by S. K. Lessly
“Okay good, let’s go. We have shit to do.” He told me using his Major’s voice. There was no tenderness or warmth in the way he spoke. Now granted, it wasn’t any different from the previous times we worked together. However, I had hoped he would’ve pulled me up and wrapped me in his arms. After all, I almost died. Didn’t he feel anything?
Nope, you snuffed those feelings when you walked out on him.
Trying not to get depressed even more, I started to rise when I remembered something crucial. Something that had escaped my mind when I was fighting. The sniper. Fuck…
I called out sniper, and at the same time scissor kicked my legs out. I caught Shane’s ankles and brought him down. He fell hard. I winced when I saw him go down but I didn’t apologize. Even when he sent the deadliest eyes my way. I shrugged and pointed in the distance.
“There’s a sniper somewhere up there. He’s the one that shot me.” Still lying on my back I pointed to my bloodied side. Shane’s eyes lost some of the rage but not all. He growled in frustration leaned away from me and reached behind his back. At first I thought he was pulling his gun on me, but when his hand came back with a sizable rock in his fist, I winced again.
“Sorry,” I offered.
“Yeah,” he replied, throwing the rock in the distance. “You always are.”
That dig hurt, but I tried not to let him see just how much.
He started to rise and I reached for him to stop him, not sure why. Maybe I should just let his ungrateful ass get shot. Despite my efforts to keep him down, Shane lifted his hand silently stopping me.
“I’ve neutralized the sniper already. I did it before we landed.”
“Oh,” I said lamely, then gave him a side eye. “Are you sure?”
Shane stood stretched his back and looked down at me.
“Yes, I’m sure. I wouldn’t have landed if there was a threat of that magnitude down here.”
Huh, I guess that made sense. I wasn’t sure why that didn’t cross my mind before. Of course he would have used thermal imaging over the area to make sure they could land safely. I was such an idiot.
I fixed my mouth to say sorry again, but he cut me off.
“Save it. We need to get out of here and get back to the office. There’s a lot you don’t know and you need to be brought up to speed.”
Bryant appeared above me with an outstretched hand. I took it gratefully and he hefted me to my feet.
I dusted my ass off and said with a bit of grit in my voice, “Oh, you mean the fact that Emily has just waged war on us.” I flinched when I tried to stretch and examined my side. It still hurt like a son of a bitch from that beast of man sticking his thumb into the wound.
When I didn’t hear a reply, I lifted my eyes to find Shane’s heavy green gaze on me. His eyes roamed my face, clocking the bruise on my cheek then traveled his gaze down my front to where my hand was covering my side.
He stepped closer and pushed my hand away. “Let me see.”
I smacked his hand away, not wanting him to touch me. I knew if he did, I’d probably fall apart. I was barely holding on from him being this close to me.
“I’m fine.” I narrowed my eyes on him and stepped back. “What’s the next step?”
“We need to get back to the office,” Shane informed me then tapped his earpiece for comms and stepped away from me. “Tango this is Alpha…”
One of Bryant’s guys approached me and handed me a gauze pad and some tape. I mumbled a thanks and ripped open the gauze and placed it against my side. I ripped a few pieces of tape to hold the gauze in place. The wound would need proper cleaning. We just didn’t have time for it right now.
Shane raised his eyes to us and started barking orders.
“Bryant pick two of your men to stay behind and secure this area and the house Misty was staying. I’m sending a clean-up crew and forensics down here to take pictures and get prints. I want to know who these people are and where they came from, especially that big fucker.”
Bryant nodded. “You got it.”
Shane continued. “Gather up what you can and let’s move. The Huey is setting down west of us. There’s a clearing just up ahead. We need to move.”
Someone tapped me on my shoulder and I turned to see one of our guys holding up a pair of boots.
I smiled and took them. “Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it,” he replied and stepped away, clearly indicating he was staying a while.
I looked around the carnage before me. Apparently, the whole team was busy taking down the bad guys while I was wrestling with the beast. Shane had most of Tango team with him, a group of badass ex-special forces. They weren’t Marines, but they did alright. I hadn’t heard their shots or see the men go down. Probably because I was too busy trying to stay alive.
We made our way out of the woods and to the clearing Shane had mentioned. The Huey was waiting for us and we ran to the bird, our heads down, eyes still scanning the area around us. You could never be too careful.
We lifted off and leveled out heading back to D.C. Once we were in flight, I let out a sigh and released the tension coiling through my body. I closed my eyes, allowing the vibration of the helicopter to soothe me. I didn’t realize someone was in front of me until I felt his touch on my skin. I jumped slightly, not startled at all. It was the feeling of his skin on mine that sent jolts of electricity through my body.
I opened my eyes and found him kneeling in front of me. He was shaking an ice pack in his hand and once the cooling crystals were activated, he handed it to me.
“Thanks,” I said softly, the sound of the rotors whipping through the night sky, drowning out my gratitude.
Shane merely gave me a quick head nod then focused his attention on my side. He sat a first-aid kit next to me, opened the metal container then placed his gaze back on my side.
The gentle way he worked to remove the tape from my rushed bandage job, cleaned the wound and re-taped it, had my stomach in knots. My heart was pounding against my chest, my skin was on fire from his gentle touch and dammit, my womanly parts were pulsing with need.
Shane however seemed unaffected by me. He went about patching me up without a word. When I said thank you to him, he met my eyes and it broke my heart with what I saw. Nothing. I saw absolutely nothing in his usually expressive eyes. There was no anger, no frustration, or pain or anything. They were just empty.
He moved his eyes from mine and went back to his seat far away from me.
This was what I wanted, right? For him to move on from me. Yeah, well if that was the case, why did it hurt so much.
We trudged on, riding high above a cloudless, darkened sky. Stars twinkled in the night, reminding me of small Christmas lights blinking on and off. The moon was bright, large and imposing but beautiful.
Staring out into the night allowed me to clear my head and get my mind right. I had to stop thinking about Shane. What we had was over, finished. The ship had sailed. No better yet, the ship had sunk. It was at the bottom of the Atlantic and there was no way I could salvage anything. I needed to get over him.
But I knew deep down in my heart, that wouldn’t happen. I would never be able to get over the love of my life. Not while he lived and breathed in front of me. I wouldn’t be able to get over him even if God took him away from me.
Fuck, Misty. What are you doing? You’ve been waiting your entire life for this moment, for this man and you’re just going to let him go? Just like that?
No, fuck that!
I would be the biggest idiot if I let him go. Living without him wouldn’t be rose petals and rainbows. I would be a depressed, miserable bitch, more than usual I might add. That wasn’t the kind of life I needed to live. It wasn’t what I deserved. I had said it before, God didn’t make mistakes. If I believed that, then I had to believe that he didn’t put Shane in my life, make me fall madly in love with him, only to not keep him.
He was mine. Not Malibu Barbie’s, not any other bitches. He.was.mine!
&n
bsp; Now, all I needed to do was figure out a way to get him back. If I had to grovel and beg, that’s what I would do. He couldn’t just throw me away like I meant nothing to him. He had told me he was in love with me. If that was true, which I had no doubt it was, there was no way he was over me that fast. No fucking way.
I glanced his way and found him studying his iPad. The man looked good as hell sitting there all focused on the screen in his rather large and talented hands. His brows were furrowed, concentrating on whatever he was reading. His jaw was tense, his luscious mouth in a tight line. Man, just thinking about what he could do with that mouth made me want to say fuck it all, grab him by his face and stick my tongue down his throat.
Would he push me away if I did that? If I took what I wanted from him? I had no freaking idea, but I needed to find out. One day I would and it would either be the highlight of my life or a complete and utter disaster.
“Say again!” Shane suddenly yelled, sitting straight in his seat. He covered his ears with his hands then looked right at me. Emotion suddenly filled his eyes: murderous rage, fear and alertness.
I sat upright too and waited for him to speak.
“Our office is under attack.” He finally told all of us.
“What!” I blanched my eyebrows drawn up in bewilderment and denial.
I reached for a spare headset and placed them over my ears. I looked at Shane.
“Tell me what’s going on. Is Emily targeting the entire team?”
Shane ran his hand over his face and it looked as if he aged right before my eyes. When he began to tell me everything that happened over the last few of hours or so, rage began to boil in my veins. I had never in my life wanted to kill someone as much as I wanted to then. Fucking Emily Parsons. That bitch is fucking dead!
“Can I fucking kill her now?” I asked after he was finished telling me everything that had happened.
Shane nodded. “Only if you get to her first.”
“Oh no, that psychotic bitch is mine. You owe me.”
For the first time in like forever, Shane smiled at me.
“Yeah, I do. She’s all yours.”
Five minutes later, after receiving the call that our office was under attack, we landed on the roof of the building. I was still wearing my crop top, spandex shorts and a dead man’s boots; however, I added an AR15 assault rifle and the need to kill to my ensemble.
I climbed out of the Huey right behind Shane. Bryant tried to cut in front of me but I pushed him back. No one was watching Shane’s back but me.
We moved silently to a door leading from the roof to the building. The door opened using Shane’s palm print and rectal scan. When the lock clicked, he looked back at us, his eyes hard as stone.
“We have no idea how many have infiltrated the floor. Sweep every room, every corner. If you can leave someone to question later, do so. Otherwise kill them all.”
Shane opened the door and cleared the space before signaling us to move. We took a set of metal stairs down, moving quickly, clearing floors before we reached their landings. When we made it to our floor, Shane signaled us to hold by raising his fist in the air. He signaled for one of Bryant’s men to approach, Kyle I think, and pointed to the door then the floor.
Kyle nodded, gave his rifle to me then pulled out a long black cord attached to a small handheld device with a small screen from a pack at his hip. On one end of the cord was a small camera that fed images to the device. He knelt on the floor and slowly fed the camera end of the black cord underneath the door in front of us. He paused, shifted the cord left and right looking for anything that could be detriment to our health, such as the door being rigged to explode or a body on the door just waiting for us to arrive.
Seeing all that he needed, Kyle, just as slowly as before, pulled back the cord and stood. He gave Shane a thumbs up, took his rifle back from me and readied himself at the door. Shane looked at us, raised a hand and started counting off with his fingers.
Five…four…three…two…one…
Shane turned the knob of the door and the door opened without blowing us to smithereens. We filed out three going left the rest heading right. Shane was right behind me as I covered everyone. Doors were being opened behind me but I kept moving forward. Automatic gunfire, coming from a rifle that didn’t belong to us, could be heard up ahead.
I picked up my pace, my AR 15 up and ready, finger weighing heavy on the trigger. I caught sight of two people dressed in all black, with their faces covered. I didn’t waste time, I shot them in the back of the head. They dropped, which signaled the others with them that they had company.
More bodies in black turned our way and started firing suppressed rounds our way. I dropped to one knee trying to make myself small as I fired, fired, fired. Shane was across from me doing the same. Once the threat was neutralized, we continued on, clearing rooms and taking out anyone we found who didn’t belong.
We came up to Sweet’s office and found a body lying in the doorway. His face was practically blown off but I recognized the figure. I softly cursed and entered the office. It was empty. I stared at the closed bathroom door. I didn’t hear anything. I checked the doorknob. It was locked. I knocked and called her name. No answer. Thinking that she was like me and didn’t like just anyone in her bathroom I didn’t think anything of the locked door. Maybe she was in with the geeks.
I filed out of the room and continued on.
The sounds of gunfire had ceased. I wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. I turned a corner heading toward the computer lab, when Curtis appeared out of fucking nowhere. I kept my gun trained on him until I saw Shane behind him.
“It’s clear, Gunny,” Shane informed me and I lowered my weapon. I studied both men’s faces and they looked grim and worried.
“What?” I asked them both, my chest getting tight with unease.
It was Curtis who answered me. “Sweets. She isn’t in the room with Nickels and Junior. They said she went to her office before the alarms started ringing.”
I turned around and started running back to her office. I stepped inside and went straight for the bathroom door.
I banged on the door this time and yelled her name. Still nothing.
I heard Curtis cuss before he appeared in the doorway, his face hard and his lips thin.
Shane moved past him and stepped up to the door.
“Is she in there?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. And there isn’t a panel so…”
Shane stepped to the side of the door. He felt along the edges of the doorway, his fingers probing the wood along the door until he stopped. He pressed his thumb and a gotdamn piece of the wall opened to reveal a freaking panel. I looked at him, eyes wide. He simply shrugged and placed his palm on the panel.
There was a swooshing sound then the door clicked. I didn’t waste time. I turned the knob and opened the door to find a sight that had my heart in my throat.
Sweets was on the floor, on her hands and knees desperately trying to breathe. Baby Jay was in the tub, standing with his hands on the edge of the tub holding his little body up. He was screaming at the top of his lungs, his little face red and wet with tears and snot.
Shane headed to the baby, picked him up, and began consoling him. I went to my knees in front of Sweets.
“Sweets, talk to me. Are you in labor?” I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping she’d say no.
She looked up at me and shook her head. Her face was wet with tears and I could see the struggle she was going through trying to breathe. “Okay, then you’re having an asthma attack?”
She nodded and I looked around the room. “Someone find her inhaler. There should be one in her desk.”
“No!” she said breathlessly. She held up her hand and I saw she had one gripped tight in her fist. “It’s not working. I…can’t…get…” She took haggard breaths in between the words she spoke.
I cupped her face with my hands. “Okay, sweetheart. I understand. Just try to get as much air a
s you can. We’re going to get you some help.”
I looked up at Shane. “We need to get her some oxygen and we need an ambulance like now.”
Shane nodded and stepped out of the room. I heard him barking orders and footsteps moving out of the office.
I focused my attention back on my friend.
“Okay, Sweets. I need you to try and calm down. Can you do that? Can you focus on me, on my chest? Take deep breaths like me.”
I started inhaling and exhaling slowly, doing my best to coach her. It wasn’t working. Sweets merely shook her head. I could see her chest rising and falling at an alarming rate. Fuck, I was afraid she was going to pass out in any second.
“I. Can’t. Misty. I. Can’t. Oh,” wheeze. “God,” wheeze. “Jacks.”
My eyes went wide and I took her in fully. Blood was caked on her face, in her hair and clothes.
Shit. Baby girl must have witnessed Jacks getting shot in the head. No wonder she was in full panic mode. What would Josh do? Probably tell her he’d withhold his dick if she didn’t stop.
I snickered at my own joke.
“What’s. Funny?”
So I told her and she gave me a shaky smile.
“He would say just that.”
I smiled back at her and pushed her hair back from her face.
Someone reached over my shoulder and handed me a portable oxygen concentrator. I grabbed it from them, placed the mask over her mouth and coached her through breathing deeply.
“Listen, Sweets. I know today has been hell. Believe me, I can imagine what you’re going through. Witnessing that bitch take your husband and Jacks being murdered right in front of you has to be hard. I also don’t have to tell you that your son needs you as well as your baby girl. What I will tell you is that I have a bitch to find. The sooner you find her for me the sooner I can bring your husband home.” Still holding her face between my hands, I gave her a hard look. “So, I need you to get your shit together. You need to find her and Josh and I need to kill her. The geeks can’t do it without you. You’re more motivated than they are. Yeah?” She nodded and sat up a little straighter. I smiled and caressed her face. “Good, now breathe with me. That’s it. Take deep breaths and let that oxygen do its magic.”
