"Sully is an excellent strategist. It's why most of his team in the Marines always came back. He lost very few men on those missions. He certainly should have lost more. But somehow, he always found a way to get them out," Isabel said, then found Maggie's gaze. "He'll do the same tonight."
Maggie folded her arms across her chest, hugging herself tightly. "I sure hope you're right."
Isabel bumped her with her hip and smiled. "I always am."
With a chuckle, Maggie followed behind her as they finished loading the vans. The women would take one if things went to hell in a handbasket, leaving the other one for the men to escape in after them. Zach explained that if the whole building were falling around them, that safe on the main floor would stand and provide protection long enough for them to get down the steps and to the bunker.
That was the theory, at least. They'd never had reason to try it out.
Maggie just prayed he was right.
While Maggie and the women had continued packing the vans, the men had all gone upstairs to put on their gear. They'd promised to return as soon as everything was in place, but Ethan and Isabel had secluded themselves in a corner for a few minutes to say goodbye. Since Ethan was on roof duty, he'd need to get in place beforehand.
Zach, Lucas, and Ethan had worked outside all day on some "defensive tactics." Maggie wasn't sure what those were, but she hoped that they’d work and keep any intruders away.
She also knew that The General was a mean and determined son of a bitch, and that it wouldn't be easy to deter him. A few fireworks or booby traps wouldn't keep him from sending more and more men into the fray.
The mood among the women was tense. Each of them was lost in her own thoughts, but Maggie could tell they were all trying to make things feel a little less anxious.
Scarlett made a joke about rationing nail polish and coffee for the coming weeks should they have to live in the safe house indefinitely, while Cate complained that she wasn't sharing a bathroom with so many people for weeks on end.
"All I know is, from what I hear about the safe house, it's close quarters. I've already had the misfortune of overhearing Ella in the throes of passion. No one should have to hear that every single night," Scarlett said, a blush hitting her cheeks.
"What? When did you hear us, um, you know—" Ella sputtered.
It was humorous hearing Ella be so shy about sex, since she'd been taking her clothes off and living as a virtual prostitute for most of her adult life—albeit through no fault of her own. Even though she'd been a prisoner, however, she'd still had more sexual experience than any of the rest of them.
"Girl, you sound like a porn star," Isabel chimed in.
"I do not!" she protested.
"You make us all look bad," Cate said. But all of them had grins on their faces. It was clear that they were teasing her, and in good fun, too. Nothing was malicious.
Ella straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. "You're all just jealous!" she announced.
Giggles erupted from each of them just as the door to the bunker opened, and the guys minus Ethan walked in. Dressed in black from head to toe and covered in Kevlar, each man found his wife and scooped her up.
Maggie watched, a twinge of jealousy forming in the pit of her stomach. These women were secure in their relationships. They shared a love that was so palpable, you could see it glowing and pulsing around them. She wanted that. And she wanted it with Sully.
At the thought of him, he walked through the door, the last one out, as usual. His gaze was laser-focused on hers as he strode towards her. The heat in his eyes was unmistakable. He wanted her. And she wanted him.
As if her feet had a mind of their own, they moved towards him, picking up their pace as she got closer. She and Sully came together in a rush, their chests bumping hard against each other. Sully picked her up, taking her mouth in a punishing kiss.
This wasn't a gentle or tender meeting of lips. It was all teeth and tongues and desperation.
It was the kind of kiss that alluded to the fact that there might not be any others.
Shaking that horrid thought from her mind, Maggie held on to Sully for dear life as he poured his emotion into her, his lips trailing kisses over her cheeks, her neck, and the tip of her nose.
Finally, he pulled away. Maggie glanced around them, seeing that each couple was engrossed in their own conversations.
Zach and Ella sat in the computer room, Ella seated on his lap while he scanned the monitors on the wall. They talked lightly, and she threw her head back in laughter.
Scarlett and Lucas sat on the couch that the guys had put down there so they'd have some place to wait it out, his hand resting on her lower belly. She wasn't showing much, but it was as if Lucas needed to be near his wife and his unborn child.
Cate and Gabriel sat on the floor next to the vans. Gabriel was lying on his back, his knees bent, with his head resting in Cate's lap.
Isabel busied herself with the bags in the back of one of the vans, and Maggie realized that it had to be hard on her to have had to say her goodbyes earlier. Ethan would be on the roof now, watching and waiting. Isabel swung around, and the look on her face made Maggie's heart clench. Fear. Resignation. Hope. All three warring with one another in her eyes.
"Pixie," Sully said, uttering her nickname softly, and Maggie jerked her gaze back to him. She hadn't left the embrace of his arms, although he had lowered her back to the ground.
"Yeah?"
"You ok?" he asked, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.
"I am."
"I know this life is hard. I hope that—I mean, I just—"
"We have visitors," Zach yelled from the security room. He was holding his hand to the comms device in his ear.
"Roger that, Ethan. I see them," he said.
Sully pulled back and ran toward the room. The other guys jumped to their feet as well. Fortunately, the room was lined with windows, so although they couldn't all fit inside it, Maggie was able to see the screens from where she stood.
"There!" Zach pointed to some dark shadows down the street from the warehouse.
Maggie was amazed that he could make out any movement. The figures were still a couple of blocks down. Training and instincts had honed his skills, and she was grateful that the guys had been given a little heads-up.
"Let's move," Sully said. The men all found their wives, kissing them and giving them a few private words as they rushed toward the bunker door.
Sully grabbed Maggie’s hand, pulling her along with him. When they reached the door, each couple paired off for their final goodbyes.
"Pixie," Sully started. He took a deep breath and cupped her cheeks. "I need you to promise me something."
"Anything," she whispered back, mirroring him by placing her hands on his face.
"If things go bad—"
"Don't say that."
He put his finger to her lips, giving her a sad smile.
"If things go bad, I need you to promise me that you'll get the women out of here."
"They aren't going to go bad, Sully. You guys are all going to be fine."
"I know. We will be," he said, but it wasn't very convincing. "But if the alarm sounds, the women aren't going to want to leave us. Isabel won't want to leave us. You are all strong, determined women. But Isabel and Scarlett are pregnant. We need them safe. I need you safe." As he said those words, he caressed her cheek with his thumb, and she leaned into his hand as it pressed against her cheek.
"It's against your nature to run." His face grew serious. Almost angry. "But I need you to promise me that that's exactly what you will do. Run."
And what else could she do? Of course she'd give this man anything he wanted. So she nodded.
"I need to hear you say it," he growled.
"I promise. I'll get them out."
Sully blew out the breath he'd been holding and dragged Maggie up against his body, cupping the back of her head and pressing it to his chest. "Good."
"Re
ady, boss?" Lucas asked.
Maggie felt him nod. She looked up into his eyes, and he lowered his head, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. It was chaste compared to the searing hot kiss that he'd given her just moments before.
"I love you," he whispered against her lips.
Fear filled her at his words, and Maggie pulled back, pushing hard against his chest.
"Oh, no you don't!"
Sully looked shocked and a little hurt.
"You do not get to tell me you love me and then run off and get yourself killed, do you hear me?"
A smile tugged at his lips as he tried to look scolded.
"Your conscience is not clear. You go fight The General's guys, and then you come back to me and tell me that again when we have our whole lives in front of us. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am," he said, the grin widening. He picked her up and spun her around, his lips crashing against hers with bruising force. She welcomed the sharp pain.
He set her back down on her feet and grinned at her, the expression making him look years younger.
"Good to know you love me, too," he said.
And with those parting words, he sauntered out the door, shutting and locking it behind him.
When the door to the bunker closed, the real fear set in. And when she found the same look of fear on each woman's face, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin.
"They'll be back," Maggie said, with more resolve than she felt.
"You're damned right, they will be," Isabel said, just as the first pop-pop-pop of gunfire sounded from above.
Chapter 22
Sully waited on the rooftop next to Ethan, while Gabriel, Lucas, and Zach knelt in the shadows on the ground level, just inside the fenced-in area of the warehouse. Sully scanned the area with his binoculars, watching as The General’s men crept down the street from both directions.
"I've got four coming down from the west side, and another four coming from the east," Sully said into his comms device.
"Roger," Zach answered back. "We're in position."
"Moving to the other side," he said to Ethan. Ethan didn't flinch, just kept his scope trained on the incoming threat.
Sully crept along the roof to the other side of the warehouse, from where he could see the back alley.
"It's clear," he said, again speaking into the comms device. He looked up and down the street, but saw nothing. No movement. No shadows. All was quiet.
Sully rushed back to Ethan and put the binoculars back to his eyes. The two groups of four were now huddled on each side of the warehouse’s front gate.
"Four on each side of the gate. On my command. Just like we talked about, fellas. Oorah!" Sully said.
"Hooah," answered Zach and Lucas.
"Hooyah," Gabriel responded.
Ethan stayed silent, his focus completely on his targets.
The differences in their military backgrounds only served to bring them closer together. Nothing, not even their battle cries, would separate them.
"Ready?" he asked Ethan. A twitch of Ethan's finger was his only response.
"Go!" Sully hissed to Ethan.
Ethan sighted and shot.
Pop-pop-pop!
Pop-pop-pop!
He let the bullets fly as the eight men below them scrambled for cover. Sully watched as the bullets hit four of the men, three falling instantly where they stood, and another crawling to cover.
"Go!" Sully said to his team on the ground.
The gates, ten-foot metal gates, slid open just a fraction as his team below moved toward their targets.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Sully watched as Gabriel, Lucas, and Zach moved with quiet stealth, their guns raised as they aimed at the remaining men who hadn't had a chance to take cover.
All eight men lay where they fell.
Silence hung heavily in the air as Sully waited for his men to radio back.
"Threat neutralized," Zach said.
Worry crawled up Sully's spine.
"Too easy," he said quietly.
Ethan looked at him for the first time since he'd come up there to help. "Way too easy. Something's not right."
"You're right."
His gut lurched, and Sully jumped up and ran back to the other side of the building. When he got there, fear iced his veins.
"It was a diversion! Get back inside!" Sully yelled.
Ethan put his eye back to his sight.
"Oh, shit!" he shouted. Sully ran as fast as he could to Ethan.
"There's at least twenty on the back side. They're climbing the fence. Maybe ten are already inside the gates."
"We've got another twenty out here," Ethan said, as he took aim and began unloading lead as quickly as he could.
Sully looked down as his three men covered each other, trying to get back inside the gate. Gunfire lit the place up.
"I’m going down to help them," Sully said to Ethan.
Ethan didn't respond. Just kept firing.
Sully rushed down the steps from the roof to the first floor. Just as he opened the door to the room, his guys pushed through the front doors.
"We're surrounded!" Sully shouted.
"Good thing I set up a little surprise," Zach said, racing past Sully and up the stairs.
"We'll get in place here," Sully said.
"Roger," Zach replied and disappeared up the stairwell.
Sully, Gabriel, and Lucas took cover. They'd pushed some things around to give them ample places to hide. They had the upper hand here. They knew their way around. The enemy did not.
Once they were in place, Sully spoke into his comms device. "We're in place."
"Roger that," Zach said, and the lights went out.
Sully put his infrared goggles on, and they waited.
Boom!
An explosion rocked the warehouse, as little pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling.
Boom! Boom!
Two more explosions.
They waited, not betting that the explosions had taken out all their enemies, but hoping that they'd reduced the number, at least. A minute passed, then two.
Red lasers hit the floor in front of the double doors, and Sully quietly gave the order to hold until his “go.” The men nodded in response.
The enemy filed in, one after the other—more than Sully had thought would be available for a mission like this. There were no sirens, no police coming to their rescue. The General would have sold the story that this was a mission for homeland security. A threat to national security. It bothered Sully that he was killing men who knew nothing about the real reason for the battle. But it was an "us vs. them" scenario, and he planned to walk away from this alive and well.
And there was a national security threat, but that threat came from Kingston, not Castle Investigations.
If they failed here today, Kingston would go on to become unstoppable. He'd build an army of underground thugs so big that they'd control all of D.C., and eventually the entire country. Sully couldn't let that happen.
He gave the hand motions for “fire” and counted off to three.
The three men rose from their hiding places and opened fire with their automatic weapons.
The noise of the guns echoed in the warehouse, making the sounds almost unbearable.
Several men fell, but others took their place. Sully’s men continued to fire from their covered positions, and more men fell. But it was almost as if they were regenerating where they’d stood, like in some sick, twisted video game.
"This isn't working!" Lucas yelled over the sound of gunfire.
"Zach! We need some help down here."
"Roger that. Take cover!" Zach said in their ears.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three more devices exploded, this time inside the warehouse. Rubble rained down around them, and for a moment, all was quiet.
"There're more filing down the street," Ethan said in their ears.
"Dammit! How many men did he get for th
is mission?" Sully cursed.
"I see movement across the street on the roof," Ethan said, and Sully could hear the uncertainty in his voice. No one else would hear it. But if Ethan was feeling uncomfortable, then things were about to get bad fast.
"That's not possible," Zach said. "We secured the buildings surrounding us. There's no way anyone could get up there."
"Maybe it was a bird," Ethan said, but they all knew he wasn't convinced.
"Keep your eyes on it," Sully said.
The dust cleared, and Kingston's soldiers started to come out of hiding again. Sully hated it. Hated killing innocent men due to a sick bastard who had a god complex. But they had no choice.
The gunfire started again, and the guys had to leave their cover. Gabriel and Lucas took one side, while Sully took the other. They crept along the wall, staying behind the pieces of furniture they'd spread out as best they could.
The stairwell door slammed open, and Zach ran up behind Sully.
"Behind you," he said, over the noise of bullets pinging off concrete behind their heads and the shouts of men calling out their positions.
"Ethan, how many more?"
"The last fifteen or twenty are coming in now."
"We can't hold them off any longer. We need to retreat."
"Roger that," Lucas said.
"Make your way to the safe room," Sully said, as he and Zach began working their way backwards to safety.
"Incoming!" Ethan yelled into the comms device, and before Sully could ask what had happened, the entire place exploded.
Fire and debris rained down from the ceiling as they ran as fast as they could towards their only means of escape.
Sully’s thumb pressed the alarm in his pocket, signaling to Maggie to get the hell out of there. He just hoped she'd keep her promise.
Chapter 23
Maggie watched in horror as the flash of light hit the roof where Ethan had been perched with his rifle. Bits of plaster from the ceiling fell on them, and the lights flickered before returning to their operating-room level of brightness.
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 116
