Tactical Rescue

by Maggie K. Black

  “Those aren’t for you. They’re for in case we run into trouble on our way there. The police want to talk to you about something, and he wanted to make sure I was going to remain professional and not accidentally compromise an active investigation because of our past friendship. I might’ve gotten a little emphatic about it.”

  “What kind of open investigation?” she pressed. “Why does the police want to talk to me?”

  “Telling you that could compromise the police’s ability to question you.”

  “Okay, but is it safe to assume it’s linked to the fact that someone blew up the road?”

  “I can’t tell you about that.”

  “How about Ivan and Dmitry?”

  He ran his hand over the back of his neck in a gesture so familiar it rattled something at the edges of her heart.

  “I think it’s safe to assume you’re going to remember the tattoo those men had and look it up online,” he said, carefully. She nodded. “When you do, you’ll find references to a major Eastern European crime syndicate, which translates roughly as ‘Black Talon.’ Basically they steal things, smuggle things, sell things illegally and kill people, and to make matters worse there are warring factions within Black Talon violently fighting for supremacy over the group. You’ll also discover they tattoo themselves with the name of their first confirmed kill. So technically, those two men would be The-Man-Who-Killed-Ivan and The-Man-Who-Killed-Dmitry, but I’ve been mentally calling them Ivan and Dmitry for short, too. But what I don’t know is why two members of Black Talon would be in Canada or why they just tried to kidnap you. I wouldn’t even want to guess. As you probably noticed I tried fishing for information a bit, trying to see if they knew who I was and if they’d been hired for money.”

  “Could you understand what they were saying?” she asked.

  “Yup.” He chuckled slightly. “Basically, it all came down to ‘Shoot him!’ and ‘Take her!’ and ‘Stop acting like an idiot or I’ll kill you.’”

  They reached the road. It was empty. The kidnappers and their van were gone. They walked back toward her camper. Every inch of her skin seemed to tingle with electricity from being this close to him. The old, familiar smell of him filled her senses. I’m frightened. I’m angry. I’m beyond frustrated that Zack won’t give me answers. And my heart won’t stop fluttering whenever he glances my way.

  She could now see the camper between the trees. She stopped walking and turned toward him. They stood there a moment, chest to chest, face-to-face, just inches apart in the dirt.

  “Can you tell me one thing?” she asked. “Is your target the man who blew up the road? Or Black Talon? Or me?”

  “None of you are my target.” His hands swung wide above his head, as if he was trying to swat the horizon. “Like I told you before, I’m not on assignment right now. I’m on vacation. On leave. This is my holiday. I actually need to report back to base in less than two days for overseas deployment.” His arms dropped back down to his side. “This morning I was camping at the side of a lake about an hour south of here, then I heard something on the news—which I’m guessing you haven’t heard or you wouldn’t be asking so many questions—and I figured you might need an old friend to talk to.”

  His hands parted slightly like he wanted to hug her but wasn’t sure if he should.

  “When you climbed out of the rocks, I didn’t think you recognized me,” he went on, “and I was trying to figure out how to tell you who I was when my commanding officer called and suggested I shouldn’t.”

  “How did he know you were with me?” she asked.

  “He guessed.” He looked past her into the trees. “I have a very old news clipping about you winning that martial arts trophy taped inside my footlocker. Now, please stop asking me questions I can’t answer. Just stop. Please. I’m already in trouble enough with my CO for potentially barging onto a gigantic mess for personal reasons.”

  A “mess” that involved foreign criminals, explosives and weapons.

  “Just let me ask one more question, please, then I’ll stop.”

  He ran both hands over his head. “Go ahead.”

  “Why is there a newspaper article about me in your locker?”

  An article about the night you broke my heart?

  His eyes glanced to the sky and his lips moved for a moment like he was praying.

  “Because you changed my life, Rebecca.” His eyes dropped to her face. “You believed in me and stuck by me when nobody else did. I’d never forgotten what it was like to walk into that gym, overweight, out of shape, feeling laughed at, and yet wanting to be better than I was. And you...sorry to be so blunt, but you were the cutest thing I’d ever seen and yet you walked right over and asked me to partner with you. You befriended me. You encouraged me. So yeah—” and here his voice rose, as if he was arguing with an opponent she couldn’t see “—today when I realized you could be in trouble, and knew I’d followed your career just enough, and remembered your stories well enough, to know you might not be too far away, I came to find you. Because you had my back when nobody else did and I wanted to make sure I had yours now.”

  Her heart flipped in her chest, as if they’d been standing on the mats and he’d just grabbed her by the heels and tossed her end over end.

  “But it was a mistake,” he said. “Because there’s something big going on and guys like me don’t have the luxury of making personal decisions. Not where stuff like this is involved.”

  He stepped back, reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Now that I’ve got a signal, I’m going to call my commanding officer again and tell him we just had some unwanted company. Do you need any help packing up your camper?”

  She shook her head. “No, thanks, I’ll be fine.”

  He walked her to her camper door, waited until she stepped inside and then dialed a number. She could hear his voice fading in the distance as he strode off through the trees. She sat down on her bunk and dropped her head into her hands, feeling as if she should pray but not even knowing how to start sorting out the scattered feelings of her heart.

  Her gold martial arts trophy sat on the small shelf beside her bunk, on top of the glossy hardcover copy of General Arthur Miles’s autobiography that someone on his staff had mailed her, she guessed out of courtesy, even though she and her mother weren’t in it. Rebecca had never been close to her stepfather, which had probably disappointed Zack a bit when they were younger, considering how much he’d admired the man and how often Zack had hinted that he hoped she’d introduce them. It’d been odd being in the same family as someone whose name everyone seemed to know and yet she’d never personally felt close to, even though her mother had insisted she and Rebecca both change their last names to “Miles.”

  But the General had traveled frequently, and Seth’s ability to make her feel unwelcome had tended to go into overdrive whenever his father was home on leave.

  Rebecca stood up and started tidying, pushing things into drawers, shutting down her machines and locking things behind cupboard doors. Something rustled in the trees outside. Wind? No, there were footsteps in the forest outside.

  “Hey, Zack?” she called. “I’m about ready to go.”

  No answer. The footsteps grew closer. Her pulse raced. Her hand reached for a kitchen knife. Then there was the click. The camper door swung open.

  Her hand rose to her lips. The knife clattered to the floor.

  “Hey there, Sis. Long time no see.”

  It was Seth.

  FIVE

  “Well, aren’t you going to welcome me?” Seth Miles strode through the doorway of Rebecca’s camper in jeans and a T-shirt. She blinked. He was thinner than he’d been the last time she saw him. His blond hair was longer, too. Blue eyes scanned the camper as if they were searching for something.

  “Oh, wow. Hi.” She gave Seth
a quick hug, and was surprised to feel his lean arms actually clasp her back tightly. “What are you doing here?”

  “Felt like camping.” His grin was twitchy. “Can’t believe you’re still using this thing. I see you’ve converted my old bunk into a video editing suite.”

  “This is my home and my office now.”

  Had he just showed up and walked past Zack? Considering the past tension between them, it was hard to imagine they’d waved hello and nodded cordially. But Zack had apparently not felt the need to accompany him to her trailer, either.

  Seth’s eyes were still scanning her stuff. Her equipment was great for video editing, but probably nothing compared to the high-speed processing power Seth was used to. For a moment it looked like he was about to reach for her martial arts trophy. But then his hand diverted at the last moment and grabbed his father’s autobiography. He flipped through it without even glancing at the pages. His shoulders were so tense she couldn’t help but think of a bird of prey in need of a meal. “You’re packing up?”

  “Yes, I’m heading to Timmins.” Her arms crossed in front of her chest. “So, what’s going on, Seth? Don’t even try to pretend this is some spontaneous social call.”

  “The way I see it, you’re the one with secrets.” Seth dropped the book and crossed his own arms, mirroring her stance. “You want to tell me what your old friend Zack is doing standing around outside? I didn’t even recognize him at first, until I walked up and introduced myself. Even then he was hardly talkative. Please tell me you two aren’t a couple. I always knew he had a pretty serious crush on you when we were kids. But he was never good enough for you.”

  Heat rose to her cheeks. She turned away and pressed her cool palms against her face. Zack had a crush on her? Even if he had, any romantic attraction was sure to be long gone. “Zack’s in the military now—”

  Seth snorted.

  She turned back. “Don’t be like that. I know you never thought much of authority figures, but Zack worked very hard to get to where he is and I for one am proud of him.”

  Now Seth’s arrogant grin turned into a grimace. Something she’d said had obviously bothered him. Trying to have a straight-up conversation with Seth when he was like this was like trying to tack down a snake. She’d lost track of the number of times he’d practically forced his way into her room when they’d been teenagers, only to just sit there, not talking about whatever was going on in his brain. He must’ve noticed the blocked road, even though he hadn’t asked her about it yet. She also needed to fill him in on the explosives and on Black Talon.

  But while Zack wasn’t willing to tell her what was happening, Seth might. Zack wasn’t back from his phone call, which gave her a very small window of time to find things out from Seth. She wasn’t going to waste a second of it.

  “Now, come on,” she said. “Tell me the truth. Zack told me that there’s something big on the news and that police want to talk to me. So if you’re suddenly showing up here now, you obviously know what it is.”

  She didn’t know what response to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the one that she got. Seth laughed—a long, loud bark that sounded equal parts angry and relieved. “So, Zack never told you why the police want to talk to you?”

  “No,” she admitted. “I was hoping you’d tell me.”

  “Just be glad you didn’t marry Zack. You’d have obviously turned out just as clueless as your mother and mine.”

  She didn’t really know anything about Seth’s mother, only that she’d suddenly abandoned Seth and his father when Seth was twelve and he’d apparently never heard from her since. She hadn’t been in the autobiography, either.

  “Okay, truth is a few weeks ago somebody published a website online about the General,” Seth said. “Anonymously, of course. Probably because the General’s been tipped to become a senator soon. Anyway, someone created a blog claiming he was a philanderer and cheated on our mothers. I’m guessing you never read it. I emailed you a link.” He shrugged and looked down at the floor. “Well, it’s all over the news and now police want to talk to us about it.”

  None of which explained anything that had happened to her so far today.

  “So, someone is muckraking gossip about your father?” Considering the heartache her mother had gone through with Rebecca’s father having disappeared from their lives before Rebecca was even born, it was disappointing to think her mother would’ve then married a man who was unfaithful, on top of being unavailable. The General’s marriage history was hardly a secret, although it was rarely commented on in his news coverage, as it had nothing to do with his military record. Seth’s mother had abandoned them. Rebecca’s mother had died. He was now on his third. “Honestly, I don’t get why anyone would bother writing salacious garbage like that, or why anyone would bother reading it.”

  Let alone why European mobsters would be after her.

  “Well, let’s just head out and we can go talk to the police together. Hopefully this’ll all be cleared up soon.” He leaped out of the camper. “Brothers and sisters should stick together.“

  She followed him out. Zack was still nowhere in sight.

  “Where did Zack go?”

  “He walked down the road to take a phone call. Said he needed some privacy.”

  Seth was practically running to her truck.

  “Where’s your vehicle?” she asked.

  “Oh, I parked it on the road. Road’s all blocked off just south of here. Weirdest thing. So I left it there and walked up to find you.” Seth opened the front door of her truck. For a moment she thought he was opening it for her. But he jumped into the driver’s seat.

  “Hang on!” She stepped into the open space between the door and the seat. “One, you’re not driving my truck, so get out. Two, stop talking like a car salesman and be straight with me. I’m not even sure I believe any of your story. Somebody tried to kill me. Somebody tried to kill Zack. I was nearly kidnapped—”

  “What do you mean you were kidnapped?” Seth froze. “When? By who?”

  “Eastern European gangsters. Zack saved my life.”

  Seth reached up, flipped the sun visor down and pulled out her spare key.

  “Go find Zack and get out of here. Go to a police station, or his base, or wherever. Just get somewhere safe, and stay there.”

  “What’s really going on, Seth? You’re caught up in this, aren’t you?” She should’ve known better than to believe that stupid story about some blog about his father for a second.

  Seth wouldn’t look at her. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Not in my truck you don’t.” Her hand grabbed the sunroof. She stepped up onto the running board. “Tell me what’s happening.”

  “You wouldn’t get it.” He set his jaw. “You never did.”

  What’s he talking about? Her eyes scanned the tree line. Where’s Zack really? Seth was clenching the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. Her fingers stared at the gunpowder stains on his fingertips. Help me, Lord. A feeling like ice poured through her veins.

  “You’re the one who blew up the road.” Her other hand grabbed the steering wheel. If only Zack had told her. He had to have known. “Why, because you were trying to block my property off from the main road? Because you were going to hide out here? Your stunt nearly killed me.”

  “I was trying to protect you! Just like I always did. You were just too blind to see it!”

  A look she’d rarely seen flashed in her stepbrother’s eyes. Defiance. Pride. She’d only seen this look on his face once before. Just once. The night of the sports banquet. After Zack had stood her up, Seth had found her in her bedroom, still in her fancy dress, crying her eyes out. He’d stood there silently for a moment as if he didn’t know what to do, looking proud and confused. Then he’d shrugged and said, Stand up. I’ll take ya. You might as well get your trophy.<
br />
  “I’m done talking about this.” He turned the key in the ignition. Her truck started. “I never meant to hurt you. Whether you choose to believe that or not.”

  Seth’s foot hit the gas. The truck lurched forward a few feet on the uneven ground. Her arm felt like it was being wrenched from her body. She held on tight. “Stop!”

  “Rebecca! Let go!” Seth panicked. “Get off the truck! You’re going to hurt yourself!”

  Her feet stayed planted on the running board. The truck was rolling slowly through the forest, dragging her camper behind it. “I’m going to hurt myself? You’re the one stealing my truck and my camper.”

  “I don’t have a choice. Just know, I never meant for you to get hurt.”

  Seth hit the gas.

  * * *

  The smell of the forest floor filled Zack’s nostrils. Dirt pressed against his face. His head ached. Darkness swam in and out before his eyes as if they couldn’t quite focus. He couldn’t believe he’d actually been knocked out. Zack blinked hard. Then he crouched, pressed one palm into the ground and listened.

  Silence. Beyond the sound of wind brushing through the trees.

  One moment he’d been on the phone with Jeff. He’d called Major Lyons on his personal line to fill him in about Black Talon. His commanding officer had been so upset, he’d almost been yelling. Not angry exactly, but more like very loudly worried. Both Seth’s theft and Black Talon were already the source of two different internal security-breach investigations. The idea of them somehow being linked meant multiple breaches on multiple levels and the kind of perfect storm that could ground the careers of everyone involved until it was sorted.

  Added to that, Zack had hardly been able to hear the major. The connection had been terrible and kept cutting out, plus Jeff’s voice had echoed, like he’d been calling from the bottom of a very deep underground stairwell.

  And then, something had hit him.

  Zack groaned. His gun was gone, as was the one he’d lifted from Ivan. But he still had his handcuffs tucked inside his sweatshirt. His eyes searched the ground. There was a large rubber bullet by his feet, the kind shot from the type of air gun used to subdue protests. He’d been watching the road like a hawk and hadn’t heard a vehicle approaching. So whoever attacked him must’ve been hiding in the trees, waiting to take a shot, and apparently using whatever kind of weapons he’d been able to get on the black market.