“Son, you’re to stay out of this.”
“So where is she?”
“This isn’t your concern.”
“Then tell me she’s okay.”
“I can’t do that.”
“And why?”
“Because we can’t find her.”
Armando rousted Cooper from bed and asked him to get the location of Gina’s cell phone from his friend at the DOJ. He knew he was violating both Riverton and Kozinski’s orders, but he couldn’t wait. And if it meant his career, so be it.
An hour later Armando, Cooper, Fredo and Rory sat in his Hummer, armed enough for a small invasion. They surveyed the building and Armando saw Gina’s rental car around the side, to the rear. Down the street he saw the tail and bumper of an older black pickup he knew to be Sam’s.
Gotcha, you son of a bitch.
Fredo agreed to stay in the Hummer while he monitored everyone else. Armando slung his duty bag over his right shoulder, got out, and did a loop around the building using an infrared scope to determine which part was occupied.
The exterior plaster and double sheet-rocked interior made the heat signatures blurry, but there was no question in Armando’s mind there was something large present, like a human. But he couldn’t be sure if it was one person or two. He also knew that a heat signature would continue to emanate from someone recently killed, but he banished those thoughts as unhelpful right now.
While he was gone, everyone else tested their earpieces. Rory gave a smacking kiss to thin air making Fredo jump with his hands on his ears just as Armando came back to the vehicle.
“Not funny. I’ll need a new set of eardrums and that’ll cost you,” Fredo growled.
Armando interrupted. “Okay, ladies, let’s cut the crap. We don’t know what’s going on inside, but I’m guessing it’s personal, just Sam and Gina. And it could turn out to be very personal and very compromising. But we gotta be careful.” He realized he was probably saying this mainly for his own benefit.
The team nodded.
Armando would take the front door; Cooper and Rory would take the two at the rear, each entering a different unit. They wore thermal night-vision goggles they could switch on in case of darkness, but the infrared scopes on their H&Ks would give them a body count as soon as they were on the other side of the stucco exterior walls. Cooper had brought along a couple of small IEDs for distraction, and they all carried masks and smoke.
Armando tried the door handle on the front and found it unlocked. “It’s open.”
“Back door secure,” Cooper whispered. “I’m readying it now.”
“Copy that next door,” whispered Rory.
On Armando’s mark, the explosive device blew off the handle on the rear doors while Armando entered the front. All three pulled down their masks and flipped down their goggles as Cooper laid down some smoke, which immediately began to fill the space. Armando switched on his scope and found two green shadows in the rear of the building.
“You see them?” He whispered.
“Roger that,” Cooper answered.
“Negative. All clear here.” Rory was ordered to stay back and guard both rear doors. Fredo stood guard over the front door, monitoring the listening devices with the computer on his lap.
As soon as the explosive went off, Armando saw the two blurred images merge, and he knew Sam was using Gina as his shield. “I think he’s got her by the midsection.”
“Agreed. Don’t see visitors,” added Cooper.
It also appeared that another one of the images was being dragged across the floor.
God, no. Gina, you stay alive. Armando gritted his teeth, hard, and focused his laser on what he hoped was Sam’s head.
Armando nearly stumbled on something left in a sticky or oily puddle on the floor. He looked down to see the remains of a body, which he’d missed because the boy had been dead long enough to cool considerably.
“One unknown casualty.”
“Understood,” answered Cooper. “All clear here, but I hear movement. Going for cover. See you.”
Armando quickly scanned for more heat signals and found none. As they’d been trained, Armando was going to deal with Sam head-on and Cooper would try to find a good angle for a kill shot if needed. Armando would have liked to be the sniper, but it was down to Cooper, who was still qualified Expert. He hoped the big SEAL could get his huge 6’4” frame silently into cover as his backup, since Sam was undoubtedly heavily armed.
All of a sudden bright lights came on and the entire room lit up like the 4th of July, blinding Armando temporarily. He dove to the side instinctively, making his footprint small, and almost immediately heard automatic fire sweep the area where he’d been standing. Flipping his goggles up, he breathed through the mask and saw with his own eyes that indeed Sam had Gina, and she was limp and non-responsive.
“Tick tock,” he said and Rory lobbed another smoke grenade scuttling through the rear door. Armando knew he had to get to Gina within thirty seconds.
Sam had turned to face the direction of the bomb, spraying the back door with rounds. Armando listened and got the reassuring “ribbit” on the Invisio. Rory wasn’t hit.
“I got a shot,” came from Cooper.
“Aim for the weapon.”
The big cop was having trouble wielding his gun with one arm and carrying Gina in the other, since she was out cold and a dead weight.
Armando’s heart was racing, and then he saw the green laser light aimed at Sam’s shoulder and heard the loud crack of Cooper’s H&K. The man went down like a ton of garbage.
Armando ran to Gina and found her completely naked. He swore as tears streamed down his face inside the mask. He placed his palm over her mouth and nose and picked her up, hustling her outside to the front of the building.
Sam was screaming from inside until the smoke overtook him and it was thankfully quiet.
Armando laid Gina gently on the ground, removing his mask and goggles so he could see her with his own eyes.
She was black and blue in patches all over her arms and legs, and had sustained some scrapes on her ankles and knees from being dragged along the concrete floor, but her color was good, and she was alive.
He heard Cooper’s squawk, “He’s hit, not dead, but won’t be getting up anytime soon.” Cooper was dragging the big cop outside with Rory’s help.
“Let him bleed out,” Fredo suggested.
“No. We call it in. Fredo, bring me a jacket or T-shirt from the Hummer. My gal’s alive, but she’s gonna be pissed if she finds out that four SEALs saw her lying here naked.”
Armando held Gina protectively, shielding her private parts while Cooper checked her vitals. Her eyes were dilated and glassy, but she started to moan. Armando was pretty sure she was going to be sick.
“Think she’s ingested something, maybe X, or worse, heroin. She’s gonna need a hospital, Armani. But her lungs sound good.”
Thank God.
“Don’t think anything’s broken. Of course if you would get your hands off her I could check her out more thoroughly.”
“No fuckin’ way you’re checking anyone out.” Armando gripped her, wiping her cheek with his glove. “You okay, baby? Gina, honey, we’ve got you.”
She moaned again and arched up. He turned her head to the side and allowed her to vomit all over Cooper’s lap.
“Thanks,” the big SEAL grumbled.
“That’s for checking out my girl while she’s indisposed.”
“I’ll have to remember that next time I take Libby to the beach with you guys. I’ve seen how you sneak looks at her when she’s sunbathing.”
“Fuck you, I do not,” Armando lied.
“Don’t get your boxers in a twist, ladies, time for a costume change,” Fredo said arriving with a pair of running shorts and a T-shirt that smelled of sweat from his last workout. “Pe-ew, Armani. You must be back on your high protein diet. Don’t you ever wash your workout clothes?”
Armando pulled Gina around an
d quickly threw on the shorts out of view of his teammates. He threaded her limp arms and head through the T-shirt and admired his handiwork.
“Put her down so I can look at her, Armani. Go call an ambulance, make yourself useful,” Cooper said.
Armando didn’t take his eyes off Gina’s face as Cooper took out his medic pack.
He dialed Kozinski, who answered on the first ring.
“We’ve got her, and we’ve wounded Sam.”
“Fuck what are you talking about? Did I not make myself perfectly clear earlier?”
“Well, we couldn’t wait until you found them. We got intel and went for it. There’s a young dead kid we’re not responsible for, but Sam’s hit in the shoulder. Gina looks drugged but we think she’s okay. Get us some medical ASAP.”
He gave Kozinski the address.
“I’m taking her to the hospital,” Armando said.
“Is she critical?” asked Kozinski.
“I don’t think so, sir.”
“She stays, then. She conscious?” Kozinski asked.
“Not yet. Cooper’s working on her. She’s coming around, though.”
“Then you stay right there. I’m on my way and we’ll get a crack team.”
Armando was rewarded when Gina opened her eyes, at first startled and panic-stricken. Then they settled on his sweaty face, and then he saw that softness he’d lost himself in the first time he looked down on her face in Gunny’s old pickup.
Her lips moved. Though she couldn’t speak, she mouthed, “Thank you.”
Chapter 31
Before she opened her eyes, Gina could smell something familiar. She was riding in a van, listening to voices that faded in and out. She saw tubing, heard a chubby blonde-haired girl with a sunburned nose and freckles speaking to her, but it sounded a million miles away.
What was that?
Her eyes kept rolling up in her head though she tried to keep them front and center. The girl was pointing to her own eyes with the ends of two fingers.
Yes, I’d like to look at you, but I can’t—
There was a siren in the background. Her body was bouncing on a bed of some kind. The girl kept talking to her.
Can’t you see, I’m trying?
Her arm hurt, and she looked down to find she had an IV running. Her finger was in a clip of some kind. She could hear breathing—wait—it was her own breathing because she was breathing into a mouthpiece.
Her eyes rolled back. She arched up. Sickness overtook her. God she would vomit all over herself again, but no, warm hands held a kidney-shaped yellow plastic bowl. Strong, warm hands with a dusting of black hair on the knuckles. Something familiar about those hands. About the arms she followed. One of them had footprints leading all the way to the elbow. His elbow. There was that scent again, and as she raised her shoulder to brush hair from her face, his hands beat her to it. She smelled the fabric of the shirt they’d put on her, and it smelled like, like—
Armando!
Her eyes stopped rolling as she saw his face. Curls of dark brown hair fell over his high forehead. The normally smooth skin above his dark, bushy brows was wrinkled with worry. His warm brown eyes pooled like chocolate, melting chocolate. Something she craved. Something she needed.
And then things began to obscure as water covered her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. He was crying too. He set the bowl down and was holding her hand with both of his. Both his big paws holding hers, rubbing the back of her hand and her knuckles. He bent and his lips traced across her fingers. She extended them to touch the side of his cheek with the back of her palm.
Armando. You came for me. You saved me. You saved me in every way possible.
Gina awoke to a hospital room filled with flowers.
Have I died? She smirked at her own bad sense of humor. In a way, she had come back from the dead. She remembered those last frantic moments Sam had her in his grip. She’d felt the terror of his soul, the dark pit he crawled out of just long enough to pull her down into it with him.
How wrong I’ve been about everything.
She thought she’d lost Armando. As she sat up, she noticed she was all alone.
An IV still trickled into her vein. She knew there’d be a call button, so she felt along the edge of the pillowcase and found a cylinder with a button on the end of it and pressed it.
Instantly the door swung open. A pretty young redhead leaned over her.
“You’re awake. How would you like some breakfast?”
“Breakfast? I can’t remember the last time I ate. I’m starved.”
“That’s awesome. The doctor will be glad to hear it. You want to fill out a menu?”
“I don’t think I can hold a pencil. Just some juice, I don’t know.”
“I’ll do it for her.”
Armando walked into the room, freshly shaven, light blue shirt immaculately ironed and blue jeans. His hair was still wet from a shower.
A shower!
He laid some roses across her lap and sat on the edge of the bed. “Hello, beautiful. Now what would you like for breakfast?” He leaned over and kissed her tenderly.
Gina felt self-conscious that she wasn’t clean. “I’d like a shower for breakfast, and then perhaps some juice, some oatmeal, and a cappuccino.”
Armando looked up at the nurse. “Can she?”
“She’s not steady on her own. I’ll have to assist but I’m still doing rounds.”
“Not a problem. I’d love to assist the lovely Gina in her very first hospital shower.”
“Are you family?” the nurse asked.
“Yes,” he said. He winked at Gina. “I’m her fiancé.”
Gina could tell the nurse was affected by Armando’s big white smile and handsome face, the rhythm of his voice rolling off his tongue in an almost hypnotic rhythm. She blushed and nodded. “Then of course.”
Gina didn’t hide her smile. He’d said they were engaged!
“You feel up to a shower?”
“You mean like the last one we took together?”
“Well, if you insist. I guess it would be a shame to get my clothes wrinkled.”
“I’m going to need lots of help.”
Armando sighed. “I think I’m just the man for the job.”
She extended her arms to him. He leaned forward and her fingers found his silky curly hair. “You are exactly the man for the job.”
Their kisses gave her the shivers. Her entire body tingled at the touch of the man. He nibbled at her lower lip and then sat back, watching her.
“Armando, I’m so sorry—”
“Shh, baby.” He put a finger over her mouth. “We can talk later.”
“No, I want to apologize for lying to you, for not telling you who I really was.”
He slipped her hair behind her left ear. “I knew who you really were. I knew it all along. And I knew we belonged together; it was something I never doubted.”
She let her palm run up his muscled forearm. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, and I won’t ever do it again. I’m never going to lie to you, or keep anything from you, if you’ll—”
“If I’ll what?” His eyes danced with fire. The wide smile on his tanned, clean-shaven face almost made her pass out.
“If you’ll forgive me.”
“Oh, baby, I’ve already forgiven you. But I can’t wait to see you prove how sorry you are.” He glanced down at her body underneath the sheets. “I think it’s time for a shower. And then I’m going to get them to release you to my care, much sooner than they planned.”
Chapter 32
Two days later they were back at Armando’s apartment. They’d been making jokes in bed after a gentle lovemaking. Armando had been so careful, Gina began to feel like she was a porcelain doll.
She paused. This was the point in the conversation things could go either way. Would he be able to see her damaged parts? She swallowed and began. “Can you help me face my fears?” She looked for any sign she was losing his interest.
“I can protect you from anyone,” he said.
“Can you protect me from a part of myself?”
He rolled to his side and lay down next to her. “What part of yourself do you need to be protected from?” he asked.
How was she going to put this? “When Sam and I…” she looked sideways at Armando but he wasn’t reacting. “He used to...”
Armando lay very still.
“There was a part of me that liked it.”
There. She’d said it. She closed her eyes and waited for the words she knew would come, telling her he was repulsed, couldn’t wait to get rid of her. Hot tears escaped down her cheeks.
Armando was on top of her again. “Gina, look at me.”
His face was soft, but alarmed. “Like I said, we all have a dark space within us. All of us do. Not just some of us.” He bent down and kissed her, wiping her tears away with his thumbs. “Were you ever really in danger?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Think, Gina. Were you really in danger?”
“I think I was. But he unlocked something in me. Like he damaged me.”
“You’re here. You’re safe. You’re with me. Nothing bad is going to happen to you as long as you’re with me, Gina.”
“I’m still afraid.” She suddenly wanted to tell him everything about the undercover mission. It would be career ending, but hadn’t she already told him her darkest secret?
“Give me your fear. Give me your danger. I can handle it,” he whispered.
Their kisses became longer. The rising tide of their arousal was filling the room. She focused on the salty taste of his neck, his shoulders, the way his tongue searched her mouth, how it became all about giving herself to him. She was giving him access again—to all of her.
“You’re the one who’s dangerous,” he said between kisses.
“Danger? Me? As in here, in the bedroom?” she asked.
“Always the most dangerous room in the house. Where there is nothing that separates flesh from flesh, where emotions pour out and passions take over.” He traced her nipple and then suckled it between his teeth. “Losing control is what lovemaking was made for.”
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