by Katie Reus
Cade recognized Mihails and Oto immediately from their pictures. The boat engine was running, the water churning behind it as the boat idled.
His entire body went tense. “I have the tangos in sight. Anyone else have eyes?” No way in hell were their targets getting away.
“Affirmative,” Bell and Freeman said in unison. “We’re about fifty yards down, using a boat as cover. I only see four,” Bell continued.
“Same here. Take them alive if you can, but use lethal force if necessary.” The NSA wanted intel from the terrorists, but not at any cost. Their people came first. “We take them now. Let’s roll.” There was no time to call in another team.
The engine revved once as he and Ortiz moved from hiding.
Weapon raised, he looked down the reflex sight of his M-4 as they ran. “Drop your weapons! Hands in the air!” he shouted as they sprinted toward the boat.
The four men froze before they all swiveled in Cade’s direction. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Bell and Freeman on the parallel dock, moving in sync with them. His and Ortiz’s boots pounded against the wood as their legs ate up the distance to the speedboat.
As they neared it, he could see a man lying prone on the ground, blood pooling around his body. Must have been the shooting victim.
The two men he didn’t recognize dropped from sight, but the one Cade recognized as Oto lifted a semi-automatic rifle and opened fire, spraying a volley of bullets in their direction.
Cade automatically dropped to his belly. The explosion of noise around them was deafening. Wood splintered everywhere, but he tuned it out as he lifted his weapon and returned fire. From his location he was trapped in position, but so were the terrorists. It was impossible to get a straight shot, so he aimed at the front of the boat.
Chunks of fiberglass and plastic exploded into the air as he and Ortiz hit their target, but the boat reversed, splintering apart the dock as it swiveled and pulled away.
Jumping up from his position, he opened fire on the quickly retreating boat. Oto was still returning fire, but his shots were wild, ripping up the dock as he alternated between Cade and Ortiz and the other two tactical team members.
Cade looked down his sight, focusing on the driver, but another of the terrorists stood up, a rifle in hand, blocking Mihails. Cade fired, hitting the unknown terrorist in the chest. The guy dropped like a stone.
At the same time Ortiz grunted and fell back, landing on the dock with a hard thud. Shit. Cade dropped out of line of sight again and bent over the other man.
“Just my vest,” he rasped out. “Get those fuckers.” Ortiz was already starting to push up. Their tactical vests were level-four armor, designed to stop even rifle rounds. Even so, it felt like getting slammed in the chest with a sledgehammer. It would leave a bruise, possibly even crack a rib or two.
Trusting that Ortiz was telling the truth, Cade tapped his earpiece, switching channels as he turned and jumped back up, running to the end of the dock as the boat sped away. “Four tangos on a speedboat, making a fast exit. Heading west. Boat is orange with two thick yellow stripes down the side. Made by Donzi. Civilian down, don’t know the status yet,” he shouted to Burkhart as he ran.
He and his other two teammates still returned fire, but this particular speedboat had wicked capabilities and was already eating up the water with impressive speed. Some could go up to a hundred miles an hour. Cade knew that because the FBI used them for maritime operations.
Lowering his weapon when it was clear they were out of range, he cursed, heading back toward the fallen civilian. Burkhart was shouting orders at someone in the background but hadn’t responded to him yet.
Finally he said, “You hit any of them?”
“At least one.” Cade bent to the body of the man wearing white pants and a blue Polo shirt. Blood covered the shirt, soaking it completely through. Cade checked the pulse, surprised to find a faint heartbeat. “Shit, we need medical, ASAP. An employee was hit, but I’ve got a faint pulse.”
Moving fast, he started unhooking his tactical vest, the Velcro making tearing sounds as he ripped it off. He pulled off his long-sleeved black T-shirt and held it to the man’s chest as Bell and Freeman raced over.
“Check on Ortiz,” he said without looking up.
Before either of them responded, a shocking blast ripped through the air. Cade’s head snapped up as a ball of orange-and-black smoke blew out the top floor of the hotel. Glass shattered and debris flew out in all directions, pieces landing in the ocean a hundred yards away.
A jolt of terror shot through him. The wreckage could do some serious damage falling from that height, and Maria was to the east of the hotel. Freeman had already moved onto Ortiz, so Cade looked up at Bell. “Will you hold the pressure?” he asked, indicating the civilian.
Bell nodded, already falling to one knee as Cade shot up and raced back the way they’d come. “Burkhart!” he shouted into his earpiece.
When his boss didn’t answer, raw fear punched through him like a blast of adrenaline. He had to get to Maria.
• • •
Date: December 23, 2006
To: Maria Cervantes
From: Cade O’Reilly
Subject: holidays
Can’t believe it’s almost Christmas. I’m counting down the days until I’m in Miami in spring. Bring on the white sand beaches and cool beers. If they cancel our leave I think Riel will lose his shit. He’s going more stir-crazy than I’ve ever seen him. Probably because they’ve had us locked down on base lately.
How’re things at the house? Your mom and aunts driving you crazy for Christmas? Can’t believe they sent us more cookies. I shared with our team, but Riel and I kept a stash for ourselves this time. Did you get the Christmas gift I sent? Shipping over here can be a PITA, so I wasn’t sure if it’d make it in time. Computer time’s almost up, talk to you soon. Miss you.
Cade
Chapter 14
Situation report (SITREP): an intermittent report of the current high-risk situation.
Maria jumped in her seat, her entire body jerking at the explosion. She swallowed hard as she watched the horrific display on one of the van’s video screens. Instinctively she closed her eyes, wanting to block it out, but more images of fire and destruction flickered through her mind like a horror movie.
A rumble.
Orange fire illuminating the night sky.
The mansion imploding.
Her mother . . .
“Are you okay?” a male voice asked.
Maria’s eyes flew open. Her stomach twisted, her mouth filling with saliva as she fought back a wave of nausea. She looked up to find the two men Cade had left to guard her, watching her with concern. Feeling weak and pathetic for all of two seconds, she swallowed hard. But screw that.
She wasn’t weak. Today she’d said good-bye to her mother forever and now she was sitting in a van full of strangers when the top of the Opulen had exploded. All she cared about was finding out if Cade was all right. Oh God, what if . . . Her throat tightened. Hell no. She couldn’t even go there.
She ignored the question and stood. Her legs trembled, but she forced herself to focus on the two men. They were here to protect her and would have information on the man she cared about way too much. “Where’s Cade?” She hated that her voice shook.
It was subtle, but they shot each other a quick glance before looking at her. The shorter of the two cleared his throat. “We’re not patched into his radio feed, but we’ve got to go outside for a sec. Stay put.”
Before she could respond, the two men disappeared out the back doors. The two analysts at the computer bank completely tuned her out as they clacked away on their keyboards. Feeling utterly helpless and useless, she scanned all the screens. A huddle of hotel employees were all sectioned off in one parking lot. Men and women wearing military-style fatigues
or jackets with FBI emblazoned on them were milling around in each screen. It looked like chaos, but everyone was moving around with precise movements, as if they knew exactly what they were doing.
A familiar figure caught her eye as her gaze jumped from screen to screen. Eyes wide, she froze as she saw Cade running across one of the parking lots. It was a side angle, but his shirt and vest were off and he was bloody. For one agonizing moment, her heart stopped.
Since no one was paying attention to her, she slipped out the side door instead of using the back ones. The bright sunlight was jarring, leaving her unfocused as she scanned the area. She spotted Cade almost immediately about twenty-five yards away talking heatedly to the same older man who had been in the van with them earlier. Burkhart.
There was so much noise outside, people talking and shouting, a wailing siren coming from inside the hotel, and a whole other cacophony of sound. She ignored it and everything around her and ran straight for Cade. As she neared him she realized that the blood wasn’t his. Or at least she didn’t think so.
“We need you here!” Burkhart shouted at Cade, not bothering to hide his anger even when she reached the two of them.
She wanted to punch him for yelling at Cade when he looked like this. “Are you okay?” she asked as she skidded to a halt. She ignored the other man, her eyes taking in every inch of Cade’s bloody torso as she fought back panic. “Is that your blood? What happened?” Her adrenaline pump from earlier was in a free fall.
“I’m fine,” he said softly. He started to raise his hand to touch her. Then his jaw tightened as if aware they weren’t alone.
Nonetheless she still scanned him again, trying to tamp down the fear coursing through her that he could have been injured. That blast . . . she mentally shook herself. He was alive and standing right in front of her.
Cade did the same, examining her from head to foot, clearly making sure she was uninjured. “Are you okay?”
She nodded, her throat tight. “Yeah.” She desperately wanted to ask about the blood but knew this wasn’t the time.
“You got her?” a voice asked from behind her.
She turned to find the two men who’d left her in the van standing only a couple of feet behind her, their expressions tense.
“Yeah, go where you’re needed,” Cade said, interrupting whatever Burkhart had been about to say.
His boss sighed. “Damn it, O’Reilly, I need you here. They can handle her, take her to an off-site location and keep her safe.”
Even though she had a dozen questions, a burst of annoyance popped inside Maria. She didn’t like being talked about as if she didn’t exist. “I’m standing right here.”
The man didn’t spare her a glance, just stared Cade down while they had some sort of confrontation with only their eyes.
Cade took a step closer to her but kept his focus on Burkhart. “You don’t like this, fire me.”
Maria sucked in a sharp breath, not exactly sure what was going on, though she could guess. “Cade, if you need to stay—”
Burkhart grunted in annoyance. “Fine, go. Contact me when you reach the safe house. I hope you know what you’re doing.” Without waiting for a response, he turned on his heel.
Cade didn’t seem bothered by his boss’s response as he turned to her again. She was surprised when he reached out and cupped her cheek gently. “You sure you’re okay?”
She covered his hand with hers. “Me? Whose blood is that? Are you okay? And what’s going on?” She gestured behind them to the smoke billowing out of the top floor of the hotel.
“This isn’t mine and we don’t need to be here. I want you away from all this. Let’s get you out of here.” Though his voice was soft, his expression was hard, determined. She felt as if she was seeing a different side to him. He was in straight battle mode as he continued. “There are teams of people handling this. Despite what my boss thinks, I’m one man and you need protection.”
But she didn’t want to be a burden to him and she definitely didn’t want him to put his job at risk for her sake. “Cade, listen—”
“Come on.” He gently took her elbow and steered her through a mass of people, but at least she didn’t see any trauma units set up.
“Were there any injuries?” She ignored some of the curious looks they got, though she guessed they were because of Cade’s shirtless, bloody state.
He paused but didn’t slow his pace. “Not from the blast. We’re pretty sure everyone got out in time, but won’t know for sure until we’ve done a full sweep.” He pointed toward where an unmarked ambulance was parked on the far side of the parking lot. “We’re past there.”
“A sweep? What about other bombs? And why don’t I see any local law enforcement?” There were only FBI and she assumed everyone else was NSA or something similar. What she didn’t see was anyone wearing Miami PD gear.
He kept his hand on her elbow as he steered them past the ambulance. His vehicle was three spots down, behind two darkly tinted SUVs. “We’ve got trained bomb techs, but we’ll send in a robot first. And the reason there aren’t any local law enforcement personnel is that we had to move fast and didn’t need any extra red-tape bullshit to deal with. We’ve worked with the FBI before and are trained for situations like this. We have our own trauma teams.”
“Well, what about your job? Why did you tell your boss he could fire you?”
He pulled open the passenger door and held on to the frame of it while she leaned against the seat, wrapping her arms around herself. Though he wasn’t actually touching her, he completely caged her in. She could feel his body heat and that spicy scent of his wrapped around her, rising above even the smell of soot. Though she wanted to feel his arms around her, she knew he was holding back because of the blood. “Because I don’t give a shit if he does. No one will protect you like I can and I’m not letting you out of my sight. If he doesn’t like it, fuck him. Besides, he’s not going to fire me. We’ve worked together for too damn long.”
His words took her by surprise, but she still needed to know. . . . “Why?” Damn it, her voice shook.
His green eyes darkened, his expression going molten hot. “Because . . . I care about you, Maria. Probably more than I should.” The last part was raspy, almost a whisper, and he said it like a confession.
“I care about you too.” Damn it, no, she didn’t. She couldn’t. Not when things between them hadn’t worked before. Unfortunately the feelings he evoked in her were like nothing she’d ever experienced. Back when they were friends—and had just started down that road to more than friendship—she’d been giddy every time she opened her e-mail and saw a message from him. Now that she was older, those feelings seemed magnified by a hundred. She shouldn’t be telling him she freaking cared for him. She should be shoving him away and trying to save herself from more heartache.
“You shouldn’t,” he snapped before turning away from her with an abruptness that left her feeling cold.
She swallowed hard and struggled to find her voice. What had just happened? Watching as he went to the backseat and pulled out a small duffel bag with clean clothes and wet wipes, she let her anger free and jumped out of the vehicle. “What the hell, Cade? I shouldn’t?”
His jaw clenched tight as he wiped the blood from his abdomen. He didn’t stop there, though, but continued wiping his chest, arms, and even hands. This time when her throat tightened it was for a different reason. His arm muscles flexed as he moved with that sinful, liquid grace. And those long fingers brought up memories of how he’d expertly played her body. Lord, she felt as if she was on an emotional roller coaster with him. He told her that he cared for her, then pushed her away. Now she couldn’t stop devouring him with her eyes and remembering how amazing his mouth and hands had felt caressing her breasts and . . . Damn it! His raw appeal should be the last thing on her mind.
But it was impossible not to notice the be
auty of the man, the way his muscles and tendons flexed under the bright sunlight. The sinewy strength that pulsated off him should be illegal.
“Are you ignoring me now?” she demanded, her temper starting to simmer.
He tugged on a black T-shirt that did little to cover his delicious tattoos and turned to face her, but his expression was unreadable. “No, I’m just . . . You’ve been through a lot with your mom. I don’t want to take advantage of you.” He might be saying one thing, but there was something else she wasn’t understanding. Something between the lines that she just couldn’t translate.
“Take advantage? I’m the one taking advantage of you. You haven’t even . . . you know.” She felt lame not being able to say the words.
“That’s not what I mean. You make me feel out of control!” He pushed out a ragged breath, the words seemingly torn from him, and she saw a crack in that hard veneer he was trying so desperately to put up. “I shouldn’t even be guarding you because of my feelings. . . . Fuck!”
So that was the root of his problem. Or at least part of it. “Yeah, well, the feeling is mutual!” she shouted back, angry at herself for wanting this man when he’d hurt her so badly before. Even though her emotions were completely out of control, his presence was still the only thing keeping her grounded. That just pissed her off even more, but she didn’t see the point in fighting it. Not when she knew their coming together was inevitable.
He just watched her, those green eyes piercing in their intensity. Finally he leaned forward slowly, as to give her enough time to pull away before brushing his lips over hers. The action was soft, almost chaste, but it soothed something deep inside her.
She reached for him, tugging on his shoulders as she melded her body to his. He didn’t resist and she savored the feel of her breasts pressing against his hard chest.
After a long moment, he sighed and pulled back. “We need to go.”
She nodded, the knot in her chest easing ever so slightly. Grief and fear still burned deep inside her, but with Cade next to her she felt as if she could deal with anything.
