by Dawn Ryder
Dare Servant didn’t pay him any heed. The agent had his hands dug into Milton’s clothing at the shoulders and was dragging him back along the wall. Dare looked up at her.
“Get behind cover!”
There was another pop and the whiz of a bullet flying past her. Only this one was going toward whoever had thrown the grenade. Thais was peeking around the doorway, firing toward their unknown assailant to give Jaelyn a chance to escape.
She didn’t waste it.
Why was she the only one without a gun?
* * *
“Hold position, Magnus.”
Bram was on his knee, looking down the sights of his gun. Saxon sent him a look. “You’ll be cut down before you make it to her.”
It was the truth.
One Bram detested.
But he didn’t linger on his frustration. Instead, he rolled back, using the shelter of the altar to change clips before judging his avenues of escape. His father was in the doorway of the refectory, blood staining his white hair. He lifted his hand, sending Bram a signal that meant he would cover him.
Bram took off for the side exit of the church. There was a flip of satin as Jaelyn made it into the foyer. He had to fight back the urge to charge out into the open and race around the outside of the church to get to her.
You can’t help anyone if you’re dead …
He’d been trained well, taught to ignore emotion, but today, it felt nearly impossible. Saxon made a dash toward Ginger and Damascus who were lying on the floor unconscious from the blast. Vitus tight on his tail. The gunfire increased, giving Bram the chance to slip out of the church.
* * *
“This way, ma’am…”
Jaelyn was fighting back the terror, trying to keep her wits. The smoke was so thick it stung her eyes, robbing her of her sight, which only further disoriented her.
The man grabbed her by the upper arm, taking control of her in that way Bram and his team members so often did.
“I have to get you to a secure location.”
She didn’t recognize him but a familiar badge was clipped to his belt.
“Right…” She forced the single word past her lips.
The guy was doing most of the work, practically holding her up as she tried not to roll her ankle in her heels.
The gun in his hand chilled her blood.
He was pulling her toward the side of the church, not to the SUVs waiting in the parking lot.
“Where … where are you taking me?”
“Move,” he ordered her, looking over his shoulder as he pulled her around the corner of the building.
That warning was ringing loud and clear through her brain once more. It conflicted with her logic, which was in favor of leaving the gunfire in the church behind her.
But there was something about the way he kept looking behind him that made her dig her heels in.
“I’ve never seen you before,” she said.
He tightened his grip on her arm, twisting it behind her with a brutality that made her cry out.
“Hold!”
Bram issued the order. She barely recognized his voice. It was hard and unyielding. The man holding her arm twisted around, shoving the muzzle of his gun into the soft flesh beneath her chin.
“One wrong move, Magnus, and she’ll be dead before you can get a shot off.”
Bram didn’t look like he agreed. His grip on his gun was perfect, his head tilted so that he was looking down the barrel.
“Two fingers … now … or I’ll get off a shot before your bullet hits me.”
Bram suddenly complied, holding his gun with only two fingers so he couldn’t get a shot off. “Tyler Martin.”
“Give it up, Martin!” Saxon yelled from the corner of the church.
Tyler’s grip tightened. Jaelyn could feel the men of Saxon’s team closing in on them.
“Not going to happen, Hale,” Tyler declared. “You forget, I trained you.”
There was a buzz in the distance. Bram looked toward it as Jaelyn recognized the sound.
A helicopter.
“This is how it’s going to go, boys,” Tyler began. “I’m leaving and she’s coming along as insurance.”
“There are too many witnesses this time, Martin,” Bram warned him.
“None of you will squeal,” Martin said as he jerked her closer. “Carl Davis will use an executive order to shut down your precious Shadow Ops teams if you do. I’m taking her as a little insurance that I make it out of here alive and to make sure you give me Sullivan. Keep him quiet or she’ll pay the price for it.”
The helicopter was swooping in now, kicking up dirt and drowning out any further conversation. It wasn’t the threat to her own life that made her get into the aircraft at Tyler’s urging.
No, it was the look in Bram’s eyes.
He was ready to lunge, the glitter in his eyes telling her he wouldn’t hesitate to try and rescue her.
And Tyler just might shoot him before he closed the distance.
It was too horrible for her to accept, so she didn’t resist as Tyler shoved her inside the aircraft. It was pulling away from the ground within seconds. She tumbled around inside it, half falling across the long backseat as Tyler turned his attention to shutting the door and reaching for a set of headphones.
She grasped at the seat, pulling herself across it and up so that she could press her face to the glass of the window.
Her reward was sweet. Bram was there, below them, his father fighting to hold him back. The raw strength of the men as they wrestled was impossible to miss, even from her shaky vantage point.
She knew he was furious.
She soaked it up because it helped keep her fear from sweeping in to drown her.
Because there was no doubt in her mind that the man beside her had no reason to keep her alive.
* * *
“He can’t go far.” Bram fought back his rage, reaching down for the composure he’d used in countless missions.
Work the problems …
Solve them in order …
Claim the victory …
Go home alive …
His dad was eyeing him as he tugged on his jacket and straightened it.
“If he lands that bird on a military base, he’s ours,” Bram insisted.
“He’d be a fool to do it,” Vitus answered.
The local police were swarming in. Saxon held his badge in hand as he faced them. The tension was high but Bram didn’t have time to focus on it.
“Map,” he ordered one cop. “I need an area map with fueling stations for helicopters.”
“Don’t move,” one of the cops yelled.
“He took my wife,” Bram said with a snarl.
There was a shift and suddenly one of the police officers was striding toward Bram and his team.
“What are you doing, Thornton?”
The officer looked back at his comrades. “I might not have as fancy a badge as these guys but I’ll put boot to ass for any man who’s trying to protect his family.”
Thornton made it to Bram and pulled a map free. “There are only two in range that aren’t military.”
The map crinkled as it was unfolded. The creases were marked from heavy use, proving the guy was smart enough to not rely completely on technology.
* * *
Dare was splattered with blood.
But the agent was grinning.
So was his suspect.
“Tell me how to track Tyler.”
Dare and Sullivan looked up as Bram came up into the loft.
“What’s wrong, boy-o?” Ricky grinned showing off the blood in his teeth. “Did he take your girl?”
Bram started forward but Dare stepped into his path. “We need him alive.”
Bram only stepped around Dare. “You work for Tyler Martin.”
Ricky only snorted and resumed grinning.
“Leave,” Dare said to Bram.
Dare cocked his head to one side. Bram turned his head and sh
ot his fellow agent a look.
“I’m not an agent, Dare, so you leave.”
Ricky’s grin melted as he realized exactly what Bram was contemplating.
Bram locked gazes with him. “That’s right. I don’t have a badge and you’ve touched my woman … twice now…”
Dare shook his head. “I can’t do it.”
“Yes … you can,” Bram insisted in a low tone. He pointed toward the stairs. “It won’t take too long.”
He pulled a knife from where it had been strapped to his ankle and tested the edge with his thumb. The look he sent Ricky was enough to make the man shudder.
“Are you still here?” Bram demanded. “Martin has been playing us against our values. I’m done, man, finished toeing a line no one else seems to fucking see. Get out of here. I don’t have a badge and maybe I never will but there is one thing I will have…” He looked back at Ricky. “And that’s the knowledge that Jaelyn didn’t die because of my choices.”
Dare was frozen for a long moment. “I was never here,” he finally declared in a low tone before he turned his back and started toward the stairs.
“Wait…” Ricky snarled. “Just … you can’t fucking leave me with this bastard!”
“What’s wrong, Ricky?” Bram asked softly. “Afraid it’s come time to pay up?”
Ricky spat on the floor, his body quivering with rage. “Pay up? You fucking prick! What the hell do you know about being tossed under the bus? Tyler left me to rot in a Mexican jail. Hired me to kill your team and then cheerfully left me to die in a hole not fit for a mutt. Why the fuck do you think I’m important enough to him to take your wife?”
Bram stepped closer. “So tell me where he’s going…” Bram lowered himself onto his haunches and locked gazes with Ricky. “And I’ll kill him.”
Ricky liked the sound of that. His eyes brightened for a moment before he tightened his expression.
“I could get in touch with him.”
Bram flicked his thumb across the edge of the knife again. “I guessed that much.”
“But not for nothing,” Ricky said. “You’re going to … unlock me…”
Bram shrugged and pushed the knife back into its scabbard. He withdrew a small key and fit it into the handcuffs locked around Ricky’s wrists.
“Alright then…” Ricky was slightly astounded to be free.
Bram straightened up and sent him a grin. “Looks really bad when a suspect dies in handcuffs. Leaves marks on the wrists that would really be a pain in the ass to explain.”
“I’m not going to let you cut me.” Ricky snarled as he popped his knuckles. “Try it, glory boy. I’ll be happy to give you a taste of what a man like me has to learn to survive.”
“Just one question first.”
Ricky hesitated.
Bram contemplated him for a moment. “How bad do you want a piece of Tyler Martin?”
Ricky snorted. “I’d suck his cock if it would put me in position to slit his throat.”
Bram slowly smiled. “In that case, maybe we should work together.”
* * *
He wouldn’t have any remorse over killing her.
It was a surreal thought, one Jaelyn discovered herself mulling over as she sat across from Tyler Martin.
There was a history between him and Bram. She’d seen it in Bram’s eyes.
As well as something that was branded into her memory.
The need to get to her.
So she couldn’t die.
It’s not exactly up to you …
Maybe not, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t do something to even out the odds against her.
Like what?
She scoffed at her own lack of confidence. The answer was a simple word: “anything.” Anything and everything.
She would not be less than Bram’s equal.
Even if it killed her.
* * *
He needed Sullivan.
Tyler didn’t want to admit it but he hadn’t gotten to where he was by ignoring details.
Ricky Sullivan was a very large loose end. One with enough knowledge to sink Carl Davis. It was the social media era, one where a man such as Sullivan might come off as sympathetic.
Martin knew the guy for what he was, a hired dog. Some might call him a prick for labeling Sullivan like that but Tyler found brutal honesty more useful. All the years he’d spent chasing the ideals of honor had left a sour taste in his mouth. One he was enjoying washing out with the help of the expensive whiskey Carl Davis could afford to supply him with.
“Sir, we’ve got to refuel.”
The pilot wasn’t asking. Tyler grunted and pushed the button to activate the microphone attached to his headset.
“Someplace quiet. Nonmilitary.”
If the pilot had an opinion about the request, he kept it to himself.
“Ten minutes.”
The helicopter angled as the pilot changed direction. Below them were the dense forests that had once belonged to native tribes before colonization. There were pockets of civilization but they were still far enough from the coast to make it possible to fall off the radar.
Good, he needed someplace remote.
Someplace where the blood would soak into the ground and the trees would cover the stain.
* * *
“We don’t have time to pull in resources.”
“Agreed,” Vitus Hale said. There was an edge that never left a man once he’d been an active SEAL.
Bram liked working with Saxon and Vitus because both of them were razor sharp.
“So we use what we have,” Bram stated. “The local police.”
“Details,” Saxon said, pressing him.
“Unless Tyler is slipping up, he’s monitoring the police band. Let’s get some chatter going that will make him think Sullivan took a few of us down.”
Saxon slowly smiled. “You might be Army but I like you … sometimes.”
Bram didn’t waste time on chitchat. He moved past the area the Shadow Ops team was using to where the police had withdrawn to. Officer Thornton noticed immediately, earning points in Bram’s book.
“We need some help.”
* * *
“If you want the girl back, you’ll bring me Sullivan.”
Bram didn’t have to ask who was calling. Thornton was smirking at him as the airwaves did their work.
“You’re a fucking disgrace, Martin.” Bram played his part by hissing into the phone.
“Don’t be a pussy, Magnus,” Tyler retorted. “You tossed in with the Shadow Ops teams knowing we play hard. If you leave your dick out flapping in the breeze by bringing a woman into the mix, don’t expect me to kiss your boo-boo.”
“I’ll be happy to face off with you. I do my fighting man to man.”
“So did Saxon and Vitus Hale,” Tyler said. “I hope they enjoyed dying for their principles. Personally, I’m planning on enjoying the fruits of my labors for a good long time.”
“Not if I take Sullivan here in front of the news camera. In fact Miranda Delacroix is threatening an exclusive; seems she doesn’t much care for the fact that you just helped widow her daughter.”
“Damascus made her choice,” Tyler replied. “If she’d married Carl, she’d have nothing to cry about now.”
“Except for having a cold bed. I hear girls aren’t his type. In fact, Damascus is pretty emotional right now, and women tend to talk a lot when they’re grieving.”
“If you want your wife back, you’ll get a muzzle on Damascus and Miranda,” Tyler warned. “You don’t have a badge and your team leader is dead. So let’s see what kind of balls you have. Bring me Sullivan and I’ll give you your wife. Kagan need never know. One hour. After that, you can join the grieving line of family at the gravesides while you bury your wife.”
The line went dead.
Bram looked up and caught the gleam of satisfaction in Saxon’s eyes.
Thornton sent them a double-finger salute before Bram moved toward the helicopter
where Sullivan was sitting.
Saxon stopped him. “I’m not going to try and talk you out of this.”
“Because you know it’s not going to do you any good,” Bram replied. “And I was there when you were on the run with Ginger.”
Saxon muttered a low word of profanity. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.”
“Not until I have Jaelyn,” Bram insisted. “He’ll put a slug in her head.”
“I know,” Saxon agreed. “Kagan is going to give me hell for not calling him, but I don’t dare risk Tyler sniffing us out. He’ll kill anyone who threatens his plans.”
“He’s going to have to alter those life plans with Carl Davis,” Bram warned ominously. “It’s going to be my pleasure to make him see that fact.”
Bram refused to allow himself to doubt.
He knew better, knew from experience that focus often meant the difference between life and death. Ricky was pleased with himself, grinning smugly as Bram climbed in beside him and pulled the door shut. He began to power up the bird.
“We have a deal?” Ricky demanded, raising his voice above the sound of the blades as they began to spin.
“I get my wife, you get a shot at Martin.”
Bram pulled back on the stick, lifting off the ground.
“And you’ll turn your back so I can leave?”
Bram adjusted course before answering. “My first priority is my wife. If you can make use of my distraction, that’s up to you.”
Ricky snickered. “Bet you didn’t tell your buddies that part of the arrangement.”
Bram sent him a hard look. “Told you, I’m not an agent yet.”
And just might never be. Kagan gave his teams a lot of leash length to play with but there were some things the section leader wouldn’t overlook.
Like rogue missions that included high-profile targets, such as the chief of security for the next president.
If that was the price he paid, so be it.
Jaelyn was worth it and more.
He’d bleed out on the ground at Tyler’s feet so long as he watched her drawing breath. If Kagan had him prosecuted for murder, he’d take that lump, too. He’d always known the risks. Jaelyn was the innocent one and even if he was going rogue now, he’d always fought for what was right.
He would shelter her.
Even if it meant they would never see each other again.
