Sainted

by Slade, Heather

  “Hello, Saint,” said Angel, approaching me first when I walked in the door of the suite. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

  I raised a brow and then lowered it when I saw Hammer standing on the other side of the room. He raised a glass and walked in my direction. “What’s he still doing here?” I asked.

  “He’s on the team.”

  “What’s this? You aren’t really going to Sunderban?”

  “Sure as hell am. I promised Harper I’d make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.”

  “No offense, mate, but—”

  “Welcome to the Invincibles, Saint.” Rip walked up and clapped Hammer’s shoulder. “Where you never underestimate your teammates.”

  Hammer pulled out the cigar he often carried with him but I’d never seen him light. “Colonel, retired. Former commander. Marine Raider Regiment and Marine Corps Force Recon.”

  “I’d no idea.”

  “Need-to-know, man. Why do you think we’re considered the best? Because we don’t brag about it.”

  The two separate and distinct units were both considered the most elite of all US military units.

  “A moment, Saint,” said Rip, who led me into another of the suite’s rooms. “There’s been a development.”

  “Go on.”

  “When we arrive in Kolkata, we’ll be joined by members of MARCOS.”

  “By whose authority?”

  “Yours. But at the request of Decker Ashford and Z Alexander.”

  “I see.”

  “Should I get everyone ready to leave?”

  “Yes. Say, Rip? I just wanted you to know I’m honored to be working with you again.”

  “Likewise, Saint.”

  While the group prepared for our departure, I needed a few minutes to process Rip’s news.

  MARCOS, short for India’s Marine Commandos, were considered to be the deadliest of all special forces. While the Marine Raiders were considered the best in the US, MARCOS claimed that title on a worldwide level. They trained with US Navy SEALs, the British SAS, and finally in guerrilla warfare in Vairangte, India. They operated under extreme secrecy and had carried out some of recent history’s most important and deadly ops.

  “I’ve been awaiting your call,” said Z when I rang.

  “What’s this about MARCOS?”

  “They insisted.”

  “Why?”

  “You’ll be on their soil, Saint. Oh, and Deck’s waiting to hear from you too. When he does, he’ll establish a secure video connection so you can review your plan with them before your arrival in Kolkata.”

  “Roger that.”

  “Godspeed, Saint.”

  Before getting in touch with Decker, I went over the plan I’d crafted with the team as it now stood—including two MARCOS soldiers, Sanjay and Ramesh.

  After Rip, Hammer, and Angel, I looked into the eyes of Ink, Jagger, Rock, and Crash as I reiterated my instructions to extract Adam Benjamin and Jinyan Tai Man and return them to the UK. Both were to be kept alive by any and every means possible.

  We’d travel by plane from London to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Airport in Kolkata. From there, a transport, led by MARCOS as was confirmed by Sanjay, would take us to Sagar Island, where we’d go by waterway into the tiger reserve.

  The mission wasn’t unlike the one in China, where we’d flown from Los Angeles to Taiwan, took seaplanes over the China Sea to the Zhoushan Archipelago, and then boats to Gongqing Forest Park, where the American spy was being held in one of China’s black jails.

  The biggest difference between the two ops was that we hadn’t had to navigate a reserve that was home to hundreds of man-eating Bengal tigers in order to retrieve our targets.

  Not that tigers were the only dangerous species we’d encounter. The Sundarbans were also home to king cobras, common cobras, banded kraits, and vipers. They were the venomous ones. The python, chequered keelback, dhaman, and green whip snake weren’t poisonous but just as deadly. Not to mention crocodiles and six species of sharks.

  By comparison, the perils faced by heroes in adventure movies seemed like child’s play. Benjamin and Jinyan couldn’t have chosen a more civilized place to hide out, could they? Say Mongolia?

  While our tactical gear might protect us from a snake’s venomous bite, it certainly wouldn’t from strangulation or a crocodile or tiger attack.

  Flight time on the first leg of our journey was ten hours. Ground travel from Kolkata to Sagar Island would take another four, and then from the island into the waters of the reserve would take at least another three.

  Based on Decker’s coordinates of Jinyan’s location, we’d have slightly under twenty minutes of traversing through the dense, narrow creeks of the nearly impenetrable mangrove forests.

  I studied the aerial surveillance footage Decker had provided of the encampment. While our journey there would be quite harried, the destination looked more like a resort.

  There appeared to be four thatch-roofed huts, no more than two hundred square feet each. Several all-terrain vehicles were parked in and around the structures. In all of the images, only two people were ever visible. Zooming in, I immediately recognized Adam Benjamin. His hand was on the shoulder of another man, who looked the right age to be his son, Tai Man.

  The only thing that gave me pause was the full-grown white Bengal tiger that looked to be roaming freely around them.

  As I’d anticipated, the two men from MARCOS had their own idea of how the mission should be carried out. Since I was the only person, other than Decker, currently in possession of the true coordinates of the encampment, I was prepared to allow them to escort us to the vicinity, but that was it. This was my mission, not theirs. I bloody well didn’t care whose soil we were on.

  While the world believed MARCOS were the best, looking at my assembled crew, I knew we were better. They might be deadlier, but we knew how to extract and keep the targets alive.

  Before we left Kolkata, I instructed Crash and Angel to remain on standby while the rest of us split up. Rip, Rock, and Jagger comprised team one. Hammer, Ink, and I, team two. Each group was responsible for securing one target. Team one: Tai Man. Team two: his father. In hindsight, I should’ve assigned myself to Tai Man since I was ready to kill Adam Benjamin with my bare hands.

  His motive for going into Hong Kong before he and I had the chance to meet was obvious. His plan all along had been to get my attention so that when he deployed, I would be prepared to follow. Benjamin’s desired outcome was equally obvious. He wanted his son extracted out of India and taken to the UK, where he’d be given asylum. Somehow, I doubted the peaceful father-son, happily-ever-after existence he was hoping for was rooted in any semblance of reality.

  My prediction was Jinyan would allow us close enough to get Benjamin, if only so the man was out of his hair. Otherwise, he would die rather than agree to come with us.

  Less than an hour from the reserve, I couldn’t stop the vision of Harper from invading my thoughts. She was always there, in the back of my mind, but I knew the only way to stay alive was to stay focused on the mission. Only the mission.

  “You okay?” asked Hammer.

  I nodded.

  “Eye on the prize, man.”

  His comment reminded me of the words Rile had said to me the day of his wedding. “Keep your eye on the tiger’s.”

  While most missions were carried out under the cover of night, this one would be safer midday when predators were resting. I tested my NVGs, which I wouldn’t need until later, if at all, earpiece and mic, as well as my GPS. I watched as the others did the same.

  Moments later, we jumped off either side of the boat, split into two teams, and crept into the jungle, followed by one MARCOS soldier each as our cover.

  Once we got close, we’d take our positions and wait for team one to give us a read on how many threats we were dealing with on their side—human and otherwise. “Be on the lookout for a lone tiger,” I warned. “Seemingly domesticated.”

&nb
sp; The closer we got to the so-called encampment, the more my instincts told me something was off. As I inched closer, I could see Adam and another man, presumably his son, seated in the center of the clearing. Every so often, they’d look around as if they were expecting someone to join them.

  “No one in any of the structures on this side,” reported Rip after scanning both of them with the hand-held Doppler radar device that worked like a finely tuned motion detector, using radio waves to zero in on movements as slight as human breathing.

  “No one over here either,” reported Jagger. “Just the two visible targets.”

  “What in the bloody hell is happening?” I muttered into my mic at the same moment I heard a roar coming from behind me. I spun around and watched in horror as a white Bengal came barreling toward me.

  Rile’s words echoed in my head as I stared the tiger in the eye, pulled my sidearm, and popped off five rounds that hit their mark but did nothing to stop him.

  34

  Harper

  “I’ll leave you and the vicar to chat,” said Eliza when we returned to the cottage after visiting with the head of the University of Sussex Theology department.

  “I would say that went quite well,” said Reverend Primrose—Oliver, as he insisted I call him.

  “All that’s left is to get my student visa, and I’ll be ready to start classes right after Epiphany.”

  He studied me. “Your mind is elsewhere, my child.”

  I stood and looked out the window at the garden. I closed my eyes and willed the image of Saint, our baby, and me together there, but it wouldn’t come.

  It had been three days since he left, and while I hadn’t expected to receive word, it seemed with every hour that passed, it became harder for me to conjure the image I hoped would ease my worry.

  “Harper, come here.”

  I walked over to where the reverend sat in his wheelchair. “What can I bring you?”

  “Sit and pray with me, Harper. Pray hard.”

  35

  Saint

  Just as the tiger was about to pounce, a shot rang out over my head, and I watched the beast fall to the ground less than two feet in front of me.

  I spun around and came face-to-face with the man who’d just saved my life. “Thank you,” I said, bending at the waist and putting my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

  “Lower your weapon,” I heard Hammer say to the man whose gun was still trained on me.

  “Stand down,” I said to him and Rip. “This man saved my life.”

  When I stood, I saw Ink, Jagger, and Rock approaching from the other side of the open area, along with Adam Benjamin.

  “I know your father,” I said to the man, who lowered the gun I recognized as a .458 Rigby.

  Adam stopped walking a few yards from us. “This is the man I told you about, my son.”

  Tai Man nodded and motioned with his hand toward one of the huts. “Come with me.”

  “Stand down,” I repeated when I saw Hammer and Rip both take a step in our direction.

  “I don’t have much to offer,” he said once we were inside. He raised a bottle that looked like whiskey.

  “Please.”

  He poured a glass and handed it to me before filling his own. “You were foolish to come into reserve.”

  I studied him. “I came for your father.”

  He shook his head. “He is the bigger fool.”

  “I came for you as well.”

  “I should’ve let the tiger kill you.”

  “Why didn’t you? I sense the beast meant something to you.”

  “My father lured you here. The tiger—merely a predator.”

  I doubted that but nodded. “He grew impatient with me. I promised to help him find you.” I looked into the eyes Tai Man, who I’d always imagined to be younger than me, even when I knew his actual age was a few years older. He sounded and looked more like his father than I imagined he would; his features more European than Asian, his accent more like someone raised in the UK. His hair was gray like Adam’s, his skin weathered, his eyes weary. I watched as he stood and poured us each another drink.

  “He wants you to return to England with him.”

  Tai Man sat down and motioned for me to do the same.

  “There is nothing in England for me.”

  “There’s your father.”

  He sighed. “I suppose he is all that’s left.”

  “I was sorry to hear of your mother’s passing.”

  “She is in a better place.”

  “I’m curious. What brought you to Sundarbans?”

  He laughed. “I figured no one could get to me here, or at least they’d be discouraged from trying.”

  “Your father is a very determined man.”

  He nodded. “Saint, right?”

  “Yes. Niven St. Thomas, but most call me Saint.”

  “He considers you his other son.”

  I ran my hand through my hair and stood. “May I?” I asked, pointing to the bottle. He nodded and held up his glass. I poured us both another.

  “What happens next?” he asked.

  “We leave.”

  “Who leaves?”

  “That’s dependent upon whether you or your father want to travel with us.”

  He motioned up and down at my gear with his hand that held his glass. “You came ready to take us either way.”

  I shrugged and downed my whiskey. “That was before you saved my life.”

  His eyes scrunched. “What would happen if I said I wasn’t going anywhere?”

  “With me? Nothing. With your father? I can’t answer that.”

  He nodded.

  “I’m curious about something.”

  “What is that?”

  “How in bloody hell did he get here?”

  Tai Man leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. For the first time since we came inside, he smiled. “Helicopter.”

  36

  Harper

  When it rang, I grabbed the phone I kept by my side every second. “Saint?”

  “Hello, my darling.”

  “Where are you?”

  “We’ve just landed at Heathrow. I’ll be on my way to you as soon as I’m off this damned plane.”

  “It’s one in the morning. Are you sure you don’t want to rest first?”

  “It is, isn’t it? I’ve woken you, haven’t I?”

  “Saint?”

  “Yes, my darling?”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Better now that I’ve heard your voice.”

  “Me too.”

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “Be safe.”

  “Always.”

  When the call ended, I closed my eyes, and the image of my beloved husband, our baby, and me out in our garden was the dream I fell asleep to.

  The dream soon changed. Instead of being in the garden, Saint and I were in bed together. I could feel him naked against my back, his arms wrapped around my waist. He moved my hair, and I shuddered when he kissed my neck. I knew he’d soon tell me to be still, but for now, my body writhed against his.

  “Harper, my love,” he whispered, and my eyes sprung open.

  “You’re here!” I exclaimed, twisting in his arms so I could look into his eyes and feel his lips on mine. I cupped his cheek with my palm. “I’m so glad you’re home, so glad you’re safe. I was so worried.”

  “All in one piece,” he said with a grin, pulling me against his hardness.

  “I know I’m not supposed to ask.”

  “But?”

  “Were you able to find Dr. Benjamin and his son?”

  “I was.”

  “Are they safe too?”

  “Very much so.”

  I rested my head on his chest. “I’m happy it went so well, but happier that nothing happened to you and that you’re home safe and sound.”

  He kissed the top of my head but didn’t say anything.

  “Saint? Nothing happened to
you, right?”

  “Well, there was the bit with the tiger. However, I followed Rile’s advice and stared him in the eye.”

  I looked up at his grin and swatted his chest. “Stop teasing and make love to me.”

  “It would be my divine pleasure, my darling Harper.”

  Epilogue

  Saint

  Today Harper and I would celebrate our marriage with family and friends.

  Given so many of the Invincibles would be traveling from the States, Decker had arranged for a private plane to leave from DC. Thus, Harper’s mother, father, stepmother, and best friend could catch the flight if they wished to. All were on board, a fact that made my wife happy and unhappy at the same time. It was her nature to forgive her father regardless of his lack of apology. That didn’t mean she’d forgotten his treatment of her. When we discussed whether to invite him or not, her worry was she’d one day regret not having her father at our celebration.

  “I hope someone made sure the douche didn’t get on the plane.”

  I laughed out loud at Harper’s use of the disparaging “nickname.”

  “I’m quite sure he did not.”

  “You never know with my father, although Mouse would’ve murdered both of them if he had.”

  “I cannot wait to meet her.”

  “Thank you for inviting her and my mother to stay here.”

  “It is my pleasure, my darling.”

  She beamed at me. “And for not inviting my father and his wife.”

  I’d considered booking a room for them several towns over, or even in London, so their stay in Alfriston would be brief, but in the end, let them handle their own travel arrangements besides the flight here.

  The other thing I’d considered was informing Harper’s dad that while my employer had arranged for their air travel to London, they would be on their own getting back.

  When I suggested it to Harper, she giggled but made it clear I shouldn’t give in to dastardly thoughts.