“We have a problem.”
* * * *
Kiley strolled out the front door with Lisa, leading her quickly to where Scott stood with two other D.E.A. Agents. Scott was dressed in gray camo-pants and a gray t-shirt. The bottom of his pants were tucked into black boots and around his shoulder was a harness for his pistol.
The pants outlined his firm, rounded ass making Kiley’s heart flutter as she moved closer. Even the way his t-shirt clung to his wide shoulders made her heart do little flip-flops of excitement.
She didn’t see him dressed like that often, but when he did, it never failed to make her whole body tingle.
As they approached, Scott turned to face her and smiled. “Hey, baby.”
Kiley smiled in returned and pulled Lisa up to stand next to her.
“Lisa,” Scott began. “This is agents Baron and Perez. They’re going to take you back to the states with them so you can answer some questions.”
Lisa nodded warily.
Agent Baron walked up and extended his hand. “Hi, Lisa. You can call me Shawn.”
His warm brown eyes seemed to put Lisa at ease, and she reached out to take his hand. “Hi, Shawn,” she replied softly.
“We’ve already gotten all your things from your room, so if you’ll just come with us, we can head home.”
Lisa nodded and started to walk away, but turned to quickly engulf Kiley in a hug. “Thank you,” she whispered. Pulling away, she smiled shyly. “I know I didn’t quite believe you at first, but I’m glad you stuck to your guns and kept at me. If you hadn’t, I probably wouldn’t be as lucky as your friend, Paula.”
Kiley patted her upper arms. “I’m just glad we were able to get you in time. You still have my contact information, right?”
Lisa nodded.
“Good. If you need me for anything, just call. Okay?”
“I will.”
Kiley waved to them as they climbed into the oversized sedan and headed out of the parking lot of the hotel.
“You think she’ll be okay?” Kiley asked.
“Oh, yeah. She’ll be fine,” Scott replied. He grinned and pointed over his shoulder. “There’s a coffee shop just next door. Want any?”
“Seriously?” She put her hand over her heart. “If you get me a cup I would love you forever.”
Scott chuckled as he walked backward toward the coffee shop. “I would hope you would love me forever anyway, but it’s nice to know you’re such an easy bribe.”
Kiley giggled as she watched him turn his back and head quickly toward the coffee shop. She waited for a couple of minutes, watching the way the shirt clung to his back, the way the sun highlighted the hint of gray in his hair. She was so lucky.
That was her last thought before someone grabbed her roughly from behind and clamped their hand down hard over her mouth. Squealing behind the hold, Kiley began to kick and stomp, anything and everything to try and break the hold. Unfortunately, whoever held her had too tight a grip.
Scott turned to look back at Kiley. His eyes widened and he reached for his gun. “Kiley!” he shouted.
Before he could get his gun up, three shots rang out from behind her. It looked as though two hit him. He fell back on the concrete, motionless. Vomit rolled through her stomach as she watched the love of her life fall to the ground, lifeless.
Turning her head, she finally broke free of the hand over her mouth. “No! Scott!” She screamed.
The man behind her shoved her roughly into the back of a black SUV just as gunfire rang out around them. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw John and Mike firing back. Two of the men kidnapping her were hit. The one outside fell to the ground, blood pooling around his head.
The man behind her was hit as well. He grunted in pain as he slumped slightly against her. She sobbed as she shoved at his heavy body.
The SUV moved quickly forward, its tires squealing as it sped down the road. The man to her left reached over her and grabbed the door, pulling it closed.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“Shut up,” he snarled.
Reaching into her back pocket, he grabbed her phone. “Where were you hit, Carl?” the man asked.
The one who had shoved her into the car, Carl, sat up slowly. “The side,” he snarled. “Juan dead?”
“Most likely.”
Kiley struggled to keep the tears at bay as she watched the man who’d kidnapped her scroll through the numbers on her phone. He was looking for something. Or someone.
How could she get out of here? Did she even stand a chance? And if Scott was dead, did she even care?
A single tear slipped down her cheek.
“Awe, don’t cry, little one,” the man said as he wiped the tear from her cheek.
She jerked her face away in disgust. He gripped her chin harshly, forcing her to look at him.
“An eye for an eye,” he snarled. “He took my men, my drugs. Now, I take you.”
* * * *
Keith met John and Mike in the lobby. Scott sagged between them, blood covering his left side and shoulder. His heart stopped as he glanced around the lobby for Kiley.
“What the hell happened?” he asked. “Where’s my sister?”
“Let’s get him up to the room so I can see the damage,” John replied.
Keith ground his teeth as he followed them into the elevator. “Where the hell is Kiley?”
“They got her,” Scott snarled.
“What?” Keith bellowed.
“My guess is we’ll be getting a call shortly,” John said, his tone dark and angry.
Did she have her phone with her? Had she been hurt? Would her mouth get her killed?
Please, Kiley. Keep that smart mouth of yours shut.
They stepped off the elevator and into the room where Paula waited. She turned from her pacing, her eyes wide as they landed on Scott.
“Oh my, God. What happened?” she asked as she moved out of John’s way.
John and Mike set Scott on the foot of the bed. “Paula, get me that bag over by the chair,” John commanded.
Paula rushed to do his bidding. Someone knocked at the door and Keith turned to open it.
Three of the D.E.A agents they’d worked with earlier stalked into the room.
“What the hell happened down there?” one of them demanded.
“That’s what I want to know,” Keith replied.
“It was my fault,” Scott said softly. “I was headed to the coffee shop. I shouldn’t have left her there. I thought this was over.”
“Don’t do this,” John said as he helped Scott out of his shirt.
Scott winced at the bullet hole in his shoulder and the scrape along his ribs where another bullet had just missed its mark.
“I saw them pull up from the lobby. They were lying in wait,” John said. “They must’ve seen the whole thing earlier when Scott took the drug guys down to the waiting agents.”
“When they saw me talking with Kiley, they probably thought she was their chance at an exchange.”
“Trade Kiley?” Paula shouted. “Was Kiley taken?”
“Hell no, we’re not trading,” one of the agents said.
Scott scowled angrily. “Fuck you!”
John pressed at his shoulder and collarbone. Scott cursed loudly at the obvious pain the movement caused. Fresh blood oozed from the hole and down his chest.
“It went straight through. No broken bones,” John said. “We need to wrap it though before you bleed all over the bed.”
Scott nodded, but his scowl of pain remained. “We need to get Kiley.”
“We need to wait for them to call,” one of the agents said.
Keith shook his head as he prepared to argue with the agent. He’d go against them if he had to.
No way would he let them take control of this. Not when his sister was involved. She was the only family he had left. He couldn’t lose her.
His phone beeped, and he pulled it from his pocket, anxiously. “Speaking of,” he sai
d as he hit the talk button and lifted the phone to his ear. Not waiting for them to say something, he spoke first, “If you hurt my sister, I’ll cut your fucking head off.”
The man chuckled. “Be hard to do when you can’t find me.”
“Wanna bet?” Keith growled.
“I want my men, American. I want my drugs. You will bring them to me if you want to see your sister alive again. You have two hours. I’ll call again with the location.”
The man hung up quickly. It was possible he was expecting the call to be traced. Keith didn’t have to trace it. The GPS embedded in Kiley’s phone would lead them right to her.
Chapter Twenty-nine
“I’m going with you,” Scott growled as John wrapped his shoulder.
There was no way he was going to sit here while they rescued Kiley. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself. He knew better than to let her come. They never let her come on these missions. He’d let the fact he didn’t want to be away from her rule his better judgment.
“No way in hell, Scott,” Keith snapped. “You’re injured.”
John secured the wrapping, and Keith stood up. Pain sliced through his torso, and he wobbled slightly before righting himself and staring angrily at his friend. “I’m going with you. You’re not leaving me here, Keith. No way.”
“I can give him just enough meds to knock the edge off,” John offered, then lowered his voice as he continued. “You would do the same and you know it. We all would.”
Keith nodded in agreement. Scott turned to look at John. “Give me a shot and let’s go.”
John shot the medicine in the upper part of his good arm. The sting was nothing compared to the burning in his shoulder and side. Seconds later the pain ebbed, leaving him just a bit foggy and more than a little drunk.
Damn.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear the fog from his mind. Opening them, he watched as Keith walked over to Paula. He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.
“I’ll get her back,” he said.
Paula nodded, but licked her lips nervously. It appeared as though she wanted to say something, but the crowd in the room probably held her back.
“John, do we have a clean shirt handy?” Keith asked.
“Here,” Mike said as he removed his camouflage over shirt, leaving him in just his black t-shirt.
Scott took the shirt and gingerly slid his arms through the sleeves. “Thanks, man.”
Mike nodded. “I’ll get Paula back to the plane and have her ready to go the second you get back.”
“Good,” Keith replied. “I have a feeling we’re going to need a quick exit.”
“You’re not doing anything,” one of the agents said.
Scott sent him a scathing look. “As of now, this collaboration is over. Whether you like it or not, we’re going in.”
“You’re going in blind,” another agent said. “You don’t know the compound.”
John held up a jump drive. “Yeah, we do.” Walking over he inserted it into the computer open on the desk. “We don’t pay Kiley a fortune for nothing. We have a complete layout of this guy’s compound as well as the number of men on hand at any given time of the day. When we do these jobs, we make sure we know everything about who we’re going after. Kiley’s phone has her location two miles from this compound and closing in. We’re outnumbered, but then that’s what the government trained us for. Impossible situations. I just wish we could’ve anticipated the voyeur.”
One of the agents stepped forward and stared in awe at the computer screen. “Where the hell did she get all that?”
“I find it best not to ask,” John said.
Keith checked the clip in his gun and holstered it. “So that leaves you with two options, gentleman. You can help, or you can get the hell out of the way. Either way, this cartel is going down.”
“The D.E.A. get the glory,” the man in charge replied.
Keith rolled his eyes. “You can fucking party till the cows come home. All I want is my sister in one piece.”
* * * *
Kiley paced the small room she’d been confined to. Outside, she showed a brave face,
occasionally shooting daggers at the man forced to remain as her guard. For the most part he ignored her, keeping his gaze on the television in the corner.
With a sigh, she walked over to the window and stared out over the well-manicured gardens.
Inside, she cried for Scott. She kept seeing him fall over and over in her mind. He’d removed his bullet-proof vest as soon as they’d caught the guys. He hated the additional weight. Had he acted too soon? Should they have seen this coming? Was this her fault because she’d missed something?
Tears burned the back of her eyes as his lifeless image filled her head. He’d been shot before and survived.
“Please let him be okay,” she whispered. “Please.”
The man watching her laughed at something on the television. Kiley scowled, but he paid her no attention. In his mind, she wasn’t a threat.
She turned her stare back to the gardens and the approaching road. She knew her phone had a GPS. She knew her brother would use it to find her. Keith would only pretend to negotiate. She knew her brother. She knew he was out there. He would get her free and the man who took her would pay.
That gave her little happiness for the thought of going back home without Scott was too much to bear. She couldn’t lose him now. Not now.
The loud commotion on the lower level of the house caught her guard’s attention, and he turned off the TV. He stood and listened. So did Kiley. Something was up.
She glanced toward the corner of the room and the large slender statue sitting on the table. That would make a great weapon. She just had to figure out the best time to use it. Too soon, and she would play her hand. Too late and well, then it would just be too late.
Sighing, she began to slowly work her way over to that side of the room.
Scott worked his way through the house. More than once he’d had to stop and close his eyes, wait for the spinning to stop. Even on a low dose those meds John gave him packed a fucking punch. But then, he wasn’t supposed to be fighting on them. They were meant to give the soldier enough pain relief to get out on his own feet, if he still had two feet to walk on. But for him, the full dose knocked him out cold.
He rounded a corner and fired a shot at the figure just a few feet away. The man fell silently to the ground. Scott kicked his gun aside and turned left down the hall.
“Kiley!” he shouted.
They’d found her phone downstairs with the cartel leader, so she had to be somewhere in the massive house. His heart raced in fear as every yell went unanswered.
“Kiley!” he shouted again.
“Here,” she called.
Scott stopped. Had he heard her or was it just wishful thinking. “Kiley!”
“Scott? Scott is that you?” she called again, this time louder.
A pounding on a door several feet down the long hallway led him to where she was being held.
“I’m here,” she called, obvious tears making her voice crack.
“Guys, I found her,” he said into his mouthpiece.
“Where?” Keith asked.
“Third floor, back of the house.” He turned the door knob, but it didn’t budge. “Kiley, open the door.”
“I can’t. It’s locked somehow.”
“Damn,” he grumbled, then stepped back. “There’s no lock out here either. They must’ve locked it with a key. Back away from the door, Kiley. As far as you can. I’m going to blow the lock.”
He waited a few seconds then asked. “Are you out of the way?”
“I’m good.”
Scott placed the small electronic device just below the knob. These were specially made for SEAL use. If the Navy knew they had them, they’d be in big trouble, but at the moment Scott was happy to have them on hand. He hit the button and moved quickly down the hall. The device exploded with a loud bang, sending
metal parts across the hall where they landed with a clang.
The door flew open, and Kiley launched herself into his arms. Scott grunted at the pain of her chest hitting his shoulder, but he didn’t care. He had her in his arms again, safe and sound.
Scott looked over her shoulder and into the room. A man was lying on the floor, blood covering one side of his face, a broken vase on the floor next to him. Closing his eyes briefly, Scott wrapped his arm around her back and held her close. He’d taught her well.
“It’s okay, baby,” he whispered as he tightened his good arm around her. The other held the gun and hung lifelessly at his side. Now that the commotion was over, he’d begun to notice the pain; hot, sharp, piercing pain that worked its way through his whole left side. “I’ve got you.
You’re never going on another mission again, Kiley. Are we clear on that?”
Kiley nodded and pulled back to look at him. Tears streamed down her face. Her gaze landed on the blood covering his shoulder, and she gasped. “Oh, God. You’re bleeding.”
She began to frantically move the material aside to better see the wound. “Kiley,” Scott said as he grasped her hands in his and held them against his chest. “I’m okay.”
She stared at his chest and her lower lip began to quiver. “Just a few inches to the left…”
“Stop,” he commanded. “Look at me, baby.” When she lifted her gaze to his, he smiled slightly.
“I’m okay. A little high at the moment, but otherwise fine.”
“A little high?” she whispered.
“Yeah. Pain meds. I figure now would be a good time to ask for something I would normally say no to.”
Kiley laughed softly and then the tears began to once again flow. “I thought you were dead,”
she sobbed.
“I’m not dead, sweetheart. I’m alive and well and anxious to get you home.” He rested his forehead against hers. “I was so scared, Kiley,” he whispered. “I can’t lose you now. I finally got you to admit you love me.”
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