Take Me Back

by Meghan March

  “Give me your wrists.”

  I hold out both hands, although with some apprehension. With that wicked knife at her hip and the angry expression on her face, she looks like she could just as easily slice a vein and leave me here to bleed out as administer first aid.

  She unzips the bag, ignoring my compliance, and pulls out a bottle of peroxide, some antibiotic ointment, and bandages. She grabs my hands, flips open the cap on the peroxide, and douses the cuts.

  “Shit!” The curse escapes my lips, and my instinct is to jerk away.

  She holds fast, not letting me move as she dumps more on them. “That’s for thinking I wouldn’t notice the butter knife was gone.” She releases one hand. “Put it back on the table, or I’ll make this hurt a hell of a lot more.”

  My small victory crushed, I do what she tells me. What the hell did I think I was going to accomplish with the knife? Spread butter on her toast?

  Pathetic, Kat.

  I return the knife to the tray, and she flips my hand over and liberally applies the peroxide to the rest of the raw marks. They don’t burn as badly, but I’m surely not looking forward to more ministrations from Nurse Hatchetface.

  The rest of her movements are quick and efficient as she smears antibiotic ointment on all my wounds and wraps them up. Her expression never changes, not even when she tosses the first aid supplies back in the bag.

  “Get dressed. Don’t do anything stupid. Try to stab me with a fork, and I’ll blind you in one eye. They’ll never even notice. I’ll give you five minutes.”

  With that threat leveled, she picks up the tray and heads out the door.

  I don’t waste any time crossing to the bed and picking up the white linen trousers and lace camisole lying there. There’s also a diaphanous white shirt that feels like it’s made mostly of air, a lacy white bra, and white-and-gold sandals. One thing is noticeably missing. Panties.

  When the door swings open moments after I’m fully dressed, it isn’t April, it’s Vander.

  “Finally behaving like a good little slave. I thought I’d never see it.”

  I shoot eye daggers at him, hoping he’ll see defiance and rage in my gaze and not the fear that’s threatening to overtake me.

  Chapter 38

  Dane

  From the seat across from me, Rome fills me in on everything they’ve learned.

  “There’s no Vander Iman. We’re still digging into his real identity, but the trail we’re coming up with leads to South Africa with ties to the Middle East. Bad dude. Bad shit.”

  Coming from Rome, that’s saying something. He’s not real big on assessing client morals when he’s taking their money, but there are lines even he won’t cross.

  “Human trafficking his main business?”

  “Can’t tell for sure, but it’s definitely part of it.”

  “What about the boat?”

  “Sure enough, it’s called Plan B. It was boarded by the US Coast Guard about two years ago and automatic weapons were seized, but no charges were ever brought. The paperwork on that gets real shady, and by shady, I mean there’s nothing left. If we had Arianna at the keyboard, we’d probably have more, but my Central American crew wasn’t able to pull anything. I need to recruit a new hacker down here. Preferably female and hot.”

  Ever since Rome first told me that Arianna has been MIA, it’s been eating at me.

  “You think Ari sold me out?”

  From Rome’s serious expression, it’s definitely a possibility he’s already considered.

  “We can’t find her, man. You know she’s got family in Israel still. I’ve got contacts there that keep eyes on them when they’ve got time, and word is her little sister is off the grid. No sign of her.”

  Tanner sits up. “You think they went after Ari’s family, and you didn’t say shit?”

  Rome shrugs. “Don’t know what happened, but I can’t fucking help the girl if she doesn’t ask for it.”

  “She’s part of the team.”

  “And if she leaked intel, she’ll face the consequences when we find her. But that shit is all for after we get DC’s woman back.”

  “Do you know where they’re heading?”

  Rome shakes his head. “But if I were them, I’d be going toward Cuba. Plenty of people pouring in now, and not a lot of oversight. It’d be a good choice. So that’s the course we’re following.”

  “If you’re wrong, and we lose her—”

  “You can shoot me yourself.”

  Rome’s instincts are top-notch, which is why he started in this business way too young. Now, he’s a living legend in certain circles.

  From the cockpit, Leo yells, “We got eyes on a big motherfucking yacht with a helipad on top by the name of Plan B.”

  My arms go tense. It’s time.

  “They got eyes on us yet?”

  “Not yet. We’re coming in hot. Lock and load.”

  Rome, Tanner, and I grab our weapons and get ready. This isn’t the first time we’ve landed on a boat in the middle of the ocean, but last time was a bitch. We all added a few more scars to our collection after that mission.

  “Let’s do this.”

  “Uh . . . they got eyes on us now. I’m gonna clear the deck.”

  Loud percussion from the machine guns punches through the noise of rotors.

  “Got a few, but they’re swarming like ants.”

  Another round of fire.

  “Clear for landing.” Concord pitches his voice like a woman as the helipad comes into view. “Please don’t bump your head when you disembark the aircraft.”

  Gotta love those rich fucks who think they need helipads everywhere.

  “Go! Go! Go!” Rome yells, and we’re all out of the helicopter except Leo, who stays with the bird to shoot anyone who tries to fuck with our exfil plans.

  Guys in black polos and khaki pants like the ones who overran the beach come toward us.

  My leg screams with pain, and I use it to fuel every step.

  We clear the deck.

  It’s time to find her.

  Chapter 39

  Kat

  Vander leads me out into the hallway. I’m dreading this photo session of his, and searching everywhere for some kind of weapon.

  A small fire extinguisher is mounted to the wall just ahead of us, and my brain works through whether I could grab it quick enough to bash him over the head before he noticed.

  That’s when the onslaught comes. The yelling and screaming from above us can’t drown out the gunfire. It sounds like the boat has morphed into a video game.

  Instinctively, I hit the deck. Please, God. Please be Dane.

  Clearly, Vander’s experience in life is different from mine because he draws the gun on his hip. “No fucking way—”

  He reaches down and wraps a hand around my upper arm, yanking me to my feet and dragging me behind him as he moves down the hall, my heart hammering in my chest.

  The fire extinguisher is right there. It’s small, about the size of a two-liter bottle, but it’s something.

  With a prayer on my lips, I pretend to stumble, throwing myself toward the wall and wrapping my hands around the red metal as I catch my fall. The bracket breaks and suddenly I’m not pretending anymore when I trip forward, going to my knees. The canister lands beneath me with a thud.

  “What the fuck?”

  Vander swings around as I wrap both hands around the cold metal and swing for his crotch. He’s too confused by what the hell I could possibly be doing to react before the fire extinguisher connects with his balls.

  Vander goes down. Hard. His gun skids down the wooden floor of the hallway back in the direction of the room we came from. I pop up and scramble after it.

  With one hand on his nuts, Vander flails with the other, reaching for my newly bandaged ankle.

  “You little bitch!”

  I kick off his grip, falling forward as I go flying again. My hand lands on the gun, and I wrap my fingers around it. I roll over and sit up to poi
nt it at his head.

  “Back. Off,” I say through gritted teeth.

  Vander lifts one hand above his head, the other still cupping his nuts. “Oh, little Kat, you’re a feisty one. But can you really kill a man?”

  I don’t blink. I pull the trigger.

  It clicks, but nothing happens. When I squeeze it again, Vander’s laugh fills the hallway.

  “Safety first, Kat.”

  He pounces at me, and I kick upward as hard as I can, catching him in the jaw. His head snaps back, and he lands on my legs as deadweight.

  Oh my God. Did I kill him?

  Sounds of more yelling and gunshots come from above. They’re getting closer.

  I pull myself along the floor and out from under Vander. As I rise to my feet, a man dressed all in black bursts into the hallway. He stops when he sees me.

  “Kat.”

  My fingers are still curled around the gun. I don’t know where the safety is, but if he’s a bad guy, I’ll find it and shoot him.

  “Lower the weapon. I’m with the good guys. DC will be fucking happy to see you.”

  “How do I know?”

  My entire body is shaking, and the barrel of the gun bounces in the air between us.

  “I’m Rome. I was at your wedding.”

  My brain spins, trying to remember, but it’s too much. “No one was at our wedding. We eloped.” My thumb feels around the side of the gun for a button or switch or something.

  “He didn’t want us to meet you, but we couldn’t let our brother take the plunge without us there. You wore a short white dress, and when you tripped on a step about two feet from him, he caught you.”

  Oh my God. He couldn’t know that unless . . .

  The memory of the random hot, ripped guys who had been hanging around the resort about the time of the ceremony filters into my head.

  “You were there.”

  He nods. “We gotta go. Give me the gun.”

  I pray to God I’m making the right choice as I lower the gun and hand it to him.

  He shoves it in his pants. “Now come on, follow me.” To someone else, or maybe into a radio, he says, “Package acquired. Moving out. Let’s wrap this shit up and go home.”

  “Not yet!”

  Vander’s voice comes from behind us as hot pain slices along the side of my thigh.

  We both turn, and I’m confused because instead of running toward us, Vander is running down the hallway away from us.

  “Fuck. Cover your ears!”

  I do what Rome says, and he unloads bullets in the direction of a fleeing Vander.

  “Come on, let’s move.”

  Even covering my ears, they still ring from the noise. I look down, and there’s a tear in my pants and blood soaking the white material. Vander’s knife is embedded in the hallway floor two feet ahead of me.

  Rome follows my gaze. “Fuck! Can you walk?”

  His knife sliced me as he threw it?

  Whatever. Not important. I’m still breathing.

  “I’m fine. Get me out of here.”

  “Good girl. Stay on me like a fucking shadow. I’ll block anything that comes from the front. They won’t shoot you from behind. You’re too valuable.”

  I don’t have another second to think about his plan because he’s moving, and my leg burns as I follow him. I suck up the pain and force myself to keep up.

  “Get the bird ready; we’re coming. Exfil in two.”

  Again, I assume Rome is talking to someone on the other end of a radio.

  “Yeah, DC, I got her. Get your ass to the bird.”

  Shots still come in bursts, and when a man in the uniform I’ve come to associate with evil darts out into the hallway, Rome doesn’t hesitate. I cover my ears instinctively, and he shoots.

  I step over the body and we head up a set of stairs to the deck. The rotor blades of a helicopter are spinning, and two more men in black are clearing the deck. One of them limps as he fires, and I know it’s Dane.

  Rome pushes me ahead of him, and I scramble up another set of stairs toward the helicopter. “Get in the bird. Now. Keep low.”

  I run for it, and bullets ping off fiberglass around me. The men fire back as I dive into the open door of the helicopter.

  A man in the pilot’s seat turns to face me. “Hey, sweetness, good to meet you officially. Strap your ass in. We’re about to get the fuck off this boat.”

  Rome climbs in. “Everyone’s coming! Get ready!”

  Vander bursts out of a door, spraying bullets everywhere.

  Ten feet shy of the helicopter, Dane stumbles backward, landing on his ass, and dread rushes through me.

  Dane’s been hit.

  Chapter 40

  Dane

  Fuck. Even though the shots hit my vest, they still knock the air from my lungs.

  Bullets are flying from all directions as Vander races across the deck, dodging them before taking cover and moving my way.

  Tanner rushes toward me, sliding to his knees. “You hit?”

  “Vest!”

  “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” He yanks me up by my good arm.

  I only lose track of Vander for a second, but it’s too long. Tanner freezes when the pistol jams against the back of his head.

  “You move, he dies.”

  “Don’t fucking listen to him,” Tanner yells.

  “You willing to sacrifice your friend to save your own life?”

  Shots come from behind me, taking out the rest of the men, but Vander positions himself in front of Tanner and me, using us to block anyone from taking him out from the chopper.

  I had to watch as one of our people died before, and I’m sure as hell not doing it today. The gun in my hand is empty. He’ll see if I go for the other one at my hip.

  I glance down at the knife on Tanner’s belt.

  “Even with your team, you couldn’t manage to best me. Vargas and I will laugh over this after he feeds what’s left of you to his dogs.”

  “Kill him, DC. I don’t care if he fucking shoots me as long as I die knowing this asshole is dead too.”

  “I don’t think so.” Vander laughs and cuts his gaze to Tanner for a beat.

  It’s the moment I need.

  “Not a fucking chance.”

  I palm the knife and bury it in Vander’s throat before he can pull the trigger. The gun falls from his hand to the deck, and his body crumples behind it.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here,” Tanner yells.

  He shoves his shoulder under my armpit and we head for the bird, its rotors turning. Tanner shoves me toward the door, and Rome helps pull me inside.

  “Where the fuck is Concord?”

  When the last member of our team dives inside the opposite door, Rome yells, “Go!” and the chopper lifts off the deck.

  From my spot on the floor, my eyes find Kat’s. She reaches out, and I grab her hand.

  “I knew you’d come for me.”

  I haul myself into the seat beside her and pull her against my body. Closing my eyes, I breathe her in. She’s everything that’s good and pure in my life, and I almost lost her. Never again. No more secrets.

  “I’ll always come for you.”

  “Hold on to your asses, because this might get bumpy!”

  We all look back toward the yacht as Concord points. We’re just out of range as it explodes into a ball of fire.

  Kat meets my gaze, and I close my hand around hers. “It’s really over.”

  I nod. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 41

  Kat

  “Do I want to know who this plane belongs to?” I ask after the captain of the Gulfstream announces that we’ll be taking off, and the flight attendant in a simple navy dress who gave us bottles of water disappears.

  “Knowing Rome, it could be anyone.”

  As the jet hurtles down the runway, I’m reminded of my fear as we took off in the Cessna what seems like a million years ago. Has it only been two and a half days? How is that
even possible?

  Dane twines his fingers through mine and squeezes as we lift off the ground.

  “I’m okay,” I whisper in the quiet of the cabin.

  “Maybe I just wanted to hold your hand.” He lifts it to his mouth and presses a kiss to my knuckles as his eyes meet mine.

  My husband, the mercenary. With his face battered and his black shirt ripped from where the bullets tore through and hit his body armor, I have no trouble believing it.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Without any elaboration, Dane knows exactly what I’m talking about. He lowers our hands to the armrest between us and shifts to face me.

  “I had to protect you.”

  “By lying to me?”

  Dane finally breaks eye contact and looks at the tan-colored panels of the ceiling of the jet.

  “I should never have been with you to begin with. Shouldn’t have asked to see you again after Mexico. Hell, I shouldn’t have stayed at that resort longer than the two days I was supposed to be there, but I couldn’t leave.”

  His laugh is forced, and my heart sinks. Does he regret it all? But Dane continues.

  “Rome wanted to kick my ass for disobeying orders, but I told him to go fuck himself because I’d just met the woman I was going to marry, and I wasn’t letting her go.” He looks down at me, seeing the confusion on my face. “I didn’t think I had a choice. None of us had been in relationships since we started with the team, and it was an unwritten rule that you stayed unattached, because that opened up a whole mess of complications that weren’t worth it.”

  Dane meets my gaze and swallows. “But you were worth it, and I knew I would make it work any way I could. If I were a better man, maybe I could’ve walked away from you and let you find someone else, but I knew from that first night you were mine and I’d do whatever it took to keep you in my life. I should apologize for that, but I can’t. The only thing I can apologize for is not telling you everything from the beginning. I didn’t want to drag the best part of my life down into the darkness.”

  “Was any of it true? The stories you told me? Was it all a lie?”

  His grip on my hand tightens. “The only thing I outright lied to you about was my job. Everything else was the truth or as close to the truth as I could manage. I hated lying to you, but I figured the guilt was worth it to keep you safe.”