Fire and Ice (Guardians)

by Paige, Victoria

  Another explosion shook the house taking out the panic room.

  "That's why," Maia said, matter-of-factly, as if panic rooms blown up by RPGs were an everyday occurrence.

  Brett curled up, hugging his knees with his elbows and burying his head in his hands. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck," he repeated over and over.

  A dark shadow fell across them as a merc dressed in all-black commando fatigues came running through the hole torn open by the blast in the panic room. Maia fired her weapon, the figure staggered back but did not go down. Damn robots! Maia launched herself and wrapped her legs around the merc's neck and twisted, immediately hearing the killing snap before landing in a lunge position. Another hostile appeared, this time it was one of Vergara's foot soldiers. Maia spun a roundhouse sweep to the back of the man's legs and took him down. Immediately kneeling on her left leg, right leg cocked in front, she plugged him a double-tap with her automatic pistol.

  Maia spied Brett darting towards the kitchen.

  Damn it, Brett.

  She tore after him at the same time noticing movement coming from the panic room again. She instinctively ducked and dodged right, but was stopped short by a burning sensation in her leg. She'd been shot.

  Spinning and landing on her back, Maia saw her shooter and took steady aim at the area between her enemy's neckline and squeezed the trigger. He went down on his knees before tilting forward, dead.

  Meanwhile, Brett was backing out of the kitchen, arms raised, a red laser dot of an assault rifle trained on his chest. Maia quickly assessed the situation. Danner was engaged in hand-to-hand combat with another merc, and Manning and Edmunds were still shooting it out in front.

  Maia tackled Brett sideways and felt a jarring jolt to her shoulder caused by the impact of a bullet.

  Before landing on Brett, she was able to draw her throwing knife. The laser was trained on her head and she sprang to her haunches and threw the knife aiming for the merc's jugular.

  The rifle fired again.

  ***

  "Castle was hit."

  Jack tensed at Derek's words. Phone calls at 1am were always bad news. Holding his breath, Jack asked, "Brett?"

  "Brett is fine, not a scratch on him."

  He frowned. Derek sounded pissed-off.

  "Any casualties from the Guardians?" Was Maia okay? was what Jack really wanted to know.

  "Nothing major: broken leg, concussion, GSW. We better get there soon before Maia throttles that brother of yours."

  "What happened?"

  "I don't have all the details. Brett bolted, got himself in trouble. Maia took two bullets trying to shield him."

  Christ! I'd strangle that brother of mine, myself, Jack thought angrily.

  "I should be on the helipad of your building in ten," Derek said and disconnected.

  There wasn't much left of Castle. The front was blown out and so was the side and back of the house. No cops were present. The place was crawling with AGS agents. Under the radar! Twelve bodies were lined up in front of the house.

  "Jesus Christ," Jack muttered. "Brett's lucky."

  Derek grunted in agreement.

  A woman with glorious wild red hair was railing at Brett whose head was hung, face red with embarrassment.

  "Seriously, I would shoot you myself, you pull a stunt like that again! I told you to stay down, not go tearing into the kitchen. You could have distracted Danner and gotten him killed!" Maia yelled.

  "Maia we need to look at your leg and any injuries under the vest," an AGS paramedic said.

  "I'm okay!"

  She whirled around her, blue eyes blazing, her hair a flaming mass gleaming against the residual fires around the house. She looked magnificent, Jack thought. She caught his eye and stalked towards him and Derek.

  "Agent Pierce, you've had quite a night," Jack said lightly.

  "You need to knock some sense into that brother of yours," Maia told him, still pissed before giving a chin lift to Derek. "Derek."

  "Sweetie, go get yourself checked out," Derek said quietly.

  Maia huffed and followed the paramedic to the medical van.

  Brett walked up to them. Before Jack could lay in to him, his brother said. "I think I'm in love. Man, you should have seen her move. She took down four hostiles in a span of minutes ... seconds even. She's got quite a temper though. All that red hair."

  "Maia is all that," Derek said knowingly.

  "I dunno what to say, Brett, except ... What. The. Fuck?" Jack growled furiously.

  "Hey, not everyone can be like you. I panicked. Gunfire and explosions everywhere ... couldn't see a damn thing. At all. The clearest path was to the kitchen, so I took it."

  Jack counted to ten. The desire to drop his brother off in the middle of the Amazon so he would learn a few survival skills was proving a powerful temptation. And to have a woman, who was probably half his weight, repeatedly saving his ass was an affront to the McCord pride.

  "I'm surprised none of the Guardians went down, outnumbered as they are. Not to mention facing a hellfire of RPGs," Jack told Derek. "AGS sure knows their shit."

  "The emergency response team arrived before it got really dire," Brett added. "When Maia took that second shot to the chest, I thought it was game over, but she threw a knife at the shooter and took him down."

  "How did she get shot at the leg?" Derek asked

  "Uh, she went after me and got distracted."

  Jack and Derek looked murderous. Brett ignored them, looking past their shoulders. "Looks like I'm not the only one in love with Agent Pierce."

  Jack turned and saw Mike Callahan walking briskly towards the medical van Maia was leaning into. Her vest and shirt had been removed and she was wearing only a tank top. A bandage was wrapped around her right thigh.

  Mike curled his hand around Maia's head to draw her against his chest and then he buried his face in her hair. His other hand went to her back gently pulling her closer to him.

  Jack bristled. "What the hell is the story there?"

  "They were together for a few months two years ago. Obviously our DA hasn't gotten over her," Derek said.

  "Have you ever..."

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  Derek sighed. "Maia doesn't do relationships well. I mean, look at her job. You think any man will let her disappear for weeks on end with no assurances that when she returns, if she ever does, she wouldn't be riddled with bullets? Do I love her? Yes. As a friend. And I'd rather not rock that boat."

  "Good."

  "What do you mean? Where are you going?" Derek called as Jack walked away.

  "Staking a claim."

  Maia tried to pull away from Mike. This was awkward.

  "Mike ..."

  "Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine. Just a flesh wound."

  "God, Maia you need to stop this..."

  "Seriously, we're having this conversation now?" Maia lashed out. She was coming down from an adrenaline rush and couldn't deal with emotional bullshit.

  "Counselor, I'm surprised to see you here," a sardonic voice interrupted from behind them. Mike reluctantly released Maia to face an unhappy-looking Jack McCord.

  Why did McCord look so furious?

  "Mr. McCord," Mike said tightly. Their gazes leveled, clearly sizing up one another. Realization finally dawned on Maia: Jack was interested in her! When had this happened?

  Hell, she didn't need alpha-male posturing at that moment and started to move away.

  Before she could take two steps, Jack gripped her elbow halting her escape and told Mike, "You might want to check on your star witness. Make sure Vergara has not spooked him with this ... spectacular ... ah ... assault."

  The DA paled, glared at Jack and strode towards Brett.

  "That was not nice," Maia said reprovingly and before Jack could reply, added, "What is your game, McCord?"

  Jack smirked. Maia wanted to punch him.

  "I like that. You're perceptive and direct," he drawled, his eyes turning heated as he too
k in the rise and fall of her breasts beneath her flimsy, ribbed tank top. The chilly night air had enhanced the outline of her nipples straining against the top. "Fuck. I shouldn't be lusting after a woman who nearly got her leg blown off."

  "Uh...."

  "I want you."

  "I'm your brother's bodyguard."

  "So, after ..."

  "I can't believe this!" Maia hissed. "Really, Mr. McCord this is highly inappropriate conversation. Besides, I don't date or do relationships."

  "Did I say anything about a relationship?"

  "So you just want to fuck?"

  Jack smirked again. Really this guy is impossible, Maia thought, her temper rising just as she felt a gush of warmth between her legs. Oh God, hell no, she was not attracted to Jack McCord.

  "You want me too."

  "You. Are. So full of yourself."

  Jack cupped her other elbow, drew her closer, and lowered his head to the side of her ear and whispered, "Don't you want to be full of me?"

  Maia's eyes widened. Men didn't usually talk dirty to her. Most would be too intimidated. She looked up into Jack's slate-blue eyes, which were almost black in the flickering light. She could either dig her hands into his hair, drag his head down and shove her tongue into his mouth or she could pull away. Two can play this game, she thought. Summoning years of practice, Maia's eyes fluttered to half-mast, she licked her lips and stared at Jack's firm lips dreamily. She was pleased to hear his breath hitch before she smiled sweetly and said, "No."

  Maia tugged her arms free and strode off to where Brett, Mike and Derek stood in a huddle. They had all had their eyes on her and Jack. Derek looked disapproving, Mike was thunderous and Brett was well, Brett. She needed to brief them on the new safe house, a bunker type structure not too far from Castle. Thank God there were less than seven hours before the whole mess was over. She was going to take up Viktor's offer of a break and head to Bora Bora.

  "You can run, Miss Pierce," Jack called after her, and she could swear he murmured, "but you can't hide."

  ***

  Raul Vergara was convicted on all counts of money laundering, narcotics trafficking and police bribery. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. The list of transactions and names was released to respective agencies such as the DEA, FBI, Internal Affairs and the Department of Justice. The NPPD had taken a direct hit and sadly it would take time for the local police force to regain the trust of the public. The US Marshal's East Coast division was also getting an overhaul. A few politicians in DC had resigned their posts as investigations uncovered their involvement in the drug trade.

  Mike Callahan, New Park City DA had become the city's local hero. AGS was working its butt off to make sure he stayed alive. He sure had made a lot of enemies.

  Brett McCord had been whisked off to a family estate, parts unknown.

  Numerous arrest warrants had been issued. Vergara's men had scattered and started moving into smaller towns to hide the merchandise waiting until the heat cooled down. Millions of dollars in drugs had been confiscated, but there's still a sizable amount floating around.

  And there's the matter of the Russians.

  Jack and Derek emerged from a meeting with the DoD representatives. Needless to say their clients were pleased with the next stage of weapons testing.

  Colonel Hugo Dalton was head of Advanced Weapons Acquisition and their main liaison at the DoD. His group worked closely with specialized units within the military to assess the changing landscape of covert operations.

  A new lightweight carbine and an untraceable tracking device were on the fast-track to testing and production.

  "New toys for the big boys," Colonel Dalton declared jovially before stepping into the elevator with his colleagues to report back to the Pentagon.

  Jack smiled wryly at Derek. "Now that was an easy sell."

  "Yeah."

  "Drinks back at my office? We can head out to dinner later to celebrate."

  "Man, we need to stop dating each other. No hope of getting back with Isabella?"

  Isabella had been Jack's girlfriend for eight months. Lasting longer than most of his other arrangements, she was gorgeous, sophisticated, good in bed and most of importantly, had not demanded much attention until two months ago, that is. Jack hated getting played. Apparently, Isabella had made it her life's mission to become Mrs. Jack McCord and studied Jack's past relationships to this end. Jack liked his independence so she had played it cool in the beginning. But when she realized Jack was not getting any nearer to committing to any future with her, she had started delivering ultimatums. Jack had not wasted any time in dispatching her ass three weeks before.

  "I never go back, you know that. When I'm done, I'm done."

  "Jack, you can't go on like this. You need to move on from Claire."

  A flash of pain jagged through Jack's indigo eyes. Claire had been Jack's fiancée, and had been killed twelve years before in an accident that also took the life of his sister, Anna. It was a hellish time for everyone. The accident was in fact a revenge hit ordered by enemies Jack acquired during his time as a Navy SEAL. His missions were top-secret, but there were rumored to be leaks in the CIA and names involved in some covert ops were released. There was an inquiry initiated by the McCord family, but it was dropped due to lack of evidence.

  Jack couldn't find it in himself to go through the heartbreak of losing someone he loved again. He did care for his girlfriends and was a generous lover both financially and physically, but his emotional involvement was minimal. "I'm over that."

  "No, you're not."

  "What about you Derek? You're older than I am. Why don't you have a wife and three kids?" Jack shot back, getting irritated.

  Derek was 41 years old, two years older than Jack. Dark blonde with brown eyes, he was physically built exactly like Jack - lean muscle and ruggedly handsome and was not lacking female company either.

  "Point taken. But it's not because I can't commit. I just love women, different women."

  "I can't keep track of your women. At least I'm monogamous."

  Derek sighed. "We're hopeless. Maybe that's why we're such good friends."

  Jack grinned and thumped Derek on the back as they entered his office.

  "Let's stop commiserating like a couple of old women. Scotch?"

  Derek's cell phone started buzzing.

  "Lockwood."

  Jack watched his friend listening intently to whoever was on the other end, and tensed when Derek's face lost all color. Not good.

  "Fuck! What's her location?" Derek exploded. "No... no... I don't remember the fourth encryption protocol. My cell is secure. Damn it, Viktor, just give me the damn coordinates!"

  Jack was already handing Derek a pen and paper.

  "Gotcha." Derek ended the call, scribbling some numbers quickly.

  "I need to go. I'm taking one of our fully-equipped SUVs"

  "Need backup?" Jack offered quietly.

  The two friends frequently "helped" each other out in situations outside the office.

  Derek looked at Jack carefully as if contemplating what he was about to reveal.

  "What's going on?" Jack pressed, an odd nagging fear crawling over his skin.

  "Come on. I'll tell you on the way. Can't waste any more time."

  CHAPTER TWO

  Jack was furious. He and Derek sped through New Park City heading towards the warehouse district. Maia had called Viktor for backup because the Russian nut job she had burned in her last assignment had found her. AGS had known of this danger since the attack on the safe house which was five days ago. Jack wanted to know why her people had not tried harder to contain the situation. None of the ERTs were on alert right then and it would take an hour to mobilize them by which time it would be too late. Viktor called Derek: the MDI offices were twenty minutes away from the warehouse where Maia was holed-up in.

  Jack shouldn't have waited to make his move on her. He'd been trying to get her contact information from Derek but his friend had been e
vading his subtle inquiries. He had also tried the Private Investigator route but that had turned out to be all false information. She was a ghost. This intrigued Jack. He had other resources of course, but he did not want to tap into those markers unless he had to, as it might have raised unnecessary questions. Besides, he would have bet most information on her would be covered under black marker anyway. Heck, he should have just sat on Derek's head until he gave him Maia's number.

  Now Maia was in trouble.

  "I don't know Viktor Baran personally, but I'm really, really pissed at him right now," Jack said through his teeth.

  "I thought she'd already gone to ground. I know she took on Brett's protective detail because Viktor was keeping her off of international radar. Instead it exposed her to the very people she was trying to avoid. I don't know the whole story. I try not to get into AGS business and Maia doesn't share, but from what I've gathered these people are bad news and now they're Stateside."

  Derek had worked for Viktor before, and that was how he had met Maia, so he generally knew how the company operated. His former boss also called him occasionally for favors.

  Their black Escalade pulled up a block from the target location. Heading straight for the trunk, they armed themselves with semi-automatic weapons, ammunition and other essential assault gear. They then snuck up the remaining block, keeping close to the shadows.

  There was a black panel van parked up ahead blocking Maia's convertible.

  Jack pointed an MDI heat-signature device at the vehicle and noted that there were no warm bodies in the car.

  "Van is clear, let's move in."

  Derek hoofed it quietly towards the entrance of the warehouse, Jack kept his eyes open for snipers and followed when his friend gave the all clear.

  Taking a peek up the open stairwell, they identified three flights of stairs. Blood was trickling from the second landing.

  Jack and Derek exchanged grim glances. The warehouse was eerily quiet. Whatever had happened here was over. They stuck to one side of the stairs and sidled up, guns and elbows cocked and ready to go. There was a dead man on the stairs, head partially blown off. Another was on the last flight of steps, a recipient of the same fatal shot. Jack smiled humorlessly as he thought, Kill shots.