Six Minutes to Midnight

by Elle James

  Her imagination took her back to when they were lying naked on the front seat of the truck. His buttocks were hard and tight beneath her fingertips.

  Her heart beat faster and her breathing became more labored than her slow, steady pace warranted.

  When he turned at the far end of the field and circled back toward the living quarters, he spied her. For a moment, he slowed, his brows dipping into a fierce frown.

  Kinsley focused on putting one foot in front of the other, if a little slower. She prayed he wouldn’t stop and wait, or run back to her. She wasn’t sure she could keep up her adamant refusal to see him again, when all she really wanted was to be with him always.

  How did this happen? How did she fall for a military guy after losing her first love? She knew the dangers of death and separation.

  Thankfully, T-Mac kept running toward their quarters without slowing significantly. As he neared the living area, five of his teammates met him. They put their heads together and spoke in low tones. Whatever they were saying didn’t carry on the wind.

  Having been a part of their mission task force, Kinsley was interested in what was going on. She might have input into the next operation, and she sure as hell wanted to know if they’d followed the GPS tracking device to where the Al-Shabaab rebels had moved.

  Kinsley picked up the pace, racing to the group of men, Agar running easily alongside.

  “Hey, Specialist Anderson.” Big Jake held out a hand.

  Kinsley came to an abrupt stop and took Big Jake’s hand in a firm shake. “What’s going on?”

  “Got word back from the doc at the medical center,” Buck said, his lips forming a thin line. “The guy from the motor pool didn’t make it.”

  “Smoke inhalation?” Kinsley guessed.

  Buck shook his head. “Blunt force trauma to the back of his skull. We couldn’t have saved him.”

  Kinsley’s chest tightened. “Why?”

  “Either he knew something or he got in the way of someone burning the building is my guess,” Big Jake said.

  “The weapons, the truck, they’re all part of whatever is going on here at Camp Lemonnier.” Kinsley frowned, pushing hard to remember. “I get the feeling I should know something or that I saw something that night I was shot in the chest.” She smacked her forehead, angry at her inability to pull those few minutes of her life, seemingly lost. “If only I could remember.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Harm said. “It’s probably your mind’s way of protecting you. It had to be pretty horrific to see a gun pointed at your chest and not be able to do anything to stop the shooter from pulling the trigger.”

  “Still...” She sighed. “If only I were a computer with a reboot button.”

  “On the bright side,” Big Jake interjected, “the commander had the UAV team track the GPS you two planted on the Al-Shabaab truck.” He paused dramatically.

  “And?” T-Mac questioned impatiently.

  “The truck led them to their new camp.” Big Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Once they determined there were no civilians in the way, the UAV team dropped missiles in their midst. They won’t be using our weapons and vehicles against us anytime soon.”

  Kinsley crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes narrowed. “Good riddance. But what happened to capturing one of them to determine who their supplier is?”

  “That decision wasn’t ours to make,” Big Jake said. “The commander decided it wasn’t worth risking the lives of our SEALs and dog handler again.”

  “And we’re still due to redeploy back to home base tomorrow,” T-Mac said. His gaze captured hers. “Our transport leaves at seven in the morning.”

  Kinsley’s heart plummeted to the pit of her belly, and her knees wobbled. She’d known they would leave soon, but she’d selfishly hoped they would be delayed a few more days. “What about the supplier connection? Isn’t Commander Ward concerned about finding the link?”

  “He is, but he’s bringing in an investigator and working with the intel guys looking into the motor-pool database. He thinks they’ll be able to trace back to the man responsible. And since we were able to bring the weapons back, they might be able to pull a serial number and find out who shipped them in the first place.”

  “So you’re done here?” She smiled, though her heart hurt so badly she could barely breathe. “I know you’ll be glad to get back home.”

  “Some of us will be happier than others,” Harm said, his eyes sliding sideways, aiming toward T-Mac. “We’d better go pack our gear.” He gave a chin lift to the others. “And leave T-Mac to fill in Specialist Anderson on anything we might have left out.”

  “What did we leave out?” Pitbull asked.

  Harm glared at the man and jerked his head toward T-Mac and Kinsley. “I’m sure we’ve left off something. T-Mac will fill her in.” He gave Pitbull a shove. “Sometimes you can be so thickheaded.”

  “Oh.” Pitbull grinned. “You want to let T-Mac have some time alone with his dog handler. Why didn’t you say so in the first place?”

  Harm raised his face to the heavens. “I’m surrounded by morons.”

  “Watch it, dude.” Pitbull shoved Harm. “I have feelings.”

  The five SEALs left T-Mac alone with Kinsley.

  “I hope you have a good flight back to the States.” Kinsley refused to look into T-Mac’s eyes. Hers were burning with unshed tears, and if she didn’t get away soon, she’d lose it in front of him. “Safe travels,” she said, her voice catching. Then she turned and would have run but for the hand that grabbed her elbow and held on.

  “I want to see you again.”

  “No,” she whispered, staring down at the hand on her arm. “It’s better to end it now than to drag it out.”

  “Will you be there in the morning when we take off?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “I have to be on duty at the gate,” she lied. Since she’d been tasked to aid the SEAL missions, she hadn’t been added back to the gate-inspection schedule. But she couldn’t let T-Mac see her standing by, watching them leave. She’d be all red faced and tear streaked. And if she didn’t get away from him quickly, she’d be that way all too soon. “I have to go.” She ducked past him and ran.

  Kinsley had marched right into enemy territory, stood face to face with a killer who had shot her in the chest and fought terrorists from a moving vehicle, but she ran from T-Mac because she was afraid.

  She was afraid of losing someone she loved. Again. Maybe her reasoning for running didn’t make sense, but she had to get away. He was leaving. She was staying. By the time she returned to the States, he’d be off on his next mission or—worse yet—on to his next girlfriend.

  Not that Kinsley was ever his girlfriend. Knowing each other for such a short time shouldn’t have made her feel this strongly about T-Mac. But there she was, crying like a baby, her vision blurring so much she ran into someone.

  Hands reached out to steady her. “Specialist Anderson, are you all right?”

  “I’m fine,” she said, and then sniffed loudly and blinked enough to clear her eyes and look up at Mr. Toland. “I’m sorry. I’m just...just... They’re leaving in the morning,” she cried, and the tears fell faster.

  “The navy SEALs?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Things always have a way of working out,” he said.

  She rubbed her hand over her face, knowing her situation with T-Mac would never work and talking it over with a stranger wouldn’t make her feel any better. “I’m sorry. I need to go.”

  With Agar at her side, Kinsley ran all the way back to her quarters, pushed through the door and collapsed on her small cot. She cried herself to sleep, wishing there was another way.

  She’d be up early to watch their plane take off, despite telling him she wouldn’t.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Pounding on the do
or to the unit T-Mac and Harm shared startled T-Mac awake. He glanced at the clock. Two in the morning. “What the heck?”

  “Seriously.” Harm swung his legs out of his bunk.

  “Wake up, T-Mac!” Big Jake called out from the other side of the door. “We’ve got orders to move out.”

  T-Mac pushed the door open. “Thought we weren’t leaving until seven.”

  “Plans changed,” Big Jake said. “We have one more operation before we bug out. Gear up. We leave in fifteen.”

  All sleepiness disappeared in seconds. T-Mac grabbed his go bag and upended it onto his bunk. He jammed his legs into dark pants and boots, pulled a dark T-shirt over his head and slipped a black jacket over his shoulders. He knew the drill, knew exactly what he needed, and in under five minutes he was fully dressed, wearing his body armor vest and carrying enough weapons and ammunition to start his own damned war. He settled his helmet, complete with his night-vision goggles, on his head and slung his M4A1 rifle strap over his shoulder.

  Harm finished preparing at the same time.

  Together they left the unit and headed for the landing strip, where the helicopters sat with rotor blades turning.

  Big Jake, Diesel, Pitbull and Buck were climbing aboard when T-Mac and Harm arrived.

  T-Mac hopped on board only to find one more person already there with her dog.

  He grinned, happier to see her than he could say out loud. He settled his headset over his ears and waited for the others to do the same.

  All the while, he couldn’t stop staring at Kinsley where she sat beside him. He reached out and scratched Agar behind the ears.

  “Comm check,” Big Jake said into his mic.

  They went around the interior of the helicopter calling out their names.

  “You all might be wondering why we were called out without any warning,” Jake started as the rotor blades spun faster and louder.

  Everyone nodded.

  “Commander Ward received a message from intel that our attack yesterday did not take out the leader of the Al-Shabaab rebels. They were able to locate his position. We have the new coordinates and are tasked with taking him out. If this mission goes well, we’ll be back in time to ship out. Maybe not at seven in the morning, but at least by noon.”

  “Good. Marly’s supposed to get back from her chartered flight tomorrow,” Pitbull said. “She promised not to fly any more gigs until we’ve had time to really see each other.” He patted his flat belly. “And I have a steak with my name on it back at the steakhouse in Little Creek.”

  “I can’t wait to see Reese,” Diesel said. “We’re finally going out on an honest-to-goodness date. I’m not sure how to act.”

  “Talia has been busy redecorating my apartment. I can’t wait to test out the new king-size bed,” Harm said.

  “Angela’s been too busy at the hospital to care about the furniture in my apartment,” Buck said. “I imagine we’ll find a house pretty quickly.”

  “I can’t wait to see Alex.” Big Jake smiled. “She should be settled into her new teaching job.”

  Everyone had someone to go home to back in the States. Everyone but T-Mac. He had everything he wanted in the helicopter at that moment. If he could, he’d extend his stay in Djibouti just to be with Kinsley. This extra mission meant he got to see her one more time. He might even get to hold her hand as they flew to their location.

  The Black Hawk lifted off the tarmac and rose into the star-studded night sky.

  Moments later they were high above the ground. They headed out over the Gulf of Aden and started to turn south.

  A loud bang sounded over the noise-reducing headsets. The helicopter shook violently, and shrapnel pierced the shell.

  Kinsley yelped and doubled over, grabbing for T-Mac’s hand.

  The motor shut down and the helicopter fell from the sky.

  Over the headset, the pilot’s tense voice sounded. “Brace for landing.”

  As the chopper lost altitude, T-Mac reached his free hand for the buckles on the harness holding him in his seat. They would have only seconds after hitting the water to get out. If the helicopter rolled upside down, the confusion of which way was up and which was down in the dark would be deadly.

  He and his teammates had gone through special training on how to get out of a helicopter that had gone down in the water. They knew how to get out. He’d bet Kinsley had not had similar training.

  Based on the way she squeezed his hand, she was scared. Her fear was about to multiply.

  Right before the chopper hit the water, it tilted, slowed and then slammed into it. As soon as they hit, buckles popped free and SEALs pushed away from their seats.

  T-Mac ripped open his seat-harness buckles and floated free.

  The helicopter rolled and filled with water so fast, T-Mac barely had time to pull his arms free of the harness. He let go of Kinsley’s hand only for a moment, but that moment was too long. He held his breath, his lungs burning, hands reaching in the darkness, searching for Kinsley.

  The arms and legs of his teammates floated against him as they struggled to find their way out through the open doors.

  Just when T-Mac’s lungs felt as if they would burst, a small hand wrapped around his wrist.

  T-Mac grabbed Kinsley’s arm and pulled her out of the helicopter and swam for the surface, his own buoyancy leading him in the right direction. A moment later, his head breached and he gulped in air.

  Kinsley’s head popped up beside him. She coughed and sputtered, dragging in huge breaths. As soon as she stopped coughing, she yelled, “Agar!”

  Splashing sounded beside them and Agar dog-paddled over to Kinsley, whining pitifully. T-Mac swam toward them.

  “Head count and status!” Big Jake’s voice boomed across the water. “Buck.”

  “Alive and bleeding,” Buck called out.

  “Pitbull,” Big Jake yelled.

  “Here,” Pitbull answered. “Nothing but a goose egg on my forehead from where Diesel kicked me.”

  “Harm.” Big Jake sputtered and coughed.

  “Took some shrapnel to my thigh,” Harm said. “But I’m alive. Hurts like hell.”

  “T-Mac and Specialist Anderson?” Big Jake queried.

  “We made it. And Agar’s here.” T-Mac continued to hold on to Kinsley’s hand. If anyone wanted him to let go, they’d have to pry his cold dead fingers loose. He wasn’t letting go of her ever again. She treaded water with her free hand but clung to him like a lifeline.

  “Commander Ward?” Big Jake called out.

  A moment went by.

  “Commander?” Big Jake repeated.

  “I’m here,” he said, his voice weak. “I think my arm is broken.”

  “Gotcha, sir.” Buck swam over to the older man and helped him stay above water.

  “What about the pilot and copilot?” Big Jake called out.

  “Pilot here. We both made it out, but the Black Hawk is toast.”

  “What happened?” Big Jake swam up to T-Mac and treaded water.

  “Didn’t you feel it?” the pilot said. “Someone shot us down.”

  T-Mac’s grip tightened on Kinsley’s hand. “That’s what it felt like.”

  “Who the hell would shoot us down from Djibouti?” Harm asked.

  “Al-Shabaab?”

  “Or whoever is supplying them.” T-Mac’s jaw tightened as he struggled to tread water with one hand.

  “Oh, hell.” Kinsley rubbed her forehead with her free hand while kicking her feet to keep her face above the surface.

  “What’s wrong? Besides being in deep water with no life raft?” T-Mac held on to her, helping to keep her afloat.

  “My knee hurts like hell, for one,” she said. “And I hit my head coming out of the chopper.”

  “Are you feeling dizzy? Confused?” Buck swam over to w
here she bobbed in the water.

  T-Mac wished he could get her out of the water and to the nearest medical facility. But they’d have to wait until folks at Camp Lemonnier realized what had happened. “It won’t be long. They had to have seen the explosion. We’ll get you the help you need.”

  “No. You don’t understand.” She pressed her palm to the top of her head. “I... I...remember!” She glanced up and stared across at T-Mac.

  “Everything?” T-Mac asked, his heart swelling.

  She nodded and struggled to tread water. “Everything.”

  * * *

  WHEN THE CHOPPER had gone down, Kinsley had braced for the landing. She knew the dangers of landing in the water and had her hands on her seat belt before they crashed into the Gulf of Aden. She’d released her harness a fraction of a second too soon. When they hit, she flew out of the harness and slammed her head against the top of the fuselage, and twisted her leg so hard she’d felt something snap in her knee, accompanied by a sharp stab of pain. She’d seen stars and feared she’d pass out. But all she could think about were T-Mac and Agar. She had to get out to save them.

  The knock on her head made her disoriented. When the chopper rolled in the waves, Kinsley went under. Like a movie playing at high speed, her memories flashed through her mind, all the way up to, and including, the current crash. She’d seen her first meeting with T-Mac, the time he had thrown himself into her quarters to protect her from an unexploded package. He’d been so darned sexy.

  Memories of her first night out chasing down enemies hung in the background. She remembered leading the SEAL team with Agar. They’d found numerous land mines through the rubble of the little village, Agar doing his thing, following his nose.

  Kinsley remembered her jolt of fear when Agar entered that hut. She’d turned the corner and charged into the building before she thought through the consequences.

  And then she’d shone her light into the face of someone she recognized. “The man who shot me. I remember who it was!” she said, and dipped below the surface, choking on a mouthful of salt water.