  The chatter stilled.

  Kinsley held her breath, her heart pounding. “Are we staying?” she asked.

  “Looks like it,” T-Mac answered. “We can’t delay the choppers from getting the men back to Camp Lemonnier.”

  “Okay.” She was with T-Mac. He’d promised to keep her safe. She trusted he would keep that promise. Kinsley sucked in a deep breath and let it out. “What now?”

  * * *

  T-MAC DIDN’T LIKE that he and Kinsley were t
rapped more or less behind enemy lines. He had to get her safely away from the terrorist camp and hunker down somewhere safe and out of sight until the helicopters could return to pick them up.

  His night-vision goggles were useless with all the headlights lighting up the sky. But as long as they weren’t pointed directly at them, they could move without being obvious. If their night vision was compromised, so too would the terrorists’.

  He checked his compass using a red-lensed flashlight and nodded in the direction they should travel to get away from the commotion. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait.” Kinsley touched his arm. “Let Agar go ahead of us.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “And we don’t have time to be blown up. You saw the mines were set out between one and two kilometers outside the camp. If they set them out on all sides, let Agar find them for us.”

  “Okay, but we have to move fast. Right now they’re probably concerned about the larger group of SEALs. When they’re gone, they’ll have time to look for others. That would be us. We can’t let them see us, or our ducks are cooked.”

  Kinsley laughed. “Ducks are cooked?”

  T-Mac liked the sound of her laughter, even if it was only nerves. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do, but ducks?” She laughed again but fell in step, moving hunched over.

  They crouched as low as possible to the ground to keep from being seen or captured in the light from a moving vehicle.

  Agar searched ahead, his nose to the ground, a silent shadow moving back and forth at the end of his lead.

  So far, he hadn’t found anything, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t.

  A loud explosion sounded from the other side of the camp. T-Mac’s heart plummeted.

  “Oh, no,” Kinsley said softly.

  “One of our guys stepped on a land mine,” Buck reported over the radio headset. “He’s in a bad way. Really bad.”

  T-Mac stopped and cursed. He hovered between getting farther away and heading back to help his team. But he had an obligation to protect Kinsley. If he took her with him to help his teammates, she’d be in danger and might either be shot or captured.