Falling Hard

by HelenKay Dimon

  Through a series of hand signals Josiah communicated the plan. They’d stick together and try to follow a trail. Problem was, there were footprints all over the tunnels. Marks in the dirt from the men rushing out after the explosion. Tracking one over the other would not be easy, but West had an advantage. Lexi was the only woman in here, to his knowledge. He looked for smaller prints.

  It took a few minutes but he spotted the tracks. There would be a print then a slide mark. She’d been dragged backward. He let the rage over that simmer and build. When he found her, the person who had her would die.

  They circled back toward the front of the cave. A few steps before the main room Pearce appeared in front of him.

  “Looks like you lost your girlfriend,” he said, nodding behind him. When he stepped aside, Tom stood there with an arm around Lexi’s neck and a gun to her head. “We’re taking her.”

  Panic flared in her eyes. West glanced at her, then away. He needed all of his control. “You aren’t leaving here.”

  “The adrenaline has to be wearing off by now.” Pearce made a face that on anyone else might be seen as sympathetic. On him it was just fucking creepy. “The pain. Damn, West. You have to be in serious pain. I turned up the electricity on those last two jolts.”

  Josiah shifted beside him. That was a signal because he knew not to move.

  Pearce must have picked it up. “Nuh-uh. You come toward me and Tom drops her.”

  “She is not my concern.” Josiah’s aim moved from Tom to Pearce. “You are.”

  West tried not to show a reaction. Josiah was doing his job. And in terms of overall safety, Pearce should be their focus. But West’s priorities had shifted. He wanted her. Cared about her. Would die for her.

  Some of the amusement drained from Pearce’s face. “You don’t understand Benton’s vision or how hard the Alliance will fuck you over when someone at the top—probably Tasha—decides it’s time for you to go.”

  “Are you still spewing this garbage?” Josiah shook his head. “It’s pathetic.”

  While they talked, West planned. He calculated the chances of getting to Lexi before a bullet slammed into her. Not great.

  They were running out of time. If he knew that, Pearce knew it.

  West knew he would only get one shot. It had to be executed perfectly. He’d take Pearce, and that meant he had to depend on Josiah to save Lexi. He hated that.

  “Down!” The shout came from behind Tom and had him turning. Before West could get off a shot, he heard a bang and the compromised bodyguard dropped.

  Javed now was with Lexi, who just stared down at the man at her feet. Knowing she was okay gave West the freedom to unleash. He had Pearce up against the rock wall with a gun aimed at the middle of his forehead.

  When he started to talk, West banged his head against the wall. “I think I promised you a bullet in the brain.”

  “West.” Pearce reached for West’s extra weapon at his side but Josiah stepped in and grabbed it. Didn’t say anything but kept watch while he held his own gun on Pearce.

  The man was not getting out of this one alive.

  “You cannot kill me.” Pearce’s voice bobbled. “I have valuable intel, and Tasha ordered Ward to keep me alive.” When West didn’t lower his gun, some of the confidence ran out of Pearce. He looked at Josiah. “Tell him.”

  “Right, I forgot.” Josiah cleared his throat. “Tasha told Ward to bring you back in a box.”

  Not that he needed the green-light, but West was happy to get one. “There you go.”

  “You won’t kill me in cold blood.” Pearce shook his head. “That isn’t you. It’s not how Alliance works.”

  “Yeah, it is.” West fired. Aimed and shot and didn’t regret one second . . . until he looked into Lexi’s eyes. They were wild and full of fear. He wanted to kick his own ass for killing in front of her. Again. “Lexi—”

  She didn’t even spare Pearce a glace. “He doesn’t deserve a tattoo.”

  And just like that, West’s world tilted right again. “No, he doesn’t.”

  22

  LEXI KNEW she should have been upset. Two more men dropped right in front of her. She’d become numb to all of the violence but refused to mourn the men who tortured West. She’d wanted to take a bat to those two.

  Pearce deserved what he got. She knew the man for a day and despised him. She could not imagine the trail of destruction he’d left in his wake.

  “Lexi?” Josiah stood in front of her. “We need to go.”

  She didn’t realize she’d gotten lost in her thoughts until she felt the touch of his hand against her arm. She glanced down and watched West check Pearce’s pockets and take a photo of him. She had no idea what the last part was for and she didn’t care. She never wanted to think about Jake Pearce again.

  “We can’t leave yet.” West stood up. “We need a sample of the weapon. The toxin.”

  Part of her knew he’d say something like that. He was here for a job, and somewhere along the line that got muddled. But she could barely stand on her feet. She swayed back and forth. She had no idea, with the injuries and attacks, how he still moved.

  Josiah looked from West to her. “I’ll go.”

  “You haven’t been in the caves.” West rubbed his arm.

  She didn’t realize until she saw the rip in his shirt that he’d been shot again. “Are you bleeding?”

  He turned his arm and looked at the area. “No.”

  Since she only saw a little blood and that had clotted, she decided to believe him. But that didn’t solve the bigger problem. The one beating its way to them right now. She could help with that one. “I can get us there and back.”

  Stress pulled at the edges of West’s mouth. “You are staying outside with Josiah. I’ll run in and out.”

  There was no way he could run. Even if he could, he definitely shouldn’t.

  “No.” Forget caring about him, which she did, too much, this was her talking as the medical professional who stitched him up several times.

  “You don’t get a say,” he snapped back at her. “There could be more armed men in there.”

  He had about ten seconds to get rid of that attitude. “So, naturally, you should be the one who goes in and finds them. Heaven forbid someone else gets shot on this assignment.”

  Josiah laughed. “She has you there.”

  The clenched jaw suggested West was not impressed. “We need—”

  “Outside.” Josiah took a step toward the area and the entrance beyond. “We’ll find Ward and figure this out.”

  “Seems reasonable.” She didn’t know if that was true or not. Didn’t really care. The relief of having Josiah side with her was enough.

  When West started to talk, Josiah piped up again. “And, for the record, I am in charge of you, so we’re going.”

  Lexi loved the way Josiah handled West. “You I like.”

  Josiah shot her a smile. “I just like bossing him around.”

  “Who doesn’t?”

  West debated hunting down the toxin anyway. He didn’t generally buck Alliance leadership. He listened and followed because the place was run by smart people with a serious purpose. This time he wanted to ignore that.

  “West?”

  He heard Josiah’s voice. Thought about Lexi and the danger and capitulated. “I’m coming.”

  Josiah held up a hand. “Where’s Javed?”

  “He was . . .” Lexi looked around. “Where did he go?”

  Josiah tightened the grip on his gun. “We sure he’s on our side?”

  West had asked that question over and over. He wanted to believe in Javed because he meant something to Lexi. And it didn’t make sense that he’d step up so many times if he was really on Benton’s payroll or someone else’s. “He’s helped us.”

  “Saved us.” She looked from West to Josiah and back again. “Javed is a friend.”

  Josiah frowned. “Friend?”

  She shot him a you-are-right-on-the-line glare. “I
think you know what that word means.”

  West got to see her use that expression on someone else. He was happy not to be on the receiving end of that . . . this time. “Friends only.”

  There was a noise behind West, a shuffling and a thud. Both he and Josiah turned, ready to fire, pulling back at the sight of Javed with a bag in one hand and a satphone in the other.

  He glanced up and came to a stop. Didn’t say anything. Didn’t go for his gun, which was the only reason West didn’t put him down with a bullet to his brain.

  But he did take aim. “This is interesting.”

  “This has been quite a day,” Josiah said as he stepped up beside West. “Lucky for you, Javed, I’m in the mood to shoot one more time.”

  Lexi broke in between them and went toward Javed. She stopped before reaching him but her body swayed and her shoulders fell. Looking at the bag he held, she said, “What are you doing?”

  Javed bit his lower lip as his gaze traveled around the area. “It’s not what you think.”

  “I’ve defended you.” Pain radiated from her body and her voice.

  West wanted to hold her, take her out of there and away from the lying and death. If she could hold on for another hour he’d make it happen. He’d forget the idea of leaving her and find a hotel somewhere. Hot showers and a big bed. That was the fantasy scenario right now. A shower and her.

  He gave Javed one second to come up with a story. “It looks like you’re stealing weapons grade toxin.”

  The find didn’t make sense. Nothing in Javed’s record—and Josiah had checked it—pointed to this. The guy wasn’t on anyone’s radar and he’d been a career helicopter pilot, working his way up the chain to join the most prestigious squadron in charge of the highest places on Earth. To be one of the men who did what no one else could do.

  Javed tightened and loosened his fist. Kept doing it. The silence ticked on and he didn’t make a move.

  “We can stand here all day,” Josiah said.

  Javed closed his eyes then opened them again. “It’s my job.”

  It was the way he said it. Careful, with his accent fading. A new piece of crap was headed right for them. West could sense it coming. “You fly helicopters for the Pakistani army.”

  There was a buzzing sound and Javed looked at his watch. “We need to leave.”

  Looked like they were on a countdown for something. “Why?”

  “Is the army coming?” Lexi asked.

  “No.”

  West hit his endpoint. The cryptic bullshit pushed him right past his tolerance level. “Talk or I shoot. Do not test me.”

  Javed tightened his grip on the bag. “CIA.”

  As soon as he said it the pieces made sense. Javed showed up at random times, which in hindsight might not have been so random. He knew how to get to the encampment. Shot the right people. Had an in and out of his base without question. Knew where to be and befriended Lexi. He could as easily be intelligence or Benton’s sidekick as a guy lying to save his own ass.

  West wanted to know now. “Explain.”

  “I’m Dr. Palmer’s handler. He’s my asset. Feeds me information.”

  Lexi’s eyes widened. “What?”

  West sympathized with her confusion but he couldn’t stop to help her now. And he didn’t accept Javed’s half-assed answer. “The weapons?”

  “I knew.” West took a step forward and Javed started talking faster, this time directly to Lexi. “The go command is only there for when I’m not available. You couldn’t know that, but if your dad had been there, he would have told me directly. I had it handled.”

  “You are begging to be shot,” Josiah said.

  “Okay, wait.” Lexi talked slowly as the words stuttered out. “Someone needs to explain all of this to me.”

  Javed kept his gaze locked on West. “I have an assignment just like you do.”

  Speaking of that. “No one told us you were on the ground. You’re saying we got sent out here, sat through briefings, all without being told about an asset in the field.”

  Josiah shook his head. “Not believable.”

  “Deep cover,” Javed said. “Plus, until I checked in two days ago, I had never even heard of Alliance. Apparently, some of my bosses feel your group undermines the CIA mission.”

  “We’re not CIA.” Josiah said, clearly not believing this excuse.

  The possibility of being kept in the dark and having the assignment thrown into danger due to intradepartmental wrangling pissed West off. That was part of the reason Alliance was born, to cut through the layers of crap to get to the intel. But that’s not what got to him about the idea of Javed being CIA. “You didn’t do anything to protect her.”

  Javed shook his head. “General Harif grew suspicious. Raheel warned me about his boss’s concerns and I told him to move her out. The timing proved problematic. Harif went to the clinic and so did one of Benton’s men.”

  “Problematic? That’s the word you used?” Lexi got right in Javed’s face. “Two men were killed in front of me. Anything could have happened if West hadn’t shown up.”

  West knew it was so much worse than that. “And you had plenty of chances after that to fill us in.”

  “You were not read into the operation.” Javed sure as hell sounded like CIA with that response.

  “We should let her kill you right now,” Josiah said.

  “It is so tempting.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “I don’t get any of this.”

  West felt for her. In her world, undercover and special ops agents looked and acted like him. They killed people and walked into danger. She didn’t know about the everyday people who passed information and picked drop sites. It was no surprise to him that the CIA would approach a U.S. doctor in Pakistan or put him in place, except for the part where that information should have been in the briefing.

  Javed shifted the bag from one hand to the other. “Need to know.”

  West had lived most of his adult life in undercover operations and he still hated that catchphrase. “Don’t give us that bullshit.”

  “Stop.” Lexi faced West. The pleading look in her eyes tore at him.

  “We’ll go through all of this later. I promise.” He knew he shouldn’t. The information stayed confidential and protected and under wraps for a reason.

  Javed stepped up until they stood in a small group. “Your men have the army on a chase but they’ll get here eventually. Those explosions will tip off someone.”

  Josiah narrowed his eyes. “And?”

  “We can’t leave this stash of weapons here and unprotected.” Javed lifted the bag. “They cannot fall into Pakistani hands.”

  “You’re taking the weapons. This is all about the CIA grabbing the weapons first.” The way West saw it, this had CIA disaster written all over it. “And you’ve called in someone to take the rest of the facility out. You’re grabbing the toxic material and leaving the other shit behind.”

  Pakistan didn’t know about the dangerous materials on its soil. That meant no one could protect the people or prepare for the potential health fallout, not just the political one.

  Josiah nodded. “You’ll pick it clean then blow up the tunnels, leaving a mess behind.”

  West knew then Josiah was on the same wavelength. They both knew this could explode. Javed didn’t seem to care, and for whatever reason, that made West believe his CIA tale even more.

  Javed put the bag’s strap over his shoulder and gestured toward the entrance. “We’re leaving.”

  They got as far as the actual entrance to the cave. West could see light and sky. He could not let Javed go one more step. If he got out with that bag, CIA or not, Alliance would lose it, and that could not happen.

  West stepped in front of him with a hand on his chest. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  Benton spoke from behind them. “I agree.”

  23

  LEXI SPUN around to face Benton. The man with one name. The same one who ordered that she be tortured.
He stood there alone and all she wanted was for one of the men with her to pull out a gun and stop this nonsense. They could all do it, she didn’t care so long as it ended.

  “You’re like a fucking cockroach.” West slipped his hand around her elbow and slowly pulled her back to him.

  She didn’t fight it. She had no interest in being a hero or standing out front on her own. “He really is.”

  Josiah closed in ranks next to West and formed the other half of the shield in front of her. Normally she would have pushed her way through, not wanting to be left out or feel forgotten. Not this time.

  Something about Benton scared the hell out of her. Pearce ran on greed. She hated him and didn’t mourn his death. The world would run better without him. But she understood his motivation. Many people suffered from the need for more, but most didn’t take it to the point of mass homicide, or at least she hoped that was true.

  Benton was a different beast. He talked as if he believed he qualified as some sort of legitimate businessman trying to get by. Psychopath sounded closer.

  Benton didn’t spare her a glance. He kept his attention on Javed and the bag in his hand. “Give that to me.”

  “It’s three against one, genius,” West said.

  “I am never alone.” The second after he said it red dots appeared on West’s and Josiah’s chests.

  Seeing those moving dots suggested to her that they were being targeted. Her stomach took off on another roller-coaster ride. Waves of nausea crashed over her as she tried to remember the last time she ate.

  But she was the only one struggling with the newest threat. West and Josiah looked bored.

  “What’s in your case?” Javed asked.

  Lexi hadn’t noticed the box under Benton’s arm. Or the thin chain leading to his wrist. It figured this guy would chain something to his body.

  “Not your concern, but I can’t let any trace of my chemicals get in the wrong hands.” Benton looked around. “Understand?”

  “Because then you can’t sell your garbage for top dollar,” Josiah said.

  Benton put a hand against his chest. “I’m a businessman.”