Finding the Way Back: A Stealth Ops Novel

by Sahin, Brittney

  “Shut the bloody hell up.” Wyatt flicked a dismissive hand.

  “By the way,” Liam said, “Asher’s officially the softest of us all. Has anyone seen the way this guy acts around Jessica?”

  “Do you blame him?” Wyatt turned off the car and hooked his sunglasses at the front of his tee. “The woman can scare the balls off a man.”

  “Yeah, I kind of love that about her,” Asher said with a smile.

  “Brother, you got stars in your eyes.” Knox faced forward and sought out Ike’s rig. “I think that’s his truck. It’s still here.” He pointed to the rear of the parking lot. They had to put their game faces back on. No more kidding around. And no more thoughts about Adriana for now. “I’ll text Luke and let him know.”

  He sent Luke a message then retrieved his 45 and tucked it beneath the back of his tee, hiding it from sight.

  “Let’s take a look at the truck first. We’ll flank the sides, and one of us can come up from behind,” Wyatt said. “If Ike’s inside, assume he’s armed.” He reached into the console of the car and retrieved comms.

  “Good idea. I hated being off comms this morning when we got split up,” A.J. said.

  Knox dialed the frequency to the correct setting and positioned the next-gen wireless tech Jessica had designed into his ear. No extra hardware needed. The comm could pick up his speech, and he’d be able to hear his teammates. One tap of the earpiece turned it on. Two taps muted his speech. Jessica had unveiled the design not too long ago, and the comms had worked beautifully on their last op in Panama.

  “Rules of engagement?” A.J. asked.

  “We’re Stateside,” Wyatt replied, “no firing unless fired upon.”

  “But let’s try and not get into a shooting match out here in broad daylight if we can help it,” Liam said with a wink then slipped on his shades.

  “That’d be ideal.” But assholes weren’t always predictable, and after the shit Ike pulled in the park earlier by positioning his firearms on innocent people, he expected the worst to happen if the prick was there.

  Liam pointed to a rig four parking spots away from Ike’s. “I’m gonna see if that red truck is empty and climb on top for a better vantage point.”

  “I’ll do the same from the left side,” Wyatt said, which meant Asher, A.J., and Knox would take the truck directly.

  “Roger that.” Knox adjusted his shirt, ensuring his gun was hidden as the team split up and moved into positions. He nodded at a trucker pulling his rig past him as he approached Ike’s eighteen-wheeler, hoping to hell he blended in.

  “This is Echo One,” Wyatt said three minutes later. “I’m in position. Bravo Four?”

  “This is Four. The trucker was asleep inside. I’m looking for an alternative. Copy?”

  “Copy that,” Echo One replied.

  Knox flanked the side of Ike’s truck, skirting along the edge and out of notice of the extra-large mirrors on the driver side window.

  “Bravo Five. Come in?” Asher came over the line. “I’m in position.”

  “This is Five. I’m ready.”

  “Echo Two?” Wyatt came on the line.

  “Ready to roll,” A.J. answered.

  “This is Four. No movement in the parking lot on my side. From my vantage point, you’re clear to approach,” Liam said.

  Knox kept his hand at his back with the gun clutched if needed as he headed toward the front side of the rig, hoping he didn’t have to use his 45.

  There was a truck directly opposite of him, hiding him from the view of the convenience store a hundred-plus feet away. And thankfully the owner of the truck was either sleeping or not inside.

  “This is Echo Two. The back’s locked. No sounds from inside that I can hear.”

  “One second,” Asher said. “Shit, I think I see something in the back cab. Hold your positions, Two and Five.”

  “I’ve got eyes on you. Approach with caution,” Bravo Four told Three.

  A second later, “This is One. I’ve got a visual on the target. He’s not the one in that rig. He’s between two trucks off to your left. I don’t have a clear shot yet.”

  “We need him alive.” Knox dropped to a plank, trying to identify Ike’s position.

  Ike was crouched beneath the rig two over, and his eyes were locked onto Knox.

  Damn it. “This is Five.” He went for his 45. “He’s got his gun on me.”

  The bastard kept his gaze pinned on Knox.

  Was Ike playing chicken—see who’d blink first?

  Sweat trickled down the sides of Knox’s face. “I’m going to try and draw his fire.” Knox went flat to his stomach and rolled to his right side in one fast move as he stretched his arms out in front of him with the gun in hand, hoping Ike would take the bait and shoot.

  Knox shifted to his back in a split second, assuming Ike would fire, which he did. The bullet clipped Knox’s forearm. He ignored the sting as he listened for what he knew would come next.

  One quick pop. A thud of a body dropping after.

  “Target is down,” Wyatt announced as someone screamed. Their presence was no longer a secret.

  Knox tucked his gun away, ignoring the blood on his arm, and rounded the backside of the rig to maintain cover to get to Ike’s body.

  “Bravo Three, have you confirmed if someone is in the back of that rig?” Liam asked.

  “Yeah,” Asher snapped out over the line. “And I think it’s Sarah Reardon. If we want to keep her alive, we gotta get her out of this heat.”

  Sarah?

  “I’m calling an ambulance,” A.J. announced. “And I’m getting Bravo One on the phone for an extract.”

  An extract? How?

  They were going to be screwed. Possibly arrested.

  This wasn’t normally how their operations went down. Not so publicly, especially on American soil.

  The president would be hesitant to stick his neck out for them again. It’d be too risky. But . . . “Tell Bravo One to get ahold of Deputy Secretary Glenn Sterling from Homeland. He’s in town for the investigation and a friend of the family.” Maybe he could finally take advantage of his political past.

  “Roger that,” A.J. responded.

  “Ike’s unconscious, but he’s got a strong pulse. He’ll live,” Wyatt said as Knox approached the body facedown on the ground.

  Knox knelt next to Ike and rolled his body face up. “We need to get that rig unlocked.” He patted him down for the truck keys and tossed them to Wyatt as sirens began to wail in the distance.

  “Shit, you get shot?”

  “It’s a graze.” Knox peeled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around his arm and Wyatt assisted in tightening it over the wound to stop the bleeding. “But go.” He tipped his chin, reminding him Asher needed the keys. “I’ll stay with Ike.”

  “I’ll remain on overwatch until the police arrive,” Liam said over comms a second later. “We’ve got a bunch of scared people hiding out in the store. And some truckers who might be armed and think we shot one of their own. Someone has to watch your backs.”

  “Judging by those sirens, we’re less than two mikes out from that happening. And two mikes from possibly getting our asses thrown in the slammer,” A.J. said glibly.

  “Right, well, here’s how we’re going to play it,” Knox began, his mind racing. “I need someone to go calm down those people inside the store and let them know the guy we shot had a kidnapped woman in his truck, and he’s wanted for the attempted assassination of my dad. Tell them we have a license to carry and we were fired at first.”

  “I’ll do it,” A.J. volunteered.

  “Don’t get shot,” Wyatt bit out.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” A.J. remarked over comms.

  “Sarah’s okay,” Asher announced, and Knox looked toward the sky in relief. At least one good thing had come from the day.

  “We need to try and talk to Sarah before the police get here,” Knox reminded him.

  “Looks like Ike’s been keeping
her drugged,” Asher replied. “But Sarah confirmed he’s the one who took her, which means he’s our shooter, Knox.”

  But it wasn’t over, was it?

  Aaron was still out there, and he had to be connected somehow.

  And someone still wanted his dad dead.

  No, this was far from done.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “You shouldn’t be here.” Knox sat on a gurney inside an ambulance as a medic tended to his arm, and Adriana remained outside the vehicle observing them.

  He couldn’t face her right now, not like this.

  He didn’t know what the hell to say.

  Yeah, I got shot. Nothing new. Nope, that wouldn’t work.

  Or how about, Hey, pretty much every time I say I’m going out of town it involves shooting someone.

  “You were shot.” Her eyes lingered on his forearm before wandering to his naked chest.

  “It’s barely a scratch.” He wanted to act casual. Needed to. Because it really wasn’t anything. But her mom died from a gunshot wound, so her mind was going to head straight to worst-case what-ifs.

  “Looking at all the blood on that T-shirt of yours, it was more than a scratch.” Her eyes sealed tight, her lower lip quivering as she struggled with her emotions.

  Damn it. “I’m all set here. Thanks.” He stood, even though the medic wasn’t finished.

  “Be sure to see a doctor. You may need sutures,” the woman instructed. “You don’t want an infection.”

  “Sure. Thanks.” He hopped out of the ambulance to get to Adriana.

  “Addy, babe. I’m okay.” He braced her arms, hoping she’d open her eyes and look at him.

  But he still had no clue what to say to make her feel better right now.

  “This is your life, isn’t it?” she whispered, her eyes remaining closed.

  “I, um.” Yes. It is. And now you know why I’ve never kissed you like I’ve wanted to. “Sort of,” was all he could manage, especially with the parking lot crowded with so many uniforms.

  “Charlie.” His name was a soft plea from her lips.

  Oh fuck. She was using his given name. He was screwed.

  “We need to talk to Ike when he’s out of surgery to find out who hired him,” A.J. said on approach, and he was actually grateful for the interruption.

  “A.J.” She blinked back her tears and shielded her eyes with her hand from the direct sunlight. “You guys are lucky Mendez didn’t cart you all to jail for coming here.”

  The deputy secretary had put in a word, but Knox was pretty sure the crowd of people at the truck station saved them.

  A witness had reported to the police Knox’s team had acted in self-defense. Although, no way did the man actually see what went down since Knox had the cover of the trucks. But the man was apparently a vet, and he must’ve spotted A.J.’s military tatt and decided to go to bat for them when the police rolled up.

  “I wish we could’ve questioned Sarah more,” A.J. said. “She may have overheard something.”

  Knox glanced at Mendez and Sarah in the back of another ambulance fifty feet away. “I’m surprised Ike kept her alive.” He’d hoped for it, but he hadn’t truly expected it.

  “Maybe he thought he might need her down the road for negotiations,” she said, and when he peered at her, her gaze had settled onto his arm once again.

  “I swear I’m fine,” he said, hoping she’d believe him.

  “Well.” Jessica strode toward them. “You need to head to the FBI office and make an official statement, but you’re not being charged with anything.”

  “And Ike? Any word on his condition?” Knox asked.

  “He’s in the OR, but Wyatt took a clean shot. He’ll be fine.” Jessica looked at Adriana. “You think you can get Calloway to let us know what Sarah tells the FBI?”

  Adriana tipped her head, signaling to Jessica not to say more. Mendez was on approach alongside Rodriguez.

  “It was POTUS first. Now the deputy secretary. Who else do you have in your pocket you can pull out when you need a favor?” Mendez removed his sunglasses. “You’re damn lucky you found Sarah Reardon alive or—”

  “Or what?” Knox stepped closer, in no mood for his bullshit power play.

  “Now that you know Aaron’s not the shooter, what happens to him?” Adriana asked, reaching for Knox’s arm as if cueing him to back down.

  Was it really the second time that day he was butting heads with Mendez?

  “I assume you’ll let his friend go, too,” Adriana added in a soft voice. “Ike stole his truck and set him up. And it’s pretty obvious he set up Aaron.”

  “You’re off the case, Foster. You forget that?” Mendez switched his focus to her, and so help him, if the man yelled at her, Knox would lose his shit.

  “And maybe that was a bad idea.” Rodriguez’s words drew Knox’s attention. “They found our shooter, didn’t they? They rescued Sarah. Maybe we ought to be listening to them.” He stepped to the side to face Mendez. “Ike could’ve been in the apartment that morning, too, and he killed her and used Aaron’s knife to do it.”

  “And yet, we found Aaron with the knife running from the scene,” Mendez shot back.

  “No.” Rodriguez pointed to Knox. “They found him.”

  Knox’s focus veered back and forth between the two men, and for once, he was happy to be a bystander as he watched two other people go at it.

  “Sarah said she overheard Ike talking to someone named Todd.” Mendez looked Knox’s way.

  “She heard the name Todd, but she didn’t know if he was talking about Todd or talking to a Todd,” Rodriguez pointed out.

  “Maybe Aaron didn’t take the shot, but he’s in on this. My gut is never wrong,” Mendez said.

  “It sure as hell hasn’t been on point,” Rodriguez snapped. “Which is why the president called. He’s placing Homeland in charge of the operation. I’ll be running point and reporting to Deputy Secretary Sterling.”

  Mendez’s jaw clenched, and his hands tensed at his sides, but the media had eyes on them, and so, he left without another word.

  “You know, I don’t remember him being that big of an ass when we worked with him last year,” Jessica said to Knox. “Then again, we never dealt with him face-to-face, so maybe that was why.”

  “True.” Knox glanced at Adriana before Rodriguez pulled her off to the side to talk out of earshot. “You think he’s gonna bring her back on?”

  He wanted that for her, although he couldn’t help but cling to his normal overprotective ways. It was all he’d known for almost two decades when it came to her.

  “Maybe, but it looks like we’re back in the good graces of the government again, which wasn’t what I expected to happen after you all opened fire in the middle of Charlotte.” Jessica averted her attention to the Big Guy heading their way.

  “You should get out of this heat,” Asher said to her, worry in his eyes. “It may not be good for the baby.”

  “It’s eighty degrees. It’s not that bad.”

  “It’s almost September. I can’t handle it being eighty this time of year,” Asher responded and pulled her against his side, protectively holding her in place.

  “You’re such a New Yorker,” she said with a laugh as Luke approached with Liam.

  “You guys good?” Luke asked. “What happened with Mendez?”

  “Looks like Rydell is doing us another solid. He kicked Mendez off the case,” Jessica told him.

  “What does this mean for us?” Luke asked as Wyatt joined the group.

  “Hopefully it means—” Knox dropped his words at the sight of Adriana.

  “I’m back on the case,” she announced.

  “And us?” he asked.

  “Freelance private contractors.” She tucked her hands in her back pockets. “Unpaid private contractors.”

  “Not even insurance? A PPO? HMO?” A.J. held both palms face up. “How about petty cash? Lunches for free?”

  Adriana chuckled, but when her eyes w
ent to Knox’s arm, a frown replaced her laughter. “You need to see a doctor.”

  “Ah, Knox is basically our doc.” A.J. waved a hand in the air. “You should’ve seen what happened to Liam last year. He—”

  “I’m fine,” Knox interrupted. He was already in enough trouble with her. He had a lot to fix between them, and it’d have to start with the uncomfortable truth.

  “Since you all have to go give your statements, Luke and I will head back to the hotel and see what else we can find out about Ike,” Jessica said. “Maybe get a few hours of rest before you come over.” Her gaze wandered to Adriana before traveling to Knox. “Take all the time you need. We’ve got your back.”

  Take time? Why?

  He looked back at Adriana again, to how her green eyes tracked the length of his body from head to toe, once again settling on his naked chest.

  And when she pulled her gaze up to his face, her cheeks pinked, and she swallowed.

  Was she checking him out?

  No.

  But was she?

  His stomach knotted at the idea. His heart pounded.

  “Can I talk to you for a second in the car?” He pointed to his Suburban.

  He placed his hand on the small of her back and didn’t say a word until they were inside the back seat of the SUV.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  His eyes lingered on the V-neck of her white tee.

  “I have a crazy-ass question to ask you.” He cupped his jaw, feeling insane right now, but after the last few days . . .

  “Are you turned on right now?” His forehead tightened. “I mean”—he stumbled his way through his words—“does the action and stuff make you hot? Is this something I don’t know about you?” And why would he? They didn’t talk about each other’s sex lives aside from him offering friendly dating tips—like guys are jerks and avoid them.

  “You’re right. It’s a crazy question. You getting hurt would never turn me on, but I . . . I don’t know.”

  “I’m getting a vibe of some kind, and I feel like I’m losing my mind. Did you think I was going to die today?”

  “No, I, um.” She looked out her side window. “I can’t talk about this. Not here.” She reached for the door and pushed it open. “Later, okay? But not in here.”