Tactical Rescue

by Maggie K. Black

  “Just my leg, and not that badly.” She gritted her teeth. “I’ll live.”

  He lifted her up into his arms and held her tight. She leaned her head against his chest and looked down at the man who had filled her life with such fear.

  “But he’s right. Even with the recording, you’ll still be court-martialed, for assaulting a superior officer. A decorated hero. You might’ve just thrown away your military career.”

  “Maybe.” He held her tightly. “Maybe not. Like I said, I have faith in the people I serve with, and I have faith that I’ll get through this.”

  She nestled her head into his chest.

  Lord, I love this man. Please, don’t let him lose his career over me. Even if that career takes him somewhere far away.

  * * *

  The hard plastic of the hospital waiting room seat dug into Zack’s back. He didn’t move. It had been six hours since the accident on the highway and the General’s treachery had been revealed. Zack’s commanding officer had made sure a military escort had reached them before Black Talon could. Now, despite the offer of a ride back to base, Zack had stayed in the hospital while both he and Rebecca gave their statements to police, and Rebecca’s leg was stitched up and bandaged. She’d been allowed just twenty minutes alone with the half sister she’d never known she had, before Maria was whisked off in a military helicopter.

  Now, he sat with Rebecca curled up into his side while she slept. Her head lay on his chest. His arm wrapped around her shoulder. He was impossibly uncomfortable and dying to stretch. But he didn’t move.

  “Hey, Zack!” A tall, dark-haired man walked across the waiting room floor.

  Zack looked up.

  “Mark!” He whispered loudly. He put a finger to his lips and then pointed down at Rebecca. “You made it! How’s Katie?”

  Mark smiled. His voice dropped to a whisper, too. “She’s good. She’s pretty tough. It was a bit scary for a while there. But the contractions eventually stopped again and she’s under strict instructions to get bed rest for the next couple of weeks. I’m going to stay grounded, too, for the time being. Got to do our best to keep the new little prototype in the workshop a bit longer and avoid a premature launch.”

  He’d never seen Mark look so tired, exhausted, worried and happy all at once.

  “Katie’s strong,” Zack said. “Just don’t let her hear you comparing your new baby to a broadcast unit.”

  Mark laughed. “Yeah, and you’re right, she is strong. She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” He glanced at Rebecca’s sleeping form. “Thank you for pushing me to step up and marry her. I had no clue how I was going to balance a relationship, my messed-up, dysfunctional family situation and a job that meant trekking through war zones. But you gave me the kick I needed. You made me see I was willing to take the risk. I don’t know if I ever thanked you for that or returned the favor.”

  He could tell Mark was being sincere. But he also knew his buddy well enough to know that Mark was trying to return the favor right here and now in the hospital waiting room. He didn’t need Mark’s relationship advice. Zack already knew full well that Rebecca was incredible. He just didn’t know how they could possibly have a life together.

  “What you and Katie have works because you travel together most of the time,” Zack said. “With Rebecca it would be different. I would hardly be able to take her with me on deployment. I would disappear from her life on short notice and not be able to tell her where I was going, or fill her in on everything that happened when I got home.”

  Mark waved a hand at him to stop. But Zack kept talking.

  “Yes, I love her.” Zack’s voice rose. “I adore her. I’m impressed by her and challenged by her. I’m crazy about her.”

  Mark raised an eyebrow. “Chill. Relax. Just—”

  “I’m tired of chilling and relaxing.” Zack groaned. “Saying goodbye to her is going to kill me. Do I want to marry her? Yes. Of course I do. But I’m not going to put her through a life that she doesn’t want.”

  Rebecca shifted in his arms. Zack looked down. She sat up slowly in his arms.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Zack could see a man in military uniform stepping in the front door—Major Jeff Lyons, his commanding officer, was here. Mark crossed over to speak to him.

  Rebecca’s eyes were on his face. What had she heard? It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that he’d said it and he meant it. Zack took Rebecca’s hands in his.

  “I’m in love with you, Becs. I’ve always been in love with you. Ever since that first moment I looked across the gym and came face-to-face with the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on. You’re strong. You’re smart. You’re amazing.” His eyes glanced at his commanding officer. “I wish we could be together forever.”

  “Sergeant, need another minute?” Jeff called, in a tone of voice that implied there were no spare moments to be had.

  “One second.” He turned back to Rebecca. “Could you spend the rest of your life with a soldier? Could you spend the rest of your life loving a man who’s going to disappear for weeks and months at a time?”

  “I don’t know.” Her eyes met his. “I honestly don’t.”

  He nodded. Okay. That was fair enough. He’d asked her an honest question. She’d given him an honest answer. What more could he ask for?

  He pulled back. He had to go. Their time together was over.

  But her hands slipped around his neck.

  “But I know that I love you, too,” she said. “I always have, and I know that I want us to try.”

  Hope exploded in his heart. He gathered her into his arms and kissed her, as if his heart, mind and body were holding on to her with everything they had. He felt her hands running through his hair and the curve of her body melting into his.

  Major Jeff Lyons coughed politely. Zack pulled back.

  “I won’t lose you again, I promise.” He stood up. “I’ll write to you. I’ll visit you. I’ll find you.” A smile lit up her lips. He walked backward toward the doorway, feeling his heart pull back toward her with every step. “I won’t let you go, ever again. I promise. I will love you, Rebecca Miles.”

  “You’d better!” she called.

  He stepped out of the hospital waiting room and followed his commanding officer out into the sunlight.

  EPILOGUE

  Rebecca braced her legs against the dusty soil, tucked a wisp of hair back into her bandanna and slowly swung the camera’s gaze over the wide expanse of North African wilderness. The sun beat down heavily on the back of her neck. Heat rose up around her in shimmering waves. She focused her lens on the small family nestled together in a dip in the valley below.

  Katie’s golden hair shimmered in the unrelenting sun. Mark’s arm lay firmly around her waist. Katie slid six-month-old Noah out of a chest carrier and into his father’s waiting arms. Then she turned and started down the valley toward the women’s co-op, to give a workshop on the new well system Shield Trust was building.

  A motorcycle rumbled in the distance. Shivers ran down Rebecca’s neck. It had been seven months since she’d last set eyes on Sergeant Zachary Keats. But the sound of a motorcycle still set off sparklers down her spine. Between his work and her new project with Katie and Mark’s charity, she and Zack had barely ever been on the same continent, let alone in the same country.

  But they’d written. Oh, how they’d written. Emails and texts and long handwritten letters. About clearing his name and getting back out onto the field. About the criminal charges the disgraced General was facing and the attempts authorities were now making to dismantle the foothold Black Talon had gotten in Canada. Seth’s mother’s grave had been found, thanks to a tip from Dmitry, who’d been all too eager to turn on the General. Seth and Maria had both pled guilty, but hadn’t given up the hope of tracking down oth
er siblings they might have around the world.

  And through it all, Zack and Rebecca had written about their dreams for the future and their hopes it would include being together.

  The motorcycle grew closer. She panned the camera down to get a better look.

  Broad shoulders. Strong arms.

  He hit the brakes and slid his visor up. Her eyes fell on the rugged face and gentle smile of the man who set every corner of her heart on fire.

  She ran down the sand toward him. Zack leaped off the motorcycle, yanked off his helmet and ran for her. He caught her halfway up the hill. His strong arms lifted her up off the ground.

  “What are you doing here?” she said. “I thought you weren’t getting leave for a month?”

  He set her down. “I’m stationed at a base a few miles from here. I got a day pass. And when I heard from Mark that you were going to be here this week, too, I couldn’t wait a moment longer for this.”

  “For what?”

  Zack dropped to one knee in the sand.

  “Marry me, Rebecca.” He pulled a handmade ring out of his back pocket, of twisted copper and silver wire twisted into a smooth, intricate circle. “Be my partner. Be my wife. I’m sorry I didn’t have time to buy a ring, and I know we’ve talked about it. But I don’t want to wait. I want us to know that no matter where we are in the world, our home is each other.”

  “Yes.” She was laughing so hard she was almost crying. She held out her hand and let him slide the ring onto her finger. “You know I want to marry you—”

  “Are you sure this is what you want?” His fingers hovered over hers. “To spend your life married to a military man? I’ve put in for a transfer for a job back at headquarters. Which means I’ll be able to come home to you every night and we’ll be able to build a real life together, Becs. Having been on the front line of discovering how Black Talon had infiltrated North America, I want to be involved in the fight to take them down.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Her hands brushed his face. “You’ll save lives. I’ll tell stories. And we’ll both always come home to each other. So, yes, I will marry you.”

  He slid the ring on her finger. “But would you marry me today?”

  “Today?”

  “Today.” Zack stood. He took her hands in both of his. “I’m shipping out of here tomorrow morning. I want to marry you today. This afternoon. Elope with me. With the base chaplain performing the ceremony, and Katie and Mark as our witnesses.”

  She took a deep breath and felt her heart rising inside her chest. The sun rose high in the blue sky above her. Joy filled her heart and sparkled in her eyes.

  “If you want me to wait, a year, five years, ten more years to make you my wife, I will,” Zack added. “I promise I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes. We can wait until we’ve saved up for a dress, and a banquet, and—”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  He stopped. “No?”

  She smiled. “No, you don’t have to wait a moment longer. Yes, Zack, yes, I will marry you today. Right now. I don’t need a fancy dress. I don’t need a banquet. I just need you. You’re all I’ve ever needed. Just you. And I can’t wait to start our life together.”

  His eyes rose to the sky. “Thank You, Lord.” Then his eyes met hers again. “Trust me, it’s not always easy to be a patient man.”

  She laughed. Her hands slipped around his neck. His strong arms encircled her. Her lips kissed his deeply. Then he carried her down the hill to his bike.

  * * * * *

  Keep reading for an excerpt from UNKNOWN ENEMY by Michelle Karl.

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  Dear Reader,

  When Killer Assignment came out in 2013, I received a letter from a reader asking me to write a book about Mark’s friend Zack. She wanted to find out more about the steady, unflappable military man who’d come to Mark and Katie’s rescue.

  Most of all, this wonderful reader asked me to help Zack find the love of his life—which was an interesting challenge. Rebecca was a fun and fascinating character to get to know and I think she suits Zack perfectly. I hope you think so, too. Plus, it was great fun to be able to catch up with Mark and Katie, too.

  Growing up around the world, I was fortunate to get to know several military families, and to spend time with people who’ve served in the American, British and Canadian militaries. Their dedication and determination inspired me, as did the strength of their families.

  While there are several decommissioned military bases dotting Canada, the base at Remi Lake is entirely fictional, as are some of the details surrounding the Canadian special ops. I’m very thankful for my history buff husband for helping me fill in many of the details in this book. I think he’s always been waiting for me to create a special ops hero!

  Thanks to you, too, for sharing Zack and Rebecca’s story with me. If you want to get in touch, you can visit me at www.maggiekblack.com or follow me, @maggiekblack on Twitter.

  As always, thank you for sharing the journey,

  Maggie

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  Unknown Enemy

  by Michelle Karl

  ONE

  Virginia Anderson pushed back from the desk with a sigh, rubbing her tired eyes with a thumb and index finger. If she had to spend another hour in Rhoads, Pennsylvania’s Gwyn Ponth College library without seeing the fading October sunlight, she’d go stark raving mad. Of course, she thought, I have at least three more hours of documents to pore through, so what will that make me?

  Taking the work home? Not an option. The combination of futon, fleece blanket, tea and heavy reading would put her right to sleep. Better to sit on a hard chair in a cool, quiet library and actually get her reading done.

  “See you tomorrow, Ginny?”

  Virginia—Ginny, to most everyone save her parents—waved at Donna, Gwyn Ponth College’s head librarian. “I’ll stick around until Roger comes in to start cleaning.”

  Donna tut-tutted and shook her head. “You work too much, my dear. You part-timers aren’t paid nearly enough for the amount of hours you put in each and every day. If you’re not teaching, here you are. Don’t you ever sleep? You have a big meeting tomorrow, yes?”

  “I only sleep if I have to.” Ginny laughed, waving Donna out the door. “Plus, it’s a meeting w
ith a stuffy old grump from the museum. If I play it right, by this time next year I’ll have a tenure-track position and have made the historical discovery of a lifetime, and the lack of sleep will have been worth it.”

  Donna swept out the door with a sympathetic smile. “I certainly hope so. Tell Roger I said hello.”

  A smile crept into the corners of Ginny’s mouth. Since mid-September, Donna and one of the custodians had been leaving brief, affectionate notes and messages for each other through Ginny, though she’d never actually seen the head librarian and Roger meet in person. If only she could arrange it somehow, but Roger wasn’t a very chatty guy. He was a little on the shy side, and had a hard time making eye contact with others. It explained his hesitance to court the librarian in person, but Ginny was happy to be the go-between for them. It was sweet, and she thought Donna and Roger would make a cute couple.

  As Ginny focused once more on the journal article in front of her, the lights in the room turned off with an audible click. Had Donna turned them off by accident, out of habit? “Not again, Dee,” she called. No response. The librarian must have left in a hurry. “Never mind, I’ll get it.”

  This section of the library book stacks was dim enough to cause eye strain when all the lights were on, let alone having only the light from the emergency exit signs and the intruding outside light from streetlamps to navigate by. As she approached the light switch, a thump came from somewhere behind her. It sounded close. Had she left one of her books too close to the edge of the table?

  “Hello?” Ginny squinted into the darkness of the book stacks behind her. “Is someone there?”

  The sound of a pen hitting the floor sent her flying in the direction of the light switch. She felt a looming presence behind her just as a hand tapped her shoulder.

  “Hey, kid,” said a gruff voice behind her. “Think you’re smart, hiding in here? Don’t make another move.”

  Don’t move? Ginny knew there were still other people in the building, few as they might be, so she made the obvious choice. She shouted and twisted away as the hand slid off her shoulder, flailing her palms against the wall, fingers groping for the light switch.