On Her Six (Under Covers)

by Christina Elle

  “Right. What’s he saying?” Ash snapped back.

  Calder held up a finger, signaling for a minute.

  His nerves couldn’t take it. “Give me that.” He picked the earpiece out of Calder’s ear and jammed it into his own.

  Sam screamed. NO! Please! Take me! Give me the Vamp!

  “Damn selfless woman,” he grumbled.

  In his mind, he couldn’t see anything but Sam, offering herself up for Heinrich to do with as he pleased. Ash wasn’t going to give her the chance.

  Fuck the backup.

  “I’m going down.” He rooted inside his duffle bag for additional magazines. He slid them into his pocket, then hoisted his rifle onto this shoulder.

  “Coop, you can’t,” Calder said.

  “Like hell I can’t.”

  “Stop and think about what you’re doing. This is Lorena all over again.”

  Ash’s head whipped to Luke and he snarled.

  Luke’s shoulders lifted. “It’s the truth, man. Going down there without reinforcements—you’re not gonna do anything but get yourself killed and maybe the women, too. You know that. Deep down, you do.”

  He did. But he’d slice his own throat before admitting it. “I have to do something, Luke. She’s down there.”

  “Just a few more minutes, buddy. Give Tyke and Reese a few more minutes.”

  “Fine,” he said. But he’d never forgive himself if something happened to Sam and her grandmother before he had a chance to do everything in his power to stop it.

  “NO!” Sam’s scream drilled through the earpiece, and his heart stopped. His hands started to shake, then his arm, before his whole body trembled with anticipation, rage, and irritation. “Get on the horn and call Tyke again. If his ass isn’t here in five minutes, I’m going without him.”

  Pulling his service weapon from the back of his waistband, he gripped it, readying himself. All he could think about was getting to them in time. He had to reach them. Save them.

  Soft footsteps sounded behind him, and a voice said, “Cool your ass, Cooper. We’re here.”

  Ash whirled. “’Bout time. What the hell happened?”

  Tyke shot him a nasty look but didn’t comment.

  As Ash gave Tyke and Reese the rundown of what had transpired so far, the two men prepared themselves. Tyke checked his weapons, his earpiece, and readjusted his bulletproof vest. Reese slid his earpiece in, adjusting the mic at his throat. Then he lay on his stomach with his long legs stretched out behind him, peering through the thermal binoculars Ash had put down earlier. His rifle was at the ready in front of him, pointed at the boat. Reese was the most serious of the group. Never had much to say, just did his job and did it well.

  When Ash finished his explanation, Tyke asked, “Reese, what are you seeing?”

  “Twenty outside with rifles. Five inside armed with rifles. Two strapped to chairs. And a handful of massive bodies pacing the area.”

  “Massive bodies?” Tyke asked through a smirk.

  He shrugged and offered the binos to him.

  Without taking the item, Tyke grinned wider. “Man, I love a challenge.”

  The largest of the team, Tyke stood at six-and-a-half feet and weighed damn near two-fifty. A big, gruff son of a bitch with an even bigger heart he tried like hell to cover up.

  “All right, this is how it’s gonna go,” he said. “Sawyer and his team are around the perimeter. They’ll run interference in case anyone else wants to join the party. Reese, you’re the eyes and ears. Calder, Cooper and I are on the ground. We good?”

  Ash pulled the second earpiece out of his ear and held it out to Reese. He would listen to what went on with Heinrich and Sam. “Anything crazy, I want to hear about it, you got me?”

  Reese nodded.

  “All right, fellas. Let’s kick some ass.”

  …

  The team remained in the shadows so they wouldn’t be spotted by Heinrich’s goons. Quietly they approached the first few men on guard, getting their arms around the thugs’ throats and squeezing until the men went limp. Ash, Calder, and Tyke laid each guy on the ground, out of sight and advanced to the next target.

  Ash pressed the mic button at his throat. “Talk to me, Reese. Where are they?”

  Shhh. Static came through. “On your six,” Reese’s voice said into Ash’s ear. Shhh. Shhh. “—three—” Shhh. “—one.” Shhh.

  Ash reached around the shipping container, gripped the man’s head and twisted. The thug went limp and dropped to the ground. A second came around the same corner, and Tyke grabbed him, mimicking Ash’s move.

  “Goddamn mics are on the fritz, Reese,” Ash whispered. “You hear me?”

  “I—” Shh. Shh. “—of that. What did—” Shh. “—say?”

  Ash tapped his finger against his ear. “Reese, can you hear me?”

  “Loud and—” Shhh.

  Great time for their equipment to stop working.

  The three men gathered at the end of a shipping container, regrouping before moving onto the next obstacle.

  In a low voice, Ash said to the men with him, “The damn mics aren’t working. Hand signals from now on. Leave the COMs clear for Reese if the things come back up. You hear that, Reese?”

  Shhh. Shhh. Shhhhhhhhh. Shh.

  Shaking his head, Ash signaled to Calder to check the area before they moved on.

  Calder peered around the corner of the container, then gave an all clear signal with his hand.

  Ash and Tyke nodded, following each other in a slow and uniform manner toward their target.

  Hang on, Sam. I’m coming.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The man had eyes the same shape as Sam and Grandma Rose—almond, but slightly upturned in the corners. His nose was a little crooked at the end from a scuffle he’d gotten into during his first year on the force. And his expression had been the exact same as the day she’d last seen him. The day he promised he’d come back to her. But those eyes, so much like hers, held one major difference.

  They were black and red.

  “No,” she whispered. “It can’t be.”

  “My dear, sweet Samantha,” Heinrich said, smirking. “When are you going to learn that I always get what I want?”

  “Daddy?” she asked, barely able to get the words past her dry throat.

  Rose started and her gaze flickered to the form in the doorway. Her eyes widened, then sagged in disbelief. “Davy?”

  His skin was dry and chalky, his lips peeling from being chapped for so long. Already a shorter man, his spine was curved and shoulders draped forward as if he was collapsing in on himself. His body trembled the tiniest bit.

  How long had he been on the drug? The entire two and a half years he’d been missing?

  She sagged in her chair. If she’d done something sooner. If she’d tried harder to find him. Maybe he wouldn’t have ended up like this. Maybe she could have saved him.

  Dad stood, frozen, his face the stark white his eyes should have been. “Sammie? Mom?” He jerked his gaze to Heinrich and said through clenched teeth, “What the hell are they doing here?”

  Heinrich’s shoulders lifted. “Just making sure you keep up your end of the deal.”

  “I’ve been keeping up my end, Viktor. Why did you need to include them?”

  Heinrich directed an accusatory gaze at Sam. “Your daughter came after me. She set fire to my club. I’m simply returning the favor.”

  “Is that true, Sammie?” Dad asked.

  She swallowed the emotions rocketing up her esophagus. “It was an accident, I swear. I was looking for you.”

  “And now you’ve found him,” Heinrich said. “What a delightful family reunion.”

  “I want them released,” Dad said. “Now. Otherwise our deal’s off and I walk.”

  A smile played at the corners of Heinrich’s lips. “We both know that’s an idle threat, David. How far do you think you’d get? Ten? Twenty streets?”

  Sam gasped. The Vamp. He needed
it or else he’d die from withdrawal.

  His red eyes softened as he looked back at her.

  “Plus,” Heinrich said, “if I let them go, they won’t get to see all your hard work.” He looked at Sam but gestured with a flick of his wrist to her father. “You’d be proud to learn that your father has made enormous strides in the field of drug testing.”

  So Ash was right. Dad had been forcing people to take Vamp. All that oxygen she’d wasted telling Ash he was wrong. That his teammates were wrong. And instead it was her.

  “Why?” she asked her father. “Why would you do it?” Anger coursed through her though she wasn’t sure at what. Was she mad because she’d been deceived? Or was she mad because Ash had been right? Or because Dad had a choice in all of this, and he chose to harm people?

  Maybe all of it.

  His gaze dropped to the floor like he couldn’t bear to look at her. “It’s not black and white, Sammie.”

  She waited to see if he’d say anything else, but he didn’t. “That’s it? That’s all you have to say? ‘It’s not black and white?’ What does that even mean?” He still wouldn’t look at her. She released a choked laugh. “You willingly gave Vamp to people. People who probably have families who are worried about them. Did you think about that as you were shoving paper down their throats? Huh? Did you? And what about you? You’re an incurable addict!”

  “It’s not that simple,” he said, finally bringing his eyes up to meet hers. “I did what I had to.”

  “What you had to,” she echoed. “You had to ruin other people’s lives? Your life? That’s who you are now? I guess Lou and all the others at the precinct were right. I didn’t want to believe it, but the truth is staring me in the face right now.”

  He wrapped his arms around his stomach like someone had punched him. “You don’t understand, I—”

  “You’re right, I don’t understand. I don’t even know you.”

  She snapped her head to the side, refusing to look into his guilty eyes for another second. Her gaze collided with Rose’s. The blatant hurt and disappointment shadowing Grandma Rose’s features almost crushed Sam’s will. Heinrich stood to the side, arms folded and a satisfied grin on his face.

  “What are you smiling at?” she asked. “So proud of yourself for being able to corrupt one of Baltimore’s finest?”

  “Yes.” Heinrich stepped forward, approaching her.

  Dad lurched forward, too. “Viktor,” he said in a low voice.

  He held a finger in the air, and her dad stopped. “It’s all about the right leverage, Samantha. You see, your father had you and your grandmother. So all it took was for me to threaten you both, and he agreed to do what I needed.” He let out a dramatic sigh. “But then he got greedy and tried to escape so he could warn you. I couldn’t let him do that. So I did the only thing I could to keep him under control.” His devious gaze met hers.

  “You drugged him,” she said, barely getting the words out.

  “I control the drugs up and down the eastern seaboard. He can’t go anywhere to get a hit that I wouldn’t know about. With a few calls, I could cut him off completely. He’d never get another taste of the drug.”

  And within hours, he’d be dead.

  “So that’s why you did it?” she asked her father. “That’s why you turned those people into Vamps. Because you were trying to save us?”

  “Yes,” he said a bit too quickly. He skirted a glance at Heinrich, then back to Sam.

  Shaking her head, she said, “So who cares about the rest of the people, is that it? As long as Grandma and I are okay.”

  “You two are the only thing that matters to me,” he said. “I’d do it again if I had to.”

  Her father had damned those people to save Sam and Rose. Her stomach rolled, the motion in direct contradiction to the gentle sway of the boat. She was going to be sick right here all over the floor in front of everyone.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t value her own life or her grandmother’s. What she hated was the fact that other people had been affected. Their families torn apart. Because of her. Why did she deserve to be safe when others didn’t?

  Dad wanted to protect her. She could understand that. She’d worked so hard to keep her grandmother and the ladies from the 19th Street Patrol safe in his absence. But that didn’t mean hurting other people to accomplish the goal. If Heinrich had decided to come after them, she would have dealt with it. Maybe he would’ve succeeded, maybe not. But at least she could have a clear conscience that other people hadn’t been sacrificed in order to keep her safe.

  “As I said, Samantha,” Heinrich said, still grinning, “one way or another, I always get what I want.” He nodded to the goon standing beside her grandma.

  The guy’s meaty fingers dug into Rose’s jaw, prying it open. Rose grunted as the German must have increased the pressure.

  Heinrich approached the man holding the stack of Vamp paper and pulled a sheet off the top. “Now that the family is back together, let’s get on with the show, shall we?” He glanced down at his gold watch, and said, “We still have a few minutes of fun left.” He walked toward Grandma with paper in hand.

  “What th-the hell do you think y-you’re doing?” Dad’s body shook with stronger tremors. “This wa-wasn’t part of the deal. You promised to leave them out of it.”

  Heinrich gave him a look like he didn’t care about their deal. “It’s either tonight or tomorrow. Either way it’s still going to happen.”

  “No.” Sam rocked herself forward and back. The legs of the chair lifted and then clanged down on the hard ground. “Please don’t do this. Please.”

  “Viktor, stop this, goddamn it.” Dad sprang at Heinrich, but one of the goons grabbed him by the collar and yanked him back. The German wrapped his arms around her father and squeezed to hold him in place. “Wh-why, Viktor? Why are you doing this? She’s an innocent woman f-for crying out l-loud.”

  Heinrich’s eyes glazed over for a brief second. “We were all innocent at one time, David.” He tore the paper in half, then in thirds.

  A single tear broke free and rolled down Sam’s cheek. “No,” she whispered as her chin dropped to her chest. “No.”

  This was it. Her grandmother was going to become a Vamp, and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.

  She shifted her focus to Grandma. Sam would be strong. She wouldn’t turn away.

  Rose’s eyes softened. Her expression was as clear as if she’d spoken the words: Let me go.

  Tears streamed down Sam’s face. This couldn’t be happening. For everything good and right in the world, Rose was better. Her grandmother didn’t deserve this. None of them did.

  A thousand pound weight rested on her chest, making it harder to pull each breath.

  The paper landed inside her grandmother’s mouth and dissolved in seconds.

  Sam’s heart turned to stone. It could have stopped beating for all she cared. Her best-laid plans to keep her family safe had been demolished in those seconds.

  It was done.

  Rose Harper was a Vamp.

  …

  The men had taken out the twenty or so guards around the port and had been working their way toward Heinrich’s boat when Reese’s voice cut into their ears. Shhh. “Heads up. Shhh. “—another boat. It’s—” Shhh. “—docks.” Shh. Shh. Shhhhhh. “—east—” Shh. Shh. Shh.

  They made their way east and settled behind wide pylons, giving them a clear view of the boat pulling in.

  The port was industrial in look and use, catering to cruise liners and cargo vessels. But by the ostentatious look and size of this craft, it had to be the drop boat. This big ass thing belonged in a place like the Hamptons or Monte Carlo. Which was why it had to pull into another part of the port. No way that mammoth would fit where Heinrich had parked his boat. Only an overconfident drug smuggler wanting to flaunt his millions would travel in that kind of style. And when Ash caught sight of the name on the side of the vessel, it confirmed his suspicions. Lorena
.

  “It’s her,” he said.

  Tyke and Calder nodded, acknowledging the message.

  “We’ll handle this,” Tyke said. “You go after the women.”

  Ash hesitated. Being back with the team and it already felt unnatural to run off without them.

  “Damn it, Cooper. We got this,” Tyke said again. “If that bitch is on the boat, I don’t want you here. Understand?”

  When realization dawned that either Lorena or her father could be on that boat, he gave a stiff nod. It wasn’t his fight anymore. His priority was Sam.

  “As soon as we contain the threat,” Tyke continued, “we’ll be right behind you.”

  With a quick nod from Calder, Ash sprinted in the opposite direction, pressing his throat. “Keep an eye out, Reese. I don’t want any surprises.”

  Shhhhhhhhhhhh.

  It was worth a try. He hoped like hell the COMs came back up before too long. Otherwise, he’d have no way to call for help if shit with Heinrich went haywire.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Grandma!” Sam needed to be free. Needed to touch her grandmother. Reassure her Sam was still there. Loving her. She’d see her through this. Somehow. Some way.

  She bucked and twisted, the rope digging deeper, blood seeping down her arms. Maybe if the bindings dug farther into her skin, they’d eventually sever her arms. It couldn’t possibly hurt half as much as her heart hurt right now. “Grandma, look at me.” She whirled to face her father. “Look what you’ve done. All because you thought you were protecting us.”

  Her dad continued to shake in the German’s arms, his gaze growing more distant. He looked at her, but it was as if he didn’t see her. He drew long, harsh breaths through bared teeth.

  Rose turned, tears in her eyes. She gave Sam a weak smile. Even after all she’d been through, she still attempted to ease Sam’s fears.

  Searching her grandmother’s eyes, her breath hitched. They were still green. The same green they’d been her whole life.

  Her body slumped in relief. Thank God. “How?”

  “How what?” Heinrich asked, grinning. “How was I able to turn her so quickly?” He looked at Rose and his grin evaporated. “That can’t be. I watched you take it.” He grabbed Rose’s face and forced her mouth open.