Gwen's Delta (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Delta Team Three Book 3)

by Lynne St. James

  “We knew you’d come out of hiding to save your daughter.” The kidnapper chuckled, his forearm just under the blade tightening around her throat.

  Gwen grimaced as her eyes filled with tears of pain and frustration. The copper scent of blood left a heated trail down her neck.

  “Let her go, and I’ll come with you. If you hurt her, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.” Arthur took a step closer and aimed the gun over her head at her captor.

  Gwen hadn’t seen the man who held her as he’d been behind her the entire time. But her dad never blinked. His hand remained steady as he focused the weapon on the terrorist.

  “I would listen to him. He’ll put a bullet between your eyes and not think twice,” Stacey Dedmond said as she stepped out from behind her husband.

  Her mom was there, too? As the pieces fell into place, anger heated Gwen’s blood. They’d been free the entire time. Never in danger, never hostages. This was all a ploy. And her parents had let her walk into danger—and the Delta team, too. Gwen couldn’t even wrap her brain around that part.

  “I’ll kill her before the bullet hits me,” her captor warned. “Even if you kill me, you won’t escape from us this time. There are others besides me.” He tightened his grip around her waist and pulled her closer.

  The kidnapper tried to sound calm, but his sweat soaked into Gwen’s shirt. “Rashad wants all of you, and what he wants, he gets.”

  “That’s not happening,” Arthur promised, his voice low and steady. “I will shoot you, and if I don’t kill you, my wife will. I’m sure you’ve heard already, she’s exceptional with her knives. Now, let our daughter go.”

  None of this made sense. Her mother was experienced with knives? And who the hell was Rashad?

  For a moment, Gwen thought he’d let her go, but then two men appeared behind her parents and pushed guns against their heads.

  The kidnapper tightened his grip on her, then remarked, “I think you are the ones who need to listen. Now, drop your weapons, or I’ll slice her open and you can watch her die. Then I’ll take you to Rashad and he will make you suffer.”

  “I’m sorry, Gwen,” Arthur mouthed.

  Where was Luke? Then she realized Duff wasn’t at the table. What was going on? Wasn’t her pin working? Gwen shivered, and the movement made her dizzy. Maybe she should throw up all over him. Maybe it’d be enough to surprise him, and she could get away. The thought made her giggle. She had to be losing her mind.

  “What are you laughing at, you stupid bitch?”

  Gwen couldn’t help herself, it wasn’t funny, but she couldn’t stop, and after she glimpsed Luke as he pushed his way through the crowd and moved out of sight, she laughed louder. It was the perfect distraction, even if they all thought she’d lost her mind.

  Duff and Woof took out the two men with the guns on her parents. One minute they were standing, and the next, they were lying on the ground. The bad guys didn’t even know what had hit them. If Gwen hadn’t seen it happen, she’d never have believed it possible.

  Zip and Jangles must have taken out the extra guys in the kitchen. Then she was free. She shook with relief and took her first deep breath since the kidnapper had grabbed her.

  “Are you okay?” Luke hugged her after pulling her away from her captor, now laid out on the floor. Then he checked the cuts on her neck. “I’m so sorry he hurt you. I’m sure it hurts like hell.”

  “It’s not that bad.” Gwen held on to him like he was her lifeline.

  “The cuts don’t look too deep, but we’ll get you patched up at the safe house. I’m so proud of you, princess. You were great.” He pressed a white cloth to her neck and kissed her.

  “What took you so long?” Gwen asked.

  “We needed your parents to show themselves. I’m so sorry.” Luke looked over at her parents. Gwen was close enough that she felt him stiffen, obviously angry. But then, so was she. As the rush of adrenaline receded, anger and hurt took its place. Her parents were spies? How was that even possible?

  There were too many bodies not to cause a commotion in the café, and they needed to get out of there before the local police arrived. Merlin was worried about the amount of blood Gwen had lost. They needed to get her to the safe house and get her wounds assessed, too. But they also had to get the tangos to the interrogators.

  The extended van with their CIA driver waited in the alley behind the café. Merlin gave the order to move, and the Deltas led everyone out of the restaurant. The tangos were secured to steel rings welded in the rear. Woof and Jangles dropped black hoods over their heads. It would be up to the CIA interrogators to pry the information from them about the impending attack out of their prisoners.

  The Dedmonds and Woof took the back row, while Gwen, Merlin, and Jangles took the second row as they got in. Zip climbed in next to the driver. Once they were on their way, Merlin checked on Gwen. He couldn’t have been prouder of how she’d reacted. She’d played her part perfectly, even when her parents had shown up.

  “How are you doing, princess?”

  “My neck hurts, and I’m really pissed off, but I’m happy I didn’t die.” Gwen leaned her head on Merlin’s shoulder. Maybe she wasn’t angry with him.

  “How do you know my daughter?” Arthur Dedmond asked.

  Merlin had no intention of answering any of their questions, but he would make damn sure they answered his.

  “Gwen, I’m sorry you got involved in all of this,” Stacey Dedmond said softly.

  “I am still trying to wrap my brain around all of this. How could you let your family get involved in this mess? I don’t even know you.” Gwen finally answered.

  “You need to let us explain,” Arthur pleaded with his daughter.

  From the determined look on Gwen’s face, she wasn’t going to listen.

  “Guinevere, we’re your parents…” Stacey reached over the seat and touched Gwen’s shoulder, but she pulled away.

  “Maybe, but not now. I just can’t right now,” Gwen answered.

  Merlin didn’t blame her. They put their lives before their daughter’s. It was wrong on so many levels, and he’d like nothing more than to show Arthur Dedmond just what he thought of him. It was the primary reason he’d avoided a committed relationship. It gave the enemy leverage. That they were field agents and had a child blew his mind.

  They pulled up in front of the safe house, and Merlin helped Gwen out.

  “I wish I didn’t have to leave you, but I’ll be back as soon as possible. Zip will get you patched up, and then, you should rest. I have a few things to take care of.” Merlin pulled her into his arms for a kiss.

  “Go, do your job, just don’t be a hero. You need to come back to me,” Gwen said with a nod. “I’ll be waiting.”

  “You are amazing. Listen to Zip. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Zip jumped out of the front passenger seat. “Let me know what you find out.”

  “Copy that. Take care of her,” Merlin said with an edge to his voice he couldn’t control.

  “I’ll keep her safe.”

  Chapter 20

  As their CIA driver headed toward the black site, Merlin seethed in the front seat of the van. He didn’t know their destination, and he didn’t really care. The Dedmonds had tried to get the Deltas to answer their questions, but none of them did. The tension in the vehicle was palpable.

  Livid that they’d put their daughter in danger, Merlin figured it was better to stay quiet than risk his career. Soon enough, he’d have to give in and speak to them, but with any luck, he’d have control of his temper by then. It was ironic that Gwen had totally destroyed his control. Or maybe it wasn’t.

  The Dedmonds had a lot to explain, starting with how Sand played into this clusterfuck—because Merlin knew without a doubt that Sand was knee deep in it. If there was any good here at all, the Dedmonds would know the location of the pending bombing. If not, then hopefully, the interrogators could get it out of the tangos they’d captured.

  Fin
ally, the van slowed down and pulled around the back of a rundown building in an older section of Cairo. It appeared to be deserted and the perfect location for a black site. No doubt why it had been selected. Merlin couldn’t imagine anyone noticing them or calling the local authorities.

  “You can’t hold us. We are Americans,” Arthur Dedmond demanded for the fifteenth time.

  “When you get inside, you can talk to the agent-in-charge. It’s up to him,” Merlin responded coldly.

  “And what about your daughter? You haven’t even asked what will happen to her,” Duff said.

  It surprised Merlin that of all the team members, Duff was the one to speak first. He couldn’t wait to hear the answer.

  “It was a mistake,” Arthur said. “She shouldn’t have been here. We’ve always made sure she was separate from all of this.”

  “And you didn’t think anyone would find out you had a child? What about your parents? Did you think about what they’re going through?” Merlin asked.

  “You don’t know anything about our family,” Stacey Dedmond responded.

  “If you’re smart, you’ll be quiet. You’re poking the tiger,” Woof said as he unhooked the three tangos in the back and pulled them out of the van.

  Duff and Jangles helped drag the men into the building.

  “C’mon, your turn.” Merlin waited for the Dedmonds to give him any trouble as he led them inside.

  Gwen’s parents exchanged glances and looked uneasy. Finally, an emotion other than outrage appeared on their faces. There were some orders he wished he could ignore, and turning the Dedmonds over to the CIA for debriefing was one of them. But they needed to uncover the details of Rashad’s plot. Time was not on their side, and that was the only reason the CIA allowed the Deltas in the debriefing instead of sending them back to the safe house to await their orders.

  Their driver entered a code and leaned into the eye scanner next to a metal door. Merlin hadn’t expected the sophisticated set-up. There must be a lot of covert activity in the area.

  After verifying his ID, the door unlocked, and they stepped into the building and stopped at the security checkpoint. The guard on duty nodded to their driver and picked up the phone to alert whoever.

  Frustration tightened Merlin’s shoulders, and when he glanced over at the rest of his team, they didn’t look any happier. This was taking too long. There was a bomb waiting to detonate somewhere in the city. Finally, three agents walked through another door and took the tangos—hopefully to an interrogation room.

  Another showed up to take their group through another door and down a hallway. The agent stopped at a door and let them into a conference room. It surprised Merlin that they’d left the Dedmonds with them instead of taking them to another room for a debriefing.

  “Do you want to share what the hell is going on?” Merlin asked the Dedmonds, his voice cold as ice. “Because Sand sure as fuck hasn’t.” He was finished with waiting for the CIA to make a move. Without having to worry about Gwen’s safety, he was in full operations mode.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about,” Arthur Dedmond responded.

  “How about you, Mrs. Dedmond,” Merlin asked.

  “I’ve never heard of him, either.”

  “That’s interesting. He’s the one who sent us here with your daughter to pay your ransom.”

  From the fleeting look of surprise on their faces, they hadn’t known about the plan to use Gwen. If Merlin hadn’t been watching for it, he would have missed it. If nothing else, they were well trained.

  “Do you know anything about the plot to detonate a bomb in Cairo?” Merlin asked.

  “Not much. We arranged to meet with Hassan to get the details, but he didn’t show,” Arthur Dedmond answered.

  “Because he’s dead,” Jangles said.

  “It’s what we figured. When he didn’t show, we came back to Cairo. Someone had tossed our hotel room, so we grabbed what we could and rented an apartment. We figured we were burned when we couldn’t reach our handler,” Arthur Dedmond explained.

  Merlin didn’t care if they were burned or not. What he needed was information about the plot. “What’s the protocol for that?”

  “Not something we will discuss with you,” Stacey Dedmond said, her voice chilly.

  “No need to be bitchy,” Woof said. “Like you said earlier, we’re all on the same side.”

  “How do you know our daughter?” Stacey Dedmond demanded.

  Merlin shook his head. “It’s not important. If Gwen wants you to know, she’ll tell you.” From her reaction in the van, he doubted she’d want to talk to them anytime soon.

  “Why should we answer your questions? You’re not CIA,” Arthur Dedmond asked.

  “Because we saved your asses in the café. And whatever your mission is or was, ours is to stop the bombing.” Merlin held his temper by a thread that grew thinner by the moment. This was nothing but a waste of their time.

  “Fine,” Arthur said. “It will happen today, this afternoon. Hassan found out the time and target. But we already told you that he didn’t show up at the meet up.”

  “Fuck,” Duff said.

  “That’s it, all we know,” Stacey Dedmond confirmed.

  Merlin sighed with frustration as he glanced at the clock. As much as he hated the thought of torture, he hoped like hell whoever was interrogating the tangos they’d captured would get able to get the information they needed. “Jangles, you still have the SAT phone?”

  “Yeah.” He pulled it out of his pocket and slid it across the table to Merlin.

  “I’ll be right back.” Merlin stepped into the hallway so he could call Roe. The building appeared to be solid concrete, and he hoped he’d be able to get a signal. For once, luck was on his side.

  “Turano.”

  “Commander.”

  “Give me a sitrep.”

  “We’ve secured the Dedmonds and three tangos. We’re at a CIA black site. The tangos are in interrogation. We left Gwen at the safe house with Zip. She suffered some minor injuries while executing the mission, but she should be okay.”

  “That’s good news. Did the Dedmonds give you anything useful about the plot?”

  “Only that it’s today, probably afternoon. They claim they didn’t get the time or target location. When Hassan didn’t show for their meeting, they went into hiding.”

  “I think I might know the target,” Roe said. “The Secretary of State is meeting with President el-Sisi today. In fact, there’s a press briefing at the palace at sixteen hundred hours. I’m betting the bomb is there somewhere.”

  Merlin checked his watch. “That’s only two hours from now. They are upping the ante if they’re planning on taking out the president.”

  “Rashad is power hungry. He’s trying to raise his status among the other insurgent groups. If he’s able to pull this off, he’ll have no problem raising funds and recruiting. Daesh would become the head of the snake,” Turano said.

  “The odds of us finding the bomb in the palace are not good. If we pull this off, you owe me a lottery ticket.” Merlin headed back to the conference room, phone in hand. They needed to get to the palace. He prayed that Roe was correct; they didn’t have time for a mistake.

  “Done. But if anyone can do it, Delta 3 can. Good hunting.”

  “Copy that.”

  If the Daesh acquired more power and money, there would be no place safe from their attacks. They needed to make sure it didn’t happen. Merlin’s gut said Roe was correct.

  He was done waiting for the interrogators to give them intel. They needed to get to the presidential palace and evacuate everyone while they searched for the explosive.

  As Merlin shared the information with the rest of the team, a CIA agent entered the conference room.

  “One of them finally gave it up,” the agent said. “Presidential Palace at sixteen hundred hours. There’s a news conference with the president and the secretary of state.”

  “Yeah, need to get there.�
� Merlin’s body vibrated with the need to move. “Can you get us transport to the palace? Someone needs to order the evacuation. We only have two hours until detonation if you’re correct.”

  “We’ll handle the evacuation orders. Oh, and they gave up Rashad, too. He’s supposed to be watching from his townhouse,” the agent shared.

  “You must have stepped in shit this morning,” Woof said.

  Agent no name barely cracked a smile. He handed them the keys to the van. “Go, we’ll handle the rest from here.”

  “What about them?” Merlin titled his head, indicating Gwen’s parents.

  “They’ll stay here until we debrief them. They’ll return to the States when we’re done. With their cover blown, they’re done.”

  Merlin figured as much and kind of felt sorry for them. He didn’t know how invested they were in their jobs. Being a spook wasn’t easy, and if they’d been doing it for almost thirty years, they’d had a good run.

  “I’ll let your daughter know you’re going home,” Merlin said as they left the conference room.

  They had to get across the city during midday traffic. It would be a fucking miracle if they could get to the palace in time, let alone find the device. The safe house should be out of the blast radius unless it was nuclear. Then they’d all be fucked. Though if the intel the CIA had was correct and Rashad was close, he wouldn’t risk his life, not when he was making a play to take over as the leader for all the factions of the Daesh.

  Tossing the keys to Jangles, Merlin jumped into the passenger seat and dialed Zip.

  “What did you find out?” Zip sounded agitated.

  “Presidential Palace at sixteen hundred hours.”

  “Fuck. You don’t have much time. And Rashad?”

  “The CIA has his location. They will take him down while we neutralize the threat. How’s Gwen?”

  “I got her patched up. A few of the cuts were deeper than they looked, but she didn’t need stitches. But she’s worried about you and her parents. I’ll put her on.”