by Jordan Dane
“What was the kiss for?” she asked.
“It’s not good-bye. It’s just…because I had to.”
Alexa narrowed her eyes and slapped him. The smack was only hard enough to get his attention.
“What the hell was that for?” He grimaced and rubbed his cheek.
“That’s a reminder”—she raised an eyebrow—“for you to be careful.”
“How thoughtful. I’ll try and remember.”
When she turned away, Kinkaid grabbed her arm.
“You and your men don’t have to do this.” He had trouble meeting her gaze. “They’d be risking their lives to save one person. I’d understand if you changed your mind.”
His timing wasn’t the best, but it took guts for him to stop her like this. If their mission had been purely to save one life, Alexa might have reconsidered and planned to go with Kinkaid on her own. She would have been concerned for the lives of her men, too. His honesty made her realize he deserved the truth—even if it cost her his trust.
“I want Kate rescued. I know how much she means to you. You’ve risked your life many times since this whole thing began, but don’t worry about the commitment of my team. With Sayed behind this abduction, we’ve got more at stake. We’re in this together.”
She hoped he would have accepted what she’d said at face value, without question. No such luck.
“What do you mean?” he asked. “There’s something you haven’t told me. I thought you didn’t know much about this son of a bitch.”
With Kinkaid’s trust issues, she knew telling him the truth wouldn’t be easy, but she had to do it. And although she knew Garrett wouldn’t have approved, that didn’t matter now. Kinkaid had to know.
“We need to take Sayed alive. We think he’s planning another attack on U.S. soil similar in magnitude to 9/11. If that’s true, there’s more to this mission than one life.”
“So…you’ve really been after Sayed all along, not Kate. Is that it?” He tightened his jaw and glared at her. “Garrett’s behind this, isn’t he? He gave the order. How sure are you that your boss is telling the truth?”
The truth? Alexa hadn’t even questioned what Garrett had told her. She trusted him. And if she doubted intel from her own boss, it was time to quit. Kinkaid knew that. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have argued the point—but nothing was normal about this mission.
“We’re going to rescue Kate. Are you in or out?”
She forced the issue, knowing his only real choice was to join them. Kinkaid clutched his weapon and put distance between them without saying a word. That was the only answer she’d get.
When Alexa turned, she found Jessie watching her. Her new partner had slipped closer when she’d been distracted by her argument with Kinkaid. The bounty hunter had a concerned look on her face.
“If you know what’s good for you, you’ll mind your own business, Beckett,” Alexa said.
“Since when have I ever known what was good for me?” Jessie smirked, with a hand covering her mouthpiece, then whispered, “Come on, Hank. Let’s get this show on the road. I’m no good at waiting.”
Jessie got her wish. She didn’t have to wait.
The night sky lit up like a Fourth of July in hell. A rocket-propelled grenade struck the front gate and blasted it apart. Armed guards were blown off their feet. Their bodies hurtled through the air like macabre and broken dolls. Using more than one RPG launcher, Hank’s team fired two more explosive warheads from their shoulder-launched weapons and struck the main house. Ghazi’s men scrambled for cover, taken off guard by the sudden and vicious attack.
With precision, Hank and his men engaged the remaining guards, drawing fire. The assault had begun. And Alexa had a bird’s-eye view.
“Martini One…on the move.” Alexa spoke into her com unit and headed out with Kinkaid and the rest of her team.
Her sniper, Manny Rodriguez, had found a sweet spot on a ridge and would provide cover for their retreat if they needed it. The rest of her team moved from the shadows behind the residence and headed for a locked metal gate built into the stone wall. To breach the obstacle, Adam Booker shaped C2 plastic explosives on the lock and inserted a detonator. It would do the job and cut through the metal without the noise of C4.
“Executing breach,” he warned the team before he triggered the blast.
When the gate blew open, Alexa’s team charged through. They dodged the security lights and stuck to the shadows as they made their way to the back of the residence.
Booker crept behind a guard who appeared at a side entrance and dispatched the armed man with his knife. The guy never made a sound. Her scout gave a hand signal, and the team closed ranks. In stacked formation, they entered the residence and shuffled through a hall with their weapons raised. Although the priest’s schematic seemed accurate, the real test lay ahead.
Without a sound, they moved toward a stairway that led belowground. According to Father Ignatius, Sister Kate could be held in a cell one level down.
They’d met little resistance so far. The real war was happening out front. Alexa heard the staccato sound of gunfire from automatic weapons. And RPG rounds sent a wave of tremors through the walls. The explosive repercussions bellowed down every hall. Dust and debris drifted through the air, made more apparent when the electricity flickered out and her team turned on the lights mounted on their assault rifles. The beams captured drifts of smoke and dust particles as the team moved down the stairs and through an empty hallway below. Eerie swirls of smoke played tricks on their eyes and made every shadow look threatening.
The lower level wasn’t much, only one dead-end corridor with four cells and a long hallway that led toward another set of stairs. Each cell had a locked door with a barred window that would allow them a look inside. Booker stood watch while Kinkaid led the search for Kate and was joined by Jessie. Using extreme caution, they glanced into the rooms and flashed a light. They shook their heads when they came up empty. After the last room, Alexa knew Father Ignatius had either guessed wrong about where Kate was being held, or Sayed had moved her.
Hell! For all they knew, the nun was already dead. That thought made her sick to her stomach. After what Kate had been through to survive, Alexa didn’t want to imagine her dead now. With all her heart, she wanted the woman to be alive, but she had a mission beyond the rescue of one hostage. Her thoughts shifted to another objective—Abdul Kabir Sayed. She had a bad feeling that wherever they found the terrorist, they would also find Kate.
And her worst nightmare could happen, where she’d be forced to make a choice.
When her team turned down the longer hallway, two shadows emerged from the far stairs. The guards raised their weapons, but never had time to shoot. Booker and Jessie were the first to fire. They had no choice.
In the dark, confined space, the muzzle flash from Alexa’s M4 Carbine nearly blinded her. And the intense sound of gunfire reverberated off the walls and dulled her hearing. Bullets pummeled the men who tried to stop them. Their bodies jerked where they stood until they dropped to the floor.
Alexa and her team backed down the corridor and headed out, the way they’d come. They didn’t want to be trapped on the lower level.
“No hostage below. We’re heading for the first floor,” Alexa communicated to Hank and the others. “We unzipped our fly. They know we’re here. Honeymoon’s over.”
Alexa and her team swept the first floor, taking out pockets of Ghazi’s men as they confronted them room to room, using frag grenades. In tight quarters, frags left no place to hide, and the concentrated blast shredded the enemy. Although Hank still waged war out front, the resistance they met inside had been scattered. And Hank’s diversion masked most of the sounds her team made. It wasn’t until they entered a large ballroom on the north wall of the compound that they finally found their target.
And the terrorist looked as if he had expected them.
Across the room near a large doorway with stairs, Abdul Kabir Sayed stoo
d next to a well-dressed man in a suit. It had to be Jamal Ghazi. And three of his armed guards dressed in camo BDUs glared at them, clutching weapons and ready for a firefight. Sayed had the nun by the throat with one hand, prepared to slice her with a knife he had in the other. Even though the men around him brandished automatic weapons, Sayed had chosen a knife. A vicious slash across the throat carried an element of drama that the bastard couldn’t resist.
Her team fanned out and kept their weapons raised. When they closed the gap between them and the terrorist, Sayed was first to speak.
“That’s close enough.” He ordered them to stop. One by one, he glared at each of them. It didn’t take long for him to settle on Kinkaid.
“In my world, Islam has become a religion of fear. With fear comes respect. What I do, I do with honor,” he justified his despicable acts with faint amusement. “…for my people.”
“You make war on innocent women and children,” Kinkaid began. “What you do, you are a man without honor.”
Sayed gritted his teeth and clinched his knife. The nun trembled, her eyes on Kinkaid.
“Are you okay, Kate?” Kinkaid asked the question, but it was obvious she’d been severely beaten. The battered nun didn’t need to reply. And she wasn’t a stranger to Sayed’s knife. Her skin was cut. A few gashes needed stitches. And her clothes were slashed, exposing her body. If Kate survived this ordeal, she’d need medical attention pronto.
“Please…I don’t want anyone else to die, Jackson. Promise me,” the nun begged.
“I won’t lie to you, Kate. No can do.” Calm and cool, Kinkaid fixed his eyes on Sayed and aimed his assault rifle at the man’s head. “Some people are a total waste of gray matter,” he said under his breath.
“You must be Jackson Kinkaid. At last we meet.” Sayed tried for casual and in control, but he came off nervous. He shifted his gaze from Kinkaid to the others in the room, and a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek.
“This isn’t how I imagined it,” Kinkaid said, not flinching a muscle.
“Oh?”
“Yeah, in my scenario, you weren’t breathing.”
Sayed tightened his jaw, and his lips twitched.
“This woman…she lied about how she knows you. Yet you killed my men to rescue her. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“A man like you? You don’t give a shit about your men, Sayed.”
“So…you know who I am.” The egotistical terrorist smiled. He had ignored Kinkaid’s insult and only heard his own name.
“Yeah, we know who you are,” Alexa intervened. “And you’re not leaving here…unless you let her go.”
“I refuse to deal with a woman.” Sayed shot Alexa a dismissive glance and glared at Kinkaid. “What kind of man are you, letting a mere woman speak for you?”
“That ‘mere woman’ can kick your ass. And I, for one, would love to see her do it. What kind of man uses a woman as a shield? You’re a fuckin’ coward.”
For the first time, Kinkaid faltered. He lowered his weapon a hair and blinked. He looked pale, and Alexa noticed sweat across his brow. He looked as if he would pass out, and she hoped Sayed hadn’t seen the same thing.
“You dare to insult me…when I have your friend?” Sayed gripped Kate by the throat. When he pressed his knife to her face, the nun gasped. Her eyes bulged wide as she stared at the blade. The sharp tip inched toward her eye socket.
“While we argue, I will carve out her eye.” Sayed smirked. “Then we will see who wins. Or maybe I cut out her tongue. What will you do then?”
Tension filled the room. And Kinkaid hadn’t come back with a smart-ass remark. Wheels were turning in his head, and Alexa wasn’t sure she’d like what would come of it. He already didn’t trust Garrett, and, by extension, that meant her, too.
“You cut her…and you die. And I’ll personally wrap your dead carcass in pig’s skin for the big send-off.” Alexa capped off her threat with a religious slap in the face.
The standoff was electric. Anyone in the room had the spark to ignite a firestorm. Sayed and Ghazi were ready to blow. Kate’s lips trembled and moved in silent prayer, and Kinkaid was about to pass out. Sweat trickled down Alexa’s back and crawled like spiders down her spine. And with every burst of gunfire outside, she felt the urgency for something to happen.
“I’ve got the shot. Just say the word.” Jessie clenched her jaw and aimed her weapon at Sayed’s head. “I can drop him before he even knows he’s dead.”
Jessie knew their objective was to keep Sayed alive. She was only bluffing, making the man feel the pressure of others in the room. But if Alexa gave the order, she had no doubt Jessie wouldn’t hesitate to crack open the man’s skull like a ripe watermelon.
“Take me. You don’t need to hide behind that woman. Take me instead.” Kinkaid said it, and there was no going back. His offer was on the table. And for good measure, he embellished his convincing argument.
“You said it yourself, I killed your men. And if it’s money you want, I can get it. But the nun is freed unharmed. That’s the deal.”
“Kinkaid, you have no authority to do this,” Alexa argued, keeping her eyes alert and her rifle on the target.
“You’re in no position to make deals. I decide,” the terrorist yelled. Adrenaline pumped through his body and made him jumpy. “…but what you say…I agree.” After consideration, the terrorist nudged his head at Kinkaid. “Drop your weapon and walk toward me…slowly, with your hands up.”
For once Kinkaid did as he was told. He laid his rifle on the floor, unsheathed his knife, shed his handgun, and took off his com link. Kinkaid had given up his store of weapons, but he was lethal without them. She only hoped he’d get a chance to demonstrate.
“Jackson, please don’t do this, not for me,” Kate pleaded with tears in her eyes. She reached for him, but Sayed twisted her arm and made her cry in pain.
“You sorry son of a…” Kinkaid lunged for the terrorist, but Ghazi sucker punched him in the gut with his rifle, cutting off his attack. When Kinkaid doubled over in pain, Alexa saw blood drop to the floor as he gripped his belly. He was bleeding again.
“Jackson, please…” Alexa wanted to help him, but the best way to do that was to keep her cool. “We could have worked it out. This didn’t have to happen. You should have trusted me.”
“I still have faith in you, Alexa,” Kinkaid said. “You’ll find Waldo. You always do.”
Sending her a message, he stared at her with his mesmerizing green eyes one last time. He’d given her the same look before he kissed her. A lifetime of regrets swelled to the surface and gripped her heart. She had a strong feeling this would be the last time she’d see him.
The exchange was made as Kate stepped toward one of Alexa’s men. Adam Booker grabbed the nun and pulled her behind him.
“And Kate?” Kinkaid called out to her. “Put in a good word for me with the man upstairs. I’ll need all the help I can get.” He forced a beleaguered grin and winked. His gesture brought on more tears from the exhausted nun.
“There’s nothing more I can tell him about you that he doesn’t already know, Jackson.” Kate wept. “God knows your heart. And that’s what matters.”
Before he could say anything, Kinkaid was yanked backward toward the doorway. Sayed had traded his knife for a gun and had him by the neck, with the weapon pointed to his head.
“If you try to follow us, he dies,” the terrorist warned.
Along with three armed guards, Sayed and Ghazi hauled Kinkaid up the stairs. Alexa searched her memory of the schematic that Father Ignatius drew of Ghazi’s compound. They were headed for the rooftop, but she had no idea why. What was up there?
And what the hell was happening?
“I’ve got activity on the roof, Martini One.” The voice of Manny Rodriguez, her sniper on the ridge, came on the line. “Not enough light to see.”
“Our target released the woman, but he’s got a new hostage. Our FNG is with him,” she told him. “What’
s happening? Talk to me, Lone Wolf.”
She ran toward the stairs that led to the rooftop and peered around the corner, half-expecting to hear a burst of automatic gunfire aimed at her head. When that didn’t happen, she crept up with her eyes alert, taking a step at a time. Jessie and two more from her team followed. The others stayed behind to watch her back.
Alexa had her rifle clutched in her hand, ready to shoot. At the first landing, she crouched low and looked up the next flight. She heard a door close above her, but she resisted the urge to run toward the sound. Moving in too fast might get her killed. As she made her way up the next set of stairs, Manny came back on the line.
“The rooftop is lit up now. They’ve got a helicopter.” His voice sounded more urgent. “And they’re ready to take off. What’s your order, Martini One?”
Sayed had too many armed men with him to make this an easy play for a sniper. And with Kinkaid as a hostage, she didn’t have much choice but to say, “Stand down, Lone Wolf. I repeat, stand down.”
At the sound of the helicopter engine revving up, Alexa hit the last flight of stairs with Jessie and the others close behind. She rammed a shoulder into the metal door and dropped to a knee, taking cover by a mechanical housing unit. Jessie ducked near her and aimed her weapon. The helicopter sat on a helipad in a circle of lights. A sturdy brick wall near the aircraft gave them cover. That was why Manny hadn’t seen what was going on.
Why hadn’t the priest told them about the helipad?
When they realized they’d been followed, two of Ghazi’s men turned to fire. One dodged right and the other dove to the left. Alexa and her team opened fire as the rotors of the helicopter ramped up speed. The craft kicked up a stiff breeze and blew dust into her face as she returned fire. Sayed and Ghazi loaded Kinkaid into the helicopter. She had no idea how many were already on board, but the two men shooting their weapons had been left behind.
The helicopter lifted off the helipad. In seconds, it was airborne.
“Damn it!” she cursed.
Gunfire had them pinned down until Jessie wounded one of the gunmen. When that happened, the other man stopped firing and gave up. He raised his hands and shouted his surrender, but it was too late. Jessie and her team rushed by her to subdue the two men, leaving Alexa alone to watch helicopter lights fade into the distance.
