Danger Signs (Delta Force Echo: An Iniquus Action Adventure Romance Book 1)

by Fiona Quinn

  She turned and walked away.

  Kira, with Archie in arms and Rory plastered to her side, moved toward the stairs to the bedrooms. There stood Ty, waiting for her.

  “Hey,” she whispered.

  “Are you okay? You look ill.”

  “Thank you, I’m fine. To be honest, I’m happy Archie’s furious. It meant I could escape.”

  “Kira…” There was an intensity around Ty that she hadn’t experienced before.

  “Did you send Rory over to me earlier? What was the command…hold the fort?”

  “I didn’t. He went on his own. You should know that Rory is very instinctive. You can always trust Rory’s judgment.”

  “Isn’t that interesting.”

  “Do you know that man?”

  “We met just now.” Kira knew that Archie’s screams echoed through the villa. “He needs a bath and a diaper change, a bottle, and some sleep.”

  “I have a meeting. I’ll be in my room if you need anything.” He turned. “Keep Rory with you,” he called over his shoulder as he opened his door.

  That Rory came to safeguard her on his own was meaningful.

  It told Kira that Rory was sensing that Omar was a person that she needed to be protected from. It wasn’t her nerves but her intuition that was telling her to run from Omar.

  Yes, if Rory made the call to come and get between her and Omar, out of self-preservation, Kira needed to say no to her uncle. And find a way to stay safe.

  If she were to marry Omar, she would be his to do with as he wished, take her to Saudi Arabia, lock her in a tower like the Bahraini princess.

  Marrying Omar did not guarantee that she would have any contact with her family.

  Now, face to face with that destiny, Kira knew that she couldn’t.

  She wouldn’t.

  Kira sent up a prayer of thanksgiving to Allah for putting Ty in her path. She might not have come to this conclusion had she not met Ty and seen how much she’d be giving up.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Ty

  Ty popped open his computer on an end-to-end encrypted channel. “It took me a minute to get away. What’s the situation?”

  T-Rex sat in front of the screen. “You’ve got problems, brother.”

  The view turned to a split-screen—T-Rex on the left, satellite imagery on the right with little white boxes around moving vehicles.

  “Incoming,” Ty said. “What is this?”

  “Eight transport trucks, standing room only, we believe twenty per bed, three in the cab. Two hundred or so militants are converging on your location.”

  “Foxtrot?”

  “Echo isn’t close enough to be of assistance. Foxtrot is managing an overwatch drone that they sent up. They fielded eight guys. They went in lean for recon. They’re not equipped to stave off a militia.”

  “Neither is security here. The men are trained and have experience. They’re well equipped. But not for an attack of two hundred. Has Foxtrot seen them up close? What weapons are we looking at?”

  “Visible? Rifles and khat.”

  Khat leaves had been used in Ethiopia and Sudan, but the use was now spreading across Africa. Chewed, the leaf gave the consumer a sense of excitement and euphoria, hyperactivity, and manic behaviors.

  If the militants were all high on khat, their behavior would be erratic and illogical. There would be no way to talk them down, especially if they were spiraled into a frenzy by their leaders.

  “What have you got there in the way of transportation?” T-Rex asked.

  “A couple of golf carts. A delivery truck.”

  “How many women and children?”

  “In the visiting party, two women, one infant. From the residents: thirty women, say about forty children. We can start by moving the children and the mothers with babes in arms to the preserve.”

  “They won’t let them cross the gates,” T-Rex said. “The rangers’ job is to protect the wildlife. If they think that you’re drawing two hundred militants in their direction, they will bar you from entering.”

  “Rightly so. We just need to not let the militants know we’re coming in. But London Davidson is keeping that place afloat with her donations, so with her in the cab, they’d have to open the gates. I’ll get the rest of the women and the elders in the golf carts or walking in the right direction. Once I get the first group unloaded in the preserve to hide, I’ll go back and gather the rest of the women. How much time are we talking about?”

  “At their present speed, forty-seven minutes.”

  Ty pulled out his phone and pressed the quick dial he had loaded in earlier on his tour. “Moses, this is Ty. I need you in the Davidson’s suite stat. There’s a major security breach spooling up.”

  He turned back to T-Rex. “Can’t air support handle this?”

  “You have eyes in the sky, and that’s all that Tanzania will allow. Those men are not Tanzanian. The host government doesn’t want Americans to explode their relationships with their neighbors. They’re afraid of another Benghazi. Their military is being deployed. They’ll get there. We’re just not sure how fast. Foxtrot has been ordered to pull out. They’ll continue to monitor and advise, but per the new communications with our host nation, Foxtrot is not to shoot.”

  “No one said I couldn’t shoot, right?”

  “My understanding is that you are close protection for a private citizen. Omar’s there?”

  “Yeah. Once I have my precious cargo protected, I’ll hand the truck keys over to one of the others and let them continue with the evacuation. Do you think the militants are after Davidson or Omar?”

  “Intelligence is telling us that the flags on the trucks belong to a group that is in opposition to the cells Omar inherited from Momo. Omar is probably the main target. We can’t let them take Omar. Not only will we lose track of him and not be assured that he’s been dealt with, but that might escalate the factions. Command prefers that we maintain control of Omar’s timeline.”

  “Wilco.”

  “Good luck. Out.”

  Ty could hear Moses thundering up the stairs. Ty went two doors down and threw open the door to the Davidson’s suite.

  Kira was rocking a sleeping Archie. She looked up, startled.

  Ty pointed at her. “There’s a security issue. Call London and tell her to get up here now. Put the baby in his crib. Then go change your clothes. Black everything. Tennis shoes. Fleece against the cold night. You have three minutes. Go.”

  Kira startled, stared, and taking in Moses out of breath and obviously in go-mode, she nodded and rolled Archie into his crib. She pulled out her phone and was calling London.

  Ty turned to Moses, opened his computer, and showed Moses what was heading their way. “Anywhere to hunker down? Safe rooms?” Ty had asked earlier, and Moses had said no, but Ty would have said the same. He’d never reveal safe rooms to a stranger.

  “They weren’t built into the architecture. There’s the wine cellar. The guests can hide behind the crates.”

  Ty went over his plan for the women and children. When Moses brought up the same concerns T-Rex had about the preserve allowing them in, Ty simply said, “London’s money is our golden ticket.”

  “These men in the trucks have no morals and no mercy,” Moses said, his phone out. “They will rape, destroy, and slaughter. Do you have any help?”

  “No. I’m sorry. I only have information. This is my plan.”

  As Moses made a string of phone calls, telling everyone to keep their activity calm and quick, London burst through the door to her suite. “What? What’s happening? Why did Kira tell me to come up here immediately?” She peered down at Archie, placing her hand on his back and feeling him breathe.

  Moses caught Ty’s eye and then hustled out to get his security in place.

  “London, there’s about to be a breach on your compound. I need you to change your clothes to go to the preserve. Pack a diaper bag for Archie. Comfortable, warm clothes, shoes you can walk a long-distance
in. Change now.”

  Kira came back in the room dressed as Ty had requested. She had a daypack on her back. She looked at London. “Get dressed!” she yelled at her friend.

  Kira moved to the diaper bag and started filling it with Archies requirements.

  London looked at Ty as if he should leave the room for her modesty. Ty couldn’t care less about the woman’s privacy. As she realized this, with shaking hands, she pulled out an outfit and started to change.

  “We need to get the household staff together and tell them to fire their rifles and make the men in the trucks go away.”

  “Ma’am, those trucks are gunning—and I choose that word specifically—for someone who came in on that jet. My goal is to get the women and children to safety in the preserve.”

  “No.” London stopped dressing, one leg in her pants. “William. He must come, too. And our guests.”

  “Women and children first because they face the greatest danger. Finish dressing, London.” Ty’s voice was calmly authoritative.

  His command animated her again.

  “Do either of you know how to use a gun?”

  “I’ve seen it in the movies,” London said, working on her socks. “How hard could it be? Point and shoot, right?” Just like for Kira, adrenaline made her hands shake to the point of being ineffectual.

  Ty hated to lose time this way. “No, not right. If you don’t know what you’re doing, you’re going to flinch and aim away from the danger, putting everyone under mortal threat. You either know how to hit the mark, and you’ve practiced, or you’re arming the bad guy as you stand there quivering and unable. That’ll get you killed.”

  “Give me a gun, Ty. I’m paying your salary. You respond to my commands. I’ll shoot them in the leg, then they can’t chase after us,” London said, zipping her pants closed.

  “Kira, are you ready with the bag?”

  Kira nodded.

  “Let’s go then.” Ty made his way over to the crate and got Beatrice out, thinking that having Bea along would help soothe London into complying. He snapped a lead onto her collar and handed her into London’s outstretched arms. “You don’t seem to understand what adrenaline can do. Shoot him in the leg. You’re dead from his bullet. The thought that you could be that precise under stress with a weapon you’ve never fired before? Ma’am, that’s just delusional. Rory will stay with Kira. Rory.” He caught his K9’s eye. “Flank Kira. Let’s move.”

  “No!” yelled London.

  Kira slung Archie’s bag over her shoulder, wrapped the baby in a blanket, pressing his pacifier into his mouth as he sucked on it anxiously, and moved into the hallway, Rory plastered to her side.

  “But William.” London’s voice was shrill. “I have to talk this over with him.”

  “Moses already took William and your guests down to the wine cellar.”

  “Then that’s where we should go, too.”

  Ty knew that London had to be on the transport to get the women and children into the preserve. So he said, “I will throw you over my shoulder if I have to. But that means you have to leave Beatrice here on her own.”

  Glowering but silent, London followed after Kira into the hall.

  With every second that ticked by, the militants were drawing closer, and their chance at safety dwindled.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Ty

  Ty slid momentarily into his room and grabbed his backpack.

  Putting his hands on the women’s elbows, Ty steered the group down the staff staircase toward the back exit and the truck.

  “Won’t the headlights give us away?” Kira asked. The back of the truck was filled with mothers positioned around the circumference of the cargo space and the children piled in the center, older children with the younger ones in their laps, everyone squished in tightly.

  “You’re right. We won’t be using them,” Ty responded, accepting a rifle from Moses and a MOLLE vest of magazines. “Thanks. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  “How will you drive?” London’s voice was high-pitched with fear.

  Ty handed Kira his phone with a topographical map to their destination. “Night vision.” Ty pulled his helmet from his pack and strapped it under his chin.

  Moses handed Ty a paper map. “This is the preserve. Here, there are shelters for the poacher patrols. They aren’t known to many. Hide them here.” He moved his finger over to the north. “Here is where you will go in. They should be safe from the militants there.”

  “And the wildlife?”

  “This may be an issue, but we will hope that all will be well.”

  Moses reached up for the hand of one of the women who leaned over the side. “Be safe, wife. Protect my son. I love you,” he told her.

  “Moses, cut all lights once we’re out the gate,” Ty said.

  “Yes.” Moses raised his hand, the gate opened, and Ty rumbled the truck forward.

  Ty tapped his chest where his comms unit lay under his shirt. “Echo-zero-two to TOC.”

  “Go for Echo-zero-one.”

  “I’m heading to the preserve. Twenty minutes out.”

  “That’s cutting it close, brother.”

  “Can Foxtrot meet us at the gate and go in to protect the evacuees?”

  “That’s already in play. A five-man team will meet you at the gate and walk in with you. I want you back on perimeter. The other three are pushing for the compound.”

  When the lights went black at the Range, Ty pulled his night vision into place.

  “This is so spooky,” Kira whispered as they drove through the black of night.

  “I can see well enough, Kira. I’ll keep you safe.”

  “There’s no reason for us to be afraid,” London said, manically stroking Beatrice’s fur. “We’re good friends with the president and the government. They know us. We’ve been invited to their homes. I’ve spent time with their wives and children. Just call them. They’ll send help.”

  “Ma’am, they have been contacted, and they’re sending forces. They’re an hour away. The militants are thirty minutes away. A lot of terrible things can happen in a half-hour. By the time the military can get on-site, you’d be captured.”

  “Captured not killed.”

  “Yeah, well, you may wish you had been,” Ty muttered under his breath.

  “Kira!” London said. “Kira is part of the royal family. She could call someone. She could reach out to the heavy hitters in her family. They can help.”

  “From Qatar, ma’am?” He pursed his lips.

  A pall settled over the cab.

  Ty did his best to drive gently over the landscape. He knew that the women and children in the back were taking a beating from the bumps. He also knew that time was of the essence.

  Moses decided that the golf carts were too dangerous to use to transport those fleeing toward the preserve because the lights would illuminate their path and bring attention from the bad guys. Moses only had enough night vision for his men on the wall and couldn’t spare any of the devices for drivers.

  The elders and the women who were not able to get onto the truck were moving off toward the tree line to the south to take shelter. Ty would take one of the Foxtrot unit members with him as he drove back to rescue the others. Then, Ty would try to get eyes on Omar while his brother helped evacuate as many as they could to the relative safety of the preserve.

  Rory was curled on the floor at London’s feet, his chin rested on Kira’s lap, sniffing the baby. “Rory,” Ty said. “I’m depending on you.”

  Rory responded with a sharp bark. He took his responsibility for Kira seriously.

  ***

  They were met at the preserve gate by a band of armed rangers, standing shoulder to shoulder and looking determined. Ty simply pulled up and shined a penlight on London’s face.

  After a moment of indecision, they peeled back.

  As they did, Foxtrot rose from the ground pulling their grass-covered ghillie suits off.

  To say the rangers w
ere startled that they’d been standing there without seeing the soldiers was to put things mildly.

  Ty leaned out his window. “Echo-zero-two,” he identified himself.

  “Foxtrot. Our orders are to help secure the evacuees.”

  Ty handed them the map and the location Moses had chosen. “I need one man with night vision to go back with me to drive the next group out. Go ahead and get everyone unloaded.

  A stir of activity ensued.

  A kiss from Kira. She whispered, “I love you. Thank you. Be safe.”

  She loved him.

  “You do what you have to make it through this. Stay safe. You have Rory.” He pressed his lips against her forehead and whispered back, “I love you, too. We’ll figure us out when this is over. I promise.”

  A Foxtrot brother had helped London from the cab and reached out to assist Kira, with Archie in her arms.

  Rory stumbled out after them, shook his coat, and looked Ty in the eye. He’d do his job.

  Driving away from Kira had to be one of the hardest damned things Ty ever did.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Ty

  Outside of the compound, his Foxtrot brother had filled the truck with the second group of refugees. The women had wrapped provisions in blankets and rested them on their heads to make room to squeeze all the people on.

  The strafe of rifle fire lit up the night as the truck turned and headed back to the preserve, leaving Ty off as they passed closer to the Range.

  Ty was alone as he made his way back to the compound. He dialed Moses, who answered him breathlessly. “What is your status, Ty?”

  After quickly catching Moses up, Ty then requested an open door to come in and help.

  “This is too dangerous,” Moses said. “We cannot stop the breach, there was a small band who got in already, using a boating hook. The best we can do inside is hide and hope the military arrives quickly. I’ve placed each of our guests in a different space, so if one is found, they aren’t all found.”

  “Good plan. I have to get in, Moses.”