by Anna Blakely
Reflexively, Mac wanted to balk at the overbearing, big-brother routine. It was all she’d heard for the past thirty minutes, and it was wearing on her last nerve.
It didn’t help that she was surrounded by three of the most bull-headed, alpha-male-minded men she’d ever known.
Not that her team didn’t respect her, because they did. As both a woman and an operator.
But when it came down to it, Mac was like their little sister. The guys all tried not to let on, but she knew how they felt about her.
Though she’d never admit it to any of them, she secretly loved them all the more for it.
Except this wasn’t the time to smother her with their primal, protective instincts. Now was when they needed to trust her to do her job and get Coop to safety.
“Look, guys. I get that you’re worried, and I appreciate your concern. If there was another way to do this, I’d be more than happy to give it a try. But we’re out of time.” Mac sighed. “Sean’s out of time.”
Trevor’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he nodded. “She’s right. I don’t like it, and Coop’s probably going to kick all our asses for letting her do this, but she’s right.”
“Thank you.” Mac gave the other man a tiny smile.
She didn’t even bother to ride his ass about the ‘letting her’ comment. As it was, she was lucky they didn’t toss her in a trunk and go in guns blazing without her.
“Let’s go over it one last time so we all know the plan.”
“Good idea.”
All heads turned toward the door. The same door Jake had just walked through.
“What are you doing here?” Mac blurted more loudly than intended.
Jake’s dark brows arched. “Last I checked, I own the place.”
Mac shook her head, not the least bit intimidated by the formidable man. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. You should be at the hospital with Olivia and the baby.”
“Olivia thinks otherwise.”
That bit of news surprised her. “She does?”
“After I got off the phone with you and explained what had happened, she all but kicked my ass out. Told me, and I quote, ‘Do not come back until you know for sure Mac and Coop are both safe’. End quote.”
Mac’s heart swelled, but she still felt guilty. “Today shouldn’t be about me and my mess, Jake.”
“It’s not.” His blue eyes stared into hers. “It’s about family. You and Coop, and everyone else on this team and Bravo, are every bit as much mine and Olivia’s as Lillian Rose.”
“So, what you’re sayin’ is you’re like our daddy.”
Everyone looked over at Derek, who was grinning ear-to-ear.
“No, asshole.” Jake’s words were harsh, but humor hid behind his feigned scowl. “What I was trying to say was—”
“We get it, Jake,” Mac assured him. “Thank you.”
“So.” He clapped his hands together. “If my timing is right, we have thirty minutes to get in, neutralize the target and any additional threats, and get Coop out.”
Trevor nodded. “Sounds about right.”
“Well, then.” Jake winked at Mac. “What the hell are we waiting for? Someone tell me how you’re planning to pull this off.”
Fifteen minutes later, after briefing Jake on their plan, Mac was pulling up to the old brick building the kidnapper had described. Like everything else in its surrounding area, the structure hadn’t been used in several years.
Thankfully the light pole next to the graveled parking lot was still in working order, illuminating the immediate area, as well as the entire front of the building.
According to what Derek had found, it used to be an old community center. Mac’s first thought was that it would make the perfect Halloween haunted house.
Or the perfect place for a ransom exchange.
There were three other cars there, which meant there were at least that many playing for the opposite team.
Derek’s voice hit her ear as he began listing off the owners of the vehicles. “Okay, so the Camry belongs to a guy named Paul Studer. Thirty-two, local, record for assault, battery, and unlicensed sale of a firearm.”
“Sounds like quite the catch,” Jake mumbled.
“The other two cars are even more interesting,” Derek went on. “Plates on those are both registered to names belonging to the dearly departed. A woman named Suzie who passed in twenty-thirteen, and a man by the name of Howard Polk. That poor bastard died all the way back in ninety-three. So either we’re about to become the newest ghost busting team, or the people inside aren’t the most honorable of folks.”
“Shocker,” Mac responded sarcastically.
Parking the company SUV Jake had insisted she take—probably due to its bullet-resistant windows and body—she drew in several deep breaths before getting out of the car.
Grabbing the large duffle from the back seat, she hoisted the bag’s thick strap over her shoulder and headed toward the building’s entrance.
The single door was windowless, and Mac couldn’t tell if the rust color was original or had weathered down to that tone over time.
“You good Mac? Can you hear me okay?”
“Mm hmm,” she hummed softly, not opening her mouth to actually speak in case she was being watched.
Jake had already checked her coms three times on the way here. Her boss’s need to make sure hers was still working after all that told her he was as anxious about this situation as she was.
“What’s the signal?” Trevor asked, also sounding nervous.
The same thing it was the last four times you asked me.
Scratching an imaginary itch above her mouth, Mac used her hand to conceal her moving lips. “Bad day.”
“Don’t be a hero, Mac,” Grant chimed in with the others. “You need help, use the signal.”
Mac scratched that itch again. “Yes, Dads.”
Taking the hint, the guys laid off and quieted down.
The sound of water moving filled the night air, the creek beside her rolling downstream at a slow but steady pace. Adding to it were the usual chirps and clicks that came with springtime, the combination typically creating a sense of peace and tranquility.
Not tonight.
Tonight the peacefulness was tainted by the sound of her own blood rushing past her ears. Not to mention the adrenaline already coursing through her nerve-filled system, and the fear that she would do all of this and still be unable to save the man she loved.
Between the Army and R.I.S.C., she’d been on hundreds of ops, but never had she been this scared. Of course, this wasn’t just any op. This was her man. Her life.
It didn’t matter if Coop decided he was done with her for good. Partners or not. Lovers, past or present. She was a better person for knowing him, and the world a better place with him in it.
He made her feel things she’d never felt. Made her want things she thought were out of her reach.
Sean Cooper made McKenna Kelley—a woman hell-bent on never letting anyone in—realize what it felt like to love and be loved.
For that alone, she owed him her life.
Almost to the building’s entrance, Mac forced it all away. The fear. The worry. Her many regrets.
She pushed it out of her mind and focused on the only thing that mattered. Ending this thing once and for all.
“Okay, Mac.” Derek’s voice came through next. “I’m gettin’ four heat signals from inside the building. One is separated from the others right now. My guess is that’s our boy.”
Mac’s stomach tightened.
“According to the building plans I was able to scrounge up, it looks like he’s in what used to be the rec room. Nothin’ but four walls, a drop ceiling, and a row of windows along the north wall.”
“And the others?” Jake asked through the coms.
“One’s inside near the entrance, and the other two are off in what used to be the kitchen, down the hall and to the right. Mac, I’ve got the west side and Grant�
�s got your six on the south. Trev and Jake are making their way along the west wall to the north side of the building, now.”
They’d already gone over the floor plans earlier, so Mac knew the building didn’t have a back entrance. Probably one of the reasons the nearby communities stopped using it. Something like that would definitely go against current building code.
Derek also hadn’t mentioned the east wall because it was so close to the river’s rocky edge, they’d deemed it too much of a pain in the ass to mess with. Unless, of course, it became necessary.
If it came down to it, they’d take any risk needed to get their teammate free.
Mac stopped in front of the door. Unsure of whether she was supposed to go in or not, Mac decided she didn’t give a shit what this guy preferred and opened it.
Because the area was only lit with a battery-operated lantern off to the side, it took a minute for her eyes to adjust. Standing less than five feet away in the building’s small entryway was a man she’d never seen before.
The guy was tall, the muscles beneath his black button-up nearly as big as Grant’s. His dark hair was almost black, and his small, beady eyes studied her much too closely.
With the exception of the pistol in his hand, he looked like a bouncer in a dance club. Sounded like one, too.
“Well, well, well.” The prick looked her up and down. “Looks like the party’s finally about to start.”
“Where’s your boss, fucknut? I want to get this over with.”
“Sexy and sassy. My kind of lady.” He winked. “Boss is inside, but I’ll have to search you before you can go in.”
“Let me save you the trouble.” Keeping the bag steady, Mac reached behind and pulled her pistol from her back waistband. She held it out for him. “Here.”
“Thanks, doll.” He took the gun. “But I still have to search you and the bag.”
Of course, he did. “Fine.”
Sliding the heavy duffle off her shoulder, Mac let it drop to the floor. Not bothering to wait for him to do it, she squatted down and unzipped the bag. Spreading the enclosure open, she waited while he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket to check out the contents. Once he nodded his approval, she zipped it back up.
“Now the fun part.”
“Fucker better watch where he puts those hands,” Grant grumbled.
Okay, sometimes the big-brother routine was kind of nice.
Fighting a smile, Mac stood and removed the flannel shirt she was wearing over her black tank. Tossing it to the side, she spread her feet a little less than shoulder-width apart and held out her arms.
The man smiled. “Now, why do I get the feeling you’ve done this before?”
“Why do I get the feeling this is the closest thing you’ve had to a date in a while?” Mac offered him an extra-sweet smile.
The man’s lips fell, her little quip clearly pissing him off. “Turn around.”
“Trev and I are at the back,” Jake whispered in her ear. “It’s clear, but the windows are too damn high to get to. Gonna see if we can get a clear view from trees back here.”
Doing as she’d been told, Mac faced the closed door behind her. She held her breath while the guy ran his hands along the length of her body. Starting on the outside, he worked his way inward.
Mac gritted her teeth, coughing loudly when he got a little too close to the apex of her thighs. When the asshole cupped the underside of her breasts in a totally non-safety-search sort of way, she threw an elbow back as hard as she could, nailing him in his solar plexus.
The man grunted and pulled away. “Bitch!”
She turned around as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “I said you could search me. You want to get to second base, you’re gonna have to at least buy me a glass of wine, first.”
Humiliation turned to anger as the idiot advanced toward her. Mac positioned her feet in a fighting stance, her hand inching toward the weapon hidden in the center of her sports bra.
Wanting nothing more than to get to Coop, she was about to reach for it through the collar of her tank when another man rounded the corner to join them.
“That’s enough, Paul.”
Paul halted his movements at the other man’s orders. Because he was standing in the shadows, Mac couldn’t see the newcomer’s face, but the voice…that voice sounded oddly familiar.
“Mac, you good?” Grant’s voice came through the coms.
Before she could answer him, the other man spoke again.
“Hello, Abigail.” The man stepped forward, out of those shadows and into the light. “It’s been a long time.”
Mac’s eyes growing wide with uncontrollable shock. “You?” she breathed the word out in a rush. “But you’re…”
“Dead?” Her uncle smiled back at her. “That’s what I wanted everyone to think. Funny, your boyfriend had the same, surprised look on his face when he woke up. I’d say my death was more than a little believable.”
“Shit,” Derek cursed in her ear. “Is that who I think it is?”
Mac didn’t respond. Her chest heaved with rough, ragged breaths, and her insides trembled with disbelief. She couldn’t seem to do anything more than stare.
This isn’t happening.
Anthony Moretti was supposed to be burning in hell. But he wasn’t. The uncle she’d escaped eleven years ago, the man who was supposed to be nothing more than a pile of ash, was standing right in front of her.
“Mac?” Grant spoke with more force, emphasizing each word to get her attention. “Do you copy?”
Mac blinked. Shit. If she didn’t say something quick, Grant and the others were bound to come in. She couldn’t let that happen. Not until she knew they’d be safe.
“There’s your money.” Mac finally found her voice again. “Take it.”
His lips curled, deepening the lines in his aged face. “After all this time, you’re just going to hand it over?”
“I want to see my partner.”
“Well, then.” Tony made a motion for Paul to pick up the bag. “Let’s not keep him waiting.”
16
Mac followed her uncle down a dark hallway, his goon bringing up the rear behind her. They stopped in front of another closed door. The light she’d seen shining beneath it grew into an elongated triangle on the black floor as Tony pushed it open.
“Ladies first.”
Reeling from the fact that the man was still alive, Mac cautiously moved past him. He still smelled of the same cologne he used to wear when she was younger, the old-world musk making her even more nauseated than she already was.
Once she cleared the doorway, she got her first view of her entire reason for being here.
With his face bruised and bloodied, her partner stared back at her from the chair he was bound to. Tired, swollen eyes widened when they saw her, his brow creasing as he shook his head.
“No.” The word sounded rough. He stared back at her with sorrow.
“Coop!”
She started to run to him, her legs moving before she even finished saying his name. But her uncle grabbed her wrist, yanking her back toward him. “Not so fast.”
On instinct, Mac’s training kicked in. Without thinking, she used the momentum from her uncle’s grasp to spin around. Though she was right-handed, she had a pretty nice left hook. Something her uncle had just discovered.
His head snapped to the side, his lip splitting from the force of her knuckles. Somehow he still managed to keep her in his tight grip.
Without missing a beat, he came back with his left hand. Swinging fast, he punched Mac in the side of the head so hard, she dropped to her knees.
“No!”
She heard Coop’s shout of denial and fought to clear the dizzying stars from her eyes so she could let him know she was okay.
Her uncle may be old as shit, but damn. The man packed a serious punch.
With her arm wrenched at a painful angle, Tony forced her back onto her feet. “I must say”—he used his free hand to
wipe some blood from his chin—“I’m impressed.”
“You got what you came for.” Mac tried to pull herself free. “Take the money and leave.”
Her uncle smiled. “I will, don’t worry. But you and I have some catching up to do, first.”
With a tip of his chin, Tony motioned for Paul who stepped up behind her. Wrapping his bulky arms around her chest from behind, he held her back against his front, rendering her immobile.
“Get your fucking hands off her!” Coop growled.
Tony’s powerful fist landed in the center of her stomach.
“Mac!” Coop screamed for her, his dry voice cracking from the strain.
She sucked in a breath, hunching over as far as Paul’s restraining arms would allow. Coughing and hacking, she tried to stave off the nausea churning rapidly in her gut.
“That’s it,” Jake spoke through the coms. “We’re coming in.”
“No.” Mac groaned, hoping like hell he listened. “Don’t.”
Thinking her words were meant for him, her uncle laughed. “Don’t what? Turn on you like you did me?”
His fist slammed into her face again, splitting the skin covering the apple of her cheekbone. Mac grunted loudly. She could feel the warm blood trickling across her skin from the wound.
“Goddamn it, no!” The metal chair Coop was in pounded and scraped against the concrete floor as he struggled to break free. “You want to hit someone, hit me!”
“It’s okay, Sean.” Mac worked to control her breathing. She looked across the space to him, letting him and the others know. “I’m okay.”
“Ah, isn’t that sweet?” Her uncle’s lips curled into an evil grin. “Too bad it’s a lie.”
Using his other hand, he backhanded her across the opposite side of her face. The newest blow struck her temple, cutting the corner of her brow bone and nearly knocking her unconscious.
Coop’s desperate plea filled the large room. “Fucking stop!”
“Goddamn it. He’s beating the hell out of her!” Derek spoke to the others. “We need to get the fuck in there.”
“Hell yeah, we do,” Trevor agreed.
“Hold up.” It was Jake. “She hasn’t used the signal.”
“I told you, Mr. Cooper.” Tony turned to face Coop. “Do you remember? I explained what I did to people who fucked me over.”