by Liliana Hart
“Shit,” Shane said as the Hummer came into view. “That’s not Dec.”
The vehicle came to a halt and all four doors opened. Five men stepped out, four of them dressed in black BDUs and the fifth wearing an expensive suit. They were all armed.
“Motherfucker,” Shane said. “That’s Holland. He fucking turned traitor. I guess it makes sense that it would be someone who had easy access to the compound.” He was silent while he looked over the others and then said, “That’s Maxim Petrovich. Dec mentioned he was trying to make things difficult for MacKenzie Security. Now we know why. He wants what we have.”
“And he’ll obviously stop at nothing to get it,” Lacey said. “He had Hughes on the inside of the hospital and Holland in the secured area of our home. He had his bases covered.”
Shane dug his cellphone out of his pocket and turned it on. “I need to find out what they’re playing at. They’re sitting ducks right now, and it’s probably too much to hope that I can pick them off one by one.”
“I’m not a fan of how often you’re using the word I.” She squared off against him. “Don’t think for a second you’re going to shove me in another room while you run out and fight the bad guys. I’m a soldier. I’ve been in combat. And I’m more than capable of watching your back.”
“I’d never think of shoving you in another room,” he said. “At least not for very long.” He smiled sheepishly and she relaxed. “We’re a team. And we’re armed and experienced. Experience counts for a lot.”
She moved to the window, and peeked through the blinds again. “There’s only five from what I can see,” she said.
“But one of them is a SEAL. Fucking traitorous bastard. He’s going to be the hardest target to hit.”
It was just before dusk, so there was still enough light out to see clearly, but Shane quickly moved through the cabin and shut off the rest of the lights.
“Then you take him,” she said. “Let me deal with the others.”
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not leaving you to fight four armed men on your own.”
“Then call for backup, but you know they won’t make it here in time. I’ll have something they won’t have,” she said, moving to the bag where she’d put the suit. “You’re going to have to trust me on this. I can handle them. Petrovich is a suit and the others are mercenaries. But Holland is a SEAL and he’s trained. SEALs have worked with earlier versions of the suits, so he’ll know that he needs to remove my helmet to make me vulnerable. The others will be dead by the time they think of a way to overpower me.”
Shane sent out the alert on his phone for help, but she was right. There wouldn’t be time for back up to arrive. “You’re sure the suit is stable?”
“There’s no time like the present for a field test.” Her smile was hard and she quickly stripped out of her clothes and down to her bra and panties.
A shot was fired through the front window and they both went down to the ground for cover. She had the suit in her hands, and Shane helped her open up the back so she could put it on. The suit was her size since she’d been the one doing all the testing, and she knew it well. It really did fit like a glove.
“Shane MacKenzie,” Maxim Petrovich called from outside the house, his accent thick. “This is not your fight. You are merely caught in the middle of what I want. Hand over the girl and the suit and you will go free. It is that easy.”
Shane crawled toward the window with the darkest shadow, avoiding the glass on the floor, and he watched and waited. He didn’t answer Petrovich. A man like him spouted nothing but lies.
Lacey pulled her hair back in a stubby ponytail and then placed her face in the mask. As soon as her skin touched it the computer activated and molded itself to her head. She pulled the hard shell over her head and blinked several times, adjusting to being able to see and hear everything.
“Maybe we should do this another way,” Petrovich called out again.
Lacey moved to the other window and regulated her breathing so the computer would pick up on what was normal, even though she was already in the system. Results would vary slightly, because everything before this had been a simulation. This was reality.
She watched with crystal-clear vision as two of the mercenaries reached into the Hummer and pulled out a long black bag, and then they tossed it on the ground at their feet like a sack of trash.
“Let’s make a trade, shall we?” Petrovich said. “In this bag is a member of your family. For now, they are alive. Send out the good doctor and the suit she guards and your family will remain whole. If you do not…” He didn’t finish the sentence, but instead pulled out his gun and put a bullet in the chamber, pointing it at the black bag.
Lacey took Shane’s hand in hers and squeezed. “Trust me,” she said. “Let me go out. You know there’s a trick in this somewhere. Take out Holland.”
His hand was trembling, his anger was so great, and she knew he was trusting her with the life of one of his family members. They didn’t know who, but it didn’t matter. No innocent deserved to die today or any day.
He nodded and stood up against the wall, letting the muscles in his good leg adjust after being in the kneeling for so long. But if she hadn’t watched him walk out the back door and close it behind him, she never would’ve known he was there.
She took a deep breath and saw her vitals in her periphery. Her pulse was elevated, but that was to be expected. Other than that, the suit said she was in the clear and at a hundred percent.
There was a cooling system inside the suit that kept body temperature regulated, and through the mask and with the help of technology she could see each threat clearly and how many weapons they held. She had two pistols in the holsters at her waist, but she didn’t want to use them. She was already taking a risk going to meet them in the suit because she was an immediate threat, but going out with a weapon drawn would signal immediate death for whoever was in the bag.
She tried not to think about it, but it was hard. She’d met most of the Mackenzies in over her time working for Declan, so chances were she knew whoever was in the bag. It could even be Declan himself, and if that was the case there was no way Petrovich would let any of them walk out alive.
“I’m coming out,” she called, and hesitated just a moment before opening the front door.
She stood on the porch for a moment with her hands raised, and Petrovich laughed. “You have balls, little girl,” he said. “I’ll give you that. But you’re wearing my equipment, and last time I checked the bidding price for that suit and others like it was a fifty million dollars. Of course, it’s possible the bidding has already gone higher.”
“They’re cheating you,” she said. “It’s worth at least twice that. And am I to take that to mean that you’re making your own country bid for the product you’re stealing?”
Lacey kept talking, but she noticed Josh Holland slip off from the group and head around the house. He must’ve known Shane wouldn’t sit idly by while she came out to confront them. She walked forward slowly with her hands still raised. Once she got in range she’d be able to move quickly, but there was still too much space between them and a gun was still pointed at the body in the bag.
“Of course,” he said. “It is business, after all. My family did not earn its wealth from charity.”
It was absurd. A small woman facing off against four grown men. But she believed in her abilities. In what she’d created.
“Don’t come too close,” Maxim told her. “Your Doctor Hughes has told me some of your suit’s capabilities.”
“I’m sure he told you his best guesses. Doctor Hughes never had full access to the suit, so it would all only be speculation on his part. You should take more care in the people you try to bribe.”
His eyes became colder and he took a step toward her, the gun in his hand pointed down instead of at the bag on the ground. “This is why you will come with me. If you do so voluntarily, I can promise it will be much less painful than if you resist. Have
you ever been given truth serum?”
She had. But only during a training course all high-level MS employees had to go through. They’d been taught techniques and ways to resist it, and the more you resisted, the more painful the serum was, like molten lead running through your veins. It was one of the areas she’d done poorly in. Her body didn’t tolerate the serum well. She couldn’t resist its effects, and because she had a reaction to it, it was still very painful.
“I’d rather go with option number two,” she told him. And that’s when she moved.
The suit increased her speed and strength, and she’d disarmed two of the mercenaries before they could react. She felt the bullets hit her as she bodily picked up one of the men and threw him as far as she could. He hit a tree with a sickening crack, and her hands came up and twisted the neck of the next man.
She threw her body over the black bag as the guns turned in that direction. The suit absorbed the impact of the bullets, but she felt every one and thought one of her ribs might be cracked.
“Activate electrical system,” she commanded, and she felt the energy pulse through the suit. Only seconds had passed, but she knew it would only take one lucky shot for one of them to hit whoever was beneath her. She put her fist out and pointed it toward the last mercenary, and a bolt of electricity shot from the top of her wrist, hitting him square in the chest. It was enough volts to kill him instantly.
Now she only had to take care of Petrovich.
Shane had meant what he’d told Lacey earlier. Experienced trumped youth and physical ability any day of the week.
Holland hadn’t been a member of his elite Silver Squadron assault unit in DEVGRU, but there were times their training had overlapped at Coronado. The SEAL world was a small one, and Holland’s treachery would rock it to the core. They’d all taken an oath, and what they did for their country was the highest honor one could ever have.
He didn’t bother drawing his weapon. Holland would come in fast and silent, and Shane wanted to have his hands free. He listened, but the boy was a SEAL, and there was no sound of leaves rustling or twigs snapping. It was only the feel of him closing in that saved Shane’s life. He moved at the last second, and a bullet embedded itself in the tree just beside him, sending splinters of wood in every direction.
Blood ran from his cheek, but it didn’t matter. He moved fast, disarming Holland with a quick chop to the wrist. Hand-to-hand combat was the only way to win this fight, and he knew Holland would prey on Shane’s weaknesses. He was expecting it.
They grappled, each of them a match in physical strength, and then Holland shoved back. His leg kicked out and hit Shane at the knee, where his prosthetic was connected, and they both went down in a heap.
It’s what Shane had wanted. The only way to win a fight was on the ground. Holland was trained and a good fighter, but he only had a couple deployments under his belt. He didn’t have the experience, and it was going to be his downfall.
Shane head-butted him, and the crunch of Holland’s nose brought him a satisfied grunt. Blood poured down the other man’s face, but he didn’t let go. He got a couple of solid punches to his ribs before Shane was able to wrap his arm around Holland’s neck and squeeze. He reached down for the Ka-Bar in his boot and stuck it into Holland’s thigh, pressing down so it fileted him.
It was enough of a distraction that Shane was able to roll the other man off of him and put the knife to his throat.
“Do it,” Holland said, spitting blood.
“I won’t give you the satisfaction,” Shane said. He shoved Holland onto his stomach and jerked his hands behind his back, and then reached for a zip-tie in one of his cargo pockets. “You’re a disgrace to SEALs everywhere. There is honor in death when you die for your country. But you deserve to live and be dishonored.”
“He said he would kill my family,” Holland said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“You always have a choice.”
Chapter 20
Lacey knew what fear smelled like. What it tasted like.
She stared into the frigid blue eyes of Maxim Petrovich and saw pure evil there. She knew she’d be sore and bruised later, but for now the adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She didn’t glance at the gun in his hand. Everything she needed to see was right there in his eyes.
“You’re a worthy adversary,” he said. “It’ll be my greatest pleasure to watch you break. Doctor Hughes had great plans for you as a test subject for his…adjustments to your suit. With your mind and skill, and the right amount of psychological influence, you’d be one of the greatest soldiers ever created. Virtually unstoppable.”
“I’ll die first,” she said. “I’ll never be anyone’s puppet. And your game is up,” she told him. “You’re outmatched and outnumbered. Your men are dead and reinforcements are on the way.”
“Do you think this will stop with me? The Mackenzie’s are marked. They have too much power. Too many resources. And too much money. They’ll always be a target. And because you associate yourself with them, so will you. Is that the kind of life you wish to live?”
“Since I’ve already heard your alternative, yeah, I’ll to stay with the Mackenzie’s.” The electrical current on her suit was still on high, but power was running low. She’d have to do something soon or find another way to take him out. He was crazy, and the person in the black bag was her priority.
She increased the voltage on the suit to full currency and swept out her leg, taking him down. A shot went off and the felt the impact in her arm, but it didn’t slow her progress. He squeezed the trigger again, but this time the shot went wild. She came down on top of him with a vengeance, the flat of her hand slapping against his chest and delivering a current directly to his heart.
She rolled off of him and went flat to the ground, gasping for breath as the computer in her face mask did a diagnostic of all the damage she’d sustained. She heard him wheeze and looked over at him. He was staring at her as he struggled to breathe.
“Already…dead,” he said, pointing to the bag. His laugh rattled in his chest. “Knew you’d try to attack. We will bring down the Mackenzie’s…one by one.” He took a final, shuddering breath and the life went out of his eyes.
Lacey ripped off the helmet and face mask and tossed them aside, holding in a sob as she crawled over to the body in the bag. Then she heard the rustle of branches from somewhere behind the house and she pulled the weapon from her holster, waiting for whoever was coming toward her, and praying it was Shane.
She heard the uneven gait of his run and her relief was so great tears flooded her eyes.
“Oh, thank God,” he said. “All I could hear was the gunfire, and I just started praying that the suit could do everything you told me it could. You’re alive.” He stumbled down across from her and touched her tear streaked face with his hand. “We’re alive.”
“Shane,” she said, shaking her head.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re all going to be fine. I love you.” He reached for the zipper on the bag and she caught his hand before he could open it.
“Baby, wait,” she said. “Please.” The tears were falling faster and she couldn’t seem to help it. She heard the sound of cars coming up the steep incline, but her gaze never left his. “Before you open the bag, you have to know that Petrovich said whoever is in the bag is already dead. He said war has been declared on your family, and that it was always in the plans to destroy all of you.”
His hand squeezed hers in a death grip and he looked down at the bag with such heartache and grief that she could feel it pressing down on both of them.
“I’m so sorry, baby. So sorry,” she said. “I don’t know who it is. He didn’t say.”
Shane nodded and released her hand, and then he went back to the zipper. Her tears came faster and she realized she hadn’t let herself cry in years. That nothing had mattered that much. Or maybe she hadn’t let herself be vulnerable enough. Not since that fourteen-year-old girl had thought death would be be
tter than living.
Car doors slammed and footsteps sound behind them, but she didn’t look back to see who was there. She couldn’t look to see who was missing. She watched as Shane slowly undid the zipper, his hands shaking uncontrollably.
“What’s going on?”
She thought she recognized the voice as belonging to Brady, but she couldn’t be sure since the blood was rushing in her ears so hard.
No one answered him. There was only silence and the rasp of the zipper. The crisp rustle of the Gortex bag as he pulled back the cover to see the face below. The low groan that escaped his lips was animalistic in its grief and sent chills across her body as she looked at the still and peaceful face of Mary MacKenzie.
The others gathered around. Declan, Cade, Brant, and Brady. This woman was the core of who these men—great men—had become. And now she was gone.
Lacey watched as the strongest and bravest men she’d ever known knelt on the ground beside her.
And wept.
Epilogue
One Week Later…
Rain was made for funerals, and every drop made it seem as if the tears came directly from heaven.
They were going to bury his mother today. He’d been to funerals in his life—more than most, it seemed—but never had he prepared himself for this day. In Shane’s mind, it was decades down the road. His mother would’ve live to a ripe old age with all of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren surrounding her. It would’ve been peaceful and in her time.
But it hadn’t been in her time. Her death hadn’t been in any of their times, and all they could hope was that it had been peaceful. Lacey had told him it had been very quick and she’d have felt no pain. He had to believe that.
They were a family that rallied around each other in times of both heartache and joy. But no one seemed to know what to do next. Not when the one who’d always been at the center was gone. He knew they’d rally because that’s what they did. But everyone was in shock, most especially his father.
