by D'Ann Lindun
“No, I’ll grab an MRE from my backpack later.” He nodded at them, then stalked away.
“Good thing I came along when I did, or you would have been going at it like a couple of bunnies.” Gabriella rolled her eyes. “So professional.”
Andy wished anyone else in the world had come along but this woman. She’d no doubt tell the entire team that Andy had kissed the SEAL. “I can’t see how it’s any of your business, Gabby.”
“It’s my business when my life is on the line, and your mind is on sneaking off for a quickie instead of keeping us all alive.”
Andy flushed. “Never fear, Gabriella. It won’t happen again.”
“It better not because I don’t want to end up like Margot because you can’t focus on work.” Gabriella’s words trailed after Andy as she brushed by the other woman and walked into the plane.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Andy couldn’t sleep. Her mind kept going over the kiss Coltraine had unexpectedly bestowed on her. Why had he done that? She was pretty sure he didn’t go around kissing women at random. So, why her?
She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. Whatever his reason, she’d wanted him to kiss her. She hoped he’d do it again.
What?
Was she crazy?
She wasn’t a hookup kind of girl, and she doubted he was the staying type of man. He’d likely been to places she’d never even heard of, and had no desire to visit. They had less than zero in common.
But, damn, he was sexy as hell and could kiss like the devil.
She glanced at her watch. After midnight. He was standing guard now. Painter had taken the first watch, Coltraine the second and Howler would finish up. They planned to be out of here by six at the latest.
It was so quiet.
Too quiet.
No wind. Was it still snowing?
She lifted her head and let her eyes adjust to the dark. The shapes of the sheikha, her maids and Gabriella all slept, seemingly content. Seat cushions and plenty of blankets recovered from overhead bins kept them all warm. Plus, the SAR team had brought silver survival blankets.
Although the other women slept, something seemed off to Andy. Her heart pounded a little too fast, and her pulse galloped. She could chalk it up to her thoughts of Coltraine, but her gut said it was something else—danger.
Quietly, so as not to disturb anyone, she slipped out of her sleeping bag and pulled on her coat and boots. The cold air made her shiver, and she slipped on her gloves, flexing her fingers to warm them. Taking her rifle, she pushed aside the makeshift curtain and stepped outside.
The snow had stopped, the clouds lifted and starlight glittered off the surface. In any other circumstances, Andy would have thought the night beautiful. Now, all she saw was a landscape fraught with danger. Her skin prickled from more than the cold.
“Coltraine?” she stage whispered.
Nothing.
Not a sound. Not even the trees rustled.
Andy’s stomach knotted. Where was the SEAL? He could take care of himself; he didn’t need her slipping around in the dark, distracting him. She turned to go back inside when he appeared like a ghost.
“Andy? What are you doing out here?” He peered over her shoulder. “The sheikha okay?”
“She’s sleeping.” Now that she saw him, Andy felt foolish. Of course he was fine. The man knew how to take care of himself. She turned to go. “What I should be doing.”
“Why aren’t you?”
She faced him. “I woke up with a funny feeling something was wrong. I couldn’t put a finger on what exactly, so I came to see if everything was okay. I see it is now, so I’ll go back to bed.”
“I have the same feeling,” he admitted. “It’s too quiet.”
“We are in the middle of the mountains after a snowstorm,” she reminded him, trying to reassure herself more than anything.
“It’s more than that. I’ve felt this same stillness before, just before a battle.” The intensity in his hazel eyes scared her.
“You think we’re in for a fight?” She hated the tremor in her voice. This man would not respect fear.
“I do. I think we should move now instead of waiting for first light.”
“Should I wake the women?” She took a step toward the plane.
“Yes. I’ll alert Painter and Howler, too. Did you get Sheikha Sabar and her ladies fitted with snowshoes?”
“Yes, and luckily they had warm clothes and boots with them for when they landed in Canada, so that was a blessing.” She was babbling. All he wanted to know about was snowshoes.
A corner of his lips turned up. “Good.”
She hesitated a moment. “Can we do this thing, Coltraine? Get these women off this mountain safely?”
“Absolutely.” His quiet confidence gave her courage.
She stiffened her spine. “Let’s do it then.”
~*~
Coltraine wished one more time for his team instead of the motley crew he found himself stuck with. He was 100 percent sure they’d see enemy fire by morning light, and they were untried, untested and worse of all, unfamiliar. He could name any one of his men and know exactly what they would do in any given situation. These people were an unknown entity. For all he knew, they’d drop their weapons and run at the first sound of gunfire.
Andy had cracked under pressure before.
Just now she’d let him see her fear. Was she breaking on him? Things had been fairly easy so far. Would she hold when the going got tough? His first priority was to the sheikha, but his heart tugged toward Andy.
Heart?
What the fuck?
He liked her, hell enough that he’d lost his normally cool head and kissed her, but his heart was as dead as Lauren. There was no way in hell he could be falling for the gorgeous brunette. He wouldn’t allow it.
At the door of Howler’s pup tent, he knelt and opened the flap. “Guys?” When they stirred, he said, “Let’s roll out of here in fifteen minutes.”
They agreed, and he straightened as a bullet ripped by his ear. “Fuck! Get down.”
Painter and Howler scrambled out of the small tent like bees from a disturbed hive. “What the hell?”
“Shit.”
“Crawl to the trees. I’ll cover you.” Coltraine aimed his assault weapon and pulled the trigger, spraying bullets in the direction the shot had come from. Someone yelped, and he smiled grimly.
He risked a quick glance over his shoulder. Howler and Painter had vanished into the thick stand of pines behind their tent. Good. Now to get to the wreck. “Cover me, I’m going to the plane,” he said in a low voice.
Ducking low, he zigzagged across the exposed area between the tent and the plane. Bullets flew around him, whether from the enemy, or the men, he had no idea. He didn’t care as long as none hit him.
He skidded into the plane, whipped around and aimed his weapon the direction the initial shot had come from. Nothing moved. A dark figure lay on the ground, unmoving. The guy he’d shot, either injured or dead. He hoped for the latter. One less adversary to worry about.
Gabriella appeared at his shoulder, brandishing a mean looking Ruger. “We’re under fire?”
“Where’s Andy?” he asked without taking his gaze off the frozen terrain.
“I thought she was with you.” She sounded surprised.
He took his gaze off the icy landscape for a moment, long enough to shoot her an incredulous glance. “You mean she’s not in here?”
“No.”
“You’re positive?” His voice went deadly.
“Yeah.” She backed up a step.
“When did you last see her?” His heart pounded in the fast, hard beats he recognized as fear. Not an emotion he acknowledged very often.
“When we went to bed. I assumed she was sleeping—”
Gunfire blasted again, drawing his attention toward the meadow. Painter and Howler were in a firefight with the enemy. He had to help them. “Guard the women.”
With a muffled
curse, he slipped out of the plane, edging alongside it until he stood at the nose. With starlight making it easy to see, he spotted six dark-clothed figures hunkered down behind one of the plane’s wings. With clinical efficiency, he picked them off like geese on a pond, his gunshots ricocheting off the mountains like thunder.
After the last rumble faded away, he hurried back to the tail section. Gabriella stood there, eyes wide. “Are they gone?”
“Some of them,” he said.
She blanched. “You killed those men?”
“It was them, or us.” He didn’t pull punches.
“God,” she croaked.
“Make sure the sheikha is okay,” he ordered, hoping by doing so her shock would shake off. He couldn’t afford to have one of them breakdown now. “I’ll be back with Painter and Howler in a minute.”
“Okay.” She spun away, seemingly anxious to be away from him.
She might not like what he had just done, but he saved her life, and that of the others, too. He didn’t like killing, but when it came down to them or us, he would do what he had to do.
The male SAR members met him at the pup tent.
“That was some shooting,” Painter said.
Howler nodded. “I couldn’t get them in my sights.”
“You kept them focused on you, which helped me get in position,” Coltraine said. “Somehow, they grabbed Baines. Listen, we’ve got to make plans quick. Let’s get to the plane and include Savedra.”
In a few moments, the four of them gathered around the back of the wreck as Coltraine spoke quickly. “I’m going after Baines. I’ve got to hurry, so they don’t kill her, although they are likely to try and force an exchange for the sheikha first. At first light, you three bring the ladies. Can you do it?”
They nodded.
“What was she doing alone?” Painter asked.
“Probably sneaking off to meet you for some more secret kisses.” Savedra stared pointedly at him until his cold glare made her drop the accusing look and look away.
“I’ll call for a chopper to pick you up in the meadow where we rested yesterday. It’s clear enough now that one can come into that altitude.” Coltraine looked among them. “As soon as I recover Baines, we’ll head your direction. Go slow and don’t take chances.”
“Maybe we should just wait here until you come back,” Gabriella said.
Coltraine shook his head. “Not a good idea. It looks like we’re getting a window in the weather. We need to take advantage of it and get off this mountain.”
“What if there are more killers out there?” She looked over her shoulder as if they were lurking behind her.
“It’s possible, but I think I took out a big chunk of them, and no doubt several are with Baines.” He kept his face impassive, but a vision of Lauren’s battered face made his voice harsher than normal.
“We can do this. We have to, for Andy’s sake. The Lieutenant has to go after her, and he has to do it now.” He gave Coltraine a small nod. “Go get her. We’ll be okay until you send backup.”
“Shoot to kill,” Coltraine told them as he buckled his snowshoes.
Painter handed him his backpack. “Be careful, Lieutenant.
“You, too. I’ve got to hurry. They have a good lead on me, and I need to catch them before they torture her for information.” A shudder ran up and down his back. If they hurt her in any way, he’d cut off their hands himself. He shrugged into his backpack. “Remember, men, you can’t touch the sheikha, ever. Or her maids. Only Savedra can, and that should be minimal.”
“Got it,” Howler said. “You better go. We’re right behind you, just as soon as we get the ladies in warm clothing and pack our sleeping bags and tent.”
“And drink some hot tea,” Howler said. “It will help us all.”
“Hurry, and stay safe.” Coltraine gave them one last look before setting out. Leaving a mission half-finished went against everything he knew, lived, breathed. But if he didn’t catch up to the bastards who had Andy she’d end up just like Lauren, maybe worse.
Not on my watch. Never again.
He prayed Andy was mentally strong enough to hold on until he reached her. She had to hold herself together, not lose it and he would bring her home. But if she fell apart, lost her mind, it would make his job so much harder.
No matter. He hadn’t become a SEAL for an easy job. If it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be worth doing.
A recollection of Andy quoting his motto, ‘the only easy day was yesterday’, made his lips curve up for a moment. He couldn’t lose her to terrorists. He barely knew her, but somehow she’d stolen his battered heart.
He stumbled.
How could he have such strong feelings for a woman he’d only met a few days prior? After this mission was complete, he ought to go to Mexico where he could lose himself in tequila and a stranger’s bed for a few days until his brain cleared.
Nah.
His mind was clear as the dawning sky. He might have traveled the world, met a lot of ladies, but the one who’d captured his imagination was where he’d least expected to find her.
He’d been attracted to Lauren, although he hadn’t known her very long. Her fighting spirit, her fire, her very essence touched his soul. If she’d lived, maybe they would have made a go of it.
But, she hadn’t lived and Andy had come into his life.
And, the feelings he’d felt for Lauren paled in comparison. He’d never experienced anything like them before. He’d survived losing Lauren. If he lost Andy, he doubted he’d live through it.
Not gonna happen.
Picking up his pace until he was nearly trotting, he prayed he made to her in time.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Andy cursed her stupidity with every step. After she and Coltraine spoke, she’d watched him walk away before going to wake the other women. Doing so had been a deadly mistake. Before she even registered what was happening, someone grabbed her and placed a small dagger at her neck. When she whimpered, he snarled, “Be still and drop your weapon,” in her ear.
With no choice, she’d complied.
Now, four men with death in their eyes marched her down the mountain, for exactly what she wasn’t sure, but knew it wasn’t anything good. Torture? Rape? Certain death? A shudder ripped through her.
Would Coltraine come for her? Did he even know she was gone?
His responsibility was to the sheikha, not Andy.
Fear made her stumble, and one of the men yanked her upright by the arm and said something in a harsh tone in what she assumed was Arabic. They mostly moved in silence, although when they did communicate it was in their language.
“What do you want with me?” she demanded.
They ignored her, except the one directly behind her who poked her with something she assumed to be the barrel of his gun. Maybe it was her own rifle he prodded her with. She took the hint and kept moving, although anger had begun to replace her fear.
Gunfire erupted on the mountain above them, and the group turned to look. They couldn’t see anything, but the noise echoed across the mountains like a cannon volley. Good Lord, what was going on up there? A war?
From the sounds of things, it was one hell of a fight.
Was Coltraine okay?
The others?
Andy’s heart jumped into her throat. If anything happened to them while she was here, caught like a fox in a trap, she’d never forgive herself.
One of the men, apparently the leader, gestured toward the mountain behind them, then her. He spoke with a lot of hand gestures. Another one shook his head and pointed at her, then down the mountain.
What were they saying?
If she had to guess, Andy thought the first guy was saying they should go back and check on their associates, but the second one was disagreeing and saying something about taking her down the mountain.
Why? If they wanted to kill her, they could do it here just as easily as down there. It would be a lot easier to hide a body up here than lower, wher
e more people could find her. She held in hysterical laughter. She was really losing it if she were thinking like that.
Instantly, she sobered.
She had to hold it together if she were going to get out of this alive.
Think, Andy.
“You can’t get away with this, you know. My father is well connected with law enforcement, and he’ll see you’re prosecuted to the full extent of the law if anything happens to me.”
One of them looked at her with disdain. “Your American laws can’t touch us.”
“You do speak English.” Duh.
He snorted. “I was educated in California.”
“What do you want with me? I’m nobody important. Just an SAR member. I don’t have anything to do with politics,” And said.
“No, but your boyfriend does.” He looked her up and down as if he were judging a prize mare and Andy resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest.
“I don’t have a boyfriend. I haven’t been on a date in months.”
“Liar.” He spat on the ground at her feet. “You were giving yourself freely to the soldier last night.”
Heat rushed into Andy’s cheeks. This creep had seen her and Coltraine kiss? “I wasn’t giving myself to anyone. That was just a kiss. No big deal.”
Liar.
It had been a very big deal to her, and if they had been alone, she probably would have given Coltraine a lot more than a kiss.
“The American soldier will come for you,” the man insisted.
“You’re mistaken. He’ll do his duty, not come for me. I’m nothing to him but an acquaintance.” She raised her chin. “Duty before self and all that, you know.” Her heart ached at the statement.
Indecision flickered in his dark eyes for a moment. “We’ll see, won’t we?”
“I guess we will, but you’re going to find out you’re mistaken,” she said.
He touched her cheek. “You better pray you’re wrong. Because if you’re not, then you are of no use to us.”
Andy jerked away from his reptilian touch. Now it became clear why they hadn’t taken the sheikha at the same time they nabbed her. She’d made it easy for them to lure Coltraine away from the princess. Were there others up there, waiting to grab her as soon as the SEAL stepped away from his duty?
