Maximum Risk

by Lowery, Jennifer

  “It’s confined to the town square right now. The potential to spread through the region is high.”

  “That region has been unstable for months,” she said. She knew because when she’d booked their hotel rooms the travel agent warned her against it.

  “Islamic extremists have been gaining strength and becoming increasingly violent. They set a car bomb a month or so ago. Killed three people.”

  “As long as we’re in the air before it blows up it doesn’t affect us,” Quinn said.

  “Our pilot is monitoring,” Ryan reassured her.

  “We need to move. Get you out of this damn country ASAP.”

  Avery looked at the determination written on Quinn’s face. As much as she hated being down in the ground, the thought of leaving and facing the army hunting her terrified her.

  They couldn’t stay here forever; she had a life to get back to. Funerals to go to. Her chest tightened at the thought of burying her friends who would be alive if she hadn’t dragged them here in the first place. If she hadn’t broken off her engagement and pushed her team into making another run so soon after the last. Just so she didn’t have to face the truth that she’d chosen her work over love. If she hadn’t been so selfish, her friends wouldn’t have suffered horrible deaths.

  A shudder worked its way down her spine at the thought.

  Quinn misinterpreted the act and said, “You’ll be safe with us. We won’t let anything happen to you.”

  She nodded and they flew into action. Before long she was out of the cave and surrounded by three warriors determined to protect her.

  Chapter Four

  Quinn scanned the trees around them again. “We gotta move.”

  No sooner were the words out of his mouth, than gunfire from an automatic weapon split the air.

  Quinn pressed closer to Avery, shielding her with his body. Through his earbud Kell said, “Tangos hot on our tail. I’m gonna head them off. Get to the chopper.”

  He locked eyes with Ryan over Avery’s head. The odds of Kell making it alone were slim. By now the army of men searching for Avery had probably gained force. Kell was good, but not invincible.

  “I’ll go,” Ryan volunteered. “You get her to the chopper.”

  “Like hell. I go.” Dani would have his head if he let Ryan charge into the line of fire. They were getting married in two weeks. The groom would return in one piece for the wedding. He would make sure of it.

  “Wait. Go where?” Avery asked from beneath his arm. “Shouldn’t we stay together?”

  Quinn handed her over to Ryan. “Go.”

  With a nod, Ryan pulled her close and urged her forward.

  Just for an instant, when their eyes met, Quinn could have sworn he saw concern in the gray depths. For him? He scowled. Ridiculous. He was a PJ. A recovery specialist. Rescuing people was what he did. He’d been in worse places.

  He shook it off and headed in the direction of the gunfire. Ryan would get Avery safely to the chopper while they held off the troops. That way everyone would get home.

  ****

  For the second time Avery ran for her life. Try as she might, her legs wouldn’t move as fast as she wanted them to. Bigger, stronger, and faster, Ryan kept an arm around her, practically carrying her when she lagged. Adrenaline prevented her from feeling any pain. Later, when she crashed and reality hit, she would feel it. Now, she felt nothing but fear.

  When she stumbled, Ryan picked her up and carried her. It didn’t slow him down any. Sure-footed, he descended the mountain while she clung to his neck. The terrain changed, leveled out, and trees grew taller, denser. They followed a footpath until the trees parted around a small valley. She heard it, then spotted it when Ryan slowed to a walk. The helicopter sat in the middle of swaying tall grass, blades spinning.

  Avery scrambled onto the bench seat, her back pressed to the wall as soon as Ryan put her inside. Another man leaned over the front seat to look at them. “What the hell?”

  “Ran into some trouble.” Ryan climbed in and sat across from her. “Quinn and Kell are handling it.”

  “We’re sitting ducks here.”

  “Just give them a few minutes. They’ll make it.”

  The pilot turned around in his seat and she noticed the tightening of Ryan’s jaw. That was the only sign he showed of being worried, but she knew the situation wasn’t good. A knot formed in her belly and she rubbed her hand over her stomach. What if something happened to Quinn? What if he didn’t return? What if—

  Ryan moved beside her and slid an arm around her shoulders. “Hey,” he said over the roar of the helicopter. “Everything is going to be fine.”

  “You chew spearmint gum,” she said, distracted by her thoughts of Quinn. He was out there fighting for her. She knew first-hand what the bad guys could do to a person. If they caught him…

  “How did you know that?”

  Ryan’s voice brought her out of her thoughts. She didn’t want to think about what could happen to Quinn. “I smelled it earlier.”

  “Really? I haven’t chewed a piece in over four hours. That’s some nose you have.”

  She didn’t tell him they’d kept her in the dark for almost three days and deprived her senses so others were heightened. If not for that tiny window…

  “My fiancée calls it a vice.”

  “Fiancée?” she repeated as her memories faded to that dark place where she needed to keep them right now.

  “Yeah. Dani. She’s back home planning our wedding. Can you keep a secret?”

  Avery nodded. Sweet of him to distract her. Right now she needed to forget. Dani was a lucky woman.

  “The wedding is really for her.” Ryan leaned in as if it was a deep, dark secret not to be shared. “She tells me it’s for us, but guys don’t care about that stuff. We care more about the honeymoon.”

  She smiled at the implication in his tone. “That’s your secret?” God, her head hurt. “Women know guys don’t care about the color of the bridesmaid’s dresses or what kind of flower is in the bouquet. And guess what? We care more about the honeymoon too.”

  “Actually, I booked a trip to Ireland for our honeymoon and Dani doesn’t know—what do you mean you care more about the honeymoon?” He sounded genuinely curious and arrogantly pleased.

  She looked up to see him grinning. “We like sex just as much as guys do. And Ireland sounds like the perfect romantic getaway. I’m sure Dani will love it.”

  “So all the wedding stuff is foreplay?”

  “You got it.”

  “I’ll be damned.”

  Avery smiled at the awe in his voice. She hadn’t even begun to plan the wedding she’d called off. And she’d been engaged for almost a year. Tim had pressured her to set a date for months, but she could never do it. Something always got in the way. His work, her work. Was it any surprise he’d finally given her an ultimatum?

  And when backed into a corner, she’d bolted. Instead of cherishing Tim like Ryan so obviously treasured his fiancée, she’d walked away without a backward glance. God, what was wrong with her?

  Her world was falling apart.

  Something pinged off the side of the chopper, startling her.

  The pilot shouted and Ryan shoved her to the floor.

  All hell broke loose.

  ****

  White-hot pain pulsed through his arm. Quinn clamped a hand over the wound, cursing a blue streak. “Kell? Where the hell are you?”

  Kell was a damn ghost—one minute he was there, the next he was gone and bodies were dropping. They’d managed to lure the army in the opposite direction and now the bastards were chasing their own tails.

  “Right behind you, bro.”

  Not in the mood for Kell’s warped sense of humor, he swung around and started trekking in the direction of the chopper. Warm blood leaked through his fingers.

  “You should wrap that.” Kell melted out of the trees and fell into step beside him.

  “Just a scratch.”

  Kell shrug
ged. “You’re the medic.”

  Quinn cast him a look and said into his lip mic, “Savat, ETA twenty minutes. Immediate take-off, so be ready.”

  “Copy that…Fuck! Hold on.”

  Something popped in Quinn’s ear and he drew back. “Savat, what the hell’s going on?”

  “We’re taking fire!”

  Static filled his headset and he glanced at Kell, who listened with a dark expression. “Shit.” He smacked a hand against the trunk of a tree, getting perverse pleasure from the pain that shot down his arm.

  “Relax. Savat’s a fighter pilot. He’ll get Ryan and Avery out of the line of fire.”

  Quinn glared at his brother. “And in the meantime we sit here with our dicks swinging in the wind.”

  Kell shrugged. “Nothing we can do until Savat arranges a pickup. So what happened to Avery?”

  Quinn shook his head. “She won’t tell me. Her shoes are gone and she’s got bruising on her arms and neck. You saw the cut on her side.”

  “Torture.”

  “Most likely.”

  Kell’s dark brows drew together. “Shit.”

  “What the hell did Shea say in her call?”

  A mask fell over Kell’s face. “Everything you already know. The name of the guy with the chopper for rent and some kick-ass weapons. She saved us a lot of time and hassle having everything arranged by the time we got here.”

  At what price? But Quinn kept that thought to himself. His personal opinion about Shea Morrissey had no bearing on the here and now. “Nothing else? Your ex—a spook—pops up out of the goddamn blue, gives you this intel, then helps us out? I’m not buying it. That woman can’t be trusted.”

  “You think I don’t fucking know that?”

  Hearing the torment in Kell’s voice, Quinn cursed and let it drop. Now wasn’t the time to unleash Kell’s demons. “Damn it, what’s going on up there?”

  “Savat will handle it.”

  Quinn applied pressure to his wound, wishing to hell he was on that chopper instead of here.

  His gut clenched. He couldn’t do a damn thing about it down here on the ground while they were being shot at in the air.

  “She is the head of a very influential organization,” Kell pointed out, steering the subject back to Avery.

  “There would have been a ransom if they’d kidnapped her for money. The news reported her deceased with the rest of the aid workers.”

  “I can have Shea look into it.”

  “No. We’ll handle it.” He would never do that to his brother. Shea Morrissey had ripped Kell’s heart out of his chest four years ago and he damn well wasn’t letting her do it again. Besides, he had a feeling they hadn’t heard the last from Shea.

  Static filled his ear, then Savat’s voice, strained. “Give me your position. Ryan’s been hit.”

  ****

  Blood pumped through Avery’s hands where they covered a hole in Ryan’s chest. She fought for balance with every pitch and sway of the helicopter. Over the roar of noise she couldn’t hear the pilot, but knew he was working on getting them to Quinn.

  God, please get them there quick.

  One minute Ryan had been distracting her from the danger and the next they were neck deep in it. Gunshots echoed in her head. Then Ryan’s curse as he blocked her body with his. The impact of the bullet hitting him and knocking them both to the floor.

  Blood.

  So much blood.

  Biting her lip to stifle a sob, she pressed harder on Ryan’s chest. More blood leaked through her fingers. Was she helping or harming? His eyes were closed, his head rolled to the side.

  “Oh God,” she breathed. She leaned over and pressed her ear to his chest. “No! Dammit, you breathe for me, Ryan Wolff! You keep breathing until your brother gets here.”

  Angry, she pumped his chest. “Quinn’s trained for this. He’ll know what to do. Don’t you die on me, you hear?” She was screaming but she didn’t care.

  He wasn’t breathing.

  “No!” she cried and applied more pressure to try and stench the flow. “You can’t put this on me. Please—I can’t live knowing that bullet was meant for me. God, please,” she crooned, bent over him, willing him to take a breath.

  He didn’t.

  “Damn you!” she shouted. “Why did you have to get in front of me? Why did you have to be the hero?”

  The helicopter dropped and her stomach with it. Frantically, she pumped his chest, trying to restart his heart, not realizing they had landed until a pair of hands lifted her out of the way and set her aside.

  She fell back against the bench seat, wide-eyed, as Quinn dropped to his knees beside Ryan’s still form and began to perform CPR. In a daze she watched another man leap on board, his dark eyes cutting through her.

  Time stood still as she watched them rip open the medic bag Quinn carried. Contents spilled onto the floor.

  “Get us in the fucking air, Savat!”

  Quinn’s shout echoed through the small space. Frozen in place, she watched Kell pull the door closed, secure it, and then drop down beside Ryan’s still form, demanding Quinn let him help. Quinn continued to work, his hands flying over Ryan’s body, administering life-saving drugs and CPR as if he hadn’t heard him. Focus and determination were written in the lines of his face.

  Avery couldn’t look away. Ryan’s chest wasn’t moving. His lips were blue. Blood covered his clothes and his face was deathly white. The helicopter lifted into the air, twisting and turning as it rose. Her breath caught in her throat as they left the ground and in that moment of nothing she knew Ryan was gone. And it was her fault.

  Her ears began to ring. She gazed at the resolute line of Quinn’s mouth as he pumped Ryan’s chest, then down at the peaceful look on Ryan’s face. A lump formed in her throat.

  Kell grabbed Quinn by the vest. “Goddammit, Quinn! He’s gone.”

  Although he shouted, it sounded like he spoke through a tunnel. Quinn shoved him away and slammed a fist on Ryan’s chest, over his heart as if that would make it beat on its own.

  Tears filled her eyes as she watched Kell tackle Quinn to the floor then knock him back against the wall. Punches were thrown. Sounds of their struggle echoed through her head. Quinn fought Kell, eyes blazing with fury.

  Avery shook her head, dots danced in front of her eyes as Kell tried to help Quinn come to terms. When Quinn broke free and began CPR again, desperately trying to bring his brother back, Kell simply fell against the wall and let him go with tears glistening in his eyes.

  She saw his pain and fell to her knees next to Quinn, put a hand on his arm. He went rigid, his hands stilling on his brother’s chest. Slowly, he sank back until his hands fell from Ryan’s still form. His pain was palpable. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, hold him, but when he looked at her there was nothing but coldness in his eyes.

  “Get the hell away from me.”

  Avery stood, stung by his rejection. She deserved it, but that didn’t make it any easier to hear him say the words. Or see the contempt in his eyes when he looked at her.

  “I’m sorry.” She pressed numbly against the wall, wishing Quinn Wolff had never saved her life.

  Chapter Five

  Cedar Falls, Michigan

  The Wolff Securities private jet touched ground with hardly a bump. When it came to a stop Quinn pushed to his feet. The ache in his gut intensified. Across from him Kell rose to his feet, his eyes solemn. He didn’t look forward to the task that lay ahead any more than Quinn did. For now he needed to arrange a flight for Avery to New York where she could be with her aunt and her fiancé. She would need her own support system right now.

  His stomach hardened at the thought of Avery taking comfort in another man’s arms. Images filled his head and he gritted his teeth, forcing them away. The tan line on her hand represented a line he wouldn’t cross, no matter how much he wanted to. For more reasons than that, she needed to go home.

  “I got it.” Kell bent down to lift Ryan’s lifeless body.
“You get her.” He nudged his chin in Avery’s direction.

  Quinn grabbed Kell’s arm, meeting his brother’s hard gaze. Words trapped in his throat and he let go, instead moving to the door to open it. With a nod of unspoken understanding Kell exited the jet into the cloudy afternoon warmth where a lone Wolff stood rigid next to a 1969 Dodge Charger, his hands fisted at his sides.

  Quinn watched Kell cross the private airstrip to where Chris stood. His brother took one look at Ryan then at him, pain reflected in his eyes. He let out an anguished shout, spun around and slammed his fist into the hood of his beloved car. Metal crunched beneath the force of it and Quinn flinched. Chris hung his head for a moment, his shoulders slumped with grief. Then he squared them, cast another look at Quinn and walked with Kell toward the hangar where an ambulance would arrive to take Ryan’s body away.

  Chest tight, Quinn turned and glanced to the front of the plane where Avery hadn’t moved the entire trip home. Her head rested against the back of the seat, her face pale, her expression vacant as she watched them take his brother’s body away.

  He hadn’t handled her well. Sent her off to sit alone while he pushed his grief deep and made the necessary calls. He hated to leave things like this between them, but his brothers, Nate and Evan, were flying in tonight and his task couldn’t wait. The rest of the family didn’t know he’d broken his promise to Dani. That was his next stop.

  Avery looked up; her eyes met his. Pain and regret showed in her face. She carried Ryan’s death on her shoulders as he did, but he just couldn’t find it in him to comfort her. Not when his brother was gone.

  Damn it, it should have been him. Not his brother, who had a fiancée waiting at home for him.

  The sooner he got Avery on a flight out to New York, the better. Then he could focus on his brother’s funeral and how he’d fucked up.

  He leaned over and held a hand out to her. “Come on.”

  Avery ignored his hand and pushed to her feet. “Where are we?”

  “My place.”