Point Blank Range

by Em Petrova

  Sully caught Linc’s eye. Linc stopped walking, knowing his captain wanted a word.

  “You good on this, man?” Sully asked.

  “’Course.”

  “You know if it means one person or the team, it’s the team, right?”

  Linc stared at him. He knew what he was asking of him, and he didn’t want to fucking think about it. The concept wasn’t something the Ranger Ops ever spoke of—they all knew that the mission came first, even if one of theirs fell.

  If the fallen was Nealy…

  He shook his head. “I got it, Sully.”

  His captain closed his hand over Linc’s shoulder and squeezed. “She’s strong and can hold her own. Remember that. She’s with you and Lennon.”

  “Then she’ll be safe.”

  When Sully met his gaze, something subtle passed between them. He’d do anything for his wife and understood Linc’s position when it came to Nealy.

  As they all climbed into the truck, he was pleased when she squeezed in next to him, her thigh touching his.

  * * * * *

  Ranger Ops was sandwiched between Knight Ops and Team Rou. With that sort of firepower flanking them, they had no reason to be worried at all.

  Except Nealy was as jittery as a caffeine addict after several hits of espresso. She fought to keep from bouncing her knee or tapping a foot and alerting an enemy to her position.

  The darkness cloaked them completely, and she couldn’t even make out Linc next to her until he turned the whites of his eyes on her.

  This was it—the biggest moment of her career. If they pulled this off, she would have proven herself.

  Dragging in a deep breath of the salty Gulf air, she shifted the weapon in her hands in order to ease the weight. Linc was looking at her, and she could see a question in his eyes, but no one spoke.

  Several more minutes passed. Finally, Shaw breathed out, “I see it. Shadow making its way to harbor at our two.”

  Nealy turned her head to peer into the darkness, barely making out the hulking outline of the ship’s bow.

  Her heart pounded harder. This was it. She had gone over the instructions so many times they were engraved on her brain. But still, she went over them one more time to ensure she wouldn’t forget her role.

  She was with Linc and Lennon. The three of them would take the first boat they saw, neutralize whoever was on the boat and head out to meet the weapons ship.

  As it came a bit closer, the size and ominous look to the vessel had her issuing a breath.

  “Jesus,” Linc murmured at her side. “How the fuck this thing ever got into US waters is insane. They have to be paying someone off.”

  She’d been thinking the same since learning the ship was even slated to come in. But that wasn’t her job to find out who the smugglers were in bed with—not today. She needed to be part of the forces that stopped them. With any luck, they’d have every last member of Operation X in handcuffs in time for breakfast.

  Darting a look at the big man at her side, she stifled a feminine sigh. She hadn’t even gotten a proper hello from him.

  Warmth spread over her insides like a slick of honey. She ignored it, and just in time, because the word came in from Sully.

  “Both Reeds and Alexander, here’s your cue.”

  She gulped down her rising excitement, mingled with a healthy spot of fear, and rushed through the night with the men flanking her. Knowing Linc, he’d threatened Lennon within an inch of his life to stay on her six, because the man did not move a boot out of step. He kept perfect pace with her, inches from her back, and Linc was directly ahead.

  In the darkness, she made out a small boat being loaded into the water and men jumping into it. One pushing off.

  But Linc reached them before that happened. There was a splash and another, and suddenly two of the men were yanked overboard. Nealy did her part by clubbing a third over the head. He fell in a boneless slump in the boat, and Linc grabbed him by the shirt and dragged him out too.

  Together, Linc and Lennon hauled all three to the shore, where some men from Team Rou, suddenly appearing out of the darkness like the spirit their team was named after, took it from there. She didn’t have time to watch them truss the guys up like hogs or gag them and load them into the truck. Linc touched her shoulder, and she turned back for the small craft.

  Getting on the water was a blur to her. Small silver-tipped waves licked up the sides of the boat, which Lennon and Linc rowed with strong pulls on the oars. She wished it was light enough to watch her fiancé’s muscles.

  Later. If we make it out of this alive.

  We have to make it out alive. We can’t let down his sweet momma. She’s waiting for the wedding.

  Her own parents still knew nothing about her engagement, something she wanted to remedy as soon as this was over. Maybe a long weekend in Miami was in the future as well. She could envision Linc on a beach in Hawaiian-print swim trunks and her mother doting over him with cold drinks while Linc talked the latest game scores with her father.

  His gaze was on her, the whites enhancing the intensity of his stare. “Destination in three,” he said quietly.

  She nodded and gripped her weapon, ready to take action.

  “Holy shit, guys. Heads up.”

  The directive came from one of the captains into their comms units. She jerked her head up, and Linc was already fixated on the ship they were nearing. It didn’t appear to be manned at all, moving swiftly through the water as if on autopilot. It definitely wasn’t anchoring in the harbor as expected.

  “Linc, get your team onto that vessel—now.” That came from Sully.

  Nealy’s heart slammed her ribs. She gripped the side of the boat she was on. “What’s happening?”

  “Decoy ship maybe. For all we know, the real ship’s down the coast unloading a quarter million weapons.”

  “Dammit! We can’t let that happen.”

  “We’re stretched out along this coast. There’s no fucking way there’s a second ship. But they knew we were here—somebody tipped them off. Look—there aren’t enough boats on the water to even transport the weapons. Looks like some got the memo and others didn’t,” Lennon said.

  “Those others would be us,” Linc bit off. With two more strong pulls on the oars, they were within reach of the ship’s hull.

  Lennon pulled out a rope and made a perfect throw, as planned. He tossed a grin back to his twin. “All those years of lassoin’ the neighbor’s cattle did some good, eh, bro?” He grabbed hold and shimmied upward.

  Linc looked to her next. “I’m right behind you. If you fall in the water—”

  “I won’t,” she said and took hold of the rope. She’d trained for this her entire career, and she wasn’t about to let the teams—or herself—down.

  When she slipped over the rail, Lennon was there to steady her. Linc landed beside her a second later. Then the three of them took off to find whoever was sailing this thing.

  * * * * *

  Linc couldn’t believe what he was seeing. There wasn’t a fucking human in sight. It was as if the huge ship was a toy boat operated by remote control. It didn’t add up.

  When he led the way down a short galley ladder into the hull, crate upon crate rose up to greet him. Just the smell of raw wood used for the crates had his guts churning.

  He breathed out hard and struggled to gain another breath.

  “Linc. Man, it’s all right. Nobody’s going to put you in one of these.” Lennon’s low words had Linc recovering fast—and looking for a fight.

  Finger poised on the trigger, he mentally egged the fuckers to step out and show their faces.

  But further investigation turned up no one.

  “What if it’s a trojan horse?” Nealy whispered.

  Jesus, he hadn’t thought of that, hundreds of people hiding inside these crates just waiting to pop out.

  He strode to a crate, and using the butt of his rifle, bashed the lid off one. A peek inside revealed only the black, inky
shapes of firearms by the hundreds.

  Lennon shook his head. “Holy hell, there’s a lot of them.”

  The ship gave a sudden lurch, and Linc made a grab for Nealy. “What the hell’s happening?”

  “Guys, you’re changing direction, headed back out into the Gulf. Get the hell off that thing,” came Sully’s order.

  Linc’s heart raced, and he stared down into the eyes of the love of his life. No, he wasn’t letting even a single hair on her beautiful head be harmed.

  The door slammed to the upper deck, cutting off all light and pitching the three of them into blackness.

  “Someone’s onboard,” Lennon was saying to the team, spitting out rapid-fire instructions for their rescue.

  Nealy’s breathing was harsh and fast. Linc used his headlamp to shed light on her, but he wished he hadn’t. He might not ever get the sight of her fear out of his mind for as long as he lived.

  She put out a hand for him, and he took it, squeezing her gloved fingers hard. “We’re locked in,” she said

  The worry in her voice didn’t help the rising panic inside him. No fucking way was this happening a second time in his life.

  They were moving. The lapping sound of waves at the outsides of the hull made him turn to search for a porthole.

  “Find a way to get off that fucking thing—now,” Sully commanded.

  Linc exchanged a look with Lennon. They needed a plan of action.

  Nealy’s face was a blank mask. He reached for her to pull her in and dispel her fear, but then he saw her give an all over shudder that wasn’t terror.

  It was anger.

  “It’s fucking Mitchum behind it all.” Her tone scorched over him like a wildfire.

  His gaze shot to hers. “Your director.”

  “Yep. He said something about the coordinates being off when I was sent after the flash drive. And when I dug up some other things, he got agitated.”

  Linc’s blood ran cold. “Sully?” he said in a harsh tone.

  “Here, Linc.”

  “Did you at any time share the information on exactly where I found that flash drive with the ATF?”

  “Fuck no.”

  “There’s your answer,” Lennon said, serious as a sinner in hell.

  “Sully, this could be Mitchum’s doing. He set up Nealy to fail in retrieving that drive. He knew where it was really located. And I don’t trust him not to have set us up here too.”

  A splash sounded, and all three of them jerked. Nealy let out a sharp cry, and Linc’s arms were around her before she clamped it off.

  “There goes our ship’s captain. They—”

  “Jumped ship,” Sully finished for Linc. “Get the fuck outta there. I think it might be rigged to blow.”

  Linc looked down into Nealy’s eyes. “Don’t ever trust anyone but yourself, me or one of these guys from Ranger Ops again. Got it?”

  “Loud and clear,” she answered.

  * * * * *

  Nealy had only ever seen Linc freaking out once before. And she’d hoped never to see it again.

  But the man was standing with hands braced against the ship’s hull as if he could break through it just by sheer brute strength. His head was hanging between his shoulders, and when she approached him, she heard him breathing hard, just as he’d been that day he called her to come to him.

  “Linc.” She laid a hand on his back, prepared to duck if he was out of his head and struck at her.

  He was coherent.

  Thank God.

  “I need to breathe,” he said faintly.

  “Go find a paper bag,” Lennon said, pulling open crate after crate and looking inside for some answer to their situation. Every crate was filled to the top with weapons that were meant to cross the border. Somehow, the men had been tipped off and abandoned ship—literally.

  Another crate top crashed to the floor, and Lennon walked over it to get to the next.

  Nealy racked her brain. They were below deck, with not so much as a porthole to break through and swim out. If they even could before Gulf waters rushed in.

  They couldn’t break through the sealed passage to the above deck either—both Lennon and Linc had tried to kick it in to no avail.

  Suddenly, Linc spun to face her. When he grabbed her by the upper arms, she bit back a gasp of surprise. His eyes burned down into hers, illuminated by the headlamp he wore.

  “I can’t lose you,” he rasped.

  “We’ll figure something out, Linc.”

  He wasn’t paying attention to her, because was staring at his twin. “If we both die, Momma will be devastated. One of us has to make it out of here alive.”

  “We’re both making it out alive. Now cut the bullshit. You’re not locked inside a crate, man. Grab your balls and find us a way out like the brother I’ve looked up to my entire life.”

  Nealy’s eyes flooded with tears, and she blinked rapidly to dispel them before they fell. There was no room for theatrics in this moment—it was life or death. She was pretty sure the people who’d locked them inside the hull were not going to let them peacefully drift out into the Gulf only to be rescued by the Coast Guard later.

  They weren’t going to lose all those guns for nothing. Millions of dollars’ worth.

  She cradled Linc’s face. “We can do this. We just need to find a way out and off this ship.”

  “Right.” He moved away from her and began scoping out every inch of the walls, running his hands over some spots as if searching for weak spots to punch through. Lennon did the same, and they met up in the middle.

  They looked at each other.

  “You know what you gotta do, Linc,” Lennon grated out.

  He fell away from the wall, taking a few steps back. Swinging his gaze to Nealy, she saw the determination cutting across his rugged face.

  “I can get us outta here.” He reached into his pack and yanked out a handful of items. One glance at them and Nealy put two and two together.

  “Trust me,” he said.

  She nodded. “I do. And I love you, Linc.”

  He grinned, and seeing the joy cross his face made her fall in love with him even deeper. “Love you too, babe. I hope you’re ready to barbecue some illegal weapons.”

  “At this point, I’m ready to barbecue my director if he’s the one responsible for this.”

  His eyes darkened. “I’ll be right there to hand you the tongs.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Nealy’s fingers were still cramped from pressing them so tightly over her ears.

  Her fiancé sure knew how to get out of a tight jam—by way of a little firepower and a fuse.

  Her head still rang from the explosion, and she barely remembered being tossed out of the hull and onto the above deck, that had been splintered into nothing. Or how she’d managed to crawl to a safer spot and leap into the dark waters.

  She did, however, recall vividly when the sure hands of one of the Ranger Ops team had pulled her into the safety of a boat. And when Linc had landed behind her and pulled her into his arms.

  Still unable to stop the shaking caused by the rush of adrenaline, she turned to look at the ship they’d just escaped.

  Another explosion rocked it, and Linc shielded her with his big shoulders. She fought to get her head up and watch as the entire craft burst into flames and a second reverberation rocked it.

  When it tipped onto its side and began to sink, dowsing some of the flames and creating a thick black cloud rolling through the air, she gasped.

  “This is all so crazy,” she said, not realizing she’d spoken aloud until Linc looked at her.

  “Looks like you got out of there just in time,” Sully said with a shake of his head.

  Shaw punched Lennon in the shoulder. “Good thing you’ve got a talented bomb maker for a brother, man.”

  “No shit. I would have been crispy.” He stared at the wreckage, orange flames reflecting in his eyes.

  Nealy found Linc’s hand on her waist and meshed their finger
s, needing to feel closer to him as all this rolled over her.

  The more she thought about Mark Mitchum, the more she knew he was giving her directives that were putting her on the line. Setting her up to fail at the very least—sending her to a grave at the worst. Either way, she’d been endangered by his commands.

  No wonder Linc had wanted so much revenge on the men who’d held him prisoner. There wasn’t a balm to soothe over that fury.

  The fight wasn’t over, though. They’d sunk over several million dollars’ worth of weapons to the bottom of the Gulf, but there were still men to fight. More guns to be brought in. If she knew Linc, and she thought she did pretty well, he wasn’t about to stop until every man in Operation X was imprisoned or in a body bag.

  But she would fight alongside him every step of the way.

  He was holding her so protectively, locked against his chest so she could barely move a muscle. She realized he’d fight her to keep her out of it. But that wasn’t her, and he knew that too.

  They’d just have to plow on until they came out on top. Even though they hadn’t gotten the guys behind the crime, they had stopped those illegal arms from making their way into the hands of the population that would in turn kill innocent human beings.

  It wasn’t all a failure.

  It was only a step toward the end result. Like her relationship with Linc.

  They’d begun as enemies, become lovers and had plenty of ups and downs on the road here. Now, she relaxed in his hold and let him take over the duty of protecting her while she watched over his emotional wellbeing.

  He seemed fine after creating that bomb, though, not affected at all, and now he was joking and ribbing Lennon about how he shouldn’t have skipped leg day and been able to kick the door off the hatch.

  Which led to Lennon bringing up a bunch of times when he bested Linc as kids. By the time they got off the water, her nerves had calmed a bit.

  But as soon as the shouts sounded in her ear—and coming from behind her—she was back in the fight with the assholes who had sailed in under stealth of the night and managed to get their boats ashore.

  Linc grabbed her and spun her around to face the fight head-on.