by Kaylea Cross
Then a familiar pulse overhead broke the silence. All of them stopped and looked skyward.
“I’d know that sound anywhere,” Devon said, craning her neck to search for the approaching helo.
Yeah, they all would.
Moments later the unmistakable outline of a Blackhawk appeared overhead. It circled the wide north lawn once, then touched down in the center of it and two men hopped out. Declan MacKenzie and someone Ryan didn’t recognize.
They jogged over, in full tac gear. “Satellite feed just showed the fourth shooter heading by ATV in the direction of the location you guys found in the mountains,” MacKenzie said to them over the noise of the rotors. “Intel says it could be Eric March’s second-in-command.”
“You think he’s headed for the bunkers?” Ryan asked, aware of the way Candace had tensed beside him. He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand in reassurance.
“Maybe, and if we’re lucky, March will still be in the area. This is my brother, Shane, by the way. Former SEAL, now works ops with me,” he said, motioning to the black-haired, dark-eyed man next to him, who nodded at them. “I’ve talked with my FBI contacts. There’s no way they can get a team here in the next hour. So they’ve given us the green light to go after March and his men before they can make it out of the area. You guys up for a night mission?”
Fuck yes. “You got gear for us?” Ryan asked, releasing Candace’s hand to wrap his left arm around her shoulders and pull her into him.
“On the bird.”
Perfect.
“Wait a second, what about us?”
Ryan and MacKenzie both glanced at Maya, who was staring at them with a furious expression. Candace was glaring at them too.
Maya raised a dark eyebrow at them, her stare burning holes through them all before narrowing on MacKenzie. “You need operators, then I’m in.”
MacKenzie watched her a moment, then nodded. “I’ve got gear on board for four. You guys need to figure out in a hurry who’s coming.”
Ryan whirled to face Candace. “You’re not going,” he told her flatly before she could say anything. “You need to stay here and talk to the cops, and help guard the other guests—”
“But—”
“No.” There was no fucking way he was allowing her to come. It had nothing to do with not trusting her ability, and everything to do with wanting her safe. She was wounded and in pain, and he just couldn’t deal with the thought of putting her through anything else. He wrapped his left hand around her nape, squeezed as he stared into her eyes. “I need to know you’re back here, safe.”
“I—”
He cut her off by sliding his left hand into her hair and bringing his mouth down over hers in a hot, hard kiss before raising his head. “Please,” he murmured.
She relented, but she didn’t look happy about it, and her eyes were troubled. “You better not come back with any more holes in you,” she muttered.
His wife rocked. “I won’t.”
Maya came over and wound an arm around Candace’s waist. “If there’s only enough equipment for you guys, then I guess I’ll stay and help get the place locked down, keep my eye on her with Dev and Erin.”
Ryan nodded once. “Thanks.” He kissed Candace once more and left her with her friends, relieved that she was in good hands. Any one of those women would protect her with their life.
“So you know where the bunker location is then?” Wade asked MacKenzie as Ryan and the other guys headed for the bird together.
“Not exactly, but March’s 2IC will. And just in case he doesn’t go quietly and tell us what we want to know, we’ll take along a little insurance.” His gaze swept past them to Candace’s grandma, standing with the other women. “Ruby,” he called out. “You game for a little recon mission?”
Her eyes lit up like she’d just been offered a private tour of a rye distillery. “I was born ready, young man. Someone help me onto that chopper.” With that she swept past the other women and headed for the waiting helo.
Chapter Ten
Wait, what?
Candace lunged forward and snagged her grandma’s arm before she could take another step. For a woman her age, Ruby was in damn good shape, but her arm felt frail and delicate in Candace’s grip. Her grandmother had no business going on that helo. “No way.”
The guys stopped and looked back at them, and Grandma hiked her eyebrows up to her hairline. “Excuse me?”
“You can’t go with them; it’s insane.” Candace tugged her back toward the resort entrance, determined to drag her there if necessary.
No surprise, Grandma dug in her heels. Literally. “Don’t you dare tell me what I can and cannot do, young lady,” she snapped, indignation stamped all over her wrinkled face as she wrenched her arm free.
Fighting back the urge to yell at her, Candace sucked in a deep breath and prayed for patience. “It’s too dangerous. You have no training.” At least nothing current.
Her chin lifted, pale green eyes glittering. “I have enough training for this. For God’s sake, it’s not like I’m going to be storming the bunkers with them.” Her face brightened with excitement and she glanced back at the men. “Will I be storming the bunker with you?”
“No,” Ryan and MacKenzie immediately answered in unison.
Grandma’s face fell a little as she switched her focus back to Candace. “There. See? I’m just going for a little ride, and maybe a night hike to find the entrance if they need me to.”
Dammit… “Then I’m coming too.”
The instant she said it, a bolt of uncontrollable, visceral fear sliced through her. Without warning, images of that hellish mission gone wrong in eastern Afghanistan flashed through her head like a high-speed slide show.
Her heart seized, then shot into a sickening gallop, turning her hands cold and clammy. It was like she was right back there again, trapped in those mountains while a blizzard raged and the enemy hunted them.
Everything inside her froze, her lungs, her blood. Her crewman’s face was so vivid in her mind. Dover stared up at her from the edge of the cliff he dangled from, the sheer terror in his eyes sending a shudder through her now. He’d been trying to help her up the mountain when he’d slipped.
She’d watched, helpless, unable to do a damn thing for him. A moment later he’d lost his grip and fallen, his chilling screams scraping over her psyche. The sound of his body hitting the rocks was something she’d never be rid of. No amount of time or therapy could ever erase something like that.
She’d sat with him in the cave after they’d retrieved his body, sat by uselessly as he’d slipped away. Had zipped the body bag closed over his face, knowing he’d never see his wife and child again.
Ryan had been there with her. He’d been her rock, her anchor and safe haven. Losing him would kill her. It terrified her to think of the dangers he would face when he climbed out of that helo tonight.
Shaking off the harrowing thoughts, she forced herself back to the present, then clamped her hand around her grandma’s forearm and started toward the guys. She did not want to get on that helo. The very thought of doing so made her skin crawl and her stomach pitch.
But she would go along if it meant protecting her grandmother and helping Ryan.
She started for the Blackhawk.
More heel digging. Grandma struggled and pulled them to a stop, twisting her arm free. “Don’t be ridiculous! You’re wounded, and I need you here to take care of the guests. You were a Bradford longer than you’ve been a Wentworth, and I need you to take charge right now.”
Clenching her jaw, Candace glanced toward Ryan. He was jogging toward them now, and she knew with one look at his hard expression that he’d insist she stay put. They didn’t have time to argue. Every second the helo sat on the ground gave March and his men time to escape.
I hate this. “Fine.” She put her right hand on her hip and shot Ryan a warning glare. “You better take care of her,” she shouted over the increasing noise of the Blackhaw
k’s engines.
“Like she was my own sweet grandma,” he called back, and held a hand out to beckon Ruby forward.
Candace stood there watching while Ryan jogged her grandma over to the waiting helo and lifted her inside it. Everything in her screamed in denial, demanding that she go with them. It wasn’t an option, however.
Stuck here and helpless to do anything to keep her loved ones safe, Candace stood shivering in the cool night air and watched the Blackhawk lift into the inky darkness above the resort. Guilt hit her hard as it flew away. Her stomach sank, and she immediately regretted not being on board.
“Ace, the fire captain needs a word with you. I told him you were the woman in charge.”
Heart heavy with worry, she made herself turn around to face Devon, who was standing with Erin and a firefighter in turnout gear by the front entrance. The only thing she could do now was take care of things here on her grandmother’s behalf.
“Coming,” she called out, and headed toward them.
Pulse thudding in his ears, Eric thrust the last of his electronic equipment into his duffel, zipped it up, and hurried to the tunnel entrance. The diversion op had begun more than twenty minutes ago and he hadn’t heard a word from Lyle.
Trying one more time to reach the team, he grabbed his radio as he ascended the stairs toward the surface. “Specter, report.”
No answer. Just dead air.
Either his men had been captured, or they were dead. Didn’t matter which one it was, because he had to get out of here right the hell now.
He hefted the heavy ruck onto his back and picked up both duffels holding enough supplies to get him through the next few days, until he reached the safe house. The perimeter alarm went off just as he neared the upper hatch. He paused, then shoved the heavy steel door upward, because he had no other choice but to run.
A cold breeze whipped over his face as he climbed through into the darkness. The sound of a helo’s blades somewhere overhead froze him.
Tipping his head back, he searched the skies and his disbelieving gaze spotted the outline of a Blackhawk against the silver moon as it sped toward him. What the hell? The diversion had only begun a little while ago. There was no way any government agency would have had time to respond this fast, let alone pinpoint his location. So who the hell was coming after him?
Fuck. His heart rate shot up. No time to run, and someone might already have seen him. They might track him using his body heat signature. His best chance now was to hide down below, where he knew every inch of the system, and barricade himself inside.
“Specter, I’m pinned down at HQ. Need immediate rescue, over,” he said as he climbed back down and secured the steel door overhead. With any luck no one on that helo had seen him. The upper hatch was exposed now, but it couldn’t be helped, and nobody knew the location but him and Lyle.
Another perimeter alarm went off when he neared the bottom of the staircase. The area was too heavily wooded for anyone to land a helo near here. Whoever was coming after him must have fast-roped from the helo.
His heart thudded hard in his chest as he knelt and unzipped the duffel, removing grenades and a few blocks of Semtex, then got to work. As of this moment he was trapped like a gopher with a pack of hungry wolves waiting above.
If he was going to die tonight, he would do it fighting for the cause he believed in. One he was prepared to give his life for.
But when the wolves came, they’d find a few unexpected surprises down here. And if he took out enough of them, he just might be able to get out of here, lose them, and win the chance to live and fight another day.
Chapter Eleven
Well, this op was already one for the books and they hadn’t even reached their objective yet.
Ryan sat with his back to the wall of the helo with the M4 MacKenzie had given him across his lap, the vibration of the machine familiar and almost soothing. He still didn’t know how the guy had pulled a Blackhawk and kit like this out of his damn pocket in the middle of the night. Wade said MacKenzie worked missions like this with the Feds all the time, and Ryan wasn’t complaining if it meant the chance to get the man responsible for this attack tonight.
Except for his right shoulder and upper arm hurting like a bitch.
The bleeding had mostly stopped now, but there were areas of numbness down the back of his arm and hand that told him he’d suffered some kind of nerve damage. He flexed his hand, curling the fingers into a fist, noting the diminished strength in his grip.
Fuck it. He could still hold and fire a weapon. This wasn’t going to stop him from going after March and his followers who might be hiding out here.
There was just enough moonlight to make out the shape of the land, the thick band of forest as they flew over it. Ruby sat next to him, her short, white hair whipping in the wind, watching the darkened scenery pass by underneath them out the open side door.
He still couldn’t believe they’d brought her along, but he understood the logic behind it. If they couldn’t find March’s guy, they might have to use her to find the bunker entrance, but only as a last resort. They’d put her in a ballistic vest, just in case, and he could practically feel the excitement humming through her at being included on this op.
She was an odd bird, that was for sure.
“I see the ATV,” Cam said, leaning forward to point out the door.
Declan MacKenzie said something to the pilots, and they circled the area. Craning his neck forward, Ryan made out the shape of the ATV left abandoned on the hillside. They used a searchlight to scan the vicinity, but there was no sign of March’s second-in-command, Lyle Coventry. Using him to locate the bunker was out.
MacKenzie leaned forward to shout at Ruby. “You’re up. Can you get us to that bunker entrance?”
“Yes,” she yelled back.
MacKenzie shot him a look, eyebrows raised, and Ryan shrugged. She was the only one of them who knew where the entrance was and she’d actually been there, so she could save them time hunting around. “Worth a shot.”
Ruby jabbed him high in the ribs with her elbow, right underneath his wound. He winced and growled in pain. “Sorry,” she yelled in his ear, rubbing a hand over his arm in apology. “I forgot.”
Breathing deeply until the pain passed, he stared out the open door as the pilots flew them to the rock formation she had mentioned. There was no room for the helo to put down around here, however.
“We gonna fast rope in?” he asked MacKenzie.
The man nodded. “I’ll take Ruby.”
Sliding down a rope with a bullet wound and diminished grip strength was going to suck, but there was no help for it and they needed to get on the ground quick. After the pilots circled and got them into position above a fairly flat spot in a small clearing, Shane MacKenzie took the role of crew chief and tossed the thick nylon rope out the door.
Cam slid down first, then Jackson, and Wade. Ryan went next, making extra sure he had a solid grip on the rope with his left hand and feet before easing out of the helo’s belly.
He glided down, breathing a sigh of relief when his boots touched solid ground, then held the base of the rope for Declan, who emerged with Ruby. She was wrapped around the front of his torso like a monkey, harnessed against him. Once they were safely on the ground and Ruby unharnessed, Ryan immediately moved away to take up a defensive position with the others.
“We’re clear,” Declan said a few seconds later via their earpieces. “Pilots are going to pull back a ways to diminish rotor noise and remain on station in case we need a fast pickup. All right, Ruby, point the way.”
They fanned out in a single line, Ruby up near the front with Declan, behind Wade and Shane. Ryan mentally shook his head. It was fucking weird, being on an op with Candace’s grandma leading them.
Ahead of them in the distance, the grizzly-shaped rock formation loomed in the dim light. They turned left and skirted the base of a rock outcropping.
Not a sound disturbed the silence as they moved.
He scanned their surroundings with his NVGs, rifle up and in firing position. His right arm throbbed and ached in protest but he ignored it. The sooner they got to the bunker and ensured it was empty, the sooner he could get patched up properly and get back to Candace.
They must have walked almost two miles in the darkness, snaking through the forest and winding through trees until he was certain Ruby had gotten them lost.
“Over there,” he heard her say softly, and turned to follow the end of her finger, pointed to the northwest. “Just around the base of this hill.”
“We’re getting close,” Declan said via their comms. “Heads up for tripwires.”
Ryan’s gaze swept the ground as they continued closer to the area, then stopped, dropping to one knee with the others while Ruby and Declan hunted around for the entrance.
“Should be right around here,” Ruby muttered, walking back and forth. “Gimme those goggle thingies,” she said to Declan, holding out a hand impatiently while he undid his helmet and gave it to her. She looked like something out of a nightmare with the helmet on and the NVGs lowered over her eyes.
“That’s better. Now…” She paced to the left a few yards, turned in a half-circle. “Ah! There,” she whispered, pointing to a spot a few yards ahead. “See it?”
“I see it,” whispered Wade. “I’ll be damned.”
It took a long moment for Ryan to locate the entrance. They would never have found it without Ruby’s help.
Partially hidden by brush, the circular brown steel door was completely camouflaged from view, even half-uncovered the way it was. In this kind of cover, there was no way even a satellite could have found it.
The way the brush had been pushed aside suggested someone had been here recently. Maybe March or that Coventry guy.
Ryan adjusted his grip on his weapon, that familiar buzz at the base of his spine alerting him that danger was near. But he was ready, and while he didn’t know either of the MacKenzies, he trusted Wade, Cam, and Jackson to have his back.
