Heated Pursuit

by April Hunt

  “Wrong. Those who willingly inject Freedom into their bodies or allow it to be given to them deserve the life that follows. A few drops of this”—he held up one of six filled syringes that sat on the small stand next to the chair—“and it’ll be your life, too.”

  The hard leather bit into Penny’s wrists as she tugged, but she didn’t stop trying to free herself even when blood began coating her skin. Trapped and helpless, she watched Marco tap the bubbles out of the first syringe.

  “We’re both going to make it out of here, and you, mi bonita, are going to be my poster child: my living, breathing, obedient demonstration…proof for my clients of just how Freedom can fatten their already bulging wallets.”

  “You may as well inject me with a gallon of it, because I’ll be damned if I’m going to be your obedient anything,” Penny snarled.

  * * *

  The compound was a damn labyrinth with no obstacles. And no Penny. With Vince’s and Trey’s teams at his back, Rafe charged ahead, blowing locked doors with minicharges as they went from one empty hall to another.

  “Am I the only one wondering why everyone’s bailed on their posts?” Vince asked from over Rafe’s shoulder. “Or is that the SEAL in me being too fucking curious?”

  “We need to know what the hell we’re up against,” Rafe grumbled in agreement. “I’ve already been buried under rubble once today. I’ve hit my fucking quota.”

  Vince nodded. The former SEAL grabbed his team and headed toward the belly of the beast, the most effective location if someone wanted to level an entire fucking building. Again.

  “Freeze,” Logan ordered over the radio. “Ten unknowns are coming at you from the east corridor. They’re slow but on the move.”

  Kneeling, Trey slipped a sneak-and-peek mirror around the corner. He held up two fingers to indicate that there were only two guards, armed, but with eight civilians able to get caught in the line of fire. That meant eight ways things could all go to shit if they weren’t careful.

  With Trey counting down the time to arrival, Rafe plastered himself against the wall. Three. Two. One. At zero, they moved together like they’d done on countless missions before.

  Trey took out the man on the left while Rafe subdued the second with an elbow strike to the throat. They went down quick and fast, almost too easy. Around them, a gaggle of women scrambled to hide in the empty hall, all of them screaming.

  “Hey! Relax. We’re here to help you!” Trey lifted his hands in a show of innocence. “Calm down!”

  Rafe scanned the sea of faces and immediately felt his panic level spike when he didn’t see Penny among them. But there was one there that made him pause.

  “Trey.” Rafe caught his friend’s attention and nodded toward the back of the group. The emotional tightening of his friend’s jaw confirmed what Rafe had already guessed.

  An auburn-haired woman that could’ve passed as Penny’s sister cradled a sobbing girl in her arms. She cooed and shushed the young woman, but kept her wary gray-eyed gaze focused on him.

  “Rachel?” Hand outstretched so as not to scare her shitless, he stepped closer. “It’s okay. We’ve come to get you out of here. All of you. We’ve come to take you home.”

  “You’re the help Penn said was coming?” Rachel asked in a murmur. The poor thing looked ready to bolt.

  “We sure are, hon.” Rafe took another small step closer. He gestured to where Trey’s feet remained rooted to the spot, watching. “And I believe you know this big ole lug, right? We all want to get you home, Rachel.”

  Rachel’s gaze went back and forth between Rafe and Trey. “Penny. You have to get Penny. He took her to the clinic. He said he was going to make her like…us.” Her gaze flickered to the obviously half-drugged, abused, and malnourished group of young women.

  Like fucking hell. Not wanting to stress Rachel out any more than she already was, Rafe fought to keep a lid on the burning rush of anger. “I’m not going to let that happen, honey.”

  “Kids,” Vince’s voice interrupted through the comm link, “we got a problem in the form of a fuck-ton of C-4 and barrels of chemicals that make a big-ass boom—already wired and this time with a remote-fucking-detonation system.”

  “Fuck me upside down,” Trey cursed under his breath.

  Rafe hit Rachel with the full force of his gaze. “Can you tell me where this clinic is?”

  “N-no. But I can show you,” Rachel stuttered. She must’ve read his hesitancy, because she stood a little straighter and lifted her pointed chin. “I can do it. I’ll keep up. I promise.”

  “Trey?” Rafe let his face spell out his unspoken question.

  Trey nodded. “Go. I got this. You just make sure you get our girl, Ortega.”

  “Plan on it.”

  Rafe let Rachel lead, her pace slow but steady as they navigated the deserted corridors. Each tick of the clock took an eternity until they finally stepped in front of an unmarked door. He knew Penny was behind it. He sensed it with a violent twist of his gut, and it took everything he had not to blow through it like some kind of crazed bulldozer.

  He turned to tell Rachel to make skid marks out of the compound and was met with a level stare. With her thin arms folded across her chest, she didn’t look the least bit threatening, but she did look damned determined not to move a fucking inch.

  “You have no intention of leaving, do you?” he asked.

  “No. Not until I know Penn’s okay.”

  Rafe couldn’t help but grin. “Moxie runs in the family, huh? Fine. But you wait here until we know exactly what’s on the other side of that door. You got me?”

  Finally, she nodded.

  He tucked Rachel a safe distance back from the door before molding a strip of Semtex against the lock. Two seconds later, the faltered door paved his way into the sterile twenty-by-twenty room. It was a lot like the jungle bunker but with one exception—instead of a line of beds, a single reclining chair adorned with shackles was mounted into the floor.

  And it wasn’t empty.

  Penny’s gaze whipped his way. At the sight of her battered body, volatile anger burned through his veins. Bruises lay on top of bruises, the golf ball–sized knot on her forehead being the largest. Her bottom lip was split open, and a fresh welt was beginning to bloom on her right cheek. Rafe was going to make the bastard pay for touching her, and he was going to pay severely.

  Tears poured down her cheeks as she stared at him in apparent shock. He needed to feel her, hold her, tell her that it was going to be okay. He took two steps in her direction before her attention shot over his shoulder.

  “Rafe! Behind you,” she yelled.

  Marco announced his presence with a snarl. Rafe didn’t hesitate. Spinning, he used the other man’s forward momentum to propel him straight into the wall. With a sickening thud, his head bounced off the concrete bricks, making him stagger backward and dropping the gun that had been in his hand.

  “I’m going to kill you for that,” Marco growled.

  “For that? Then why the fuck were you trying to kill me before?” Rafe cocked up an eyebrow, unaffected by the threat.

  Marco ignored the banter, twisting his lips into a feral smirk. “I’m going to kill you. And then I’m going to start on your girlfriend. And you bet your ass I’m not going to make it quick. Maybe I’ll even make you watch, mi amigo. Would you like that? Do you want to watch your little piece of trash beg me for a hit of Freedom? Do you want to watch her do anything to get it?”

  Maybe the bastard wasn’t so dumb after all. The thought of him laying another hand on Penny made Rafe too damn eager to shed the bastard’s blood. He charged, taking a hit to the jaw that felt like little more than a fly landing. Rafe slid his Glock back into his thigh holster and embraced every ounce of anger.

  He could’ve shot him, could’ve planted a bullet right between his eyes, but that was too easy. It was too quick and painless a way for the bastard to die after what he’d done and what he’d obviously planned to do to Penny. R
afe wanted the piece of shit to feel every single painful thing about to come his way.

  As if sensing his determination, the smirk on Marco’s face slowly slid away. Good.

  Surprisingly, Marco didn’t just stand there and take it. He fought back. Uppercuts and jabs, Rafe shook each one off. In his periphery, he saw Rachel slip into the room. She glanced his way and then hustled straight toward Penny, careful to give him and Marco a wide berth.

  “Let me take a wild guess and say that you’re the bastard son, huh?” Rafe purposefully kept Marco’s attention on him and not the girls. It was an old-fashioned standoff, and one of them would be going down, but it sure as hell wouldn’t be him. “What happened, Marco? Your mom wasn’t one of Diego’s favorites, and you were relegated to a life of hired help? That must’ve pissed you the hell off.”

  “It doesn’t matter anymore.” Marco paced the floor like a pendulum. His movements put more distance between them and where Rachel struggled to untie Penny’s restraints. “Because now I’m calling the shots. I have the power and the money and the means to run the Fuentes empire the way I want…the way it was supposed to be run.”

  “Funny thing about running an empire is that you need to be alive to actually run it.”

  Marco bellowed and charged, but Rafe had already registered the shiny blade in his hand. He ducked, letting Marco’s arm, and the knife, fly past his face before bringing it down on his knee with a loud snap. The man’s shriek echoed through the room. For shits and fucking giggles, Rafe drilled a kick straight across the bastard’s knee and took out his cap.

  Rafe snuck a look toward the back of the room. Penny and Rachel stood huddled together, Penny’s face frozen in worry. Her concern both warmed his chest and fueled his own unease. He wanted her safe and out of the way. Far the fuck away.

  Six long strides and he loomed over her, fighting the urge to take her in his arms. “You need to go. Both of you. Now.”

  His order was met with a brisk shake of Penny’s head. “I’m not leaving you behind.”

  “Damn it, Red! This entire place is wired to blow any second. You need to go. I’m going to deal with Marco’s sorry ass and then I’ll be right behind you—I promise.”

  “And damn you, Rafe,” Penny shouted back at him. She gave his chest a small shove that didn’t budge him. “The last time I let you out of my sight, I thought I lost you! I nearly did lose you. I’m not moving from this spot unless you’re coming with me.”

  Penny’s gaze snapped behind him. “Move!”

  Before Rafe could react, she rammed her shoulder into his gut, knocking him to the left while her hand grasped something on the tabletop to the right. When she stepped between him and a wild-eyed Marco, Rafe finally registered the gun in the man’s trembling hand—the gun he must have picked up off the floor.

  “Red! No!” he shouted.

  Rafe’s heart shuddered to an abrupt stop, his feet frozen in place. No one breathed. No one moved until Marco backhanded Penny so hard it sent her into a spin that knocked her into Rachel. And then it was like time surged forward in one quick burst.

  “You little fucker.” Rafe ripped the gun out of Marco’s already relaxing hold and cold-cocked him with a brutal uppercut that dropped him to the ground. And most importantly, unconscious.

  That’s when Rafe saw them—a half-dozen syringes embedded into the asshole’s torso. All emptied. All placed there by one quick-thinking redhead.

  Rafe didn’t waste a second getting to Penny. The image of her stepping in front of that gun had shaved ten years off his fucking life.

  “Please tell me you’re okay.” His voice shook while he scanned her head to toe.

  “I’m fine.”

  “Red,” he said in warning.

  He hated that fucking word, but it let him breathe long enough to pull her into his arms where she belonged. Nose buried in the curve of her neck, he closed his eyes and soaked himself in her warmth. “Please tell me you’re okay. Again. Just say it again, baby.”

  Her voice quivered as she fisted his shirt and held him close. “I’m okay. But I thought you were—”

  “Shh.” Cupping her cheek, he soothed her trembles with a tender kiss to each visible bump and bruise. “It takes a hell of a lot more to get rid of me than a roof falling over my head.”

  Though it killed him to pull back, he needed to look at her. Really look at her, and the moment he did, that hot rage he felt earlier bubbled back, closer to the surface than before. She looked as if she’d lost a game of chicken with a semi and a few of its friends. But the bumps and cuts were superficial. What worried him was the way she braced herself for each breath.

  “Do you think they’re broken?” He gently slid his palm over her ribs, sensing her tense.

  He watched her summon a slow smile. “I’ve never had broken ribs before so I don’t know. But if you’re asking me if it hurts worse than when I danced with Marco in that alley, then the answer is without a doubt yes. I don’t think a bag of frozen peas is going to do the trick this time around.”

  Knowing she was in pain ripped his gut to shreds. He nodded, knowing a heart-to-heart was long overdue, but he couldn’t tell her a damn thing if they were both dead heaps on the floor. He shot a concerned glance to Rachel, who, for everything she’d been through, looked alert and ready to take on the world. “You okay to make a hustle?”

  “I can do it,” came her soft answer.

  Turning to Penny, he spread his arms wide. “Do I have your permission to be your knight in black Kevlar? No offense, sweetheart, but we have to haul ass and you don’t look like you could scamper, much less fly.”

  She groaned out a laugh and raised her good arm. “This is going to hurt like hell either way. Your way will get us out before we get blown to pieces.”

  “That’s my girl. Always the optimist.” He gently scooped her off her feet, wincing at her sharp inhale. “Fuck, baby. I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry. You’re here. We’re here. We found her, Rafe,” she murmured sleepily.

  He gave Rachel a quick wink to make certain she was still with them as they hustled down the hall. “Yeah, sweetheart, you did. And there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that you wouldn’t.”

  “You never doubted me. You’ve always believed in me.” Penny buried her nose against his neck, her voice not much more than a slurred whisper. “That’s one of the reasons why I love you, Rafe. I just needed to say that out loud. I love you.”

  He nearly stumbled over his feet. Rafe didn’t think it possible, but those three words, the first time he could ever recall hearing them, settled into his chest like a warm ray of sunshine. A glance down into her sleeping face and that warmth went supernova. He wanted to wake her up and tell her to say it again.

  Never having anything to compare with love, he was clueless. But he knew this was it. He knew it every time he looked at her, thought about her. Life without her witty sarcasm and infectious smile would be cold and dark.

  He needed her by his side. He wanted to watch her kick ass but also needed her safely tucked into his arms and in his bed. She made him invincible and weak all at the same time. And it made him realize he couldn’t live happily without her.

  The moment they hit open air, all hell broke loose. Trey flung Rachel over his shoulder and then he and Rafe ran like fucking hell. At the first rumble, they hit the ground. Rafe, careful to take the impact of the fall himself, coiled his body around Penny’s as they tumbled. When they finally rolled to a stop, he covered her head with his arms and tucked her face into the curve of his shoulder.

  “God, baby. I love you, too,” he murmured into her ear, voice rough with emotion. The words flowed, sliding easily—and truthfully—from his lips. “I love you so damn much, Red. I can’t even begin to put it into words.”

  An explosion rocked the ground. The warehouse structure they’d been in only moments before erupted into a sky-reaching inferno. Rafe shielded Penny against the wall of heat. Burning planks and ash fell down ar
ound them as shouts echoed through the din.

  Rafe didn’t hear a thing. Lifting onto his forearms, his heart dropped at the sight of her beautiful green eyes staring up at him. No longer cloudy or hazed with pain, she looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and awe.

  “What’s wrong?” Fuck. He couldn’t breathe, holding his breath while waiting for her answer.

  “I think I should be asking you the same question.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t think I’m the only one who hit my head.”

  Rafe couldn’t help but grin. With trembling fingers, he caressed the edge of her swollen lip with his thumb. “I think you heard me correctly, baby.”

  “My ears are still ringing a little, so you should probably tell me again. In explicit detail.”

  Rafe leaned down until their lips brushed with every word. “I love you, Penelope Lucky Kline. I nearly died a thousand deaths getting to you because I love you so much that I can’t breathe when I picture you no longer in my life. And I want that life with you. I want a life. I want a future. I want beautiful redheaded little girls who are just like their mother—so brave and strong and abso-fucking-lutely amazing.”

  He caressed the already darkening bruise over Penny’s cheek and prayed her tears were happy ones.

  “I told myself I’d never ask you to sacrifice what you want out of life,” Rafe continued, pushing through the lump of emotion clogging his throat, “but I have to. I need to. I need you, Red. I’m begging you to give us a chance, and I’ll spend every damn day of my life proving to you—”

  Penny silenced him with her lips. At her slight hiss of pain, he lifted to pull away, but her hands trapped his cheeks and held him close. He let her lead, not wanting to cause her any discomfort as he slipped his hands into her hair and gently kissed her back. This was where she belonged. In his arms. In his heart. Everything he had, body and soul, was hers.

  By the time she slowly withdrew her lips from his, his head spun. The moisture welling in her eyes matched his. It was her turn to caress his face, her fingers gently brushing over his chin and mouth.