“Agreed,” Duff grunted.
No one else verbalized their answer, it was unnecessary. None of them planned on sitting around with their thumbs up their asses while their women were in danger.
Merlin took the turnoff to Aksan’s farm. Jangles couldn’t say if the sheepherder was a good man, but he was a peaceful man. He didn’t want trouble and he didn’t invite it. His cousin, Hazan, was the same way. The tunnel to cross into Kazarus started on Aksan’s land and ended on Hazan’s. Jangles didn’t know if they split the money they handed off to Aksan or how that worked, only that the men provided safe passage if you could afford it. Admission wasn’t cheap but it was well worth it.
A light came on, signaling it was safe to continue to the barn where they’d hide the SUV. The rest of the journey would be done on foot. Merlin slowed as Aksan opened the barn doors and then he pulled in. The men piled out as a second SUV pulled up into the lane.
Merlin turned to their host and quickly explained. “He’s with us and will wait here with the vehicles.”
Aksan’s brows pinched, unhappy at the unusual turn. They normally worked alone and they’d never left a vehicle exposed.
Merlin held out a wad of cash; by the look of it, double the amount they normally handed over.
“For your trouble, friend.”
The other man bowed his head before he silently took the cash and walked farther into the loafing shed. A small flock of lambs bleated as he passed by their enclosures. The man paused to give one of the baby sheep a gentle touch before he continued to the large tarp piled on the ground. Said a lot about a man how he treated his animals, so Jangles figured the old man had a lot of good in him along with his peaceful nature.
Once Drake parked his SUV next to the 4Runner, he didn’t delay laying it out.
“I’m staying on this side. I got you covered on this end. You run into any problems, Tex first, me second,” Drake instructed.
“You do know this is a fully sanctioned op and we have the assets in the area at our disposal,” Zip told him.
Drake nodded. “Indeed you do. However, what we got is better. When shit goes sideways as it always does, you want Tex at your back. You need references on that, talk to Ghost. You need more, call a man by the name of Wolf. He’s a SEAL, though not sure you’d take his word. Though don’t mention I said that part to Tex, he gets salty when I make seaman jokes, considering he was one.”
“No shit?” Zip mumbled.
“Story for another day. All you need to know right now is, Tex answers to no one, therefore he’s got no red tape to cut through. His only objective is getting your women out alive and you home in one piece. I’ll be here, you need something.”
Under normal circumstances, Jangles would have more than a few questions about Tex and who exactly Drake was and who he worked for. But right then, he didn’t give the first fuck who they were if it meant he got to Hope.
However, Jangles needed to know one thing before he left the stranger to watch his six.
“And you?” Jangles inquired.
“Me what?”
“How do you know Tex?”
“Once a Team Guy, always a Team Guy.”
“You’re a SEAL?”
“Only a SEAL can make seaman jokes to another Team Guy without swallowing lead.”
“Right.” Jangles offered Drake his hand. “’Preciate your help.”
“Anything you need.” Drake took Jangles’ hand and held on to it. “Word of advice from a man who knows what you’re walking into—keep your shit. When you get to her, she’s gonna need you. Bury that fire you got in you, and remember it’s all about her and what she went through. You need to unload, you do it with your team. You can’t do it with them, you call me. But no matter how strong she is, you keep your shit tight. She’s gonna need you more than you think.”
“You know this how?”
“My woman was held as a POW for a week, was treated to torture that would’ve broken a man three times her size. She didn’t break, not when she was being waterboarded, beaten, or humiliated. I still have nightmares about how I found her. But she’s got it worse, it happened to her. That’s how I know. Luckily for you, Demir’s not known for torture, and he’s never hurt women. This is about you and your team and getting you on his turf. He’s got you here, now all you gotta do is take him out and get your girl.”
Right. Easier said than done.
“You put the motherfucker down that took her?”
“Nope. She did.”
With a jerk of his chin, Jangles made his way around the parked SUVs to where his team was already filing down the ramp into the tunnel.
Drake had sound advice, however, Jangles didn’t think he had it in him to hold his shit together if he got to Hope and she’d been tortured. It had been a miracle Woof didn’t lose his mind and slaughter his way through Kazarus looking for Demir after Nori had been shot. Then again, Nori had been bleeding out and all Woof could think about was saving her life.
There wasn’t a chance in hell Onur was getting that lucky this time. Jangles wasn’t leaving Kazarus until Onur Demir was under dirt.
“I feel like we should be doing something,” Ivy complained.
“We talked about this,” Gwen reminded her.
“I know. But we’re just sitting here.”
“We’re not just sitting here,” Hope said. “Nori’s right. There’s no way out of this room. The best way for us to help is to not cause any trouble and wait.”
At first, Hope had balked at Nori’s advice. Now that her arms and legs weren’t bound and she could see, her first instinct was to escape. Shout, fight, claw, scratch, whatever she could do if that stupid door ever opened. But Nori had made a compelling argument. If one of them did that and was injured, they had no medical supplies, and since they didn’t know how long it would be until the guys came, infection could set in if they weren’t killed outright. So the best way to keep themselves safe was to wait. That way when the guys did come, they had five able-bodied women making the rescue easier.
Ivy didn’t look happy, and Hope understood why. Being kidnapped a second time had to suck. Hope knew, being as this was her first time and it sucked.
They were powerless to help themselves, and sitting around chitchatting felt wrong. But attempting to hatch a plan to break free wasn’t smart. They had to wait. Beau, Woof, Zip, Merlin, and Duff would be there soon, they had to be. Hope refused to believe anything else.
“What’s Duff’s real name?” Hope asked. “I know Heath, Trent, and Luke’s names but I’ve never heard Duff’s.”
Gwen started to giggle and knocked her shoulder into Ivy’s. Finally, a big broad, playful smile stretched across her pretty face.
“How bad do you wanna know?” Ivy teased.
“Well, before you asked that, I was just mildly curious. Now I have to know.”
“I don’t know if I should tell.” Ivy winked and Gwen burst out laughing.
“Do you know?” Hope asked Gwen.
“Yep.”
“Does everyone know?”
“I just found out recently.” Destiny smiled.
“I’ve known a while. After I was shot, Ma—I mean, Duff, flew to D.C. to see me in the rehab center. We had lunch and he shared,” Nori added.
“You did that on purpose,” Hope complained. “Come on, what’s his name?”
“Magnus.”
“Magnus?” Hope repeated. “Seriously?”
Ivy nodded and Hope felt her eyes go round and her body started to shake.
“Oh my God.” She lost the battle and started to laugh. “That’s perfect. He’s totally a Magnus. If he didn’t scare the hell out of me, I’d call him that instead of Duff.”
“Duff isn’t scary,” Ivy defended her man. “He’s like a big teddy bear.”
At that, all the women dissolved into fits of hilarity. The last thing Duff was, was a teddy bear. He was more like a large, snarly grizzly bear, with very large teeth.
�
�Maybe a grizzly.” Hope voiced her thoughts.
Ivy smiled and Hope’s chest tightened. Of course, it was just her luck that the first time she was bonding with a great group of women it was while she was kidnapped, sitting in a windowless room in a foreign country.
Chapter 17
Last time Jangles and the team made the mile-long journey, Nori had been with them. This go-around, the trek took half the time. Mostly because the men wanted to get to the other side and partly because without Nori with them, the men went at a much faster clip.
“You good?” Jangles asked Woof as they approached the end.
“Nope. You?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“You think they’re coming up with a way to escape?” Zip questioned.
God, I hope not.
“No. And if they were planning something, Nori would’ve eighty-sixed it. She knows where she is, she knows Demir, and she knows their best play is waiting for us. The five of them loose in that compound would be a nightmare,” Woof answered.
Jangles’ gut tightened at the thought of them out in the open. The possibility of one of them getting hit in the crossfire made him want to hurl.
Another ten feet and they’d be out of this goddamn tunnel. Then they had two miles to Demir’s compound.
Hold on, baby, I’m almost there.
“Duff?” Merlin called.
“Don’t.” That was all Duff said, and Jangles turned back to look at his teammate. Duff’s features were tinged green from Jangles’ night vision goggles, but green or not, Jangles couldn’t miss the hard set of his jaw.
“They’re—”
“Don’t fucking talk to me. Don’t make promises. Don’t spew platitudes. I get that we’re all in this together. I know you’re feeling it just like me. But don’t fucking say a word. I just got Ivy back. And the last time this happened to her, I swore she was safe. So, not a goddamn word. We get in, we secure the women, and I don’t care who does it, as long as it’s done. But that fucker is not being left breathin’.”
Duff’s angry words echoed in the tunnel, reverberated, and hit Jangles square in the chest. When they’d gotten Ivy back, she’d been shot before they could get out of Costa Rica. That had sent Duff into a tailspin and he’d finally told the team about losing his wife, Katie. The fact he’d held onto that secret for years, only telling them when he was worried about losing Ivy, too, told Jangles how much he loved Ivy.
“Copy that,” Merlin acknowledged and dropped it.
Jangles pulled his phone from his vest, was happy to see he had service, and called Tex.
“You at the end?” Tex answered, and Jangles wondered if the man ever greeted with a hello.
“Yeah.”
“Good news is, patrol passed by five minutes ago. Bad news is, even though I was able to take the airport cameras offline when you landed, Demir must’ve had a scout there looking for you. His men are assembling fifteen miles to the east. Bravo Team is on standby and waiting, two miles west of the compound. When you leave the tunnel, you switch to direct communication with me. Roe’s called in an airstrike. We need to time that just right.”
“Copy.” Jangles pointed to the door and Merlin slowly pushed it open. “Tangos fifteen mikes east. Bravo at the ready two mikes west. Let’s roll.” To his team, then back to Tex, “Going to comms.”
Jangles disconnected the phone, stowed it back in his vest, and put in his earpiece. Before he turned on his radio, he informed the team, “Gunship on station.”
“Let’s get it on,” Merlin muttered, and rifle up and at the ready, he scanned right then left and led the way.
“I wish I had on pants,” Hope quietly mumbled to Nori.
Ivy and Gwen had both fallen asleep, Destiny was lying in her cot but awake. Every once in a while, Hope caught her opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling, then she’d close them again.
“If you wanna try to sleep, I’ll stay awake,” Nori told her.
“I should be tired, I feel like I’ve been awake a million years, but I can’t sleep.”
Nori gave her a sympathetic smile and looked down at her skirt. “Yeah, I’m not exactly dressed for a kidnapping, either.”
Hope’s gaze followed Nori’s, taking in her fancy navy blue pencil skirt, nude spiked heels—complete with a pointed toe and sexy ankle strap, then her eyes traveled up to the taupe blouse and she asked, “Is that silk?”
“Yep.”
Then suddenly Hope lost it—exhausted, half-delirious, scared, along with a huge helping of anger, she burst out in hysterics. Her body shook with it, and by the time she was done, her belly hurt and there were tears in her eyes.
“You didn’t even break a heel?” Hope giggled. “You said they pulled you into a car in your fancy get-up and you didn’t even break a heel.”
Nori looked at her like she’d lost her mind, then smiled. “Well, they are my favorite pair.”
“Right.” Hope giggled again.
“At least you’re not in your work uniform,” Destiny grumbled. “My heels aren’t even sexy. They’re low and sturdy. Totally ugly. I don’t get why we can’t just wear flats.”
“Hate to agree, but they’re totally ugly,” Nori observed.
“Hello. I’m in Beau’s tee and panties. I don’t even have on a bra. As far as the worst kidnapping outfit goes, I win.”
“You totally win,” Destiny agreed. “Though right about now, I’d give up my skirt and shoes to have something that smelled like Trent.”
Why hadn’t I thought about that? Her hands went to the collar and she pulled the fabric over her nose and inhaled. A faint trace of Beau’s bodywash lingered.
Heaven.
Come on, Beau, where are you?
But just as quickly as the thought flitted through her head, guilt followed. Beau coming to get her meant he was putting himself in harm’s way. Her thoughts turned to her parents and witnessing the horrors that had played out in front of her. She’d been powerless then, too. Paralyzed with fear as Went had stabbed her father. Overcome with blinding rage when he’d turned to her mother. But she couldn’t stop him. Hope’s hand went to the long raised scar on her forearm and her finger traced the line. The physical reminder that one bad decision could forever change your life. She hated herself for bringing Went into their lives. Hated that she was so selfish. And there she was again, helpless.
Her mind shifted back to the morning she was taken. Raking through the memories, she wondered if there was something she could’ve done differently. Something that would’ve stopped her abduction. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. The sound of the bedroom door creaking made her open her eyes. After that, she couldn’t remember. Had she fought, screamed, anything?
Then suddenly she was pulled from her musing and the lights went out and Hope’s world turned black.
“They’re here,” Nori whispered.
Hope closed her eyes and prayed for the third time that day, something she hadn’t done since she’d gotten her parents killed. Something she didn’t do because she didn’t deserve anything. But Beau did, he was a good man and so were his teammates. And the four other women with Hope, they deserved to be saved.
Chapter 18
Jangles felt the bead of sweat as it slowly rolled down his temple, along his cheek, and finally dripped off his chin. As soon as one fell, another took its place. The wait was killing him. They were so close, the building where Tex had confirmed Demir was holding Hope and the others was in sight.
So fucking close, but so goddamn far away. Jangles was bouncing on the balls of his feet, itching for the go-ahead.
“What’s taking so goddamn long?” Jangles asked over the radio.
“Short approach now,” Tex answered. “Trigger’s in place and ready.”
Static came over Jangles’ radio, then he could hear the Apache pilot’s voice crackle over the line. “We’re inbound with a thirty mike-mike.” There was more static and finally, Jangles heard the words he’d been wa
iting for. “Target acquired. Standby for full cycle.” Then finally the sound of heavy automatic artillery raining down. Jangles heard it twofold—through his earpiece and off in the distance. “Left break and come around with a hellfire.”
“Coming back around with a hellfire,” Jangles relayed to the team. He saw Merlin jerk his head, Zip and Woof both continued to scan the area, and Duff didn’t move his gaze from the building the women were in.
“Ready to engage,” the pilot announced. “Rifle.” There was a thump and Jangles waited two beats before he received the confirmation. “Good splash. Repeat, good splash.”
“Good to go,” Tex cut in and the static disappeared. “Bravo two is on the move.”
“Copy that.”
“We’re good to go. Trigger’s on the move.”
No sooner did the words leave Jangles’ mouth, than the compound went black.
“Was that you?” Trigger asked Tex.
“Negative.”
Jangles shook his head when Merlin glanced over his shoulder.
“No change,” Merlin instructed. “We stay on course.”
The power being cut made no difference to them. As a matter of fact, it made it easier. Demir had to know they’d come in with NVGs, and plunging the compound in total blackout wouldn’t affect them.
“What’s his game?” Zip asked.
“No clue,” Merlin returned.
“I don’t like it,” Duff grunted.
Duff didn’t like much of anything, but Jangles had to agree in this situation. He didn’t like not knowing what Demir was doing. From a tactical standpoint, he’d just given the team the advantage.
“Stay to the shadows.” Jangles glanced around the sparsely treed landscape. “He wants us in the open. In two minutes, those lights are coming back online and he’s hoping we took advantage of the darkness and made a straight cut through the field. We’d be sitting ducks out in the open.”
“We cut across, we cut two minutes off our time,” Duff pointed out.
Hope's Delta (Special Forces: Operation Alpha) (Delta Team Three Book 5) Page 10
