Rescuing Gracelynn (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Bravo Series Book 1)

by Anna Blakely

  Using his modified HK G28 automatic sniper rifle, Zade showed off his sniping skills by effortlessly taking out one of the back guards, followed by the one to the east.

  Both men were dead within a second of each other.

  The other guard, the one they believed to be Barry’s cousin, looked startled and a little lost. He raised his own weapon and began moving it about from side-to-side wildly, clearly unsure of where the two silent shots had come from.

  Rasat was not made aware of the exact day or time Delta would be arriving, but per Ghost, Barry had assured him he would know when it was safe to surrender.

  Confident in their identification of the man, Ghost risked becoming a target and made his presence known. Stepping away from the cover the trees and foliage provided, the well-trained man waved an arm in the air to get Rasat’s attention.

  When the other man finally spotted him, Ghost motioned for him to come to them. Rasat looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was watching.

  After a few seconds of hesitation, the man began sprinting across the few yards spanning between him and the trees.

  The second he was within arm’s reach, Ghost grabbed hold of Rasat’s arm and yanked him into the trees with the rest of them.

  “You are Ghost?” the terrified man asked, his heavy accent matching his cousins.

  “I am. What’s the code word?”

  “Snickerdoodle.”

  Matt snorted. “Snickerdoodle? Really?”

  “What?” Ghost asked, his tone defensive. “It’s one of my wife’s favorite cookies.”

  Several of the men chuckled, but Nate’s chest tightened when he realized he didn’t know what Gracie’s favorite cookie was. Or her favorite color.

  God, there was so much he still needed to know about her. He just prayed he got the chance to learn it all.

  “Thank you. I was beginning to think you were not coming.”

  “I don’t go back on my word.”

  Rasat took Ghost’s free hand in his and repeated, “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me, yet. This deal hinges on us getting Yavuz and Achim into custody and getting the woman out alive.”

  “Yes. I understand. The woman is—”

  “Gracie,” Nate growled.

  They needed to move their asses, but what he had to say was important. Looking at each man, including his own team, Nate made sure they knew who they were going after.

  “Her name is Gracie. She’s smart and funny. The most beautiful, compassionate woman I’ve ever known. She’s not some nameless, faceless hostage. Gracie is someone’s sister. Someone’s daughter.” Then, because he had to, he added, “And she’s mine.”

  The others remained silent for a moment before Ghost spoke again. “He’s right.” He looked at Nate. “I said before we’ve been where you are. In my case, I didn’t even realize my woman was a hostage until I walked into an op and found her chained to a bed about to be raped by a kid trying to become a man. Fletch’s woman was taken as a pawn in some sick fuck’s plan of revenge against our unit. And Coach, here…hell, his woman vanished without a trace for four days. To make matters worse, the police called him in ‘cause they thought he’d done something to her.”

  Jesus. Nate looked up at Coach. A pained expression flashed across the intimidating man’s face.

  “Longest ninety-eight hours of my entire fucking life.”

  “What happened?” Nate couldn’t help but ask.

  “Her car. Harley had gone off the road and down into a ravine where no one could see her.”

  “Shit, man,” Zade remarked. “It’s a miracle she survived.”

  “It’s a miracle any of them survived,” Coach mused.

  “Thankfully, we had God and our training on our side.” Ghost’s focus landed on Nate again. “Same as you. So, what do you say, Carter? Ready to go in there and get Gracie back where she belongs?”

  He could feel his heart rate rising in anticipation. “Fuck, yeah, I am.”

  “Whoa.” Rasat looked at them all cautiously.

  “What?” Gabe asked.

  “I think women should stay clear of you men. Much better for them and you.”

  This made every man’s shoulders shake. Especially Matt’s. “Rasat, I believe that’s the smartest thing I’ve heard all day. I am one hundred percent with you on that.”

  “Yeah,” Nate muttered to his friend as he got ready to head out. “Until about three weeks ago, I would’ve been, too.” His gaze slid to the house again. “Kole warned me, and I blew him off, just like you’re gonna blow off what I’m saying now. But mark my words, Turner. There will come a time when a woman slips past that wall of yours. One day, you’re gonna wake up and realize she’s become your entire world.”

  A strange look flashed behind Matt’s dark eyes, but it was gone before Nate could decipher what it was.

  It would have to wait. Right now, Nate’s world was somewhere in that house and he was more than ready to take back what was his.

  “The woma…” Rasat’s nervous eyes flew up to Nate’s. “Your Gracie—” he corrected himself— “is being held in a room on the first floor. Far, northwest corner.”

  Gabe gave Rasat a nod and his thanks before addressing the group. Per his and Ghost’s agreement, he would be in charge of the op from this point on.

  “Alright, gentlemen. It’s go time. Rasat, you wait for us here. The rest of you, just like before. On three.”

  Like a finely-choreographed dance, the two teams worked together as one. Fluid in their movements, they made their way into position around the outside of the house. The remaining guards were neutralized without incident.

  Through the coms, Ghost relayed a quiet, “Perimeter is secure, boys. Hooah.”

  One corner of Nate’s mouth turned up. Despite his earlier qualms, he was really starting to like that guy.

  Repositioning, Nate and the others waited for the green light from Gabe. When it was given, the men breached the house simultaneously.

  As planned, Nate moved into the hallway to his right with Matt on his six while the others spread throughout the house to check for any potential threat.

  It was an older home, so the hallway was long and narrow. There were three doors to the right and two on the left.

  One by one, Nate and Matt cleared each room with silence and efficiency. As expected, they were all empty.

  The closer they got to the room at the end of the hall, the harder Nate’s heart began to pound inside his chest. His fingertips began to tingle, the level of adrenaline flowing through his veins at an all-time high.

  He and Matt were only a few inches away from the final room’s door when a man’s angry words bellowed out from the other side, followed by a woman’s equally loud voice.

  Gracie.

  Nate’s heart stopped.

  She was yelling back, her words muffled behind the thick walls. Nate didn’t need to hear them to know she was pissed. He smiled.

  Hearing her yell meant she was still alive. The fact that there was still a bite to her tone meant Gracie’s strong spirit hadn’t been broken.

  That’s my girl.

  “Get her under control and let’s go!”

  Yavuz’ words were clear that time, confirming one of their three targets was in that room. His elation was short-lived, however, when he heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Gracie crying out.

  Motherfucker. Knowing she’d just been hit nearly undid him. He started to take a step forward, but somehow, his training forced its way through.

  Nate wanted nothing more than to storm into that room, take out Yavuz and anyone else standing between him and Gracie. But he had to keep his head clear.

  They didn’t know exactly what they’d be walking into and he refused to do anything that would put Gracie—or Matt—at an even greater risk.

  Holding his gun in his right hand, Nate made a motion with his left. The pain from his bullet wound was beginning to flare up again, but he ignored it. With his fing
ers, he silently told Matt to take the other side of the doorway.

  Locked and loaded, both men raised their guns and waited.

  Gracie picked herself up off the floor. Raising a hand to her cheek, her fingertips met the hot, tender flesh where Achim had just backhanded her.

  Still a bit stunned from the blow, she tried to make sense of what was happening.

  One minute, she’d been lying there, chained to the bed. The next, Yavuz and Achim were storming into the room with Adrian Walker hot on their tails.

  The conversation that took place just moments ago had given her more hope than she’d felt in days…

  “How the fuck did they find us?” Yavuz yelled.

  “No idea, but unless you want to spend the rest of your life in an American prison, we need to get our asses out of here. Now.”

  “Shut the door,” Yavuz ordered Walker.

  “Did you not hear what I just said? We have to leave.”

  “I heard what you said,” Yavuz spit back, nodding to Achim to unlock the metal clasp around her wrists.

  A confused look crossed over Walker’s face. “Forget the woman. Leave her here and let’s go.”

  It was the first and only time Gracie had agreed with the man.

  “No. She comes with us.”

  Achim continued to release her. The men were so busy panicking and trying to figure out what to do next, they’d completely underestimated her will to survive.

  The second Gracie’s wrists were free, she’d grabbed one of the chains a few inches from the bracelet and swung it at Achim’s head. It hit with surprising force, knocking the man off his feet and onto the mattress beside her.

  Gracie then tried to run for the door, but Walker was in the way.

  She hadn’t exactly thought the plan through all the way, but it wasn’t like she’d had a lot of time. Walker had grabbed her around the waist and spun her around so his arms could pull her back tightly against his chest.

  Gracie kicked and yelled, praying whoever had come would hear her and bust the door down. Instead of a white knight, she got white-hot pain when Yavuz ordered Achim to get her under control. The asshole was more than happy to oblige.

  Now, she was being held in place by Walker while Yavuz hurried over to his desk. The man rushed to find something in one of the drawers, a smirk forming on his evil face when he found whatever it was he needed.

  Gracie fully expected him to pull out a gun. Instead, his hand came back empty. Even more shocking was the fact that the wall behind the room’s antique dresser had just begun to open.

  A secret passageway.

  In another time and place, she would have thought it fascinating. Today, it was terrifying.

  Gracie opened her mouth to scream, determined to let the men outside know about the tunnel. Unfortunately, Walker anticipated this.

  With a hand pressed roughly against her mouth, he moved her toward the tunnel’s entrance, her call for help silenced behind his palm.

  They followed Yavuz and Achim down a set of concrete stairs into a darkened tunnel. With a flip of a switch, Yavuz illuminated the long corridor, allowing them to see where they were going.

  The tunnel stopped several yards from where it began. From what Gracie could see, there was another tunnel, leading to the left.

  She tried to squirm out of Walker’s grasp, but just like in the cabin, his strength over powered her.

  A musty, basement-type smell filled the damp air and, because the tunnel was dug deep below the earth’s surface, it was much cooler than the room she’d been kept in.

  By the time they’d turned into the next section, Gracie was covered in goose bumps.

  Must be what it feels like to be buried.

  Shaking off the morbid thought, Gracie tried to remember every detail she could. If by some miracle she made it out of this alive, she wanted to be able to do everything she could to help the authorities nail these bastards to the wall.

  What felt like hours later, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. Instead of another section, there was a metal door with an electronic keypad.

  Gracie’s heart sank. Even if whoever was up there came this way, they’d never get past this point without the code.

  Nate could have.

  Despite her best efforts, a tear fell down her cheek, landing on Walker’s hand.

  “Don’t cry, love,” he crooned. As if he could tell exactly what she’d been thinking, he whispered into her ear, “Looks like your boyfriend survived my bullet after all.”

  What? Gracie’s heart flew into her throat. Shaking her head, she fought to break her mouth free.

  Turns out, she didn’t need to fight. Walker simply lifted his hand away from her lips.

  “What are you saying? Nate’s alive?”

  “Alive and, from what I saw on the security monitors in this place, he’s more than a little pissed at me for taking you away from him. Of course, it might also have something to do with my having shot him.”

  “Shut up,” Yavuz ordered.

  Gracie noticed the man was so nervous, he kept pressing the wrong number for the door’s code. Each time he did, he had to start over.

  “I can’t hear myself think.”

  Like she gave a shit about that. In fact, maybe if she kept talking, it would distract him enough to buy Nate time to get to her.

  Is he really alive?

  “Tell me what you saw,” she begged Walker. “Was it really him? Is his team here, too?”

  “Oh, yeah. Plus a few extra, from the looks of things.”

  “I said shut up!” Yavuz yelled over his shoulder.

  Gracie’s eyes slid to the lock. She smiled when she saw him hit the button that read ‘clear’ and start over again.

  “He’s going to kill you all. You know that, don’t you?”

  Yavuz paid her no attention, but fear sparked in Achim’s eyes. He tried to cover it, but it was too late. She’d already seen it.

  Playing on that, Gracie continued to taunt him. “You’re going to die today, Achim. And for what? Money? Who gets it all when you’re gone, hmm? Do you have a family? Someone who will miss you?”

  “Shut the fuck up.”

  “Surely, you have no children. Not with your kind of work. A mother, perhaps?”

  Rage filled his features then, the vein on his forehead bulging as he put the barrel of his pistol to her head and yelled, “I said. Shut. Up.”

  Bingo. She’d definitely touched a nerve with that one. It was probably sad she felt so much enjoyment from that, but at this point, it was all she had.

  That and the possibility that Nate hadn’t been killed after all.

  Please, God. Let him still be alive.

  “Both of you shut up!” Yavuz turned, his face as red as Achim’s. Pulling his own weapon, he shocked the hell out of Gracie when he pointed it at Achim’s head, and not hers.

  “Whoa, Edric. Easy with that, man.” Walker spoke calmly from behind her. “Let’s just all take a deep breath and calm down.”

  “There’s no time to calm down. I keep messing up because this imbecile can’t handle one weak female who is clearly trying to upset him and distract me.”

  “Let me shoot her, Yavuz,” Achim spoke through clenched teeth. “You don’t need her anymore. She’s useless to you now and will only slow us down.”

  “She’s my insurance, you idiot. She’s the only thing standing between me and those men’s bullets if they catch up to us. You, on the other hand, have outlived your usefulness.”

  Gracie watched with horror as the man’s eyes grew wide with the realization of what was about to happen. Achim slid the barrel of his gun away from her head in an attempt to shoot Yavuz first, but he was too late.

  “Edric, no!”

  They were the last two words Achim Akmar would ever speak.

  The sound of Yavuz’ gun blast was deafening as it bounced off the concrete walls. Blood splattered those same walls as the bullet ripped through the center of the Achim’s forehea
d, his lifeless body dropping to the ground where he stood.

  “Oh, my God!” Gracie exclaimed, unable to hide the utter terror and disgust vibrating throughout her entire system.

  She’d just watched a man die. Witnessed him being murdered in cold blood less than a foot away from her.

  Later, when the shock of it all wore off, she’d probably feel bad for Achim. For now, though, all she could think was that was one less threat she and the others had to worry about.

  What sounded like someone yelling reached her ears then, and she knew deep down inside, it was Nate.

  “Nate!” she screamed back as loudly as she could. “Nathan, I’m here! I’m here!”

  Yavuz pointed his gun toward her, then. “I know what I said to him, but I will put a bullet through your brain next if you do not shut your mouth and stay quiet. Then, I will wait here for your boyfriend and his friends. Trust me when I say, he will not survive a second time.”

  Shit, shit, shit.

  When she only had to worry about her own life, Gracie had felt bold and brave. Now, she was scared to death she would inadvertently do something to bring more harm to Nate.

  The man had already been shot once because of her. She refused to do anything that may put him in even more danger.

  Never again, Nate. I promise you. Never again.

  Gracie pressed her lips together and remained quiet while Yavuz finally got the code entered correctly and the door began to open.

  “Let’s go.”

  Yavuz grabbed her arm and pushed her into a large, underground garage. Walker followed behind her and was pulling the door closed when she heard Nate’s voice.

  “Gracie!”

  Her head whipped around to the sound of Nate screaming her name just as the lock on the door clicked back into place.

  Chapter 18

  Every ounce of hope Gracie had left was destroyed with that damn door.

  Nate was smart. She knew this, but the chances of him being able to hack into that lock’s system in time to save her were slim to freaking none.

  Her mind raced as she tried to think of how she could get away, but Yavuz’ grip was surprisingly strong and she was still too weak to overpower him.