Mission: Her Freedom: Team 52 #6

by Hackett, Anna

  “We knew that already,” Axel said. “That’s where he found the shards.”

  Brooks shook his head. “No, he didn’t. Mexico wasn’t the only dig location he visited. He lied to Amy.”

  Lachlan frowned. “He lied to his daughter?”

  Brooks nodded.

  “Why?”

  “It says here that he already had worries about her…ambitions.”

  “Hell.” Lachlan set his hands on his hips.

  “Even as a young girl, she wanted bigger and better things. She was driven, and had no problem steamrolling over people. Especially people she considered unworthy. It concerned her father.”

  “Go on.”

  “He didn’t find the shards in Mexico.”

  The air in the room thickened.

  “Based on an engraving he found at the Mexico dig, he boarded a plane and flew to an island in Micronesia.”

  Nat leaned closer. “The legends say that Viracocha took the wind jewel across the ocean.”

  Brooks nodded. “Maxwell Holder found the shards on the island of Pohnpei.”

  Everyone straightened.

  “You’re saying the wind jewel is on that island,” Lachlan said.

  “Yes,” Brooks said.

  Seth leaned against the counter. “Even a small island is a big place to search for a tiny jewel.”

  Natalie let out a gasp, startling them all. “I can narrow it down! I know where the jewel is.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Natalie’s face glowed with excitement. She reached forward and snatched Brooks’ tablet out of his hands.

  “Hey,” he complained.

  Callie watched Nat’s polished nails tap on the screen. The archeologist looked up. “On the island of Pohnpei are old ruins.”

  Axel frowned. “On an island in the Pacific?”

  Nat nodded. “They’re made of a heavy basalt rock, and built on a coral reef in a lagoon on the island’s eastern coast. It’s made of several artificial islands and a network of canals. It’s been called the Venice of the Pacific.”

  Pictures appeared on the screen.

  Callie gasped. The ruins were made of a deep-black rock, and looked incredible. The slabs of rock were stacked distinctively, forming towers and structures.

  “Say hello to the ruins of Nan Madol,” Nat said. “The city was the capital of the Saudeleur Dynasty until the 1600s. Local stories say that the Saudeleur came from somewhere else. They weren’t native to the island.”

  “When was Nan Madol built?” Brooks asked.

  “Not much can be totally verified, but conventional theories say around 1200 AD.” Nat shrugged. “But there was likely human presence there far earlier. What’s most intriguing are the legends of how Nan Madol was created. Legend says that twin sorcerers arrived by canoe, looking for a place to worship their god.” She smiled. “Their thunder god.”

  Callie inhaled sharply.

  Nat held up a hand. “And the legend goes on to talk about how the brothers built Nan Madol with the help of a flying dragon.”

  “Or perhaps a feathered serpent,” Brooks murmured.

  “We need to search Nan Madol.” Lachlan stared at the screen. “Brooks, do we know where Amy Holder is now?”

  Brooks shook his head. “We assumed she returned to Phoenix, but no one’s seen her. I’m monitoring commercial flights and private charters in her name or the name of the Windvale Church. Nothing’s popped. Her last public appearance was the press conference she did denouncing the break-in at her headquarters, claiming evil thieves are out to derail all her charitable work.”

  Blair rolled her bi-colored eyes.

  “But that was before the incident at the Grand Canyon.”

  “So, she doesn’t know about Nan Madol?” Lachlan said.

  “I can’t answer that,” Brooks said. “Her father’s encrypted files were well-hidden, but I can’t guarantee that she hasn’t found them and hacked into them.”

  “If she knows about the island, wouldn’t she have been there before?” Blair said.

  “I can’t find any records of her being on Pohnpei,” Brooks said.

  Lachlan looked at the images of the ruins. “Looks like we’re going to visit a tropical island.”

  “Yes.” Axel smiled. “No snow, desert, or jungle.” He grinned at Callie. “Got a bikini, Callie?”

  “I do. A tiny, little red one…that I won’t be bringing.”

  Axel groaned. Then he caught Brooks’ eye and winked.

  Brooks glared back, then turned to Lachlan. “I’m coming.”

  Callie frowned. Suddenly a lead ball had appeared in her stomach. “You got shot last time you came with us.”

  “This all started with me,” Brooks said. “I want to see it through, and not from the computer room.”

  She bristled. “You know this could turn dangerous.” Everyone’s heads swung her way.

  “I’m willing to risk it.” Everyone’s heads turned back to Brooks. “Besides, you’ll need my help. These ruins are a big place to find a tiny jewel. I can help—”

  “No.” Images of him being shot, blood streaking down the side of his head, made her gut cramp.

  “I need to do this, Callie.”

  His tone burrowed into her heart. Dammit.

  Lachlan cleared his throat. “We need Brooks out there. He’s right. We’re looking for a fucking needle in a haystack.”

  When Callie opened her mouth, their team leader held up a hand.

  “I understand your concerns. I’ve been there, so believe me, I understand.”

  Callie’s throat tightened. Lachlan’s woman, Rowan, had been in a dangerous situation before they’d saved her.

  “Brooks has training, and as far as we’re aware, Holder may not even know about Nan Madol. Whatever happens, we’ll be with him.”

  Callie bit her lip and nodded. This wasn’t a battle she could win, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.

  “Okay, let’s get prepped,” Lachlan said.

  Brooks stepped closer. “Cal—”

  “I need to get ready.” She swiveled and walked out.

  The next few hours were a blur of activity. They got gear and weapons loaded in the jet-copter, and the aircraft was fueled up. Everyone was wearing body armor.

  Brooks strode toward the X8, a bulging backpack on his shoulder. She guessed it was full of his computer gear.

  He caught her gaze and she looked away.

  Once they were aboard, she felt him looking at her, but Callie kept her distance. Her insides were still twisted in knots. He was running headfirst into danger, putting himself at risk.

  In her head, she kept seeing the man shooting Brooks back at the Windvale Church and it made her chest as tight as a rock.

  They flew to Hawaii, and, after a refuel, aimed straight for Pohnpei.

  The team napped, checked their gear, played cards. They were all practiced at whiling away the hours on the way to a mission, or dropping off to sleep quickly.

  Callie reclined her seat and dozed. But it wasn’t a great sleep, plagued by nightmares of pouring rain, blood, and her shouting for Brooks.

  When she woke, Brooks sat in front of her, his legs resting on either side of hers. He didn’t say anything, just looked at her with those warm, sexy eyes behind the dark frames of his glasses.

  “I learned something new about you,” he said.

  She didn’t respond.

  “You hold a mean grudge.”

  She sighed.

  “Still mad?” he asked

  “I’m not mad, I’m worried.”

  He squeezed her knee. “I know.” His thumb rubbed along her sensitive skin. “I’ll be careful. I worry when you guys are out on the mission, but I trust you to do your thing.”

  “I trust you, Brooks. I don’t trust the bad guys.”

  “I’m hoping Holder is locked up in her church plotting and not in Micronesia.”

  She touched her hand on top of his. “We have no idea where she is. Things go
wrong all the time on missions, no matter how prepped we are.”

  “I wish I could kiss you right now,” he whispered.

  “Me too.” She gave in to the warmth and longing inside her. She shifted closer, her lips brushing his ear. “I’d straddle your lap and—”

  “Hey, keep the sexy talk down,” Axel muttered from the seat in front of them.

  Callie rolled her eyes and Brooks grinned.

  A few more hours passed, and the sun came up.

  “Destination in view,” Blair called out. “Starting our descent.”

  With Brooks leaning beside her, Callie looked out the window. There was blue water as far as she could see.

  “There.” Brooks pointed.

  Callie saw the island. It looked like a tropical storm was just clearing, the dark clouds slowly lifting to show the green below. Pohnpei was roughly circular, and its hills were covered in thick rainforest. It wasn’t huge, maybe fifteen miles across. It was also ringed by coral reefs.

  They swooped in lower and Brooks leaned closer. “See the ruins?”

  Wow. They were amazing. From the air, it was easy to make out the straight lines and man-made shapes formed on a lagoon at the eastern edge of the island.

  They swept over the dark ruins and touched down on a pretty curve of a beach.

  Right. Time to find a powerful piece of ancient technology and keep Brooks safe.

  * * *

  They entered the ruins.

  The site was overgrown by beach vegetation, but it didn’t detract, only added to the awe-inspiring look of them.

  The place was quiet and deserted. Some tourists did occasionally visit the ruins, but Pohnpei was a remote island, so it was rarely overrun.

  Brooks felt like he was stepping into a movie set. The large, moss-covered rocks were stacked high and the megalithic construction was pretty amazing.

  “Nat thinks the jewel would probably be in the largest temple or structure,” Blair said.

  “I’d hide it where it wasn’t obvious,” Seth said.

  “That’s because you’re a distrusting former CIA agent.”

  Brooks looked at his tablet. “I actually found an old conspiracy theory about Nan Madol.”

  The team all stopped and looked back at him.

  “Pohnpei was occupied by the Japanese during the war. It’s said they found coffins, or caskets, either made of platinum or filled with platinum in the ruins. I couldn’t find any reliable sources about it, so it probably wasn’t true.”

  “Rumors usually come from somewhere,” Callie said.

  “A metallic container would make a good resting place for a dangerous artifact,” Lachlan mused.

  “What if Maxwell Holder found the jewel?” Brooks said. “It might not even be here anymore.”

  “Or it was buried,” Smith said. “To keep it safe.”

  “For now, let’s take a look around,” Lachlan ordered. “If you spot anything of interest, let us know.”

  Brooks moved carefully through the black rock structures. He studied the canals running through the site. “I can see why they call it the Venice of the Pacific.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Callie said. “Makes me miss home.”

  “Next vacation, you, me, and a Hawaiian beach. And that red bikini.”

  She hesitated, then smiled. “Deal.”

  “I heard that,” said a disgruntled Axel from nearby.

  “Get your own woman,” Brooks said.

  “Don’t want one.”

  They picked through the ruins, looking in each of the temple structures.

  “What do you think?” Brooks asked Callie.

  Her brow creased. “I think we could be here weeks, or months.”

  She wandered away, and Brooks watched her duck into another structure.

  He moved to the edge of the site, and stared at the masses of tropical trees and vines. He stopped to breathe in the pungent scent of rotting leaves and salt air. He could imagine Nan Madol as a bustling city, people going about their daily business, all the while protecting a powerful artifact.

  Then he spotted something.

  Shitballs. He froze. There was a large hole at the base of one structure, rimmed by freshly turned earth.

  He touched his ear. “Lachlan, I found something.”

  It didn’t take the others long to reach him. They all stood at the edge of the excavation and Smith cursed.

  Someone had been digging here. Recently.

  Lachlan jumped into the hole, his boots splashing in the inch of water in the bottom. He crouched, studying it, then he straightened. “Looks like something exploded out of here.”

  There was dirt scattered around, like it had been flung outward.

  “Boot marks in the mud over this way.” Blair was looking at the ground, one hand on her hip.

  A crack of thunder echoed overhead and Brooks looked up. Clouds were forming directly above them.

  The team tensed as one unit.

  “Natural?” Smith asked with a frown.

  “Could Holder really have gotten here before us and found the jewel?” Blair said.

  The clouds moved fast, growing thicker and blacker.

  “Everyone on alert.” Lachlan leaped out of the hole and whipped his rifle off his shoulder. “Let’s get back to the X8.”

  They all moved fast across the ruins. Brooks lifted his tablet to check his storm program. Because he wasn’t watching where he was going, he almost tripped.

  “Brooks.” Callie grabbed his arm. “Focus.”

  “I’m checking the storm’s patterns.” He glanced at the image and swallowed a curse. “That—” he jabbed a finger at the boiling clouds “—is not natural.”

  A bolt of lightning speared down and hit one of the temples. Rock exploded, chunks raining down on them.

  “Fuck.” Brooks ducked, fumbling his tablet.

  Callie grabbed his arm. “We have to move.”

  Team 52 raced across the ruins, picking up speed. They splashed through puddles and leaped over rock.

  More lightning hit, strikes dropping down all around them.

  “Faster,” Lachlan roared.

  Gunfire broke out, bullets slamming into the structures all around them.

  Everyone dropped down. Team 52 whipped their weapons up, turning to return fire. Brooks glanced over his shoulder, trying to see where the gunfire was coming from.

  He spotted a small form on top of one temple. With a familiar blonde head.

  “It’s Holder,” he yelled.

  “Get to the jet-copter,” Lachlan shouted.

  Smith tossed something into the air, then another one. A stun grenade hit, followed by a smoke grenade.

  Team 52 jumped up and ran. Bullets whizzed close by.

  Brooks tripped. He hit the rocks hard. Ouch.

  Then Callie was there, helping him up. She pivoted, aimed her rifle, and fired.

  Beside them, Smith’s body jerked, and he grunted.

  “Smith, you hit?” Callie called out.

  “Grazed my arm. I’m okay.”

  They kept running, and finally, Brooks spotted the X8.

  The team hit the sand and sprinted. They dived into the jet-copter, Seth and Blair racing into the cockpit.

  “Fuck!” Blair bit out.

  “What?” Lachlan yelled.

  “Someone’s torn up the controls.”

  Brooks sucked in a breath. They were stuck here. He saw his palms were bleeding from where he’d hit the rock, and wiped them on his thighs.

  Axel looked out the side window. “The storm’s easing.”

  Brooks looked and saw the clouds were dissipating.

  A second later, a helo rose up out of the trees, arrowing overhead and into the clearing sky.

  It had come from the other side of the ruins.

  “Holder’s getting away.” Lachlan’s voice was grim.

  “And we’re trapped here.” Blair slapped her hands against the X8’s control console.

  “Does she have
the wind jewel?” Callie said. “How the hell did she get here?”

  Lachlan rose and leaped out of the X8. “I don’t know, but I want some answers.” He strode back toward the ruins.

  Brooks caught Callie’s gaze, then they, and the rest of the team, hurried after Lachlan.

  The team leader moved to one of the bodies lying in the ruins. He kicked the man over, but the goon was clearly dead.

  A groan came from close by.

  Lachlan’s head whipped up. They skirted a tower of rocks and Brooks spotted one of Holder’s goons on the ground, trying to drag himself away.

  Crouching, Lachlan drew his Glock and aimed it at the man’s head. “Stop.”

  The goon froze. His face was streaked with dirt and blood.

  “How did Holder get here?” Lachlan demanded.

  “I’m just muscle, I don’t—”

  Lachlan shoved the barrel of his gun to the man’s temple. “You do not want to test me today.”

  The man swallowed. “She knew about the island. Knew her father had found the damn jewel shards here.” The man pulled in a breath. “She’s searched the ruins before, but could never find the wind jewel.”

  “What changed?”

  “Testing the shards. One of her people activated one by mistake.”

  Brooks raised a brow. That had to be Brandon Mayfield.

  “When that happened, it made the second shard activate as well. Caused some damage at her fucking warehouse of a church.”

  Things clicked in Brooks’ head. “Then after she tested the second shard at the Grand Canyon, she came here to see if it might activate the wind jewel as well.”

  “Yeah. Caused a big fucking storm here and the ground exploded under one of the ruins. She found the jewel.”

  Lachlan shifted and slammed the butt of his Glock into the man’s head, knocking him out cold.

  “We need to get back to base,” Lachlan said. “Now.”

  “I might be able to rig something in the X8.” Brooks lifted his tablet. “Let me take a look at it.”

  “Your hands first,” Callie said. “You can’t do anything with them bleeding like that.”

  He saw the way she looked at his hands, and his chest tightened. “Smith should go first, he got shot.”

  “Just a graze,” Smith said.