by Elle James
“Mac! You in there?” a male voice called out from the outside of the building. Rucker Sloan burst through the door, his weapon ready. He aimed at Mac and Kylie until recognition dawned in his eyes. “Damn it, Mac. I thought you were a dead man when I heard all that shooting.”
“I’m fine,” Mac said, though his chest felt as if he’d been punched in the ribs. “Found a few of our Taliban friends about to make Swiss cheese out of one of our citizens.”
Several more of his teammates entered, Sergeant Ryan “Dash” Hayes in the lead.
Dash stopped, his eyes widening, a grin spreading across his face. “Whoa, Mac, where’d you find the babe?”
Mac frowned. “She’s not a babe.”
“From where I’m standing, I’d say she is,” Mike “Blade” Calhoun said with a flash of his bright blue eyes. He pulled his K-Bar knife out of the scabbard attached to his belt and rubbed his thumb across the blade. “You took care of all six of these guys?”
“There was a seventh man, but he got away.” Mac shook his head. “I only got three of these. Miss Adams took out the first three before I arrived.”
John “Tank” Sanders and Craig “Bull” Bullington turned over the three Kylie had killed.
Tank whistled. “Hey, I think we have a winner.”
“What do you mean?” Mac asked.
Tank lifted his chin toward the body. “This guy looks like one of the guys on our most wanted list.”
Rucker, Dash and Mac gathered around the dead man.
“Looks like Abdul Ahktar,” Rucker confirmed.
“Brother of Mullah Ahktar?” Dash asked.
Tank nodded.
“Isn’t Mullah Ahktar one of the bloodiest field commanders of the Taliban?” Kylie asked.
Rucker nodded. “He’s not going to be happy to learn his brother was killed. Even worse…by a woman.”
“Sweetheart,” Dash said, “you’ll have a price on your head as long as you’re in the theater.”
“You might want to consider leaving Afghanistan,” Tank said.
“I can’t leave,” Kylie said, frowning. “I’m covering the war for my syndicate. They expect me to give them live-action news about the war efforts.”
“Ahktar will hunt you down.” Rucker said. “He’s done it before. That Marine who killed Ahktar’s second in command lasted a total of five days before Ahktar’s best sniper took him out.”
Mac’s frown deepened. “Rucker’s right. Ahktar’s like a bulldog with his teeth sunk deep. He won’t let go. Kylie, you’re not safe around here.”
“I was never safe to begin with. I’ll manage,” Kylie said.
“You don’t understand.” Mac gripped her arms. “You killed his brother. Once he gets wind of his brother’s death, Ahktar won’t let you out of this country alive. Your best bet is to get the hell out before he learns who did the shooting. That it was a woman will make him even angrier.”
Kylie’s brow dipped. “I’m not going. This is my job. It’s what I do. Besides, I came to get footage on the extraction and to interview Faaid.” She squared her shoulders and faced Rucker, her chin rising. “Now, we should concentrate on more important matters.”
“What’s more important than keeping you alive?” Mac asked.
“The life of one of our soldiers. Do you have a medic with you?”
Bull lifted a finger. “That would be me.”
“The Ranger I’ve been working with needs assistance. He has a couple of gunshot wounds. He’s in the back of the building with my cameraman and the Afghan the Rangers were sent in to find and extract.”
Mac’s eyebrows rose. “Faaid?”
Kylie’s lips twisted. “Yup. The man of the hour.”
Bull hurried toward the back. Tank followed.
Mac shook his head. “We were sent in when the intelligence guys caught wind the Rangers were being set up to fail. The Taliban found out where Faaid was and got here with twice the numbers of the Ranger squad sent in to extract the informant.” His lips quirked upward in a smile. “I can’t say that I expected to find you holding off all those Taliban soldiers, while protecting the man everyone was after.”
“I didn’t plan it that way.” Kylie sighed. “This was supposed to be a fairly simple extraction. Get in, rescue Faaid and get back out. Capture the action on video, conduct an interview with Faaid and show what a great job our folks in uniform are doing.” She snorted softly. “Simple.”
“Until it wasn’t so simple.” Mac nodded, glad he’d made it in time to stop the Taliban gunman from shooting the woman who’d ditched his ass all those years ago.
Chapter 2
Kylie’s heart beat fast and furious. She couldn’t tell if it was from the adrenaline rush of having had to kill three Taliban terrorists or because she was standing now with the only man she’d ever loved.
She feasted her eyes on him, taking all of him in. God, he was sexy in his desert camouflage uniform and helmet. She couldn’t have distinguished him from any other soldier except for the eyes and that low, resonant voice that made her blood hum and her heart sing.
One of Mac’s teammates poked his head through the door of the building. “You guys need to wrap up this party. We’ve got incoming.”
Tank emerged from the back of the building, the Army Ranger slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Party?” he said. “I’ve had about all the fun I can stand in one day. Yo, Blade, what’s happening outside?”
“Dawg’s on the roof,” Blade said. “He’ll provide cover while we make our way out of this village.”
Mac held out his hand to Kylie. “Ready to blow this popsicle stand?”
She nodded.
Together, they hurried for the door.
Rucker and Dash reached it first.
“We’ll provide more cover while you get your lady, the cameraman, our informant and the Ranger out.”
The two men moved out and into position to defend the others.
Mac pushed Kylie behind him, stepped through the door first and looked around for any sources of trouble. Once he was convinced she was fairly safe, he turned to Kylie. “Come on.”
She let him pull her down the street, taking them toward the edge of town. They ran, keeping ahead of any terrorists who might be stalking them.
“Where are we going?” Kylie asked.
Mac held her hand tightly. “Our extraction point is at the edge of town.”
Tank followed, the Ranger draped over his shoulder, Faaid and Josh following close behind. Other members of Mac’s team formed a semicircle around the group.
Ahead, she could see the edge of town. As they came up beside the last building, she spotted the Blackhawk helicopters, lowering to the ground.
Army Rangers were loading onto one of them. As Kylie watched, the full chopper lifted off.
“All we have to do is make it from here to the helicopter without getting shot,” Mac said, “and we’re off.”
Kylie snorted. Running out in the open across an area void of vegetation would make them easy targets for getting shot in the back. However, they had no other choice. “I can’t wait.”
“Good, because we’re going.” Mac hustled her in front of him, using his body as a shield for any bullets that might fly at them from behind. They ran across the open field.
Mac forced them to zigzag to avoid being easy targets for whomever might be aiming in their direction. When she reached the helicopter, he gave her a boost up into the opening.
Josh scrambled aboard, Faaid came next and Tank set the Army Ranger on the floor of the chopper.
Mac’s teammates converged on the helicopter.
“Are we all accounted for?” Mac asked.
“All except Dawg,” Blade said. “Rucker’s a little way back, covering for him.”
Mac tilted his head and spoke into his mic. “Dawg, you on your way?” He waited a long moment, his brow dipping lower with each passing second. Then the frown lifted, and he nodded to the others. “He’s on hi
s way, and he’s coming in hot.”
The helicopter’s blades thumped the air, as the pilot waited for the last man to load.
“Come on, Dawg,” Kylie murmured for the Delta Force soldier she had yet to meet and thank for their daring rescue.
“Come on, Dawg,” Mac echoed, his gaze on the village, his jaw tight. “Can’t blow our record of no man left behind.”
Kylie’s breath caught and held in her throat. She watched the shadows at the edge of town, praying for Mac’s teammate.
Blade and Bull knelt twenty yards from the helicopter, their weapons trained on the village, waiting for Dawg to emerge from the shadows.
“Come on, Dawg,” Mac muttered.
“I don’t like it,” Rucker said over the roar of the chopper rotors.
“Hold steady,” Mac said. “He’ll get himself out.”
Bull rose from his position and started for the cluster of mud and stick homes.
At that moment, a silhouette appeared against the backdrop of the buildings and ran toward them, shifting right then left, hunkering low as he raced across the field.
“It’s Dawg,” Mac called out.
Dawg rushed for the helicopter.
Gunfire sounded from the village.
Blade and Bull returned fire from their positions.
When Dawg arrived at the helicopter, he leaped into the fuselage.
Bull and Blade backed toward the chopper, continuing to provide fire support until they, too, jumped inside. At that point, the gunner turned his machine gun on the village and let loose a stream of bullets.
The helicopter lifted up and away from the village, the rotors pounding the air, carrying them away. Hanging half out of the side of the chopper, the gunner continued to pour bullets down on Taliban gunmen.
Once they were out of range of the bullets, Kylie let go of the breath she’d been holding. “In case I didn’t tell you,” she shouted over the roar of the aircraft, “thanks for saving me.”
He found her hand and squeezed it gently. “I’m glad I was there to do it.”
The flight back took less than an hour. Bull worked on the Ranger to stabilize his wounds. Once they were on the ground at the base, medics appeared, transferred Sergeant Garcia onto a stretcher and loaded him into an ambulance.
“I don’t suppose anyone can give Josh and me a ride back to my quarters in town?” Kylie asked.
Both Mac and Rucker shook their heads.
“We need you to come to our debrief, at least for the first few minutes,” Mac said. “You’ll have to let our CO know what you saw, heard and did. He’ll need a clear understanding of the deaths of Ahktar’s brother and the other men. Then we’ll have to decide what to do with you.”
Kylie’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean, what you’re going to do with me? You’re not responsible for me. I’m not a member of the military.”
Mac’s jaw tightened. “When an American citizen uses a U.S. military weapon to kill an Afghan citizen, that makes you my responsibility. If not my responsibility, then that of the American government. For now, you need to come with us.” Mac caught her elbow and guided her away from the helicopter and toward the military buildings on the base. Rucker escorted Faaid and, along with Josh, followed with the rest of the team.
Kylie dragged behind. “I really need to get onto the video, edit it , add the story and get it to my boss.”
“You’re not going outside the wire until we say you’re going outside the wire,” Mac said. “And then, only when you have sufficient protection, so you don’t get shot the second you step foot outside it.” Mac’s face softened. “Look, I know you’re an independent woman, but right now, you’re going to have a huge target on your back. Please, go along with us and let us provide protection until we can hand you off to someone else.”
Kylie’s eyes narrowed. She chewed on her bottom lip. “You really think it’s going to be that bad?”
“You’re the investigative reporter. You’ve been in this war situation long enough…what do you think?” Mac asked.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “Sadly, I think you’re right. But that’s really going to mess with my job here.”
Mac gave her a twisted grin. “Then maybe you shouldn’t have killed Mullah Ahktar’s brother.”
“It was them or me,” Kylie said. “I chose him.”
“I have no doubt you made the right decision,” Mac said. “All I know is the Taliban will be embarrassed that a lowly female—no offense—took out three of their best soldiers, one of them being the brother of one of their leaders.”
Kylie shook her head, her lips twisted. “I really didn’t have time to ask him who he was when I shot him. He was trying to shoot me.”
Mac and his team marched Kylie through the maze of temporary buildings and Conex box quarters and tents until they came to a metal structure. Rucker knocked on the door.
Someone inside called out, “Come in.”
They gathered in what was a conference room or briefing center with the Delta team’s commanding officer.
Rucker gave a brief explanation of what had occurred, and the role Kylie had played in killing Ahktar’s brother.
The CO nodded his head when Rucker was finished and turned to Kylie.
“Sir,” Kylie said. “I’m under contract to get my story out. Time is key.”
The commander nodded. “And I’m under contract with the U.S. government to protect its people.”
“I need to get to my hotel room and my computer,” Kylie said.
The CO gave a chin lift to Dash and Rucker. “Send someone to this woman’s hotel room and collect her belongings. She’ll be staying on base until we can ship her out to Kabul.”
A frown pinched Kylie’s brow. “Don’t I have a say in what happens to me?”
The commander shook his head. “You lost that say when you chose to take a military weapon and shoot Afghan civilians.”
“But they weren’t civilians,” Kylie protested. “They were members of the Taliban.”
“But you are a civilian and a female,” the commander said. “The Taliban won’t like that you killed one of their own. Especially when they learn you’re female.”
Mac’s lips twisted on the corners.
Kylie’s eyes narrowed.
After the CO walked away, Kylie glared at Mac. “Don’t you dare laugh.”
He held up his hands in surrender. “I just know how you are. When someone tells you one thing and you want to do something else, you dig in your heels.” His smile faded. “Look, Kylie, it’s for your own good. You’re going to have a price on your head.”
The commander stopped at the door and turned back. “Mac.”
Mac faced his commanding officer. “Yes, sir.”
“I’m making you responsible for keeping an eye on our guest,” the commander said.
“Thank you, sir…I mean, yes, sir!” Mac said.
The CO’s brow furrowed. “Is that going to be a conflict of interest?”
“Sir?” Mac said.
“I take it that you two know each other.”
Mac nodded. “Yes, sir. From way back.”
“You know the rules about fraternizing in theater,” the older man said.
“Yes, sir,” Mac said.
“Don’t let it happen,” the commander said, with a stern look and left the building.
Chapter 3
Kylie nearly laughed at the way Mac stood so tall and straight while his commander told him not to screw up.
“It won’t matter,” Mac said. “Once burned, twice shy.”
Kylie snorted. “I’ve never known you to be shy.”
Mac’s lips twisted. “Maybe not with people, but with old flames? Definitely shy.” His lips thinned to a straight line as he stared into Kylie’s eyes. “Guess you’re stuck with me.”
“What about me?” Josh the cameraman asked.
“If I’m staying on the base,” Kylie said, lifting her chin, “my cameraman stays here, too.”
“We’ll arrange for quarters for both of you,” Rucker said.
Kylie crossed her arms in front of her. “I really need to go back to my hotel room to bring back all the things I need—just so I have everything to make sure this story gets produced on time.”
Mac glanced at Josh. “Do you know what she needs?”
Josh nodded. “I can figure it out.”
Again, Kylie glared at Mac.
“Josh will go with the Delta team to retrieve the things you need from your hotel room and bring them back.”
“Let’s do it, then,” Rucker said. “The sooner we get there, the less time we give Ahktar to figure out who your friend is and where she’s been staying.”
“She’s not my friend,” Mac said.
“Friend, girlfriend, whatever,” Rucker said.
Mac’s lips pressed together. “She’s neither of those.”
“Whatever,” Rucker said impatiently. “She’s your responsibility now.”
“I guess you’re right.” Mac gave Kylie a frustrated grin. “While you guys are out, I’ll make sure our guests are assigned adequate quarters.”
Josh started for the door with the rest of the team to gather their things from the hotel room.
“I don’t need a babysitter,” Kylie groused.
Mac laughed. “Apparently, you do. And lucky me, I’ve been volun-told I’m it. Like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
As Josh and the team left the conference room, Kylie called out, “You might want to leave your equipment with me.”
“Oh, yeah.” Josh handed her the camera.
Kylie didn’t like that Josh was going without her. She felt a strong sense of love and responsibility for the cameraman who’d been with her on many dangerous shoots. “Be careful out there,” Kylie said
“Who me?” Josh laughed. “I have an entire Delta Force team escorting me. I’ll be all right. I’m more concerned about you. If I were you, I wouldn’t walk too close to the fence. Don’t make yourself any more of a target than you already are.”
After the team left with Josh, Mac led Kylie to the logistics team to secure accommodations for her and Josh. He made certain that Kylie’s quarters were in the empty unit beside his. “If you’re not close, I can’t protect you,” he reasoned.
