Breathless: A Stalwart Security Series Military Romance: (Follow-up to The Alpha Company Women Series)

by Beth Abbott

  Tuck glanced from the exploding car back to the truck, to see JT and Danny ducking behind it for cover. Danny was the first to recover himself, standing straight with his hands on his hips, and a look on his face that said, “What the fuck?” better than any words could have.

  Tuck pointed towards Marcus and shrugged, letting Danny know that the pyrotechnics were nothing to do with him. Charlie was just grinning his ass off.

  Danny shook his head in disgust and carefully opened the door of the truck.

  As he climbed in, and crawled across the seats, JT used the doorway and seat as leverage to climb up onto the roof.

  Tuck held his breath as he watched his friends get themselves into position, and then at some unheard and unseen signal, Danny flung the opposite door open and leaned out, just as JT leaned over from the roof.

  Several flurries of gunfire followed before JT sat up and waved.

  “All clear.” He yelled, as Danny climbed out of the truck on the far side.

  Charlie and Marcus jumped up, cautiously sliding around the cars as the sound of gunfire could still be heard from the other side of the house.

  As he walked around the burning husk of the end vehicle, he spotted the bodies of seven or eight cartel members.

  Danny was crouching down next to the guy whose feet he’d shot off. The man actually looked like he was still alive.

  “Where’s the boss-lady?” Danny asked, his voice as hard as Tuck had ever heard it.

  “Fuck you, asshole!” The man rasped.

  JT leaned in and checked the guy’s pockets for ID. Pulling out his wallet, he reached inside for his driving license.

  “Jesus Vega.” He passed it to Tuck. “That would be Lucky’s brother-in-law. That’s so sweet that you were fighting for her family’s honour.”

  Vega coughed a laugh, then groaned in pain.

  “Lucky’s family have no honour.” He spat. “She was supposed to be here, so I could kill her myself. It’s so easy to get shot in the crossfire.”

  “So, where is she?” Danny asked.

  Jesus’s head started to roll.

  “Where is she, asshole?” He repeated.

  “Other…” He spat up what seemed to be blood, and Tuck noticed the deep red stain on his shirt. “Other place…”

  With that, his head lolled to one side, and blood streamed out of the corner of his mouth.

  Danny stood up, nodded to the house, and picked up his weapon.

  “She must be on the other side.” He pointed. “They’re still in a gunfight around there. We’d better go and give them a hand.”

  They started to run around the building, but as they reached the corner, there was an almighty boom, and the ground around them shook.

  “Get back!” Tuck shouted, as the wall above them started to crumble.

  The five men immediately backed off, giving the house a wide birth as they continued their run, watching as the wall collapsed, taking the roof and several rooms with it.

  Beyond that there was a wall of flame, and then the sight of the rest of the Stalwart guys standing on the far side of the property.

  Tuck ran towards them, his weapon still pointing towards any potential threats.

  As he approached Brandon and Tony, he saw a pile of rubble move and Zach’s blond head appeared.

  “What the hell happened?” He reached down to pull his nephew up.

  Under the dust and grime, Zach broke into a grin.

  “One minute they were shooting at us, and the next they fired an RPG at the house from close range.” He pointed. “Judging by the explosion and the flame, I’m guessing they hit the gas line going to the kitchen.”

  “Are any of them still alive?” Danny looked around.

  “They were all huddled in that area behind the vehicle.” Tony pointed to a pile of rubble. “I really don’t think they were expecting such a big explosion!”

  “Wait! There’s a vehicle under that lot?” Marcus looked amazed. It was almost flattened.

  “Yeah, and about half a dozen Mexicans.” Zach nodded. “I don’t think they’ll be doing much breathing.”

  With half a building on top of them, Tuck doubted it too. At least the building had blown out. That meant there was less to move to get to Gregor and his men in the basement.

  Tuck looked up as he heard sirens in the distance. The police and Feds had finally made their way in through the gates. The first man out of the Fed’s SUV was Cole Arthurs.

  “Gregor and his men should be safe, down in the basement. I think the access point is in the north east corner. You need to get a fire crew in here and get them out.” Tuck instructed, relieved when Cole nodded and immediately got onto his radio.

  “Did anyone see Luciana anywhere?” He turned back to his men.

  Zach shook his head.

  “I’m pretty sure she wasn’t on our side. I thought she was on your side of the house.” He shrugged.

  “I didn’t see any women, and I think I saw everyone they had.” Brandon agreed.

  “So, where is she?” Tuck looked around his friends, who all looked as surprised as he did that she wasn’t there for the show.

  “I’m gobsmacked she’s not here.” JT admitted. “She’s come all this way to get revenge for her father’s death. Why would she not make sure she was here to enjoy it.”

  “Maybe…” Danny seemed reluctant to say the words. “Maybe she’s not here, because the person responsible for her father’s death isn’t here, either? Maybe that’s why the communications equipment went dead?”

  Tuck’s heart beat so hard it almost cracked a rib.

  “Candy!” He breathed. “This was all a smokescreen. She’s going after my wife!”

  Chapter 45 – Candy

  As the stars began to dissipate from her vision, Candy reflected that taunting her enemy was probably not the most sensible thing she’d ever done.

  Damn but Lucky Vega packed a punch, and she knew just where to land it, on the cheek bone, just below the eye socket.

  If she was lucky, she’d have a black eye. If not, her eye-socket was probably fractured, in which case she probably had about five minutes before her eye started to swell and close up, leaving her visually impaired and at a distinct disadvantage.

  As she turned her head, she saw Hannah to the left of her, similarly tied to one of the dining room chairs, the main difference between them being that her friend wasn’t even conscious. A nasty cut ran from her forehead through her hair and behind her ear, and blood poured down her cheek and chin, sliding down the side of her throat, pooling in the crook of her neck, before soaking into the collar of her shirt.

  Hannah looked so pale, and she barely seemed to be breathing.

  Candy quickly glanced around, making sure there was no sign of Tulli, Sara and the others. Thank God, they didn’t seem to have found them.

  “Don’t worry, Mrs Tucker.” Lucky’s voice came from behind her. “Your friend isn’t dead just yet. I promise you’ll have a ringside seat when that happens.”

  “She’s got nothing to do with what happened to your father.” Candy pointed out. “That was all me.”

  “Oh, you pulled the trigger, for sure.” Lucky agreed. “But Hannah Simons has probably had a greater hand in the success of the Alpha and Stalwart Companies than anyone, even more than your husband, Ryan Tucker. So, if anyone needs to go down with you, it’s her.”

  Candy stared at Luciana Vega, wondering how the hell she knew who Hannah was.

  “What?” Luciana laughed. “Do you think I don’t have my own sources who can get information, Candy? You think you’re the only ones who have able people on their side?”

  Candy’s expression must have given her away.

  “Meet my cousins, Ricardo and Sol. Believe it or not, Ricardo, that’s the pretty one, actually has a functioning braincell.” Lucky nodded towards the smaller of her two sidekicks. “Several, in fact. Enough to get him into MIT, and out the other end with some cool qualifications.”

&nb
sp; “You know what’s funny?” Ricardo grinned at her. “Your friend here came to give a talk to my class when I was in my first year. She came to one of the ‘Fundamentals of Programming’ classes to talk to us, and then proceeded to kick the asses of all the professors, showing us shit that the faculty had been telling us wasn’t even possible yet. She was fucking awesome!”

  “She also happens to be a wife and mother to three little kids.” Candy pointed out. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  Luciana looked between her two cousins, and then back at Candy.

  “Not a fucking thing.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

  Candy would have spat in the woman’s face if she’d been close enough.

  Luciana turned to her cousins and started barking orders.

  “Set everything up. Four minutes on the clock. I doubt if we’ve got much more time than that anyway.”

  Candy tried to see what the brothers were doing, but they were out of her sight, and all she could hear was a rustling sound.

  “I really did give a lot of thought to what I would do to you.” Luciana pulled up another chair and sat directly in front of Candy. “I thought of all the different ways I could torture you.”

  Candy’s eyes dropped to Lucky’s hands and she noticed the knife she held in her hand. It was very much like a K-bar knife, only smaller, almost like it was made for a woman’s hand.

  Candy tried to pull at the plastic wires that were holding her in place, but it was a waste of time. She was completely restrained.

  “I could’ve just shot you.” Lucky examined the blade of the knife. “But that would’ve been too quick.”

  She leaned forward and ran the blade down Candy’s leg, hard enough to cut the fabric of Candy’s pants, leaving a line of blood as she skilfully broke the skin without cutting deeply into the flesh beneath.

  Candy tried hard not to squirm, the pain like the worst paper cut, but going on and on.

  “Then I thought of torturing you with acid, or boiling water.” Lucky mused, running the knife down the other leg, once again splitting the pants, and leaving a trail of blood soaking into the fabric.

  “But in the end, I decided that the worst pain people like you could suffer, was to watch a loved one get hurt.” Luciana smiled as though pleased with her decision.

  Candy tried to think through the pain. There was no way Luciana would have been able to get to her boys, so the only loved one left was obviously Ryan.

  “What have you done to my husband?” She growled.

  “Nothing yet.” Lucky laughed. “But by now he should have figured out that the nonsense at Diminov’s house was just a show. A way of getting everyone away from you and the house.”

  Candy stared in shock.

  “So, I’m sure he’ll be on his way back here soon, rushing home to save his wife.” Lucky smiled. “Only there’ll be more waiting for him than he bargained for. Right guys?”

  Candy turned to see Ricardo and Sol come back into her line of sight, each of them placing what looked like explosive charges around the room.

  “Are we done?” She smiled at the larger of the brothers.

  “Twenty charges in place, all through the ground floor.” He confirmed. “The chopper is ready and waiting to go.”

  Luciana leaned forward, and ran the blade down Candy’s cheek, until she felt the slightest trickle of blood run down her chin.

  Candy stayed as still as she could, trying not to breathe.

  “Sorry, sweetheart.” She smiled. “I’d love to stay and enjoy the moment, but there are some things that are better left to your imagination.”

  With that, Lucky dropped the blade on the floor and turned for the door.

  “Come on boys.” She laughed. “It wouldn’t do to be the last to leave this particular party.”

  Candy watched as they ran out of the house, the door swinging shut behind them.

  She turned around, frantically trying to see the timers on the explosives.

  The first one that came into view, shocked her to her core. Three minutes and ten seconds. Oh God!

  She tried to rock her chair, seeing if she could tip it over. If only she could get to the knife.

  “It’s Ok, Ms Candy. I can reach it.” Joel’s voice startled her.

  “Joel?” Candy’s heart lurched. Oh, Shit! Were they all still in the house?

  Dear God, that meant they were all going to die!

  “Can you cut the ties holding my hands together with the knife, Joel?”

  “Sure thing, Ms Candy.” Joel grabbed the knife and made quick work of the ties.

  Without being told, he turned and did the same to Hannah.

  “Joel, is everyone Ok?” She asked him.

  “Oh, yes, they’re all Ok.” He smiled. “We played hide and seek like Ms Sara told us.”

  “Then why are you back here?” She gasped, trying to stand up without the wounds in her legs making her pass out with the pain.

  “Oh, Ms Tulli said something about Ms Sara’s baby coming, and I figured I shouldn’t look, so I came back to see where you were.”

  Sara’s baby was coming? Could this day get any worse?

  She glanced at the front door. There was no way they’d make it in time with Hannah unconscious, and if Luciana and her men were still out there, they’d have no chance without any weapons.

  “Joel, do you think you can help me get Hannah to where the others are hidden?” She winced.

  “Oh, sure Ms Candy.” Joel smiled. “I’ll just keep my eyes shut tight when we get there. I don’t think Ms Sara would be too happy with me seeing her baby arrive.”

  Candy glanced back at the timer. One minute and fifty seconds.

  “If she gets mad, I’ll tell her it was my fault.” She tried to smile. “Now, help me get Hannah up…”

  Joel stepped in front of her and picked Hannah up, as though she weighed no more than a bag of flour.

  Ok, well, Hannah was tiny, but even so…

  “I’ve got her, Ms Candy. You just follow me.” Joel sauntered off down the hall.

  Candy wanted to urge him to hurry up, but figured a scared and startled Joel would be no good to anyone, so she followed him as closely as she could.

  She just prayed his hidey-hole wasn’t going to turn out to be the cupboard under the stairs!

  Chapter 46 – Tuck

  The realisation that Lucky Vega was probably at his house with every intention of killing Candy, almost paralysed Tuck with equal parts fear and guilt.

  Fear because with a house full of women to protect, even with the phenomenal skills she possessed, Candy stood no chance against Lucky and however many cartel lieutenants she’d taken with her.

  Guilt because he should have guessed what Lucky might have been planning. He’d missed the obvious, and now Candy was going to pay the price.

  Only the noise of the helicopter rotors overhead, brought him out of the trance he’d slipped into.

  He put his hand to his eyes to shield them from the down-draft, and looked up to see a helicopter flying overhead, the sight of the Marines sitting in the doorway more welcome than he could have imagined.

  He turned and grabbed Danny by the arm.

  “C’mon!” He started to run.

  Danny didn’t need telling twice, and it didn’t take the rest of the Alpha Stalwart team more than a split-second to catch on to Tuck’s intention.

  They raced across the lawn to the far side of what was left of the house, heads kept low as the chopper came in to land almost on top of them.

  “Howdy boys!” Hollywood’s accent was unmistakable. “What’s your rush?”

  Tuck glanced up to see Alex’s team-mates, Hollywood and Kellen Davis sitting in the door of the chopper.

  “The cartel is going after Candy at my house. You need to get us there right now!” He yelled, over the noise of the engine.

  Hollywood glanced around at his fellow marines.

  “We’ve got room for four people.” He confirmed.
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br />   “Then you’d better make room for another four, Marine.” Tuck instructed, knowing only too well that he had no authority here.

  Hollywood’s eyes narrowed before he turned back to his men.

  “You four, see what you can do to help here.” He pointed towards the house. “It looks like a rescue mission is needed. Do what you can to help, and we’ll pick you up on the return trip.”

  Tuck watched the men reluctantly disembark, and then he and the rest of the team climbed on board the chopper. He immediately leaned over to the pilot to give him the co-ordinates for his house.

  “Get us there as fast as you can.” He yelled, relieved when the pilot grinned and nodded, before turning his attention back to the controls.

  Tuck sat down facing his team-mates and strapped himself in, pulling on a headset. Danny was opposite him, and he could see the exact same fear on the younger man’s face, knowing that Hannah and Candy were together at the house.

  It was only when he spotted Charlie anxiously trying to see through the door to what lay below them, that he remembered that Joel was at the house too, with the Mazur sisters.

  Tuck closed his eyes momentarily, not wanting his friends to see the despair he was feeling.

  The Widow-maker and her men were going to attack his house, the only occupants of which were five women and a child with Down Syndrome.

  Heaven help them!

  “Two minutes out.” The pilot’s voice came over the headset.

  “Check your ammo and reload.” JT instructed everyone. “We don’t know how many of them will be at the house.”

  Tuck pulled the magazine out of the rifle and checked it, before re-inserting it and checking his sidearm. He was going through the motions, doing things he’d done ten thousand times while still in uniform, using the familiar repetition as a soothing way of helping him keep his breath slow and regular.

  He’d never felt this close to panic while he was in uniform. Never felt so close to losing his shit so completely, his men would have to sit on him to keep him from freaking out.