Here we go.
Three…two…one.
The door exploded in, heat and wind whipped around me, the caustic smell from the explosives lingered in the air. But I had no time to contemplate any of this. Brooks and Kyle were already charging the house. Max went next and Declan gave me a shove, propelling me into action.
Two guards came running into the room and fell before they had their rifles up. Chaos was happening all around me, something I wasn’t used to. I went in nice and quiet and did my work. This was the opposite—loud, organized mayhem. Wood splintered, plaster cracked, and no one stopped as we made our way through the first room. Kyle broke off into another large room. Max went for the stairs and I followed.
“Door,” Max announced and waited for me to turn the handle. As soon as it was open, he charged. “Clear.”
The next three were the same.
One door was left at the end of the hall and Max gestured to it. And just like he’d done before, he stepped to the side out of the kill zone and waited. I opened the door. Shots rang out, but Max the crazy fuck didn’t hesitate. He fired and attacked the room. With my heart in my throat, I tailed Max and opened fire. Where the hell was Declan? I vaguely remembered he was clearing the ground floor but he should’ve been done. I pressed the trigger and got nothing.
Fuck.
“Bad feed,” I called out so Max would know my weapon had malfunctioned.
I dropped the magazine out of the AR and fumbled to grab the extra out of my vest.
Hurry up, Autumn.
My fingers closed around the plastic cartridge. I yanked it free and was getting ready to jam it back into my weapon when I felt the slice of the blade.
There was pain, then there was excruciating pain. Having your throat cut fell into the excruciating category.
Liquid dripped from my injury, blood that should’ve been warm but felt cold against my overheated skin.
My hand went to my Sig as the man lunged for me. I fired just as the tip of his knife pierced my arm. The motion of his body falling caused the blade to slice down my arm.
What the hell do I do now? I was afraid to touch my throat. It was bleeding bad but I could breathe, I wasn’t dead.
Oh, right, I needed to shoot.
Seconds, minutes, hell it could’ve been an hour later, silence fell and Max looked over at me. I was back to trying to reload my AR.
“Fucking hell,” he shouted and wrapped his hand around my neck.
“I’m fine. I don’t think it’s deep.”
“Fuck! Kyle!”
“Max, I’m fine. I’m breathin’ okay. It’s just a flesh wound.”
“A motherfucking flesh wound,” he snarled.
Declan was first in the room. His gaze came to me and he shoved his night vision goggles on top of his helmet. And suddenly I was reminded how damn heavy my head was. I’d never worn a helmet and after this experience, I understood why. They were heavy as hell and made your head tip forward. Or at least it did mine, none of the guys looked like they were having the same issues.
“What the fuck?”
“House clear?” Max asked, which I thought was an excellent question.
I was all for any topic that didn’t include Declan seeing what happened. If Madeleine wasn’t here, I’d be left out of the search for her and that was unacceptable.
“I’m fine. I got nicked.”
“Her fucking throat is bleeding like a pig. Where the fuck is Kyle?”
“Here.” And suddenly Kyle was in front of me.
His goggles were already gone and his eyes roamed my face, lower to where Max was holding my neck, then to my arm. He did all that while pulling combat gauze from his vest.
“I’m fine. It’s just a cut.”
Oh, fuck, was my voice trembling?
“All right. Let's take a look.” Kyle ripped open the packet and already had the QuikClot dressing in his hand. “This will help with the bleeding.”
I wanted to roll my eyes and tell him I knew exactly what he held in his hands and what it did. But I remained quiet as Max slowly moved his hand and I felt blood start to trickle. Then more of that excruciating pain when Kyle’s latex covered hand poked around.
I hadn’t seen him don a glove, and why I was thinking about when he must’ve done that was beyond me. Maybe to stop myself from passing out or falling to my knees.
“Maybe warn a person before you go digging in their throat,” I rasped.
“Not deep enough to pack,” Kyle said and started dressing my wound. “Cut me some tape.”
Seconds later, I had a wad of QuikClot duct-taped to my throat.
“You need something for the pain?”
“If I say yes, will you take my gun and make me sit in the corner?”
“Yep. But you won’t be in pain.”
“Then, no, I’m fine.” I gritted my teeth and willed the tears not to fall.
“Autumn—”
“I’m fine. Let’s roll.”
“I need to look at your arm.”
“It’s nothing. He barely got the tip in before I took him down.”
A very angry growl ricocheted around the room and slammed into my chest.
“What in the motherfucking hell happened?”
“Where’s Brooks?” I asked, not wanting to answer.
“At the bottom of the stairs.”
“Did you find Madeleine?”
“No.”
My heart rate picked up, which only intensified the pain in my throat and arm.
“Then why are we standing around like a bunch of idiots instead of looking for her?”
“Autumn,” Declan growled again.
“Don’t. If I was one of your men you wouldn’t be acting like an asshole asking questions. You’d tell him to suck it up and move his ass. So don’t treat me any differently. I’m fucking fine. Let’s find this bitch so we can go home.”
And with that, Declan turned on his booted feet and tromped away. Kyle followed but Max hung back and waited for me to stop swaying.
“You’re tough, you know that?”
“No. I’m fucking stupid. I didn’t clear my right side and got my throat sliced because of it.”
“We don’t have ten eyes. There’s only—”
“Would you have made that mistake?”
Max’s silence was my answer.
No, he wouldn’t have fucked up. He would’ve cleared his space before he moved forward.
“The mistakes we live through only serve to make us better.”
“Right.”
“Come on, tough girl, let’s go play hide and seek. Bitch is in the house.”
He clapped me on my good arm and I bit back a cry of pain.
“Shit, sorry.”
A few deep breaths later, I was moving out of the room mentally wincing. No, I was doing more than wincing, I was bawling like a baby on the inside with each pain-filled step I took.
If this was what these guys called an easy day I was A-okay with the way I did things. Quick, quiet, and painless. Well, for me they were painless.
Declan’s job sucked.
Chapter 16
I’ve felt homicidal rage before. This went far beyond that.
She could’ve died.
Autumn could’ve fucking died.
And where was I? Not at her back.
All of this was a bad idea. When the hell would I learn to listen to my gut when it screamed at me that shit was not right? When would the females in my life be safe? First Juliana and Violet, then my sister, now Autumn.
I was no fucking good.
I should’ve shut this shit down back in Maryland when Autumn first started talking about going after Strotherby. I should’ve delivered her ass to Zane and let him deal with her—maybe even lock her up in a safehouse until we’d dismantled Omni.
Instead, I ignored my intuition and got lost in her. Literally, lost inside of her. I allowed my cock to rule my brain. Night after night for months I’d gone to her, not to talk
her out of her crazy plan, not to talk to her, period. No, I’d gone to her to bury my troubles. I’d done the very thing I’d accused Max of doing with Eva.
Taking.
I took and took and took, needing to lose myself for a few hours. Needing only what she could give me.
Peace.
I was fucked.
I rubbed my vest over my tat.
“You okay?” Kyle asked.
“Yep.”
“Brother, I’d believe that if you didn’t look like you were grinding your molars to dust.”
What was there to say to that? Nothing. He knew I was far from okay and he knew I wasn’t going to answer. Why he bothered to ask was beyond me.
“She’s gonna be fine,” he told me softly and I looked away, glancing around the living space.
This place was a shit hole.
“It’s not even as bad as yours.”
“What?”
“Her throat. It’s not deep. I doubt she’ll need stitches. Not like yours.”
I fought the urge to touch the scar on my neck. The reminder that Autumn had saved my life.
“You’re a matching pair.” Kyle smiled and walked around me.
He had no idea how true that statement was.
“Status?” Thad radioed.
“Upstairs is clear, no sign,” Max answered.
“Room off the kit—” Autumn’s call-in was abruptly cut short and I took off running.
Through the open mic I heard rustling then a grunt, and finally a whimper of pain.
“Check in,” I demanded.
Nothing.
I rounded the corner and came to a sliding halt.
Motherfucker.
Madeleine Strotherby.
But that’s not what had my attention. Autumn had the muzzle of her Sig pressed against the old woman’s forehead.
And that cold dread was back, slithering its way down my body.
“Where’s the last shipment?” Autumn asked.
I had to hand it to the old bitch—she looked entirely unaffected by a gun to her head.
“Autumn Pierce,” the woman’s smooth cultured voice purred. “Such a waste. We had plans for you. It’s such a shame you never learned your place.”
“Where are the girls?” Autumn repeated, not rising to the bait.
“I knew I should’ve been there. But that idiot Harry said he could deliver the Pierce sisters. You by yourself, brought in top dollar—a blonde-haired, green-eyed virgin. Even after that was gone, the men still lined up. But you and Emerson together? Now that would’ve been a prize.”
Thank fuck, Thaddeus wasn’t in the room to hear Strotherby talk about his wife.
As if on cue, Thad angrily growled, “End the bitch.”
“Where the fuck are the girls?”
“On their way to the same place you went to. To the men who own them.”
“Who bought them?”
“Now, Autumn, you know I can’t tell you that. There are rules.”
Autumn’s hand began to shake and that chill running down my spine heated.
Fucking shit, I didn’t want this for her.
“Right, rules. And you’re willing to die to—”
Strotherby clucked and smiled. “You’re not going to let me live. And I do not beg. So go on now, get it over with. But before you do, I hope you know killing me changes nothing. There are plenty of people who are waiting to take my place. My death will be meaningless because my empire will live on.”
“See you in hell,” Autumn muttered.
The crack of the gunshot rang out and I closed my eyes as Madeleine Strotherby’s body jerked back and started to fall.
Fucking, fucking, shit.
Another mark on her soul. Another life taken even if that life was vile—the bitch was pure evil.
Autumn turned. Blood dotted her face, but it was her pained eyes that held me captive. Until she holstered her gun and my eyes went to her bicep.
“Mother—”
“You know,” she grunted. “I’m really fucking tired of getting stabbed.”
She reached up and yanked the knife out of her arm and dropped it on the dirty floor.
“That’s gonna need stitches,” Kyle muttered and rushed forward.
I felt Max and Brooks’ presence hit the room but didn’t spare them a glance. I couldn’t take my eyes off Autumn’s. Kyle worked on her arm at a breakneck pace, tearing the sleeve of her shirt away, digging through his kit for supplies, bandaging her arm. But her gaze never left mine. So I saw every wince, every pinch of her brow, the tightness in her face. But more than that, I saw remorse.
Motherfucking remorse.
Autumn Pierce talked a big game, she had the tough girl act down to a science. She played the game, and wanted everyone to believe she was nothing more than a cold-blooded mercenary when really she was anything but.
Remorse, but not regret.
Fucking shit. I hated this.
“Done,” Kyle announced. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
“Coming out, Thad,” Max radioed.
“Copy.”
The next ten minutes were a blur. We exited the house, Max and Brooks split off to go to their car, Kyle went to meet Thad, and Autumn and I beat feet to where I’d parked.
We were nearly there when I heard Autumn wheezing.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“If we need to slow down, just say so.”
“I’m. Fine,” Autumn snapped and I stopped to look at her.
The fuck she was. I didn’t need to hear the tension in her voice. The evidence of her pain was streaming down her face.
“Baby—”
“Don’t,” she grunted and took off running.
With no choice but to follow, I took off after her. She made it to the car before me and was opening the door when I stopped her.
“Let me give you something for the pain.”
“No. I need a clear head.”
“I can—”
“I said, no, Declan. I can’t be jacked-up on drugs in case something happens. I need to be able to protect myself.”
Right, because I couldn’t protect her.
I let her get into the car and jogged around to the driver’s side. Two cranks later, the piece of shit sputtered to life.
Two minutes after that, we were on our way to the airfield. Thad and Kyle in the lead, Max and Brooks in the middle, and I was taking up the rear.
Autumn had already taken off her helmet and was wrestling with her vest. She wasn’t used to wearing either, and by the sounds she made, she was happy to get them off.
“How’s your throat?”
“Not bleeding. Or at least there’s no blood dripping. I’m taking that as a good sign.”
“And your arm?”
“Throbbing like a bitch.”
Well, that was the most honest answer she’d given me since she’d been injured.
“As soon as we’re on the plane, Kyle will sew that up.”
Silence fell. Autumn reached over, fumbled with the wire to my mic, and a second later, she fell back into her seat.
“I need you to pull over for a minute.”
“We’re almost—”
“Now, Declan. I need you to pull over.”
“Okay. Why’d you turn off my mic?”
“I don’t want them to know.”
“I can’t just pull over without telling them. What’s wrong?”
“Please,” she whispered and I didn’t miss the crack in her voice. “I just need you to pull over.”
I turned my mic back on and told the guys to continue on, I needed to pull over. After some back and forth I lied and told them I had to take a piss. Something none of them believed but it stopped the argument.
No sooner had I stopped the car, then Autumn was out of it.
By the time I made it to her she was bent forward, her hands braced on her knees and she was throwing up. Her ponytail had fallen over
her shoulder and I quickly pulled it back.
“Go away,” she gasped and dry heaved. “Just give me a minute.”
“Not a fucking chance.”
Autumn continued to empty her stomach on the side of the road. When she was finally done, she straightened and swayed.
“Ready?”
She nodded and allowed me to help her back to the car. Once she was seated, I opened the car door and dug through my bag until I found a bottle of water.
“Here.”
She took the water, filled her mouth, swished it around, and in the most unladylike manner, spat the contents out onto the ground.
Her eyes slowly lifted to mine and I flinched at what I saw.
“Please don’t tell them.”
“I don’t understand what you don’t want them to know. That you threw up?”
Though I’d promise her anything if it meant she stopped looking at me with open pain.
“Yes,” she hissed.
“You got nothing to be embarrassed about.”
“Really? So you puke every time you put down one of those…”
I didn’t hear the rest. Static and rage buzzed in my ears.
Puke every time.
Puke. Every. Time.
Good God. Now I felt like I was going to throw up.
Anger gave way to resolve.
Autumn was done.
Too much had been taken from her.
Determination coursed through my veins and settled deep.
I would do anything I had to do to get Autumn clear of this life.
Anything.
Chapter 17
The tiny house I rented in Annapolis felt claustrophobic—smaller than it really was with five big men in my living room.
The jig was up. They knew I’d been living in Maryland, and now they knew exactly where I lived.
This sucked.
Especially since Thad knew and he’d tell Emmy, making my departure imminent.
Conversation on the way back to the States had been sparse. No, that wasn’t true. The guys had spoken plenty. Declan had multiple conversations with Tex and Zane. All the men had checked in with their women. Thad had contacted Emmy dozens of times. However, I did note that not once during those short chats had he mentioned my name, something I was grateful for. And I had called Ash to tell her that Madeleine Strotherby was taken care of and now she was up.
Declan (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Gold Team Book 5) Page 10
