Mantis
Heather Slade
K19 Security Solutions Book Four
Copyright © 2018 by Heather Slade
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ISBN 10: 1-942200-51-X
ISBN 13: 978-1-942200-51-2
Also by Heather Slade
K19 SECURITY SOLUTIONS
Book One: Razor
Book Two: Gunner
Book Three: Mistletoe
Coming Soon!
Book Five: Dutch
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE SECTION 6
Book One: Shiver
Coming Soon!
Book Two: Wilder
BUTLER RANCH
Available Now!
Book One: Brodie
Book Two: Maddox
Book Three: Naughton
Book Four: Mercer
Book Five: Kade
COWBOYS OF CRESTED BUTTE
Available Now!
Book One: Fall for Me
Book Two: Dance with Me
Book Three: Kiss Me Cowboy
Book Four: Stay with Me
Book Five: Win Me Over
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
About the Author
Also by Heather Slade
Want more?
Shiver
Chapter 1
Dutch
When he donned his night vision device, Dutch could see his target along with two other men who looked like they were also prisoners. All were heavily guarded by a band of Somali pirates.
This was K19 Security Solution’s second extraction in the same number of weeks. The team had initially been summoned to Somalia to aid in a CIA extraction of two operatives who had been captives of a different band of pirates. Those two men—along with the majority of K19’s team—had gotten out safely and were back stateside, enjoying what was left of the Christmas holiday.
Dutch’s target, Gehring “Mantis” Cassman, hadn’t been as fortunate. On his way back to Mogadishu, he was intercepted and taken hostage by the rangy group of thugs standing guard over him now.
Unlike with the majority of their extractions, the group holding Mantis and the other two men was unorganized, financially crippled, and in seemingly poor health themselves.
That wasn’t unusual in Somalia where over one million people were displaced, half of those in Mogadishu alone. The vast majority of the small nation’s citizens relied heavily on assistance just to survive.
Given the Somali jihadist fundamentalist groups with ties to al-Qaeda frequently intercepted any aid that came into the country, financial or otherwise, thousands of people died daily.
Gangs of pirates, like the ones Dutch and his team were about to take out, routinely kidnapped whomever they could get their hands on with the hope that they’d win the “black market lottery” of a paid ransom.
Like the odds of winning an actual lottery, most of the time, those kidnapped had little or no money, or in Mantis’ case, a government that refused to negotiate with terrorists.
Dutch wasn’t here to negotiate. He was here to extract.
“In on three,” Dutch said to his teammates, Ranger and Diesel, through the mic on his headset.
“Roger that,” both CIA operatives responded.
His count commenced, and within seconds, the encampment was bombarded with a hail of bullets, as Dutch and his team systematically took out the Somalis.
Chapter 2
Mantis and Alegria
When Mantis heard the sound that made his ears prick up, he knew all hell would soon rain down on the encampment where he was being held hostage.
The nausea and debilitating headache he’d had only moments ago went away with the rush of adrenaline that flooded his body. Every nerve ending had gone on high alert as he prepared to carry out the procedures he’d been trained to do if he ever found himself in a hostage situation.
His job was to get himself and the other two captives out of the way without alerting their Somali pirate captors of the impending attack.
As with every other mission or op he’d carried out with his lifelong best friend, Thomas “Dutch” Miller, it executed flawlessly.
“Let’s go!” Dutch shouted, leading him and the other hostages out of the compound and into waiting vehicles.
Mantis climbed into one SUV with Dutch, and the other four men climbed into the second.
“I owe ya one,” Mantis said once they were a safe distance away from the compound.
Dutch laughed. “Oh, yeah? I think I owed you a couple first.”
“Let’s call it even, then. What’s the word on Striker, Tackle, and Halo?”
“Extracted.” Dutch scrubbed his face with his hand. “I’m not sure if I should tell you this.”
Mantis turned his head and looked at him. “What?”
“They were home in time for Christmas.”
Mantis nodded. That wasn’t bad news. He wondered why Dutch would think he’d take it as such.
“How are you doin’?”
Mantis rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “I could use a hot shower, about five gallons of water, and decent food. After that—sleep.”
“Tall order, but I think we can manage most of it. Who were the other two prisoners?”
“I don’t know. They’re not American, I know that much.”
“Diesel and Ranger will take care of contacting whichever embassy they should be delivered to.”
Mantis nodded. “How far are we from Mogadishu?”
“Three hours, at least.”
“Mind if I get some rest?”
“Of course not.”
Mantis reached over the back of the seat and grabbed a blanket. He wadded it up and put it between his head and the passenger side window. As uncomfortable as he was, it was better than where he’d been sleeping the last several days.
—:—
“Anything?” Alegria asked Onyx, K19 Security Solutions’ handler for the mission to extract Mantis.
“Negative, ma’am,” he reported.
She paced the living room of the small guest house where she’d been staying since right before Christmas, and closed her eyes, wishing she and Dutch had been able to clear the air before he left. Things hadn’t been right between them since before Thanksgiving.
After a bullet hit her in the back, causing damage to her spinal cord, she’d undergone emergency surgery. When she first came to, Dutch hadn’t been the man sitting at her hospital bedside. Instead, Mantis was.
At first, Alegria thought she must be dreaming, seeing the man
who had been the love of her life for as long as she could remember there next to her. But then she’d looked across the room to see Dutch was there too. Not knowing what else to do, she’d reached out to him.
In that instant, it had become clear that Mantis had no idea she and Dutch were together.
“That wasn’t fair, Alegria,” Dutch scolded her after Mantis stormed out of the room without a word. “You made him think—”
“That I had moved on.”
“With me.”
She caressed the back of his hand with her thumb. “Haven’t I?”
“If I believed it’s what you really want…”
“It is what I want.”
Dutch scrubbed his face with his hand. “I know you still love him.”
There was no point in lying; she would always love Mantis, but that didn’t mean they could be together again. Both of them had said too many things they couldn’t take back. She’d given him an ultimatum, and he’d chosen the mission over her.
That’s just who Mantis was. From the day she’d met him at the United States Air Force Academy, he’d never wavered in his commitment to the military, and then to the CIA. She’d never been first with him, and she’d made it clear that if he wanted her in his life, he had to change his priorities. When he refused, Alegria knew if she didn’t end the relationship then, she never would. And she’d be miserable.
“I’m with you now. What I had with him is…over,” she told Dutch, who shook his head.
“I wish I could believe it was that simple.”
“Why are you angry with me?”
He ran one hand through his hair while he grasped her fingers with the other. “Because I saw what just happened. Worse, I felt it.”
“You didn’t stop him from leaving. If you don’t want to be with me, why didn’t you tell him so?”
Dutch shook his head. “I didn’t say I don’t want to be with you. As to why I didn’t stop Mantis from leaving, I can’t answer that. I guess it’s because as much as I care about him, I care about you too, and right now, you need me more.”
“I don’t want your pity.”
Dutch looked away from her. “What do you want?”
Alegria bit her lip. “I…I don’t know how to answer that.”
He turned back and met her gaze. “Ask me.”
“What?”
“Ask me what I want.”
“What do you want, Dutch?” she whispered.
“I want to believe that someday you’ll love me half as much as you love Mantis. Just half as much.”
Dutch got up and walked out, but Alegria knew he’d come back, and when he did, she wasn’t sure she’d be able to say anything that would convince him she could love him the way he wanted her to.
It wasn’t much better after Dutch brought her home from the hospital. If they talked at all, it inevitably ended in an argument.
They were both irritable. For her, the frustration of her body healing and being limited in what she could do was compounded by the effects of withdrawal from the pain medication she’d decided to wean herself from.
Her doctor had disagreed and told her it was too soon, but she knew her own body. She’d been trained to withstand far worse pain. She wasn’t just a pilot; she was a goddamn intelligence operative. There was no way she’d let something like this keep her down.
It was hard to believe it was only a few days ago that Dutch came to tell her he was leaving, and that now, he was God knew where, rescuing the man who hadn’t just been Alegria’s first love, but also Dutch’s best friend.
Out of nowhere, a chill traveled up her spine, leaving her unable to shake the feeling of dread it left in its wake.
“Manon…we need to talk,” Dutch said when she went to look for him and found him in the kitchen.
“About?”
“A mission…”
Her eyes met his. “What is it?”
“Mantis. There’s a report that he’s been kidnapped by Somali pirates. I’m going in with a team to extract him.”
“When do you leave?” she asked, knowing it had to be soon.
“Tonight. Look, I know it’s close to Christmas, and I’m sorry—”
She held up her hand. “Don’t be. I understand.”
“I wasn’t sure you would.”
“What do you mean?”
“If Mantis had sprung something like this on you…”
She rested her hand on his arm. “This is different. If the situations were reversed and he was telling me he had to go in and get you, I would understand in the same way I do now.”
Dutch reached out and stroked her cheek. “We’ll leave at sixteen hundred.”
Alegria nodded and moved closer to him, wishing they hadn’t spent the last three weeks arguing as much as they had. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. It felt good to just relax into his comfort.
When he leaned down and brought his lips to hers, she kissed him back, and then moved her hands from his waist to his butt and tilted her pelvis so his hardness was pressed against her.
“Are you sure you want this?” he murmured before he kissed her a second time.
Alegria backed away, taking his hand and leading him into the bedroom.
Once there, she pulled her sweater over her head, and then pushed her wool skirt down until it slid from her hips to the floor. Dutch’s eyes traveled the length of her body as she stood before him in nothing but her bra and panties.
“Make love to me, Dutch.” She held her hand out to him as she sat on the bed.
In seconds he was on her, as though he was hurrying to get her naked before he changed his mind. His fingers released the clasp on her bra, and he pulled it from her body.
“Lie down,” he said, taking her panties in both hands and sliding them down her legs.
“Please, Dutch,” she begged as he stood above her, taking in every inch of her nakedness.
She watched as he undressed. He took her breath away. When they first met, he’d been tall and lanky, but over the course of the years, the boyishness of his body had become all man. While he may appear less muscular than some of the other K19 partners, he was no less powerful.
When he was happy, his blue eyes twinkled, and when he was focused on something, like he was on her now, their intensity heated her core. Recently, Dutch had let his beard grow. At first she didn’t like the way it scratched her skin, but as it softened, she’d learned to love it.
As he stalked to the bedside table, the muscles in his body flexed. She couldn’t wait for this man to be inside her. It had been far too long since he had.
Dutch pulled out a foil packet from the drawer, rolled on the condom, and came to rest between her legs. His eyes bored into hers. “Do you know how much I love you?”
She nodded, but she couldn’t look him in the eye.
“Alegria, look at me…”
“I’m sorry…but…I can’t do this…,” she cried, tears running down her cheeks.
Dutch got off the bed and went into the bathroom. He came back out seconds later, grabbed his clothes, and stalked from the bedroom.
“Get dressed. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready,” she heard him say.
Equally painful was the way she and Dutch had parted ways before he left for Somalia. There hadn’t been enough time for her to tell him how sorry she was, or to assure him that she did love him.
He’d parked the car in the Annapolis driveway of his teammate’s mother’s house, where the K19 partners were gathering for the holiday. He walked around the car and opened her door, but when she’d walked toward the house, he didn’t follow.
“Aren’t you coming inside?” she’d asked.
“Just to bring your bag in.”
She’d walked back to him and rested her hand on his heart, wishing things could be different. “Be safe,” she’d murmured, brushing his lips with hers.
“Is that for me or him?” he’d asked, the edge in his voice startling he
r.
“Both of you,” she’d told him.
“I love you so much,” he’d said, holding her close.
As much as she wanted to say the words back to him, she hadn’t been able to.
Now, all she wanted to do was hear his voice. Whether he told her he loved her or only that he was safe, didn’t matter.
“Still nothing?” she asked Onyx, who shook his head.
Alegria had a bad feeling about what should have been a routine extraction for the team Dutch led. Instead of hearing that the op was complete, they weren’t hearing anything.
Chapter 3
Dutch
Something wasn’t right with Mantis. Dutch had felt the shift when his friend first got back from Afghanistan, but then all hell broke loose for the entire K19 team, and there was no time for anyone to think beyond the mission at hand.
That op had ended with Alegria getting shot, and then the incident in the hospital between the three of them. After that, Mantis had closed himself off to Dutch completely.
At first his friend’s anger made sense, but the more Dutch thought about it, the more he realized there was something far worse wrong.
Beneath the bravado of his being pissed about Dutch and Alegria, sat an apathy that Dutch had never seen in Mantis before. Since they met on In-Processing Day at the Air Force Academy, Mantis had had a fire in him like Dutch had never seen.
Mantis (K19 Security Solutions Book 4) Page 1