by Sheila Kell
“We’ve got the package but no ride.”
“Shit.”
“Get us a ride. I can get us somewhere for a while, then I’ll have to walk our asses back home.” The low growl in his voice came from deep within and controlled the depth of his surging anger.
“They’re not there?” AJ snapped.
To the team, he ordered, “Close recon. No heroes. Watch your six.”
Doc moved beside him and attached a harness to the little five-year-old sleeping boy and attached that to his chest. With Doc being the largest and the kid’s legs the shortest, it made sense to connect him for a safer carry.
“No, we’d hear the bird if it was close, AJ,” Danny belatedly answered his question. “And it’s pretty quiet. Except for the stink of a setup.”
“Why do you think setup?” AJ said.
Danny snorted. Thank goodness Devon was on the ball with getting their ride. “They showed up after we collected the boy and went straight for us, not the house.”
“Fuck.”
“I second that.” Danny wondered why Devon hadn’t already had something for them. He always did.
Speak of the devil. Devon always came through for them. “Your backup is there.”
“The fuck you say. It’s quiet. No extra bodies around unless they’re ghosts.” Then it hit him. Spooks. They were pretty much ghosts. “Got it.”
“They’re in a bird hovering near your location,” Devon informed him.
He wished the two brothers were here to realize what they said wasn’t true. “Impossible. It’s too quiet not to hear a bird.” They rode in on one near their current spot. There wasn’t one near.
He could hear the smile in Devon’s voice. “Trust me.”
A shiver of fear slid up his spine resting on his shoulders where he kept the lives of his men, but he did extend that trust.
To the team, he ordered, “On me.”
Always the ‘you can’t bring me too much intel’ guy, Devon instructed, “Get me all the intel you can. Nothing is too small.”
Like they hadn’t heard that before. Gunfire ripped his attention away. “Sitrep.” His heart pounded. He needed the situation reports from his returning team members. Maybe they could fight their way out, but probably not.
“These fuckers are closing in,” Cowboy whispered in his mic.
“Our bird’s nearby.”
Danny’s mind whirled for a long moment. If they could— “Are any holes still open?”
“Negative,” Doc said.
“Negative,” Stone added.
“Who took the gunfire?”
Each man denied it, which made things more Charlie Foxtrot—clusterfuck.
Fuck! His trust was wavering. He had to get his team and their package out of here, and it was too late to turn back.
Devon came back on the phone when Danny was about to hang up. “They’re on the cliff. Just north of where you arrived.”
“Hell no!” he almost screamed into the phone. “We’ll get pinned down.”
“Your bird will be there before you make it. Trust me, Danny,” Devon requested once again.
With a sigh that couldn’t wash away the cold sweat covering his body, he remembered Devon had never steered them wrong. “Okay, we’re moving.” He disconnected, tossed the sat phone in his backpack, and hurriedly slipped it over his shoulders. Gut deep worry that he would bring them to their death, stuck at the cliff.
“We gotta blow this joint and fast,” Cowboy stated, breathing a little heavy.
“Together, we head to the cliff.”
A frustrated quiet filled the air, so Danny explained, “Devon says they’re there.”
They headed at a fast yet smart clip in the forested part toward the cliff. His heart beat fast and not because of the exertion. Not only were they skirting guards in the woods, they’d be vulnerable in the open where they’d board the helo.
He couldn’t wait for his team leader to get his ass back to work. Filling in for Boss sucked. Just plain sucked.
At the edge of the cover, they knelt to keep from being seen. While Doc—because he had the package—turned from the danger and watched for their ride, the other three had their backs to him prepared for anything.
By now they should hear the whomp-whomp of the rotors bouncing off the walls of the ravine. Nothing. Christ. Devon couldn’t be wrong.
They didn’t need this problem. The four could probably do some damage, even with limited ammo and supplies, but having an unconscious five-year-old on for the ride decreased his confidence in their success. Then they’d still be without a ride.
A small displacement of air warned him before he heard the faint whirl of a helicopter. He whipped his head around and his mind almost couldn’t process the abnormality. What the fuck had Arthur sent?
Then he saw it float above the ravine and land one skid on the ground for them to board. Holy Christ. He’d heard these birds existed, but no one would ever admit it. Stealth-like.
When shots came from the bird, he stiffened a moment with a quick thought of friend or foe, but none of his men dropped, so he took that as a good sign.
He called to his team, “Hot loading!”
Cowboy, a former Air Force Pararescueman, quickly jumped in. “I’ll break ’em in.”
“Good, you go first. Help Doc.”
When Cowboy opened his mouth to say whatever it was, he commanded him, “Go, go, go.”
Danny had to hope everything went right because the gunfight was closing in on them and their only free space was the drop-off.
After Stone made it, Cowboy’s voice halted him. “It’s too hot. We’re swinging around for you. Hang tight.”
“Hang tight” he wanted to mimic. Alone, adrenaline took over. He hot-loaded his weapon—ejecting his clip and quickly replacing it with another—and fired at the nearest tango. Without the sniper on the bird taking out threats, he was busy, which meant his hiding spot had been compromised.
Knowing what to listen for, he heard as the bird neared his position.
“They’ve got you covered, Ball Park. You’re going to like it. It’s a sweet ride. Now we gotta blow this popsicle stand. And I’ve rolled out the red carpet for you.”
He grinned. Cowboy always brought levity when needed and knew he loved all things helicopter, but his smile quickly froze. Did he say “roll out the red carpet?” Oh, holy fuck. Only Cowboy would call one maneuver that.
Swallowing back his fear, he made the dash, found the ropes, and anchored the carabiners on his harness to the SPIE rope and the safety line, wished he had goggles, reminded himself he never wanted to do crap like this on a regular basis, then walked forward, kicking off the cliff into nothing.
Chapter Twelve
The moment the helicopter touched ground in Maryland, Danny exited first and stalked to HQ. He’d only barely noticed that their ride had powered down. He’d eagerly checked it out during the flight and a refueling stopover. HIS needed one of these birds because they were about the next best thing to sliced bread. It sucked because the helo technically didn’t exist, but a man could crave adventure.
He started for a moment. Had they landed on a helicopter pad in the making? Hope jumped up his chest at the thought. He hoped one day he could bring the men and women back and forth from ops. Get them out of all kinds of situations whether light or deadly. There he went again thinking he’d fly, knowing that was unlikely.
At the heavy entry door, with his mind back in the game, he punched in his personal code. When the door opened, he turned to make sure it closed behind him, but his team brought up the rear.
“Doc, check him out and get him to whoever’s here to collect him. Everyone else hit the showers. I’ll handle this.” As Alpha team assistant team leader, Danny was responsible for everything—good or bad—that happened on an op under his
command. This time, he hadn’t planned backup transport and somehow brought a small army into their rescue mission.
As he reached the war room, he took long strides, not even greeting Devon who looked as tired as Danny felt. His insides burned with a rage that could make the largest bonfire ever. When he found the office he sought, he entered, not wasting his time playing games.
Slapping his hands on the desk, Danny leaned his head down to look at AJ.
“We go on no more ops with just the four of us without a sniper,” he said firmly. “If we hadn’t had some black ops help, all four us wouldn’t be walking back in. And the FBI had its own group of spooks. Why weren’t they doing this shit instead of swooping in like an avenging angel and providing transport that doesn’t even belong to them?” His anger, frustration, and finally sarcasm bled into his voice and he wouldn’t change it a bit.
Alpha team had been prepared for the op. Although Cowboy had wanted to barge in, toss a few flash grenades, they’d agreed to accept the boy from his nanny. With no expected army, two of them could’ve handled it.
AJ ran his hand through his dark hair, and Danny couldn’t tell if it was frustration or something else on his face. “I know.” His soft tone warred with what Danny thought he’d seen. His stance in the meeting strengthened when AJ leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, like they weren’t discussing something that hadn’t been life or death.
“Did your help arrive? Okay.” AJ looked sheepishly. “I guess they did if you’re here.”
Danny also remained standing with crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed. He nodded although it’d been unnecessary. “Yep. I would’ve liked them earlier.”
“Arthur called and told me he’d sent them but didn’t know if they’d make it for cleanup.”
“Speaking of cleanup, that’s exactly what they’d have been doing for us if we hadn’t had them. Why was this a setup?” It still didn’t add up to him and that bothered him down to his toes.
Ignoring his important question, AJ aggravated him more by asking, “What did you think of the snipers?”
About ready to jump over the desk to keep AJ on track, Danny forced himself to shrug. “They were fine. They kept our asses alive. But I’m more worried about what we left.”
AJ waved off his words. “Before we forced Ken on medical leave, he approved Alpha team two snipers—which is what we want per team.” AJ shook his head. “I think the man is superhuman or something, working so long injured.”
It had taken a lot to finally get Ken to take medical leave after being shot more than once. If it hadn’t been for Sugar, he probably wouldn’t have taken the time. The problem was that she’d been their sniper and decided to keep one parent out of the action with the boy they were raising.
AJ picked up a bag of chips and offered him some. Danny declined and almost snatched them from him because last he’d heard, AJ’s wife said he was getting flabby in the gut, so junk food went out the window.
Somehow discerning Danny’s thoughts, AJ explained how his wife didn’t rule the roost and if he wanted—
Danny tuned out. He needed to give a full debrief, shower, and get home to Moira. He needed to see her and know she was okay. There’d been no message from the former DEA buddy he’d hired to covertly watch her. He took the silence as a positive sign.
AJ now discussed his son. Danny admitted Ace was a good and smart kid. But he’d had enough. He slammed his hands on the desk again, this time making AJ jump. “AJ, focus. You said you had two new sharpshooters for the team? Where the hell were they tonight?”
Looking at AJ, finding the corner of his lips curling into a smirk, caused Danny to feel even more nauseous. You never knew what to expect from the runt of the Hamilton men. It appeared AJ had a secret he was eager to share.
“Where were they tonight? They were covering your six.”
Thrown by that statement, Danny staggered back to the chair facing the desk. It took a moment to process exactly what he meant. “Are you telling me two of those ‘I-don’t-exist’ agents are joining us?” Not that HIS was a step-down, but…?
Somehow in the time he’d pondered things, AJ had put away the chips and turned serious. “Okay. Yes, two snipers are coming our way and will be on Alpha team. It gets better. One sharpshooter is an explosives expert while the other, his twin, is a top-notch handler.”
“Since they’re spooks, maybe we should split them up.”
“I don’t split from my sister,” a deep voice with a hard edge said from behind him.
Danny spun around to face the snipers from the helo and Alpha team’s newest sharpshooters. While you’d never mix the twins up, it was obvious they were brother and sister. Now. On the flight, she’d done a great job hiding the fact she was a woman. Like him, the siblings hadn’t showered and looked to be carrying gear.
Peering to the side, Danny caught sight of three sweaty, mushed camo-painted men. Either his team had come back to support him or they’d followed the spooks. Either way, he appreciated it. And now he knew AJ had been stalling instead of being an idiot.
AJ scooted around the desk in the small office and unnecessarily introduced them at the doorway, obviously noting the rest of the team waiting. He turned back to Danny with a quirk of his brow, and Danny chose to ignore any implied question with that expression.
They’d spoken briefly on the bird, but mostly just the thank you for arriving when they had and not dropping Danny as he flew behind him on a rope. Both gave a strong handshake, but there was no denying the brother’s grip had a ‘touch my sister and I’ll kill you’ feel.
“What the fuck?” Cowboy opened his mouth to say more and Danny cringed. The team didn’t know them yet. The siblings had said few words on their return flight. “Did we just start taking the first people who show up?”
The twins looked at Cowboy, and he looked down at Jane, then cocked the smile he used to pick up women. Danny knew his next words would be wrong. So very wrong. He reached to get Cowboy’s attention and stop him, but he was too late.
“Hello, sweet cheeks.”
A stunned and nearly unconscious Cowboy slid down the wall to rest on the floor. Danny didn’t see the motion but heard the crack of a fist hitting a jaw. By the bewildered looks of his team, they’d also missed it. Cowboy would learn not to mess with Jane with her brother around. The quick movements went unnoticed. Internally, he shook his head in satisfaction. He looked forward to having these two on the team.
“Great shot,” John said.
Jane looked up at him, nodded then smiled.
Danny glanced at the wide eyes of his team and her approval. They’d worked with tough women before, so he shouldn’t have assumed her brother was the one to knock out Cowboy.
Putting his arm over his sister’s shoulders, they turned and moved toward the locker rooms. Danny looked down at Cowboy again and spun back to AJ. He stated, not asked, “We’re calling it a day.” With that, he turned back to Cowboy, who peeked through half-lidded eyes and then jumped agilely to his feet.
“When are you going to learn?” Danny grumbled in frustration. He needed to get home, not caught up in Cowboy’s way to welcome new team members.
“Never.” A broad grin accompanied that statement. “I could tell when she was shooting that girl has got a lot of rage in her.”
As he’d guessed, Cowboy had faked going down and knew she’d thrown the punch. Danny pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “No,” he said and reinforced it with stronger ones, “No. No. Absolutely not. We will not have another agent-to-agent relationship on this team.”
Checking the movement of his jaw, Cowboy managed to laugh. “Oh, hell no. I like my dick too much to have her brother slice it off while I’m sleeping.”
“I doubt he’d wait until you slept.”
Whistling, and as if nothing had happened, Cow
boy walked to the locker room. “Don’t leave without me. You promised to let me meet your charge.”
A small frenzy rode its way through him. He’d put off Cowboy meeting Moira for these past two months. At some point, Cowboy would just show up if he kept saying no, so best he do it on his terms.
After Danny provided an abbreviated debrief to AJ and showered, Cowboy had cleaned both of their gear, prepping them for no-notice ops. Leaving HQ, Cowboy sat beside Danny in Danny’s truck, prattling on about the bar and women. Danny’s brain was too tired to process what he said, until he hit on something that floated in his mind also.
“Why do you think two of Arthur’s black ops are joining us?”
“We could ask them,” Danny offered as a solution Cowboy ignored.
“Do you think they’re spying on us?” He whispered the question like they were being bugged.
It couldn’t be the money because although HIS agents were highly paid, black ops had to make a crapload more. Even though they had Russian accents and generic names, he wouldn’t peg them for spies. Besides, why would Arthur offer up two of his assets when a bug or two would get him everything the twins could uncover? No, he guessed something happened that made them want to leave the darkness, and Arthur valued their abilities and wanted them working for the good guys. At least he hoped.
Moira hadn’t answered Danny’s earlier call, so he could warn her he’d be bringing home company. Women liked it when men warned them, didn’t they? He figured she was lost in painting because she didn’t take her phone upstairs with her. She’d explained it disrupted her creative muse. Whatever that was.
When they arrived at his home, neither men had spoken since the two black ops entered their mind. Admittedly, Danny’s had switched to Moira and his brother. He didn’t like the images in his mind. Mostly that a threat still existed and he couldn’t find it.
