Her heart pounding, she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. Her hands still shaking, she engaged the gun’s safety, put the weapon in the holster, and then strapped it over her shoulder. When she looked up at Seth, he once again lifted a finger to his lips, but this time he gave her a nod of encouragement. She continued to stare at him, still stunned at how quickly he had pulled the man out of the elevator. Logically she understood the kind of training he had gone through to become a SEAL, but seeing his training in action had boosted Seth up to the top of her list of superheroes.
As they neared the fourth floor, Seth stepped to the front of the elevator and motioned for Vanessa to step behind him. The lights were all off when the elevator doors slid open. Together they moved to the wall closest to them and edged alongside it to the window. Even though Vanessa knew Seth had already checked the window for alarms earlier that day, she watched him examine it again before sliding it open.
He then turned back to her and spoke, his voice low. “I’m going to climb down first. As soon as I reach the bottom, ease yourself out the window and let yourself drop down. I’ll catch you.”
“You’ll catch me?”
“Trust me,” Seth insisted. “You have to trust me.”
Vanessa was still shaking with adrenaline, but she nodded.
A moment later, Seth was out the window and pressed against the side of the building as he steadily lowered himself down onto the roof below him. When he looked up and motioned for her to follow, Vanessa climbed out so that she was sitting on the window ledge. She knew that once she dropped down with Seth, there would be no turning back. Of course, with an unconscious man in her suite, she had probably already passed the point of no return.
Gripping the windowsill with her hands, Vanessa eased the lower part of her body over the side, scraping her stomach on the ledge. Ignoring the pain, she pushed back farther until her whole body was dangling from the window ledge. She started to twist to the side so that she could look down at Seth, but before she could, she felt his hands grip her legs.
She took one deep breath and then, trusting Seth to help her, she let go. Two seconds later her feet were firmly on the roof beside Seth. She looked up at him, wondering how he could make it seem so easy.
Seth was staring at her, but he didn’t speak. Instead he gave her shoulder an encouraging squeeze and pointed to the back of the building. He kept his body pressed against the side of the building, and Vanessa followed suit. When they reached the side, Vanessa looked down and then shook her head as she looked back at Seth. There was no way she could climb down the twenty feet to the ground.
Seth lifted his eyebrows and leaned close. “Would it help if I dared you?”
Annoyance flashed in Vanessa’s eyes. Seth knew she had never been able to turn down a challenge, and he was using it against her now. She shook her head in frustration, but when she spoke, she asked simply, “How do I do this?”
“First take off your shoes and give them to me,” Seth instructed her. As soon as she handed them to him, he tied the laces through his belt loop. “Now, you’re going to start by easing yourself over the side. Then you find a good foothold. We’re going to lower ourselves a few inches at a time.”
Vanessa let out the breath she had been holding. “Okay.”
Seth lowered himself down and found his first foothold. He then waited as Vanessa followed suit. She struggled, fighting against gravity and her own fears as each time she tried to ease her weight down her foot slipped.
Leaning closer to her, Seth whispered once more, “Relax. I know you can do this.” He reached over and helped guide her foot to where a brick protruded out from the wall slightly. To her surprise, he shifted his body so that he was behind her instead of beside her.
“You’re going to fall,” Vanessa whispered, worried at the way he had to shift his body away from the wall as he tried to shield her.
“No one’s going to fall,” Seth whispered back, the warmth of his breath tickling her ear. “Move your right hand down. Run your fingers along the wall until you find something to hold onto.”
Vanessa closed her eyes. She had to do this. She could feel the solid wall of muscle behind her and the leather of her gun holster digging into her skin. The thought of what might happen if she and Seth didn’t get out raced through her mind. She took a calming breath, uttered a silent prayer, and slowly followed Seth’s instructions.
When she couldn’t find a finger hold, she let Seth guide her hand and then gripped the rough spot in the wall tightly. “Okay, now what?”
“Just a few inches at a time,” Seth reminded her. He helped her shift down by a few more inches and then adjusted his position to match hers. Their progress was painstakingly slow, but gradually they made their way downward.
When suddenly the heat from Seth’s body was no longer pressed against her, Vanessa froze and gripped the wall tighter.
“It’s okay,” Seth said in a low voice as his hands came around her waist. “I’ve got you.”
Vanessa let her body relax, and she looked down to see that she was within four feet of the ground. Seth quickly lowered her down and pulled her next to the building. Vanessa leaned her head against the side of the building, her fingers and toes aching. She wasn’t going to think about what Seth had helped her accomplish yet. She knew they still had a long way to go.
Beside her, Seth untied her shoes from his belt loop and handed them to her. He nodded at them, a silent signal for her to put them on. While she pulled the first shoe on, Seth shifted the automatic weapon he held, pointing it out into the darkness.
He looked like he was about to go to battle, and Vanessa was struck with the very real fact that they were in the middle of a war, one they were going to have to fight their way out of. When he turned back to her, he tapped his watch. She looked down at her own watch, her eyes widening. They had less than twenty minutes until his squad was supposed to arrive, and they still had to cross the open yard.
Seth took one step forward and then held up a hand, signaling her to stop. He pushed himself back against the wall once more and nodded for Vanessa to do the same. Together they faded into the blackness of the shadows. A moment later she understood why. Footsteps were coming toward them.
The two-man patrol came into sight, crossing from the airfield to the beach and then circling wide around the building. Only once did one of the guards glance directly at the spot where Vanessa and Seth were standing, but he never moved close enough to see into the shadows.
Minutes ticked by, and Vanessa could feel Seth’s growing impatience. The patrol had robbed them of ten precious minutes, and the moment the guards moved around the corner out of sight, Seth tapped her shoulder and together they moved forward.
In the distance, the engine of an airplane came to life. Vanessa guessed that Morenta was finally going to leave. She only hoped that the activity on the airfield would keep the guards busy for the next few minutes.
Vanessa followed closely behind Seth, watching as he probed the ground in front of him before putting his weight down. She had thought that he would move faster through the open field. When he pointed out a booby trap, she understood why he was moving so cautiously.
They were halfway through the open yard when they heard the shouts from up above them echoing through the stillness of the night.
27
Seth took two seconds to look up, to see that the lights in the ninth-floor suite were now illuminated, and to see the guards who were scrambling to find them. He calculated the distance they still had to cover and the time they still had until his squad arrived. The Saint Squad would be on time. He was sure of it. But would they understand if he was late? And more importantly, could they afford for him to be late?
With the activity on the airfield, Seth doubted it.
He had hoped to continue working toward the jungle and then circle back to the beach, but he knew there wasn’t time. He motioned for Vanessa to drop to the ground, pleased that she did so without qu
estion. Using the cover of darkness, they crawled forward and headed straight for the beach.
Seth could still hear shouts in the distance as well as the engine of an airplane on the airfield. Make that two, he corrected, as he heard another engine start up. His internal clock told him that if they could keep their pace, they would be able to arrive at the beach on time, maybe a minute late.
They were only twenty feet from where the grass gave way to sand when Seth heard the whirring of helicopter rotors. His heart kicked into overdrive as he considered the implications of that sound. The Z-10 he had sent the message from was equipped with heat-sensing radar. The moment it lifted above them, the pilot would know they were there, unless they could get into the ocean quickly so that their body heat would be camouflaged by the cold water.
Seth grabbed Vanessa’s arm, dragging her along as he sped up his pace and tried to ignore the sound of an airplane taking off. Less than two minutes and his team would appear. He knew they must be inserting at this very moment. He also knew that if they were coming in underwater, they wouldn’t hear the helicopter. They wouldn’t know of the danger.
Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted, and the helicopter became the last of Seth’s worries. His first thought was that somehow one of his squad members had been spotted. Then he realized that one of Akil’s patrols was running toward him and Vanessa. Apparently the gunfire had only been a warning, but Seth had little doubt that those bullets would hit their target the next time.
Gripping the assault rifle, Seth glanced over at Vanessa and spoke over the chaos. He couldn’t think of his feelings for her or what he would do if they didn’t get out of here alive. He had to focus on the specifics of this mission and let his training take over.
“When I tell you, run for the water.” He could see the panic in her eyes, but there wasn’t time to explain. He had to trust that his squad would be there. He had to trust them to get her to safety even if he couldn’t follow.
Seth shifted slightly, angled his weapon, and yelled, “Go!”
In that instant, Seth opened fire on the guards as Vanessa jumped to her feet and sprinted across the last section of yard. Seth’s shots were accurate, and both guards dropped to the ground. Seth then turned and ran after Vanessa, listening for the footsteps and commotion that were sure to be headed his way.
He heard the helicopter lift off, drowning out the sound of the approaching guards. He glanced back in time to see three guards round the corner. Seth turned to shoot, determined to protect Vanessa. But before he could pull the trigger, shots rang out; however, this time the bullets weren’t coming toward Seth and Vanessa. They sounded from the jungle and sparked toward the guards.
Seth felt new hope surge through him. His squad was here to take them home. He couldn’t see them, but he had no doubt that the men covering him from behind the nearby palm tress were the other members of his squad. In front of him, Vanessa reached the sand and stumbled forward. Seth reached down and pulled her up by her arm, practically dragging her toward the water.
Suddenly Kel and Brent were by his side, HK-47s in their hands as they fired rapidly to ward off the dozen mercenaries on the ground as well as the snipers up on the roof of the fortress.
“We’ve got Zodiacs behind those trees,” Kel told Seth. “Get her out of here. We’ll cover you.”
“Got it.” Seth kept his hand firmly on Vanessa’s arm and pulled her down the beach toward the safety of the trees. He could hear the helicopter moving overhead and saw the sparks of one of his teammates’ gunfire shifting toward the new target. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of the Z-10’s gunfire.
The scene could have been straight out of a war movie, bullets coming down from the aircraft, marking the beach as they searched for their targets. Only this wasn’t a movie. Those were his friends on the beach behind him, and it wasn’t some movie star he was holding on to. This was the first and only woman he had ever loved.
“Come on!” Seth heard Quinn shout from the trees.
Seth and Vanessa sprinted the last few yards and dove for cover in the trees. The sound of bullets striking bark rattled above them. Seth turned back to see Kel and Brent still on the beach, but only one of them was standing. Even from this distance Seth could tell that it was Brent who leaned down to pull Kel up out of the water.
“Give them some cover fire!” Seth shouted, not taking the time to consider how severely injured their commanding officer might be. He pushed Vanessa’s head down and turned to fire at the men who were quickly closing in on Brent and Kel. In the distance he could hear the helicopter circling to come through for another pass.
No longer were there just a dozen men heading toward them, but rather fifty. Beside him, Vanessa had pulled her gun free and was lying on the ground firing off shots. Miraculously, Brent and Kel cleared the treeline without being hit by any of the crossfire.
“Get to the boats now!” Brent ordered. He still had one arm wrapped around Kel and the other holding his HK-47.
“How bad is he hit?” Seth asked, moving to help with Kel even as he motioned for Vanessa to follow Tristan, who had taken point.
Even though Seth had been talking to Brent, Kel answered, his voice pained and clipped. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s go.”
Seth looked down and saw the trickle of blood running down Kel’s leg as he and Brent moved forward and Quinn took position behind them. The helicopter buzzed overhead, strafing the jungle with gunfire. They all dropped for cover, forced to wait until the helicopter moved to circle once again before they could start forward.
“We need to call in for some support,” Seth told Brent, his gaze still on Vanessa as she continued to follow Tristan.
“Already did. They’ll come in as soon as we’re in the water.”
The next three minutes seemed to last forever. The helicopter shot off another round above them, causing them to take cover once more. Quinn’s weapon sprayed off several rounds each time Akil’s men got too close. Finally, when Seth wondered if they were ever going to make it, they emerged into a little clearing where two Zodiac boats were waiting.
Tristan jumped into one and reached over to help Brent and Seth pull the now semi-conscious Kel in behind him.
“Vanessa, get in that one.” Seth nodded to the other boat as Quinn shot off another round and came into view. A moment later, they cast off, Quinn and Seth pulling one boat out past the surf, and Tristan and Brent pulling the other.
Shouts and gunfire followed them the moment they were clear of the surf and pulled themselves into the boats. Seth didn’t have to look to know that Akil’s men had finally figured out where they had disappeared to and had decided to take their frustration out on them.
“Stay down!” Seth ordered Vanessa before turning to Quinn. “Where’s our backup?” Then a missile whizzed through the sky, and the helicopter exploded into a fiery ball falling out of the sky.
“Does that answer your question?” Quinn asked dryly.
28
“How are you doing?” Seth laid his hand over Vanessa’s, and she looked up at him from her hospital bed.
“I’m okay. How’s the commander?” Vanessa asked. As soon as they had arrived onboard the USS Harry S. Truman, they had been taken to sick bay to be checked out, but Vanessa hadn’t heard anything about Kel’s condition except that he had been medivacked to the United States.
“He’ll live.” Seth’s eyes were somber, and he gave her hand a squeeze. “Doc said the bullet lodged in his thigh. He’s scheduled for surgery this afternoon at Bethesda Naval Hospital. We probably won’t get word about how bad it is until later tonight.”
Vanessa stared up at him, touched and a little surprised to see how deeply Seth seemed to be sharing Kel’s pain. “You’re worried that this could end his career, aren’t you?”
Seth jerked a shoulder and avoided her eyes, instead looking at the bandage on Vanessa’s shoulder. “What did Doc say about you?”
“It’s nothing. Two stitches is all,
” Vanessa told him. She vaguely remembered the sharp pain in her arm when she had dropped to the ground when the helicopter had opened fire on them, but she hadn’t even realized she was bleeding until she had gotten to the infirmary and the nurse had seen the tear in her sleeve. She’d assumed that she had caught herself on something when she dove to the ground, but after looking at the hole in her shirt, she and the doctor both came to the same conclusion. She had been very lucky. It had been a bullet that grazed her skin.
“You scared me.”
“I still can’t believe we made it out of there.” Vanessa trembled as she looked up at him. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
“Me neither,” Seth said softly. He gave her hand a squeeze and nodded toward the door. “You try to get some sleep. I’ll come back and get you when it’s time for your debriefing.”
“Shouldn’t that be happening now? We have no idea what Akil and Morenta are going to do now that we’ve disappeared, especially after that firefight took place at the fortress. For all we know, they might move up their plans.”
Seth shook his head. “If anything, it will probably set them back while they regroup,” he told her. “I’ve already given the captain our basic information. We’ll both go through the more in-depth interviews in a few hours.”
Vanessa stifled a yawn. “In that case, shouldn’t you get some sleep too?”
“Don’t worry about me.” Seth forced a smile. “I’ll see you in a little while.”
* * *
“How’s Vanessa doing?” Brent asked as soon as Seth walked into their boardroom.
“A couple of stitches, but she’s okay,” Seth told him. He glanced around to see Amy sitting at one of the three computer stations on one side of the room. Tristan was standing in the center of the room, looking through a stack of satellite photos.
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