Storm (Special Forces: Operation Alpha): A Linear Tactical Series Novel

by Janie Crouch

  If Ellis decided to make a move on his own, Noah wanted the assurance that Zac would be protecting Marilyn.

  “Roger that. You sure you don’t want me to come help you with the asshole cohorts? I’m told I’m pretty good in the wilderness.”

  Noah smiled. All the Linear Tactical guys were good in the wilderness. Good meaning they could handle damn near anything.

  “Normally I would take you up on that humble offer, but by the time you got out here it would all be over anyway. You help me more by making sure Ellis doesn’t come in to play.”

  “Roger. Be careful out there, Noah. Those guys are armed.”

  “So am I.” Probably not nearly as well armed, but he’d take his chances. “See you on the flipside.”

  They disconnected the call. He turned and found Marilyn standing silently in the doorway.

  “Kids okay?”

  “Both fell asleep while eating. They’re fine. They talked nonstop to Cassandra about falling and swimming in the river.”

  “Good.” He smiled at her. Kids were remarkably resilient. “Jared is still in Denver. You don’t have to worry.”

  “Jared’s not my only concern.” She took a step closer, scratching the side of her neck. “Jared’s friends…they are as ruthless and cruel as he is.”

  Her words were more than just a warning for him going up against them in the wilderness. Marilyn had first-hand experience with their cruelty.

  He had to swallow the rage that threatened to consume him. Now wasn’t the time to focus on that. He moved closer, relieved when she closed the rest of the distance between them. He pulled her hand down from her neck and wrapped his arms around her. “I have to go. The sheriff’s officers are good, but I have skills they don’t have.”

  “I know,” she whispered.

  “You don’t have to worry about me out there. I’ll fight them now.” He reached down and tilted her chin up. “And then later we’ll fight them—and whatever it is they did to you—together.”

  The distraught look in her eyes tore at his heart. “Noah. It’s not what you think. They didn’t hur—”

  He reached down and kissed her softly. “Whatever it was. Together.”

  She nodded, fisting his shirt and pulling him closer. “Be safe. Come back to me.”

  “Always.”

  21

  Noah was much faster going back out into the wilderness than he had been coming in. His body had the calories and nourishment it needed. A few hours’ sleep would’ve been helpful, but he’d survive without it.

  Storm would survive this fucking storm, too.

  It didn’t take long to pass Sheriff Duggan and her men, even with their head start. He gave them a wide berth, not having time for another lecture. Tanner would be heading toward one of three survival huts in the area west of the river. The problem was, if the asshole cohorts had been studying maps of the area like Zac had said, then they may know about them, too.

  The miles went by quickly, and Noah found himself at the first survival cabin. There was no sign that anyone had been to the hut recently. There wasn’t much to the building, just a place for someone to go if they got caught out in the often-unpredictable elements of Colorado weather—not unlike this storm.

  He was headed toward the second cabin when a shot rang out to the north.

  Shit.

  That shot had come from closer to the large bend in the river, not the way Tanner had planned to go. Something must have gone wrong.

  Noah took off in a sprint in that direction. He had no idea if the cops in the woods would be able to trace the sound the way it echoed through the trees. He might be on his own.

  Two more back-to-back shots just a few minutes later had him veering even farther north. Double-tap. A kill shot.

  But who had been killed?

  He pushed another half mile but stopped when a small flash of something odd caught his attention to his right. Gut instinct had him diving for the ground. Hard.

  The tree he’d just passed splintered as a bullet flew into it.

  Shit. One of Ellis’s posse had found him. Somebody with more skill than the guys who’d been trying to trap Tanner last night.

  The fourth man who’d been hiding.

  Noah rolled to the side, scurrying behind a tree. He expected another shot to ring out, but it didn’t. Because, unlike his friends, this guy had experience and patience, a deadly combination.

  Noah reached for his weapon, cursing when he didn’t find it still tucked into his waist. It must have fallen when he dove.

  Keeping low, he climbed back around the other side of the tree. He had to get the gun now or he’d lose his chance. But the second he made a move toward it, his unseen enemy fired again.

  “I tried to tell my friends you were out here last night,” the man called out. “That you would follow your brother. They were too overconfident in their plan and refused to take any contingencies into consideration.”

  The guy chuckled indulgently, sounding like a dad talking about his difficult teenagers. “They’re always like that. Always think they know better. Which is why Jared ended up in jail. He never wants to listen to me.”

  Keep talking, asshole. Noah used the opportunity to move closer. It took him farther from his weapon, but that was a chance he would have to take. And this guy couldn’t be as smart as Noah had thought if he was stupid enough to just stand there monologuing.

  There was silence for a few moments and Noah stopped, listening to see if he could figure out exactly where the guy was. When he spoke again a few seconds later, he’d shifted just slightly in his position.

  “Can I be honest with you, Noah? Yeah, I know who you are. Know all about the Risk Peak’s returned soldier. All damaged and scarred. Sorry about your war buddies, by the way.”

  Fucker. Noah gritted his teeth and moved closer. Just keep talking.

  “Maybe you’ll appreciate this since you’re a soldier…been around the world, gotten out of Colorado, unlike my friends.” He chuckled. “I honestly don’t see what all the fuss is about when it comes to Marilyn. She’s kind of plain, if you ask me. Boring. I mean, I like a good hunt through the woods as much as anybody, but all this effort on Jared’s behalf just to get her back? Not worth it, in my opinion.”

  Noah was going to enjoy breaking this guy’s jaw. Maybe it would need to be wired shut for a few months.

  “Marilyn wasn’t as much fun as the other wives. At least they put up a fight. Marilyn just sort of laid there and let us do whatever we wanted to her. Where’s the fun in that, Noah?”

  Noah stopped as the words sunk in. The reality sunk in.

  Marilyn said Ellis had never raped her. But it never occurred to Noah to ask if anyone else had. He had to breathe past the roaring in his ears.

  “I’m sorry, buddy, is this topic upsetting to you? Were you thinking of trying to tap that yourself? Honestly, man, I’m just trying to look out for you. I can give you some pointers if you want. Things that make tears roll out of those big hazel eyes, rather than just staring blankly to the side. Her favorite positions. Lots of stuff.”

  It took every bit of training Noah ever had in his lifetime to keep from barreling through the woods to shut this guy up.

  That was what he wanted. He wasn’t stupid at all; he was using his strengths to try to best Noah. The guy was smart enough to know that talking about Marilyn in this way would distract Noah.

  This had to be George Pearson, the only person they hadn’t heard out in the wilderness last night. The fourth man.

  Noah spun in the other direction, keeping low and silent, but moving quickly. George was trying to goad him into losing his temper, and it was very close to working.

  “She did have this kind of sexy pathetic whimper, though. Move in just the right way and she’d—”

  The son of a bitch was perched behind the rock, facing the other direction, in perfect position to wait for Noah when he finally charged.

  Noah did. Just not from the direction Pears
on was expecting.

  It was probably good he didn’t have his gun because he wasn’t sure he would’ve been able to keep from shooting the bastard in the back. As it was, the sound of Pearson’s head cracking against the rock as Noah flew into him in a full body tackle was almost as satisfying.

  “Let’s see what you sound like when you whimper,” he muttered in Pearson’s ear, knocking his gun out of his hand.

  Pearson had blood gushing from his head, but the blow hadn’t knocked him out. He gave Noah a sick little smile as he bucked him off. The blood didn’t stop him at all as he got to his feet and pulled a knife from a leg harness.

  He opened his mouth to say something about Marilyn again, but Noah wasn’t going to wait to hear whatever crude, obnoxious statement he planned to make. He dove for the guy again.

  He felt the burn of the blade against his shoulder and then his bicep before he grabbed Pearson’s wrist and yanked the knife away. It became a battle of strength as Pearson swung the knife back toward Noah and put all his weight behind it.

  Pearson had the advantage, gravity on his side, but Noah caught his wrist before the knife could make contact with his skin, pushing up with all his strength.

  Pearson grinned down at him. “Are you sure you don’t want me to describe what that little slut looks like when she—”

  Noah jerked Pearson’s arm away and head-butted him in one motion.

  They both jumped to their feet again, and Pearson tossed the knife back and forth between his hands.

  Noah had had enough.

  Don’t get hit.

  He moved toward Pearson with deadly intent. There was no burning anger in him now, the rage was cold. The storm was focused.

  Fight to win, not to defend.

  Pearson got a couple more slices in with the knife before Noah was able to knock it out of his hands. He recognized the exact moment when Pearson realized he was going to lose.

  That he was going to die.

  There is no such thing as a dirty fight.

  Noah took great pleasure in hurting Pearson in every single way he’d spent the last months teaching Marilyn to defend herself.

  Eyes, nose, ears.

  Ankles, knees, groin.

  The blow to the chest sent Pearson spiraling back.

  He landed right next to the gun he’d dropped when Noah had first tackled him. He went for it. Noah had known he would.

  And that made breaking the man’s neck with a hard twist even easier. Not that it would’ve been hard in any case.

  The storm raged on around them as Pearson fell dead to the ground.

  Noah stared at the large man for a long moment. His death wouldn’t change what had been done to Marilyn, but knowing the bastard was rotting in hell certainly wouldn’t hurt, either.

  Noah turned away. He still needed to find his brother. He would come back and deal with the body after he talked to Tanner.

  The storm was finally breaking as he made it to the second cabin. The wounds from his run-in with Pearson were slowing him down. Sheriff Duggan and her men had caught up.

  “Damn it, Dempsey, I told you stay out of this.” She pointed to the wounds on his arm and shoulder. “What happened?”

  Noah wasn’t going to disclose the Pearson incident until he had a chance to talk to Tanner. If that body needed to be hidden forever, then Noah had no problem making that happen.

  “I tripped. Clumsy.”

  The sheriff obviously didn’t believe him, but he wasn’t going to get into it with her, not until he knew Tanner and Bree were safe.

  She was about to press the issue when one of her men came running back. “No sign of anyone having been in that cabin, ma’am.”

  The sheriff turned to him. “What the hell’s going on here, Noah?”

  “All I know is that we need to make our presence known in these woods. We need to give Tanner an indication of where we are and to chase away anyone who might still be after them. They mean business.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him but nodded. “Okay, fire one shot every fifteen minutes. Let’s see what we shake up.”

  Good. That was a common means of communication. Tanner would know what it meant.

  “Meanwhile,” Duggan continued, “let’s make our way to cabin three. Hope that Bree and Tanner are there.”

  A little over an hour later and a couple of miles from the third cabin, Tanner and Bree came stumbling into view. The relief in Noah’s gut was nearly tangible.

  Tanner looked as bad as Noah felt. Noah stayed back, keeping his wounds hidden under his shirt and jacket as he watched the medic reset Tanner’s dislocated shoulder.

  Sherriff Duggan was obviously chomping at the bit to get details from Tanner, but he saw Noah jerk his head to the side to indicate they need to talk in private so he asked his boss to wait.

  Noah led them farther away from everyone and provided Tanner with a few brief details about what had happened with George Pearson. He needed to know how Tanner wanted to handle this.

  “I’ll need to take you to that body so you can do whatever cop paperwork is involved. I haven’t mentioned it to anyone else because—”

  Evidently, Pearson wasn’t the only body in the woods.

  “I’m going to have my own cop paperwork involved with the death of Paul Wyn, the guy Bree shot,” Tanner said. “Turns out he was in Risk Peak the night of the fire. We’ll report them both to Whitaker and process them officially.”

  No hidden bodies, then. Noah was a little disappointed. Pearson deserved to be eradicated from the planet.

  They all did. Especially Jared Ellis.

  “You know Ellis is behind all this,” he said.

  Tanner ran his good hand over his face. “Yeah, but proving it won’t be as easy.”

  Noah didn’t need proof. But the law did.

  They separated so they could each take a member of law enforcement to process the bodies. Tanner wanted to handle this the proper way and let the law run its course. But there was one thing Noah knew for sure.

  The law and justice sometimes weren’t the same thing.

  22

  Marilyn and the kids had been in the small apartment with Deputy Ronnie for less than twelve hours—much of that time was spent sleeping—when he got word that everyone was safe.

  Ronnie let her know, then went into a separate room to continue the conversation with the sheriff. When he came back out, Marilyn pressed him again. Was everyone safe?

  Skirmishes.

  That was the word Ronnie had used. There had been some skirmishes, but Noah, Tanner, and Bree were all okay and on their way to town.

  Thank God. The thought that she had brought her violence into her friends’ lives was unbearable. That they would get hurt protecting her… Bree and Tanner might have missed their own wedding…

  She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do or how long she needed to be here in protective custody. She just knew Noah would come for her when he could.

  And he did.

  One second, she was sipping coffee bleary-eyed at the table, and the next, he was standing in the doorway. Neither of them said a word, she just flew into his arms.

  He’d come for her first. She knew it from the blood still on his clothes. Before doing anything else, he’d come for them.

  He held her for a long minute before he spoke. “I’m okay. Bree and Tanner are, too.”

  “What happened?”

  He stroked his hand down the back of her hair. “Let’s get you and the kids back to the ranch so they can wake up to something familiar.”

  He glanced over at Ronnie. “Tanner and Sheriff Duggan have gone to Denver. They called in every favor they could to find a judge who was willing to have an in-chamber session to look at getting Ellis put back behind bars.”

  Ronnie nodded. “Surely, with two of his friends dead after attacking you guys, the judge will see reason.”

  Marilyn’s eyes flew to Noah. “Dead?”

  “Bree and Tanner killed Paul Wyn when h
e attacked them. I had a run-in with George Pearson.”

  She could feel her pulse begin to skyrocket just at the mention of their names. Telling herself that they were dead and couldn’t hurt her anymore didn’t seem to help. “I… I…”

  She couldn’t seem to even figure out what she wanted to say.

  “Let’s get you home.” He kissed her forehead. “That bastard is never going to hurt you or anyone else ever again.”

  Noah knew.

  She stiffened, afraid she might actually vomit right here on the floor. George had told Noah that she’d had sex with him. What did Noah think of her? How could he even stand to touch her?

  Noah’s hands slid to the outside of her shoulders and he pulled her back so they were eye to eye. “Whatever it is you’re thinking right now, you need to shut that down.”

  She shook her head. “What George said…”

  “The only thing George said was that he was a complete asshole.”

  The laugh that escaped her was tinged with hysteria. If George knew Noah was there to help Marilyn in any way, he would have done whatever he could to stir up trouble.

  In this case, all he had to do was tell the truth.

  “What George told you—”

  Wasn’t a lie at all.

  But she couldn’t get the words out, Noah had put a finger over her lips. “We’ll talk about it later.”

  She glanced over at Ronnie, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. This definitely wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have in front of him. It wasn’t one she wanted to have at all.

  Noah kissed her forehead. “Take me home and patch me up, gorgeous.”

  She nodded, but was afraid he wasn’t the one who really needed patching.

  The kids were outside in the field running around like crazy with the dogs as Marilyn and Noah sat on the front porch steps of his house.

  They’d eaten, he’d showered, then he’d brought out a whole slew of medical supplies so she could clean and bandage the cuts he’d suffered at George Pearson’s hands.