by Anna Hackett
More gunfire had them both ducking.
“Come on.” Hale grabbed her hand and tugged her up.
They sprinted as fast as they could and dived in behind the next tub. Bullets slammed into the ground nearby, flecks of rock pinging at their skin.
They both dropped down to the floor and Hale covered her with his body. She tried to elbow him off, but the big, overprotective hero wouldn’t budge.
More bullets rained down around them. They were pinned down.
Hale lifted his head and cursed. “Dammit.”
Elin followed his gaze and saw Drift across the room, hiding behind another tub. He had the Seal of Solomon in his hand.
And he was only two tubs away from getting to the exit.
“No fucking way.” Hale crouched, every muscle in his body tense. “That bastard is not getting out of here—”
“Hale! It’s too dangerous.”
He gripped her chin. “He hurt you. He tried to kill you.” Hale pressed a bruising kiss to her lips and then leaped over the tub.
Her heart jumped into her throat. She turned and watched as he ran like a football player—zig zagging across the room. He shoved one Silk Road man out of the way, then dived and slammed into Drift. The two of them rolled across the floor, each wrestling to get on top of the other.
The drone swiveled, opening fire in their direction.
No, you don’t. Elin jumped up and scrambled over to one of the downed bodies. She swung the rifle up and dropped down on one knee. She didn’t bother aiming. She just wanted to cause a distraction and give Hale some cover fire.
Hale and Drift rolled out from behind the tub, out in the open. The drone started turning.
Right now, Elin didn’t care about the ring or the mission or her job. She just wanted to get Hale and herself out of there alive.
She fired at the drone. Her first shots missed and she swallowed back her threatening panic. She fired again and this time, one of her shots hit it. She watched it wobble. Yes! She’d hit something vital. It lowered to the ground and Elin grinned.
But as its guns moved, she realized that while she’d stopped it flying, she hadn’t damaged its weapons. It opened fire.
Bullets hit near Hale and Drift. Hale’s body jerked.
“No!” Elin aimed again and fired at the drone.
Hale fell backward and Drift rose up, a smile on his face.
Her gun clicked empty. Screw this. She tossed the rifle and leaped over a tub, running fast. She flew at Drift, jumping into a roundhouse kick. Her boot slammed into the man’s jaw. The ring flew from his hand, hit the ground with a ping, and rolled away.
She raced over to Hale. “Move.” The left leg of his cargo pants was soaked with blood and she stomped back her panic. Please don’t have hit something vital. Slinging an arm around his back, she tried to move him. “Cover. Now.”
He was trying to move, but he couldn’t get his injured leg under him. And he was so damn heavy.
She grunted, tugging on him. The closest tub looked like it was miles away.
With a sudden roar, John Drift leaped at them. “The ring is mine!”
In a split second, Elin let go of Hale and braced for Drift’s weight. As he hit her, she used the momentum to swing him around.
The drone opened fire and Elin held Drift up like a human shield in front of her and Hale.
The actor’s body shuddered under the bullets hitting his back. He stared at Elin, his mouth open in shock and his eyes wide.
“Mine,” he choked out.
“No, asshole, mine. And you’re over.”
Blood dribbled out of his mouth. She shoved him away and spun back to Hale.
“Come on.” She slid an arm around him. “Let’s move.”
Elin heard a mechanical whirr. Dread sliding down her spine, she looked over her shoulder and saw the drone was back in the air, but only a foot off the ground. It wasn’t stable, bobbing like crazy.
But as she watched, its guns swiveled and aimed right at them.
Time slowed down, and she tightened her hold around Hale. They were trapped, several feet away from cover, and directly in the line of fire.
Chapter Fifteen
Fighting through the pain, Hale watched the drone aim straight at them.
Using the last of his strength, he pushed himself up. He knocked Elin to the ground and flung himself on top of her. He curled his body around her.
“Hale.” Her fingers dug into him, her body shoving against him. “It’ll shoot you!”
“I know.” But she’d hopefully be safe. “You promise me you’ll get out of here, and you’ll live. Get that fancy promotion and go climb the Eiffel Tower. For both of us.”
Her face went pale. “Hale.”
Emotion stormed through him. This woman clicked with him. Like a piece of the puzzle he hadn’t known was missing all his life.
“Baby.” He pressed his forehead to hers. Behind them, he heard the whirr of the drone reloading. “I love you.”
Elin made a choked sound, her fingers pressing against his cheek.
Then the roar of gunfire filled the room.
Hale squeezed his eyes closed and waited for the bullets to rip into him.
But nothing happened.
Instead, voices shouting and more shots on the other side of the room filled his ears. He lifted his head. Several people wearing black tactical vests were running in from the cavern entrance.
The drone swiveled to face this new threat.
“Stop!” A man’s deep voice echoed through the room.
Hale blinked and saw that it was Declan. He had his MP4 aimed at the drone. Flanking him were Coop, Morgan, and Cal.
Dec pointed at Hale and Elin. “She’s FBI. He’s mine. Treasure Hunter Security. They were undercover.”
Lights blinked on the drone and a hush filled the room. The only sounds were the local agents moving to subdue the remaining Silk Road men.
“Stand down, or I will hunt you down and make you fucking regret ever putting my people at risk.” Dec’s voice had turned hard and cold.
The drone’s weapons retracted.
“Hale!” Coop and Morgan dropped down beside Hale and Elin.
Elin shoved at him, rolling him off her. Pain exploded in his leg and he groaned.
“He’s been shot.” She urged him to lie back on the ground, her hands touching his blood-soaked thigh. “There’s a lot of blood.”
Hale blinked. Was that panic in her normally-controlled voice?
“Bullet might have nicked an artery.” She tore the fabric of his pants.
He reached out and grabbed her hand. “Elin?” She ignored him, her fingers pressing to his skin. “Babe, it’s a flesh wound.”
“I know you pretty well by now, Carter,” she said. “You could be bleeding to death and still say it’s just a flesh wound.”
Morgan snorted. “She has you pegged, Hale.”
“Let me see?” Dec shouldered forward, nudging Elin back. His hands touched Hale’s thigh wound with quick, practiced moves. Dec sat back. “It looks like a flesh wound.”
“There’s so much blood,” Elin said. “He couldn’t stand before.”
“Winded,” Hale said. “That bastard Drift got a good hit in.”
Dec looked over his shoulder. “Someone get over here with the first aid kit.”
Soon, a NIA agent dropped down beside them with a small kit. The man set to work.
“She needs checking, too,” Hale said. “She has an injury on her hand and she was beaten pretty badly earlier.”
“I’m fine.”
They stared at each other.
Dec eyed Hale and Elin. “You guys look like you’ve been through hell.”
“You could say that.” As the medic cleaned Hale’s wound with antiseptic, Hale winced at the sting.
Dec touched his ear. “Message from Burke. He says good job, glad you’re both okay, and did you find the ring?”
Elin gasped. She ran a hand through her h
air and looked dazed. “Ah, I forgot about the ring. Drift had it. I saw him drop it in the fight, but…”
The faintest smile tilted Dec’s lips. “You were more concerned about someone else?”
Elin lifted her chin. “Yes.”
Hale smiled and held up his hand. “Here you go.”
Everybody gasped. He was holding the Seal of Solomon that he’d managed to scoop up off the ground in the fight with Drift. He urged Elin to take it, and she gingerly took the ring. Then she turned and handed it to Dec.
Dec pulled out a slim-line tablet and turned it over. Agent Alastair Burke’s face filled the screen. “Well done, Elin. You too, Hale.”
“Let me see them.” Darcy’s aggravated voice.
“Wait—” Burke said.
“No.” Darcy elbowed Burke out of the way, and appeared on the screen. “Is everyone okay?”
“We’re okay, Darce,” Hale answered.
She blew out a breath. “Thank God.”
“You want to get out of my lap?” Burke said dryly.
Spots of color appeared on Darcy’s cheeks. “Take care of yourselves and I’ll see you when you get home.”
Burke reappeared.
“We were nearly killed by that fucking drone,” Hale bit out. “Twice. Is that some FBI toy?”
“No.” Burke’s tone turned stone hard. “It’s someone else’s toy. They didn’t know that you two were undercover. They thought you were Silk Road.”
Suddenly, Dec stiffened. “It belongs to the fucking team in black that we crossed paths with in Madagascar.”
“Let it go,” Burke said. “Turn me toward the drone.”
Dec did as ordered, grumbling as he did.
“Deactivate,” Burke said.
Nothing happened. The drone still hovered unsteadily, watching them.
“You see the ring Ward is holding? The Seal of Solomon. You want it, then deactivate your fucking drone. You can make a damn appointment with my office, if you want the ring and your drone.”
A second later, the drone powered down and lowered to the ground. Several agents hurried over to secure it. Dec swiveled the tablet again.
Burke looked at Elin. “Really great work, Elin. Looks like you secured yourself that promotion you were after. I’m putting you forward for the Interpol team. Hope you like France.”
She blinked. “Thank you.”
Hearing the words made Hale’s chest spasm. Her dream. Everything she’d been working toward and hoping for. Her chance to find justice for her father.
As the medic finished patching up his leg, Hale closed his eyes.
Elin deserved this promotion. She deserved to have everything she loved. And while he’d told her how he felt, she hadn’t said she loved him back.
***
Once the medic had finished checking her over, Elin walked with the NIA and Namibian CIS agents. She was going to be sore for a while, and have some spectacular bruises, but nothing was broken.
She focused on finalizing the details for the detainment and arrests of the Silk Road people still alive. There was also work to be done with the Namibian government to secure the mine.
But, to be honest, those were the last things she really cared about right now.
She glanced back to where Ronin and Cal had their arms around Hale. He was moving pretty well, and looked much better, now that he’d been patched up.
He hadn’t looked at her once.
She swallowed. Maybe reality was setting in. Maybe his confession of love was just because of their dire circumstances. Hell, all of this between them had happened so fast and had been fueled by adrenaline. She knew situations like this could make people do and say crazy things.
They’d made a hell of a team…but maybe he was feeling differently now.
Tired, sore, and running on fumes, Elin moved on autopilot as they wound back through the tunnels, and used the platform and ropes the THS team had rigged up in the main shaft.
When she stepped out into the sunshine, she blinked. She had no idea what time of day it was, and had, for some reason, been expecting darkness.
Down the hill, she spotted a convoy of beige SUVs, all covered in desert dust. Nearby, was Drift’s black helicopter, and another one that she guessed the THS team had arrived in.
One of the lead agents shook hands with Declan. “Thanks for your help.”
Dec nodded. “My team and I will take the helicopters out, and secure the Seal of Solomon as Agent Burke organized.”
“And we’ll take these men into custody and secure the site,” the agent said, his teeth very white against his dark skin. He turned to look at Elin. “We’ve been instructed to give you a ride, Agent Alexander. Agent Burke suggested you’d want to oversee charging the Silk Road members.”
She looked at the convoy, and a rock lodged in her chest. She’d be traveling with the agents, and Hale would be flying away in the helicopter.
“Hey.” Hale stepped in front of her, his handsome face serious.
Elin felt something tremble deep inside her. His gaze was on her, but she couldn’t read what he was thinking…or feeling.
“Hey,” she replied quietly.
“I wanted to thank you.”
She blinked. Thank her?
“You’re a hell of an agent, Elin. The best I’ve worked with. Hell, you could’ve been a SEAL.”
“We work well together.”
“I know I said some things down there…” His voice trailed off.
She waited, her chest tight.
He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. “Congratulations on the promotion. I don’t know of anyone who deserves it more.”
Promotion? She sucked in a breath. He thought she was thinking about the damn promotion? Pain was a sharp, spiky ball inside her. She couldn’t seem to find the words she needed. The only thing she could think was that maybe he was using this as a way out.
In the light of day, Hale had realized that he wasn’t in love with her. The Hale Carter she knew was a fighter who never gave up, so if he really wanted her, he’d tell her.
He reached out and tucked a strand of hair back behind her ear. “You take care of yourself. You deserve to follow your dreams. When you climb the Eiffel Tower, think of me.”
Then he turned, and limped toward the helicopter.
Just like that. Elin pressed her lips together, breathing through the pain clawing at her. It appeared that she was very easy for men to walk away from.
***
Every step away from her hurt.
Hale knew he was doing the right thing. Elin deserved to be happy, and if he confessed everything he felt for her… If he told her how much he wanted her, then he’d be dragging her away from her dream.
She was damn good at her job, and he wouldn’t get in the way of what she wanted. Besides, he didn’t have much to offer her except life with a burned-out, former SEAL with commitment issues of his own—
A hand grabbed his arm and spun him around.
“Just like that?” Elin’s voice was sharp as a blade.
“What?” He frowned at her.
“We go through hell together, have each other’s backs, we fight side by side—” Her face was incandescent with rage.
“Elin—”
Her blue eyes glittered. “We saved each other’s lives, fucked each other’s brains out—”
“Ooh.” Morgan’s amused voice from nearby.
Hale was conscious of everyone staring at them, but he only had eyes for Elin.
“You told me you were falling in love with me.” She thrust her hands on her hips. “Was that just one of your lines, Carter?”
“No!”
“You’re walking away!” Her voice lowered. “All you have to say is ‘take care of yourself, Elin’?”
Something hot flooded through him. “You were outstanding on this mission. Brilliant. You’re born for this kind of work. You left your marriage for this job, for a chance to right the wrong against your parents. And now y
ou’re set to get an amazing promotion you deserve. I won’t ruin it for you!”
There was rapt silence around them and he felt everyone’s attention like a solid thing.
Elin took a step closer and jabbed a finger in his chest. “I had a man say he loved me once, and he had no trouble walking away.” Bitterness filled her voice. “Guess I’m extra lucky to have it happen a second time.”
Hale narrowed his eyes. She couldn’t be serious? She turned to walk away but this time he grabbed her arms. He yanked her in close and she collided with his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, dragging her up onto her toes.
“Do not compare me to that asshole.”
“You’re walking away.” Tears gleamed in her eyes. She looked down, making an angry sound, and tried to pull away from him.
He didn’t let her move. “Baby.” He cupped her face with one hand.
“If you don’t love me, just leave.”
“I was wrong in the mine,” he said. “About falling in love with you.”
She jerked like he’d shot her. God, he was an idiot. He hurried on. “Because I’m not falling in love with you. I already love you.”
She went still now, and raised her gaze. He saw a flash of something soft and hopeful in her face.
“I love you, Elin. So much that I want you to be happy, and do what makes you happy.”
Her hands fisted in his shirt. “Ask me what makes me happy, Hale.”
“I saw you down there with the bad guys, baby. I can see for myself.”
She straightened. “Ask me.”
Suddenly, Hale felt like he was standing on the edge of a very big cliff, the ground crumbling away under his feet.
“What makes you happy, Elin?” he asked quietly.
“You. The man I love. The man who came for me. The man who threw himself over me to protect me. The man who makes me smile, who is sexy as hell, who makes my mind go blank whenever he smiles at me, or when he touches me.”
God. “Elin.”
He took her mouth with his, kissing her deep. She tasted like Elin and her hands gripped him hard. Hale took every advantage, pulling her closer and kissing her harder. So she’d never, ever doubt how he felt about her.
Then he heard clapping and cheering around them. Hale reluctantly lifted his head, holding Elin tight. Dec was smiling and shaking his head.
