“You didn’t stop him,” Rory said with a shaky voice and stood upright.
“But I did try to warn you after that.” Danny closed his one good eye for a brief moment. “He didn’t tell me why Rebecca had to die, so I was worried Andrew might come after you next, especially when I learned you were also in D.C.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me that day?” she asked.
“I spotted Jensen watching us while we had lunch. I excused myself to the men’s room, and he told me if I opened my mouth, you’d die. If I didn’t talk, you were safe. My cousin was a sick, twisted human. He wanted to help Santiago kill Rebecca.”
Disgust and horror crossed Rory’s face.
“And that’s why Cutter made you change your identity,” Chris said at the realization.
“Andrew never anticipated the fake nemesis he gave you—named after the country where you first met—would develop into someone so many wound up fearing. You turned into his good luck charm again.”
The Italian. It was a fucking sham. A distraction designed for Rory. One from which Cutter heavily profited.
“Santiago,” she whispered. “I was safe until him. I kept at the list even after Rebecca died, more motivated than ever. I was safe until he was taken, wasn’t I?”
“At first, Andrew didn’t know that it was you who targeted Santiago since you’d quit. But when Carter took him from the CIA, Andrew got spooked. He was going to come after you if you didn’t show up at his event to tie up loose ends. He was worried his enemies and competitors would find out the truth,” he explained. “Cutter has at least a hundred combat-ready men who believe The Italian is some frightening boogeyman when really, he’s just a greedy treasure hunter taking advantage of smugglers’ stupidity.” He cleared his throat. “But those men enforce the trade routes if anyone tries to pass without paying a fee first.”
And they’re supposedly on their way here now.
“Andrew thought you gave up the life of hunting traffickers because you got bored.” Danny diverted his focus back to Rory. “He didn’t make the connection between you and Carter until Carter saved you from the Trott brothers. And then Andrew realized he’d have to use me as bait—the one with a connection to you both—to find where you were hiding.”
Chris reached for Rory’s arm, about to speak up, but the door flung open.
“Harper found Cutter’s location,” Roman alerted them, his tone level despite the grave news Chris knew Roman was about to drop. “But it’s started. Danny didn’t lie. We’re under attack from all sides.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rory’s head was spinning as she replayed Danny’s confession in her head while she and Chris followed Roman down the hall. The Italian was invented for me. It was un-freaking-believable, and she was certain she had more reason to want to kill an ex-boyfriend than most did.
Rory flinched at the booming noises surrounding them as if they were inside a movie theater with surround sound, but this was real. It sounded like they were in the midst of a war.
Was that enemy fire or return fire? She had no clue. Machine guns, from the sounds of it, but she wasn’t an expert.
Grenades or explosions of some kind going off outside, too.
Roman had secured Danny in the study, locking him up, and then handed Rory a Glock for protection since Chris was already armed. Roman remained in front of them, holding a rifle with an attached suppressor, as they navigated the halls.
A few of Cutter’s men had managed to breach one of the weaker points and made their way inside the home.
The security systems had crashed, and the surveillance cameras were down. After Harper found Cutter’s location, Roman brought her to the command center to work on kicking the hacker out to get their systems up and running.
Roman stuck a fist in the air, and Chris pulled Rory tight to his side, bringing their backs flat to the wall. She supposed that was the signal for them to stop and wait.
Roman peeked around the corner, and Chris set a hand to his shoulder, checked left, then tapped his shoulder twice.
They began moving again but only for a moment before a man went flying into the foyer by the double staircases.
Chris shielded Rory with his body, but she stole a glimpse of Sebastian striding with assured steps toward the guy. He lifted the man by the shirt and brought an elbow to his face. “My wife may not want me killing anyone, but that doesn’t mean this won’t hurt,” he seethed.
“I have no problem killing him.” Roman stepped forward and shot the man twice in the chest, startling Rory as the guy collapsed motionless on the floor. “Maybe call your wife and get permission?”
“Or ask forgiveness after?” Chris chimed in, and Rory had no clue if they were kidding or serious.
Sebastian tipped his head to the side, his mouth tight, as though he were considering their suggestions. Roman pulled a piece from the back of his pants and tossed it to Sebastian.
“Yeah, okay,” Sebastian reluctantly replied.
And if Sebastian could do that kind of damage with only his hands, what would he do with a gun?
“Come on. I’ll take you to Harper.” Sebastian angled his head for them to follow his lead. “Harper thinks you two should meet with the rest of your team in Cosenza,” he added as they walked. “My brother-in-law will fly you there in the chopper.”
Rory didn’t bother to ask how they’d get to the helicopter. Based on how The League leaders appeared to operate, they would have a plan.
A masked enemy circled to stand before them, and Sebastian quickly popped off two precise headshots.
“Like riding a bike,” Chris commented, and Sebastian stole a look back at him, clearly not on the up and up with SEAL humor during battle. The League must’ve operated differently.
Rory stepped over the body with the help of Chris holding her hand. “Do you need our help, though? Should we stay?” She didn’t want to abandon ship, as the saying went.
“I’m not opposed to getting you out of here,” Chris replied, “but I don’t want you in some cowboy showdown with Cutter.”
Yeah, she saw that coming from a mile away.
“This floor is still secure,” Sebastian told them, then glimpsed back at Rory. “Carter Dominick believes you should be there, too. Cutter wants you.”
Chris stopped walking. “What, to draw his fire? Fuck that.”
“I need to do this,” Rory insisted and set a hand to Chris’s chest, feeling his heart pounding fast beneath her palm. “He’s been manipulating me for five years.” Probably even longer. “I have to face that son of a bitch myself. And if Carter chooses to kill him in the name of revenge, I’ll stand by his side while he does it.”
And she meant every word.
There could be no justice for what Cutter had done.
No justice other than death.
“You’re okay with murder?” Sebastian steadied his eyes on her. “Have you taken the life of an unarmed man? Because I have. It changes you. And it’s a hard thing to come back from, so you better be sure that’s what you want.” He swiveled his gaze to Chris as if saying, don’t let her do it, then started forward once again.
Rory let his words simmer as they made their way to Harper’s location in the command center, where she was guarded by Finn and one of Emilia’s men.
“I just got the security cameras up and kicked the hacker out of the system. We’re no longer blind,” Harper said, and Finn alerted his team over the radio to the enemy locations he now saw on the cameras.
“How many guys have y’all taken out so far?” Rory asked in shock, setting her focus on the ten or so screens showing various camera angles. A multitude of bad guys lying on the ground.
“Thirty or so,” Finn answered, and Rory blinked in surprise. “There are probably double that number left.”
“Do you want to go to Cosenza?” Harper turned in the chair to view Rory. “Do you want to be there when that prick goes down?”
“Yes,” Rory said with absolute certainty, and
she thought back to the view from her room. She closed her eyes and mapped out a plan. “Does Emilia have a climbing rope? I think we could rappel down the sides of the hilltop. Choose a starting point that overlooks the water.” She set her attention on Chris. “How are your climbing skills? Rappelling is pretty straightforward.”
Chris’s lips tipped into a surprising smile. “I can handle it.”
She checked her clothes. “But we should change to better blend in with the setting.” Her eyes moved back to Harper. “Once we reach the ground, what are your thoughts as to how we’ll get to Adam’s chopper?”
Harper handed Chris a small GPS device, which must have had Cutter’s location on it. “Emilia has a motor yacht docked down below. Since it’s dark out, we’ll kill the dock lights, and you should be able to get there unnoticed.”
“Can either of you drive a yacht?” Sebastian asked.
“I can,” Rory and Chris replied at the same time.
“We’ve got men in position. They’ll draw enemy fire while you two escape,” Sebastian added. “Once you’re on the yacht, you’ll head to the nearest port. Adam is on standby. The helo is twenty minutes from here. One kilometer from the port you’ll dock at.”
“I’ll set you two up with everything you need once we get to our exfil spot,” Roman said. “You should take some extra ammo and my rifle.”
Sebastian turned for the door, then looked back at them. “I need to go back out there, but if anything happens to Adam—”
“It won’t,” Chris cut him off and nodded, then Sebastian focused on Rory. “Good luck,” he added before leaving.
Rory’s heart thundered in her ears as she waited for a response. “So, we’re good with the plan?”
“I have faith in you,” Chris said, his voice soft. “If this is what you want, then I’ve got your back.”
Before she could find the words, Roman pointed out, “If you’re gonna go, you better do it now. There’s a lull in gunfire out there. I think they’re regrouping.”
“Probably didn’t know what they were getting themselves into,” Emilia’s guard said, his Italian accent thick.
“We’ve got you covered.” Finn surprised Rory by pulling her in for a hug, then Harper stood and did the same.
“This isn’t goodbye,” Chris said as if the hugs made him nervous. “What’s our ETA on Bravo?”
“They’ll get in a few hours after you do, so you’ll need to wait for them.” Rory knew Harper’s answer wasn’t what Chris wanted to hear, but she couldn’t make their jets go any faster.
“We’ll do some recon and try and confirm Cutter’s location while we wait.” He motioned for Rory to follow him. “Let’s go.”
Finn and the guard stuck with Harper, and Roman provided extra cover for Rory and Chris as they made their way down the hall to change and prep for their exit.
“You and me,” Rory said while stopping a few minutes later to view Chris, setting a palm to his cheek, “we’re a team.”
A small smile pulled at his lips as he set his palm over hers. “We are.” He leaned in for what she refused to believe was a goodbye kiss.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Cosenza, Italy
Rory eyed Luke and Chris talking to their teammates. Their backs were to her, attention set on Cutter’s location off in the distance. They were preparing to infiltrate the site that was a few hundred meters away. It was on the outskirts of Cosenza, which was to their north. Villa Vecchia, the large public park, was not too far to their west.
A clash of ancient and modern surrounded them. Ruins—fragments of ancient walls, some that looked to be at least six feet high—were scattered all around the area. And in their midst, as though they’d been carefully placed there by a giant who was building a toy city, were two windowless concrete structures. The two-story buildings were their target. Cutter’s location.
The thermal imaging software that Jessica had brought suggested twelve people were inside the two structures, in addition to the four armed guards patrolling the property. A fence topped with razor wire closed off the space, which was about the size of two football fields.
Rory had a feeling the site was also used for smuggling given their location near a major highway and proximity to the sea. And based on the other heat signatures, there were animals inside. That only enraged Rory even more. This would also be a rescue mission.
Chris had changed into full combat wear, courtesy of Knox when Bravo Team arrived twenty minutes ago, and he was now decked out in all the garb she assumed he’d wear if out fighting the Taliban. Rory had changed again as well on the yacht before they’d met up with Adam.
Chris and Rory had been spotted as they had descended the hilltop by way of rope back in Sicily, but then a sniper (probably Wyatt) took out whoever had started firing at them. Chris had nearly lost his mind when bullets had flown a few inches by Rory’s head.
But they’d made it, so thank God for that.
Rory turned to see Adam McGregor striding toward her. He must not have been Sean’s identical twin since he had dark hair and a few other noticeably different features. But he was tall and broad-shouldered and carried himself with the same self-assured stride as his brother. Instead of wearing a suit like Sean, Adam was in sweatpants and a white tee that revealed what looked like Celtic ink on the inside of his forearm.
Hands in his pockets, Adam’s gaze was directed over Rory’s shoulder to where Carter stood talking to his team. A smaller group than he would have liked to bring, but they’d been short on time, and flying overseas at the last minute posed its own problems.
“Any word from your brother or Sebastian?” she asked Adam.
“This gobshite,” Adam began while tipping his head in the direction of Cutter’s hideout, “keeps sending people to Emilia’s home. They fall back for an hour or so, regroup, then come again. Good news is we’re taking out a lot of bad guys in one night.”
What time is it, anyway? She’d lost track of time.
“The world will be better for it.” Adam gave her a closed-mouth smile. “My brother is new to all of this, and I guess I am, too, but Sebastian and Emilia . . . they’re pros.” Adam’s brogue was much thicker than Sebastian’s.
“And may I ask why you’re in this, um, League?” Maybe it wasn’t her place to ask, but she was curious, especially after what she’d witnessed Sebastian and the others do back at Emilia’s estate in Sicily.
“A large faction known as The Alliance controls almost all criminal activity on this side of the world, perhaps a bit on yours as well. We’ve been dealing with them and trying to take them down for quite some time.”
“Yeah, but there’s a deeper reason why, right?” She folded her arms, a gentle breeze floating across her skin, chilling her body when her nerves had already done such a bang-up job of setting her on edge to begin with. And for someone who didn’t usually get nervous, she’d been swimming in a boatload of it lately.
Adam produced his phone and pulled up a photo to show her. “Then I guess you could say I do it for them.”
Rory peered at a stunning strawberry blonde with a dark-haired baby cradled in her arms. “Beautiful family.”
“Anna and Braden. They’re my ‘why.’ Make the world safer for them. Kids change everything. Make you paranoid and more cautious than you ever thought you’d be,” Adam explained while pocketing his phone. “I have money, and I guess being part of The League, I have some power, but none of it really protects them as much as I want it to. You could be driving down the street and get sideswiped by a truck. You can’t protect your loved ones from everything.”
“But you try,” Rory said. “As hard as humanly possible,” she added as she viewed Chris, knowing he’d spent years doing his best to protect and serve. Thinking back to his Nietzsche quotes, she was fairly certain she understood Chris’s “why.”
“I promised Sebastian you wouldn’t die,” Chris said on approach, eyes connecting with Adam. “Maybe sit this operation out?”
/> Adam held his palms up and nodded. “I’m a hell of a fighter, but I use my fists instead of guns. I’ll stay on the sidelines.” He reached for Rory’s shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Be safe out there.” Adam smiled, then left at the sight of Luke and Carter heading toward them.
“My people are ready to move in,” Carter announced once he’d met up with Rory and Chris. He was now in black pants, boots, and a black, long-sleeved top. A ball cap on backward like Luke and Chris, and it was a different look than she’d grown accustomed to on Carter.
“We’re up against a lot of unknowns.” Luke drew his hands to his hips. “And I know you’re anxious to make your move, but we need to secure the perimeter before we breach.”
“We have one of the world’s two best snipers here with us,” Chris said, and now Rory knew he was referring to Liam since Wyatt, their other sniper, was taking care of business at Emilia’s place. “Liam will head to high ground and take out the four guards on patrol. Then Asher, our best breacher, will get us through the gates.”
“We all need to be on comms and in each other’s ears, so we don’t accidentally kill one another,” Luke said to Carter, still not sounding all that happy about working with him. Apparently, since there were only sixteen enemy tangos in total, he felt Bravo Team and Chris were enough to handle the job, but Carter refused to sit out.
Rory spotted Jessica walking toward them with Bear at her side. She had a few items of Cutter’s she’d grabbed from his salvage vessel off the coast of Puerto Rico in case Bear needed to test out his search skills and find the prick.
I had sex with that man. Trusted him. She was going to puke.
She had to focus on Chris. The man in her life she knew she’d be able to trust no matter what. She vowed never to let the bad taste left in her mouth by Cutter’s betrayal ruin the future she wanted with Chris.
This ends now.
She stroked Bear on the head, happy to see him again. He’d slobbered all over her and Chris as soon as he saw them. Rory knew Bear wasn’t even close to being operation-ready, but she did trust his super sniffer.
Chasing Fortune (Stealth Ops Book 8) Page 36
