He gave an incoherent chuff and pulled her against him, holding her tightly. “I know you would, baby.”
She nodded her head and cleared her throat. “This intelligence is twelve hours old. By the time you reach the area of operation, I’ll have updated satellite data. There’s no one with access to this information except me and now you.”
“You said four were confirmed alive.” Jared’s quiet voice relayed the fear and anguish the men tried to disguise.
“Yes. I know Jason’s team had five that survived the jump. That means one is either gone, shielded from the satellite by dense metal, or has been separated from the group. I can confirm only four.”
Jared lifted his chin directing his gaze to Jacob. “We need to move, now.” Jared looked at his watch and pointed to the map of the Ronald Reagan Airport he carried. “Our bird is here on the southeast ramp of the airport. We’ll convene at seventeen hundred. The aircraft is logged as a private charter and can leave at seventeen twenty. The adjacent warehouse is ours and the team can board with their equipment after customs departs the ramp.”
“I have small arms, primarily M4’s, but I’ve tasked Fury to ensure specialty pieces like M240s and a couple of M249’s are at or near the landing zone,” Jason said.
Jared nodded, “A couple of M249’s may come in handy in a firefight.”
Tori listened quietly as Jacob continued. “The primary, secondary, and tertiary extraction points and modes of transportation are set. Jewel will give Fury the landing coordinates the next time he makes contact.”
Jared cleared his throat. “Tori, Guardian has had you thoroughly vetted. Your clearance and need to know has been validated, but I need to...”
She held up a hand. “This information won’t leave this office. I’ll die before I’ll say a word.”
Jared had the decency to look embarrassed. “Yeah, I heard you were pretty freakin’ tough. I had to say it anyway.”
Jared left the office and Jacob closed the door after him. “Tori, baby, I know what it took for you to do this.”
She shook her head and walked away from him arranging the paperwork on her new desk. “Jacob, I know the risks you’re taking. I verified each thread of information. I made it safer for you to leave, but I also made it easier for you to come home to me.” He walked behind her and pulled her back to him. She turned and buried her face in his neck. “Just … promise me you won’t get yourself killed.”
*
He lifted her face, her un-shed tears glistened. Damned if her gaze didn’t wrap around his soul. Fucking beautiful. The image of her at that moment seared itself into his mind. Deep in his gut he felt it, the idea that things weren’t going to end well. He wouldn’t lie to her, couldn’t tell her he wouldn’t be killed. “I’ll do my best baby. Never doubt that. The good news is I’m not gone yet.”
His hands reached for her waist and pulled her shirt from her skirt. Tori’s hands went to his shirt and made quick work of his buttons. The clothes they were married in dropped in a disregarded heap on the floor as hands grasped flesh. An urgent and profound need seized him. The knowledge he would be gone within two hours fueled the desperation of his lovemaking.
His hands molded against her smooth hot skin. Her body was perfect. Lowering them both to the floor, he straddled her aligning their bodies from ankle to head. He wanted to ingrain the feeling of her into his skin. Pushing her long blond hair away from her face, he smiled sadly. “I’m so sorry, my love. Your wedding night should be someplace better. Not this…not a roll on the floor of an office.”
Tori’s lips lifted to his. She tasted so damn good. He couldn’t help himself as he ravaged her mouth. When he pulled away, they were both breathless.
“I could care less where I’m at as long as I’m with you. The place is unimportant. Being with you here, now, is all that matters. Love me, Jacob.”
Her voice caught as she said his name, the small sound told him how much his leaving affected her. His lips traveled from her mouth to her neck. The unbelievable softness of her skin drove him wild. He wanted to taste every inch of her. His hands held her to him as he rolled her off the floor and lifted her on top of him. He physically ached. His cock was ready to explode. The thought of never being with her again, well that provided enough incentive. This time he would make it all about her.
Lifting her up, he centered his cock and said a silent prayer of thanksgiving when she arched back and lowered on his shaft. He waited as she slowly took him into her hot, wet channel. She was ready and so damn tight. The desire to hold off his climax momentarily faded as physical pleasure grasped him as tightly as her sex. Tori’s hands rested on his chest and she started the slow, sensuous, up and down rhythm they both loved. He watched her head fall back and her mouth open slightly. Her hair flowed down her shoulders and chest brushing her breasts. He lifted his hands from her waist and thumbed her taunt nipples, earning a delicious sound from deep within her. The need he felt grew sharper. Hell, pain became a distant memory as he edged headlong into tortured bliss. The vision she made above him—God knew he would never forget it; her bottom lip caught between her teeth, her eyes half open staring down at him; that fantastic body of hers writhing on his cock in unbridled desire. If he died tomorrow, he would know he had loved completely and had been loved completely—nothing held back, no reservations, no regrets. This woman held his heart and was his life. Her body bucked hard against him as she came. He pulled her down on top of him and slammed into her hot core, once, twice, and then shattered inside her. The orgasm tore him apart physically and emotionally. His first as a married man and the best he had ever had with her. Victoria was his. She owned his soul, anchored his life, and someday was going to be the mother of his children. He was complete. Now he just needed to stay alive.
Chapter Nineteen
“Down!” Jacob’s shouted his warning to Dixon as he shouldered his M4 and fired. Dixon’s body jerked backward, unnaturally twisting, off balance and falling. The rifle Dixon used jerked from the recoil when his convulsing finger pulled the trigger. The bullets riddled the buildings across the compound. A spray of blood painted a vivid scar across Dixon’s desert camouflage.
Fuck! Jacob lifted from his position and fired at the same time as Jared let loose a volley of bullets. They pinned down the bastards long enough for Drake to bolt forward and grab his brother by the arm. Shots from Chief’s position joined the cover fire while Drake pulled Dixon toward the sheltered area where the injured men from Bravo team had taken cover.
Jacob ducked back. A cascade of cement shards rained down around him. This god-damned, mother-fucking mission will kill every last one of us. First it claimed Jason’s Bravo team, and now the slimy fuckers had Alpha team surrounded. Jacob pulled his last two magazines out of his cargo pocket and put them in his belt.
Alpha team had surrounded the compound at dawn. They had the element of surprise. Jared, Chief, and he provided cover while Dixon and Drake silently removed the guards on watch. Doc protected their escape route.
His men moved like ghosts. The twins were on his team for a reason. They were the best at what they did. Bravo team’s surviving members exited the building directed by Dixon and Drake to a rally point. The twins remained in the building used as a prison.
Then all hell busted loose. An armed convoy thundered into the camp rousting the entire contingent of terrorist fuckheads. Dixon and Drake were spotted as they carried Jason out of the building. Drake shouldered the entire weight of the massive man as Dixon positioned his M4 and fired like a madman giving his brother time to make it to safety.
Now Dixon wasn’t moving and Jason looked like a corpse. God, please, let them be alive.
Jacob flinched at the snap of a bullet that hit the corrugated tin siding of the building he was using as shelter. The whine of a ricochet momentarily froze him into position. He pushed into his protected space and waited for the anticipated firestorm. But the sudden onset of absolute quiet spoke volumes. Both he and Jared l
ifted and fired at the convoy of vehicles that sheltered the insurgents. If the bastards weren’t firing, they were repositioning or moving in assets for a concentrated push.
Jacob lunged to a position nearer to the small out-building where Jared was hunkered down. He risked a glance towards Chief. The man was out of ammo and was taking on two of the son of a bitch’s in hand-to-hand combat.
A mother-fucking supply convoy! The terrorists in the compound doubled when those trucks pulled in. Jacob hit the release, dropped his empty magazine, and reloaded with his second to last full clip in one smooth motion. Where the hell were Joseph and Doc? His oldest brother was supposed to rendezvous at the camp at daybreak. Doc was either dead or captive. Nothing else could keep the man from helping his team. Damn it to hell!
Drake and what remained of Bravo team huddled behind a meager rock outcropping. From his new position Jacob could see the medic working frantically on the downed men. Jared stepped out from his cover, exposing himself, and shot. What the fuck? Jacob sprang to his feet and fired in the same direction. The stupid son of a bitch was going to get himself killed. What the hell was he trying to do? Jacob repositioned and saw why Jared was risking his life. Doc was being carried to a deuce and a half. His limp body dumped into the back of the two and a half ton transport vehicle by a group of men. Jacob took aim and dropped one of the terrorist guards surrounding the truck before the volley of a bullets pushed him back into a more sheltered position. A spray of brick and wood shards needled the small area Jacob had tucked into. A myriad of cuts on his face and neck covered his forehead with blood. Shit! He wiped the rolling droplets from his forehead, not allowing any to obscure his vision.
Jacob took aim at the men surrounding the truck that now held Doc. He dropped another before Jared yelled a warning. Jacob hit the ground just as Jared lifted his weapon and fired. An unmistakable thud of a falling body resonated behind him. Jacob’s palmed his Interceptor 911. The fourteen inches of steel severed his enemy’s throat with little effort. He liberated an AK-47 and two magazines from the still convulsing body.
Jacob nodded to Jared and stood spraying a barrage of bullets towards the area from where both he and Jared had been receiving fire. Fuck. This. Shit. Drake stood at the same time and fired.
A fireball exploded at the rear of the vehicle convoy. The explosion lifted a jeep, sending it tire over axle into the air. Another explosion, and then another took out the rear half of the cavalcade. Jacob’s ears rang as the decibel level exploded renting the air with waves of pressure followed by roaring turbulence. The impact of the percussion threw Jacob to the ground where he instinctively rolled to cover. Bravo team’s medic threw his body on top of Jason and Dixon, protecting the wounded men.
Another tremendous explosion followed with torrents of mini blasts pulsing in a staccato reverberation. The truck carried explosives and the cargo was going up in one hell of a detonation. An avalanche of debris rained down on the combatants. Phosphorus shrapnel screamed across the open compound and embedded in Drake’s shoulder. Smothering the chemical-laced lead was the only chance the man had of not being cooked alive. The medic for Bravo team launched toward him instinctively and pinned Drake to the ground. He had a hell of a time keeping Drake down long enough do the job. Drake’s body was being roasted from the inside out and Jacob’s man fought like crazy to get away from the pain. Finally the medic doubled up and knocked Drake unconscious.
Jared picked off another of the slimy bastards just before he launched over the rock embankment toward his wounded men. Jacob sprinted toward Jared when he heard the distinctive sound of a M72 LAW rocket hiss through the compound. Jacob looked over his shoulder. The weapon was fired at the convoy from his six. A sneer plastered itself to his face. Joseph. The evil mother fucker had to be the one who fired the missile. The shoulder-launched missile gave the team exactly what they needed to escape.
Instead of stopping at Jared’s location both men kicked it for his team. Jacob grabbed a clip off Dixon’s belt and reloaded as another series of explosions rocked the encampment. Got to love that evil bastard!
Jared lifted Drake’s weapon and started firing at the deuce where Doc was being held. Jacob glanced back in time to see Chief being dumped into the same truck. Fuck, three down at his feet and two of his men in enemy hands.
Jacob made the only decision he could. Get the wounded out. Come back for his men.
Jacob lifted Jason to his shoulders as Jared threw Dixon on his back in a fireman’s carry. The medic shouldered Drake and the men slipped from the compound as Joseph rained down the fury of hell on the insurgents. Fury. God that man’s code name was apt. He was one twisted mother.
*
Jacob huddled next to the low tangle of bushes covering the men. Jared watched their six but as far as they could tell no one had followed. The transport was due. Without coms they were at the mercy of a timetable they had established before the op went to hell in a hand-basket.
“Your guys extricated our Skipper here from a fucking metal cage.” The man motioned toward Jason. “They tried to break him in front of us. He’s strong. But what they did to him?” The man’s eyes filled with tears. Jacob looked away giving the medic time to compose himself. “Alpha? You got to know. The bastard’s had a wire around his neck that was rigged to garrote him if anyone opened that fucking cage. We couldn’t get him out without killing him. These two took one look at the device and unarmed it.” The medic spoke as he worked on the injured twins.
Jacob looked down at his men. Jason’s injuries almost defied description. Grotesque wounds gapped open, putrefied. There was no way to judge the damage. Unconscious, his massive frame and weight became a struggle to manage, even for Jacob. Dixon shot—twice. The neck wound could’ve killed him, but the medic was good. His man sucked air and that was all he could hope for.
Drake’s burns seared deep into his shoulder and back. The medic shot him up with morphine from Doc’s kit. Fuck, none of the injured men looked good, but they were strong and that fact was what Jacob hung his hopes on. At least the men had a medic and soon the transport would place them in friendly hands. He couldn’t say that about the rest of Alpha team.
Jacob glanced at Jared. “Doc might still be alive. The extremists wouldn’t take the time to load a dead body.”
“Chief is alive. We’re going back. Right?”
“Damn straight we’re going back. Motherfucker’s are not keeping my guys.” Leave no man behind. His jaw locked at the thought Doc and Chief in those bastard’s hands.
He nodded towards the fast approaching C17 and helped the men into position. “As soon as that bird lands—we get these guys loaded. No more than four minutes on the ground.”
“Alpha? We got them. Keep those fucking towel-heads off us.” The surviving members of Bravo Team didn’t look like they could stand on their own let alone carry the wounded but Jacob deferred. He and Jared stood guard as the survivors sucked it up and loaded the injured. The strength a human exhibited in a crisis sometimes couldn’t be explained, and all of the men stepped it up. In less than three minutes the C17 taxied and turned readying to launch into the air again. Jacob heard several rifle shots after of noise from the turbine engines dissipated. The bird climbed and banked radically before it deployed chaff and flare countermeasures. The flares drew a heat seeking missile that exploded in mid-air. The plane once again climbed and banked racing to get out of range of ground weapons. Jacob held his breath, but the plane continued on. Thank you, God.
Leaning out of sight against a rock wall utterly exhausted, he watched the transport plane disappear into the sky. When it could no longer be seen, he and Jared shouldered their packs and headed for shelter to plan their next move.
“This wind could freeze the balls off every demon in hell.” Jacob cast a glance around the rugged, unforgiving terrain. Small, squat trees barren of any foliage groaned as the wind pummeled the valley floor with relentless fury. If the cold tonight was any indication, a winter freeze of
biblical proportions headed their way. The cutting edge of the cold tore through their uniforms with the precision of a scalpel. The uniform material afforded little protection.
“Our best bet for shelter is probably the hills to the west. The east is still controlled by religious zealots. ISIS will take them to the west or northwest. At least we will be heading in the right direction.”
Jared’s face hardened and he turned towards the west. His brother’s eyes still held the specter of the horror at the afternoon’s events. Jacob knew the chances of retrieving his team. One in a fucking million. Yeah, he wasn’t Han Solo. He knew the odds and he didn’t fucking care. The enemy had home field advantage, time, and distance. What they didn’t have was a clue of the wrath that would rain down on them when Jacob caught up with them. No way was he going to lose his men; his friends. Hefting his pack, he clapped Jared on the shoulder and started out.
“We will get them back. They’re coming home with us.” His eyes watered against the icy blast of wind. The torrent of frozen air ripped away his words. Whether or not Jared heard him, he didn’t know. Indeed, the verbal reassurance wasn’t just for Jared. Jacob knew the task at hand could kill them all. Jared tapped Jacob on the shoulder when they finally reached what looked like a plausible resting point, the entrance to a cave. “Here. If it’s deep enough, we can build a fire.
After four hours tramping around in this cold, I need a hot drink and some food. I’ve been stuck in the fucking Arctic Circle for a week and haven’t been this cold.”
Jacob snorted. “Copy that. Short stop. Then we get our guys. We can’t risk anything longer.” They entered the winding opening of the cave. It meandered back forever, but they stopped about fifteen feet into the cavity of the mountain. Jacob built a small fire after putting up a shield to reflect the warmth back into the cave and to prevent any light from escaping. A quick effort produced weak-ass-bitter-tasting-piss-poor hot coffee. Jacob chuckled grimly as Jared held up his cup and announced, “Fucking ambrosia.”
Jacob Page 17
