Rescuing Samantha

by Nicole Flockton

  A knock sounded and Leigh all but skipped over to the door, when it opened, four men dressed in camouflage fatigues entered the cabin.

  Shit, this wasn’t good.

  Sam looked over at Rayne, expecting to see fear in her eyes, instead her sister still maintained her calm, serene look, but Sam could see a hint of hatred in her eyes. Clearly the sight of the four heavily armed men didn’t scare her.

  Did Rayne know something that Sam didn’t? How could she be so confident that Ghost and Beck would find them in time?

  Fear consumed Sam and all she could think about was that she’d never had the chance to tell Beck she loved him. But if, by some miracle, she and Rayne were rescued that would be the first thing she would tell him. That she loved him with her whole heart.

  “Right is everyone ready to go?” Beck spoke through the comms unit on his vest. A round of affirmatives came back to him.

  He looked over at Ghost, the two of them were going to take the lead, even though Ox tried to talk them out of it. There was no way Ghost was going to let anyone else be in charge, not with his wife inside the cabin.

  Beck had been able to get in touch with Fort and found that his team was on base. Instead of trying to deal with traffic they were able to get a helicopter and they were in LA an hour after they called. It was an hour longer than both he and Ghost wanted, but they were also aware they needed the extra manpower because they didn’t know what they were going to find and if there were going to be more people involved than just Leigh.

  As it turned out, he was glad his team was available, when four heavily armed men arrived at the cabin about thirty minutes after they’d taken up their positions. He’d been ready to storm the cabin but controlled the urge. He had to think as a SEAL not as a man whose woman had been kidnapped.

  Because the cabin was so old and raised off the ground, Cricket and Hank had managed to feed in a telescope mirror and they’d been able to see that Sam and Rayne appeared to be unhurt. Leigh on the other hand was raving like a lunatic. Beside him, Ghost had stiffened as they listened in on Leigh’s rantings, her voice carrying through the broken windows. Knowing that one of his missions had put his wife in danger had to hurt him.

  “Another vehicle approaching via the west. Two occupants. Don’t look like they’re armed at all.” Ox relayed the information over the comms. He was teamed up with Irish. Beck was aware Ghost hadn’t wanted the former Delta anywhere near him so the two of them had taken up an observation position a mile away from the cabin.

  “Can you deal with them before they get close?” questioned Ghost.

  “Consider it done,” Irish responded.

  “That fucker better not make me regret letting him come,” Ghost muttered beside him.

  A few seconds later, the sound of metal hitting something hard rent the air. The door to the cabin slammed open and two men ran out, guns pointed, ready to take out anyone they saw.

  “Go time,” Ghost commanded.

  Two pops sounded and the guys on the porch went down, both hit in the legs. Before they could even raise their weapons, Fort and Silver had disarmed them while delivering blows to knock them out. They’d all decided the mission was going to be maim and disarm, not kill. It wasn’t a sanctioned mission and it was on home soil so there was no way they were going to bring down the wrath of commanding officers on them.

  The other two guys who’d arrived also came rushing out of the cabin. Again, Fort and Silver dealt with them quickly. Clearly these guys weren’t really trained professionals, even though they had impressive gear. If they were, they would’ve known not to just run outside after their teammates.

  Screams sounded from inside the cabin and he and Ghost were up and running toward the wooden structure. As they reached the front door, they paused on either side of it. Beck’s heart pounded loudly in his chest and all he wanted to do was race inside and check on the woman he loved. If anything had happened to Sam, he didn’t think he could go on.

  “Sit-rep,” Ghost whispered.

  “Outer perimeter secured,” Ox answered.

  “Left side of cabin secured,” Rocket said.

  “Right side secured,” Hank confirmed.

  In pairs, Beck knew that his teammates wouldn’t let him down. God, he missed working with these guys. He didn’t know much about Bird, he was the guy who’d replaced him on the team. But Fort said he was good and he believed him.

  “Ready to breach, Beck?” Ghost looked over at him.

  He was more than ready to get his girl. “Yes.”

  Reaching into his vest he pulled out some flash bombs. As much as he wanted to warn Sam and Rayne, that was out of the question. It would also give Leigh the heads up that they were about to enter.

  The plan was for him and Ghost to go in and the rest of the team to follow.

  “Hold position,” Bird hissed over the comms. “Incoming from the east.”

  “Can you deal with it?” asked Ghost.

  “Of course. Proceed with the plan, I’ll deal with this one then I’ll have your backs.”

  Beck realized how hard this would be for Ghost to trust the people helping them. They weren’t his team. The guys he could always count on, but they were the guys Beck had been with for a long time. They wouldn’t let him down.

  With a nod in Ghost’s direction he lowered his goggles and tossed the flash bombs in. What sounded like furniture crashing to the ground greeted him when he and Ghost stormed the cabin. Through the smoke he could make out where Sam and Rayne where, the chairs they were sitting on were on their sides, as if both of them had thrown themselves to the ground.

  As much as he wanted to rush to aid Sam, the priority was eliminating the danger and the danger was Leigh. He trusted that one of the other guys following them in would get the women to safety.

  With his ankle protesting the sudden movements, Beck raced over to where Leigh stood. From what he could see she didn’t have a weapon, but he wasn’t going to take any chances. Lowering his shoulder he clamped his hands around her waist and slammed her to the ground. Normally he’d feel awful for hurting a woman, but this woman had brought pain to so many. No way was he going to be gentle with her. In a quick motion, he rolled them so she was face down, wrenching her arms behind her back, ignoring her screams he secured her wrists with zip ties. Beck then moved to her ankles and bound them together. The bitch wasn’t going anywhere.

  “I’ve got Sam outside,” Hank radioed. “She’s unharmed except for some cuts around her wrists.”

  Relief washed through Beck upon hearing that Sam was okay. A second later Cricket was beside him. “Go to your girl. I’ll deal with this.”

  Beck didn’t need to be told twice, he relinquished his hold on Leigh and strode through the cabin with only one destination on his mind.

  Outside he pulled his goggles off and looked around, surprised to see a group of police cars and a couple of ambulances were pulling up the dirt road. They could deal with the men they’d taken down before entering the cabin.

  Beck had no idea who informed them, but he was glad that they would handle the clean up. All he wanted was his woman in his arms. Assure himself that what Hank had told him was true. That she was safe.

  “Beck.” He heard her frantic call a second before she slammed into him. A shudder rippled through him and he felt an answering one go through Sam. He closed his arms around her holding her tight, breathing her in, the reassuring scent of lemons and coconut hitting him.

  Nothing had ever felt more right in his life than this moment. “Thank God, you’re okay.”

  He framed her face and lowered his lips to hers. The need for physical affirmation that she was safe thrummed through him. Sam’s mouth opened beneath his and their tongues dueled together. He couldn’t get enough of her and wished they were anywhere but where they were. Wrangling his wayward needs and emotions he softened the kiss until their lips were just pressed together, before separating.

  “How did you find us?” Sam asked her fin
gers digging into his arms as if she never wanted to let go.

  “Ghost’s friend Tex. Apparently Rayne has some jewelry that has a tracker in it. All he had to do was contact Tex and within a few minutes we had your location pinpointed.”

  “No wonder she was so calm. Rayne knew that Ghost would find her and she just had to wait. She kept trying to tell me to stay calm, but I didn’t know about the tracker.” She looked up at him and his heart bled at the sight of the fear and pain still lurking in the brown depths of her eyes. “I was so scared I’d never see you again, Beck. I know it’s soon, but when I thought my life was over I vowed to myself that if I got out of this alive I would tell you this. I love you Cane ‘Beck’ Beckwith. I don’t know if you feel the same, but I had to tell you.”

  Beck’s heart almost burst at her declaration. “God, Sam, I love you too. I’ll follow you anywhere. I don’t ever want to let you out of my sight again.”

  Tears filled Sam’s eyes as if the concept that she was worthy of love was a surprise to her. “You love me?”

  “With my whole heart. You’ve brought me back to life, Samantha Rayse. Prior to taking on this job, I was floating. I had no direction. Now I know my direction in life is wherever you are. Wherever you go, wherever your career takes you, I’ll be right beside you, if you’ll let me.”

  Sam went up on tiptoe and brushed her nose against his. “I’ll always be your compass, Beck. You will never be directionless again. And yes I can’t think of anything better than to have you by my side, always.”

  Among the chaos of people being arrested and placed in squad cars, Beck only had eyes for the love of his life. “Together we’ll always know where we’re going.”

  He captured her lips again and grabbed at the sense of peace that surrounded them. Never again would he let go.

  Epilogue

  “So what’s happening with the movie, Sam?” Rayne asked as they sat on the balcony of the Price’s guest house. It was the just the two of them. Everyone else was inside. Because it was Rayne and Ghost’s last day in LA before they headed back to Texas, Sam had decided to throw a party. Now that the threat on their lives was over, she had already made plans to go see them at Christmas. She couldn’t wait to see Chase and his wife Sadie, not to mention meeting all the other guys and their partners and families on Ghost’s team. Even Beck was excited about the trip.

  It had been a week since they’d been taken and what a crazy week it had been. Pascal had been shocked and devastated to find out what his wife had been up to. He’d immediately rebuked any knowledge of her actions and the crimes she’d been part of. Fortunately for him, he’d made Leigh sign an airtight pre-nuptial agreement, protecting him and his assets. His reputation had taken a hit, but he also employed the best publicists in the business who were able to spin it that he was as a victim as well. Not to mention lawyers who were able to prove he had alibis at the time Leigh was committing her crimes.

  Pascal had come to see her and Rayne the day after their kidnapping and had apologized for what his wife had done to them. Sam had believed him, he’d looked a shadow of the powerful man he’d been on set. Production on the movie had halted but she’d found out only a few minutes ago that it was set to start up again in a week’s time. Pascal would still be directing and when she returned to set, Sam had no doubt that he would be back to the man he was before the incident.

  “Just received news that we will get back to work next week,” Sam told her sister. “There’s only a couple more weeks of shooting to go, and even with all the scandal, the studio still wants to proceed with it. Apparently interest in the movie has increased.”

  Rayne reached out and grabbed her hand, Sam squeezed it tight. “I’m so happy for you, Sam. Your hard work is coming to fruition and your star is on the rise.”

  “Well, I didn’t want to say anything but my agent has been getting a lot of calls from directors wanting to know when I’m available. I’ve got a couple of scripts to read, all for lead roles.”

  Rayne squealed and jumped up from her chair to hug her. “My sister the famous Hollywood actress. It’s so cool.”

  Sam laughed. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I may bomb out.”

  “I don’t believe it. It’s your time, Sammie.”

  “I hope so,” she murmured.

  “What about Beck? What’s he going to do?”

  “He was all set to work with Alliez in the L.A. office but then Fort talked to him the other day about a possible role on his old base. So he’s weighing his options. He wants the flexibility to be able to come with me if I have shoots in other states or countries. He’s not sure he’ll get that with the job on base, but Ox has already told Beck that he’d accommodate him if I have shoots in other countries or States. He’ll make his decision once he’s found out about the job on base.”

  “That’s great. It’s good to have choices.”

  “It is.”

  “He’ll probably like being near his former team if he takes the job at the base. They look as close knit as Ghost and his team are.”

  “Yeah, Beck has opened up more about them over the last week or so.”

  “Any of them married?” Rayne asked. “I know Beck isn’t active duty anymore, but it’s always good to have women friends who relate to being with a member of a special forces team.”

  “Not that I know of. Although I think Beck mentioned that the guy who replaced him, Bird, is separated from his wife. Before I could ask him, Beck kissed me and well, you know...”

  Rayne laughed. “Oh boy, do I know.”

  Sam looked through the glass door at the people mingling in the living room. She’d have to go back in there, but at the moment, she wanted to spend as much time with her sister as she could. It was going to be so hard to say goodbye to Rayne, Ghost, and cute little Billy.

  Her eyes drifted over the group assembled. Everyone who’d been involved in their rescue had come over. All the guys from Beck’s old team as well as the people from Alliez Security. The only person who wasn’t there was Irish. The guy had disappeared from the cabin once it was confirmed that she and Rayne were safe.

  Beck and Ghost were talking. The two men had reached an understanding and were now friends. Little Billy was looking up at his father in adoration and every time Ghost looked at his son, Sam could see the same look on the gruff Delta’s face.

  “I’m so glad you’ve got Ghost, Rayne. He really loves you.”

  “Just like Beck loves you, Sam. We’re both lucky.” As if both of the men were aware they were being observed they looked over to where Sam and Rayne stood. They smiled and blew kisses in their direction. She and Rayne sighed.

  Gripping Rayne’s hand again, Sam laid her head on her sister’s shoulder. “You’re right, Ray-Ray. We are lucky.”

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  About the Author

  On her very first school report her teacher said ‘Nicole likes to tell her own stories’. Many years later she eventually sat down and wrote her first book.

  Nicole writes sexy contemporary romances, seducing you one kiss at a time as you turn the pages. She enjoys taking two characters and creating unique situations for them.

  When she’s not writing, she’s busy spreading glitter over social media and having a ton of fun doing it.

  Learn more about Nicole Flockton at http://www.nicoleflockton.com.

  authornicole@nicoleflockton.com

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