by Tawny Weber
And frowned. Where was Powers? He’d been right there, standing outside the door just a minute ago.
Eyes narrowed, she moved toward the wall of windows and the door. Before she’d gone two steps, there was a crash in the kitchen. Like glass shattering or a dish hitting the floor.
“What the—”
A stranger stepped out of the kitchen.
Ava didn’t consider herself overly sensitive, but she swore, like body odor wafting off a burly guy dripping sweat, she could actually feel the evil emanating from him.
“Excuse me, I’m just passing through,” said the man. His blond hair was longer now, his face scarred and beaten but still pretty enough that she recognized him as Brandon Ramsey from the briefing photo Nic had shared. “I’m here for my son.”
Thank God, Ava took a moment to breathe, grateful for Nic’s foresight in sending Nathan away.
“I’m the only one here,” she lied. At least she hoped it was a lie. Wasn’t Powers out there somewhere? Trying to keep her moves casual, Ava took a step closer to the window. When he didn’t stop her, she took one more. And couldn’t stop her gasp.
From this angle, all she could see was the foot of a man lying on the ground. And blood.
“Where’s the boy?” Ramsey demanded, his hand resting on the butt of the gun holstered at his hip. Had he used that on Powers? Had he hurt the man? Ava tried to breathe through the panic. Or worse?
“There’s nobody here,” she repeated, saying it for herself now. Because she needed to hear it. Needed to accept that right now, for this moment, she was on her own.
“Don’t fuck with me, lady,” he growled, his gaze cold as it swept the room. “Do you have any idea who I am?”
“I’m pretty sure you’re that Ramsey guy, right? I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said, putting on her best socialite smile. Her guts might be quaking, but she knew how to keep that to herself. Since she had a feeling her life might depend on it right now, she figured subtlety was a hell of a lot smarter than admitting her fear. “You’re the guy who’s irritating Nic and his Poseidon team.”
“Nic, is it?” His face twisting into a sneer made all the uglier by the scar bisecting it, the man angled himself against the wall so he could peer out the window.
With his attention outside, Ava tried a step toward the kitchen. If she could get in there, she’d have a better chance of escape. Or if nothing else, at finding a weapon more powerful than a piece of fancy bric-a-brac.
Weapon, she mentally scoffed at herself. As if she had a chance against this guy? He might be scum, but he was a SEAL. Special Ops trained.
She’d done no more than shift her weight before his eyes locked on her again.
“So you’re, what? Savino’s girlfriend? I didn’t realize the all-powerful Kahuna went for pretty little pieces of fluff.”
That did it. The terror that’d been sliding its greasy tentacles through her system froze. Piece of fluff? She was a goddamn black belt, fit as hell and now—thanks to his misogynistic dismissal—she was pissed.
A dear little boy’s life had been threatened because of this man. Harper, who was one of the sweetest women Ava had ever met, was suffering because of him. He’d damaged the team’s reputation. He’d dishonored his commission. He’d betrayed their country.
And he’d hurt Elijah. Left him to burn in flames created to hide treason. He’d put nightmares in his head, doubts and questions that didn’t belong.
So yeah, Ava decided. She could handle him.
“Where’s my son?” Ramsey demanded, aiming the gun her way before gesturing with it toward the stairs. “Is he up there? Who’s with him?”
“Your son?”
“Don’t play stupid, sweetheart. Savino wouldn’t allow you to be here without some basic intel. I figure you’re the babysitter, right? Entertain the kid during the day, the men at night.”
“Did you just equate me to a hooker?”
“And if I did?”
“You’ll need to apologize.”
“Or what? You can’t take me on.” He dismissed her with a laugh that held just enough charm for her to see what Harper had fallen for all those years ago.
“You don’t think so?” Making each step casual, she walked over to the couch and sat on the arm closest to the kitchen. Lifting a pillow, she fluffed it with a couple of casual shakes, then set it back down. And flashed him a friendly smile. “Isn’t there something in the SEAL handbook that warns about underestimating an enemy?”
“Get real. A pretty little thing like you? You’re hardly an enemy,” he snapped. And, as she’d hoped, remembering that his actual enemies were nearby, he shifted his attention out the window again. “So why don’t you sit down, shut up and focus on looking pretty.”
Ava used his distraction to slip her cell phone out of the back pocket of her jeans, keeping it between her hip and the pillow. Her eyes on the man across the room, she toggled the sound with her thumb, hopefully putting it on Silent. Moving solely by feel and memory, she swiped it on, hit Message and rubbed her thumb over the top of the screen to open the last person she’d texted.
Elijah.
One word, four letters. Heart racing, she typed them as fast as she could, freezing between the L and the P when Ramsey checked her position. As soon as he returned his gaze to the window, she risked a quick glance to make sure she was begging the right contact for help, then hit Send.
And let her phone slide down between the cushions.
Then, worried because she hadn’t shut off the vibrate function and didn’t want to be sitting next to a buzzing pillow, she got to her feet and took another step toward the kitchen.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Me? Nowhere important. I’m just a piece of fluff,” she reminded him in a cutting tone. “Remember? I’m no threat.”
“You’re quickly becoming a pain in the ass, though.” Another glance out the window, then he angled toward Ava with his gun still shoulder high, pointed at the ceiling. “Where’s my son?”
“No idea.”
“Try again.” With an easy move that told her he had no compunction about following through, Ramsey pointed the gun at her head.
Her gaze shifted from his face to the gun and back again. She knew nothing about weapons. Had no clue what make or model that was. All she knew was that the best-case scenario was a whole lot of pain if he shot her.
Without thinking, she dropped, spun, kicked high. Her aim true, her foot clipped his wrist, sent the weapon flying. Before he could react, she flipped backward, landing a good foot out of his reach with fists high.
“You should have stuck with sitting down and shutting up, sweetheart.” He dropped into a fighter’s crouch, his scarred face ugly. “You really think you can take me on?”
“Sure, why not,” she said, shifting into attack stance. “I’ve fought guys bigger than you. A couple of women, too.”
She could tell by the tightening of his lips that the insult hit its target.
Besides, she didn’t have to win. She just had to stall the idiot until Elijah rescued her.
* * *
“YO, LANSKY? Does this mean I can have your Drank My Way around the World tee?” Elijah asked Jared, stepping over the log barrier between the forest and the road.
The air was warmer here, electrical even, as they made their way to the transport van.
They only made it a foot before Savino threw out one hand to halt their steps. Elijah got it a second later. The scent of blood.
Shit.
Smiles disappeared, ease shifted to awareness as all three men instantly flipped into fight mode. Bodies tensed, muscles alert, they split without a word.
Lansky flanked the van to the left, snagging a tire iron as he went. Gun held low, Elijah took right. Arming
himself, Savino went right up the middle. They didn’t go more than a foot before they saw men down.
Sprawled in the dirt next to the van, Rengel and Ward were hit. Elijah growled. And that fucker Ramsey was nowhere in sight.
“How bad are they?” Leaping forward, Lansky dropped the tire iron to lift Rengel’s wrist. Checked his pulse. Savino rushed to Ward.
Covering them, Elijah secured the area. Then he got to work.
“Ramsey did this? How the hell did he get loose from two armed SEALs?” Lansky ground out, catching the first-aid kit Savino tossed at him.
“He had help,” Elijah declared, kneeling in the dirt to study the tracks. “One person, he was waiting here with Ramsey’s vehicle. The men walked into an ambush.”
A groan interrupted his inspection. Elijah jumped to his feet, hurried back to the van just as Ward opened his eyes.
“Report,” Savino demanded. “Where’s Ramsey?”
“Played us. Someone waiting. Shot Rengel just as we rounded the vehicle.” Ward closed his eyes, swallowing a gasp as Lansky pressed a wadded cloth against the gash on his head. “Didn’t see the accomplice, hit me on the back of the head. Rengel. Where’s Chug? He okay?”
“Chill,” Lansky ordered, checking Ward’s pupils. “Rengel’s going to be fine.”
“Flesh wound.” Finishing the field dressing on Rengel’s shoulder, Savino leaned back on his heels. He did a quick scan, then looked at Elijah, frowning when he noted the gun in his hand. “Ramsey’s vehicle is gone?”
“Vehicle is. He’s not.”
He and Lansky rose, both of them looking around as Ward pushed himself into a sitting position.
“What d’you see?”
“Ramsey’s partner isn’t much on loyalty. As far as I can tell, he provided the jump, then ditched our boy.”
“Who the hell is this guy working with? Fucker’s got the loyalty of an alley cat,” Lansky noted, half his attention on his phone where he was signaling for medical backup.
“One partner?” Eyes narrowed, Savino surveyed the track marks just as Elijah had. “What do you mean, he ditched Ramsey?”
“Car tracks.” Elijah pointed.
“Footsteps from both sides.” He gestured. “Only one set getting back inside.”
He checked again, wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead with the back of one hand, then gestured with his gun toward the woods.
“Fresh footsteps, leading out of the scuffle and going that a’way,” Elijah said, jerking his chin toward a tight copse of trees. “Unless he changes trajectory, he’s heading for the cabin.”
“Damn.” Savino turned away, tapping his comm. “Powers. Come in Powers.” After a long second, he clenched his teeth and tried again. “Powers, report.”
“You think they overtook the second team?” Elijah asked, a small seed of panic unfurling in his belly. But reality kept that seed from taking root. There were four men escorting Ava and Nathan, all on full alert. No way they’d been overpowered. “I thought they already checked in.”
“The team confirmed they’d made the checkpoint,” Savino acknowledged, trying one more time to raise Powers while Lansky finished treating the other men’s wounds.
Rengel was still out but breathing evenly, so he turned his attention to the cut on Ward’s head.
“Secure the injured.” With that and a rare expression of panic on his face, Savino dove into the back of the van. Elijah and Lansky exchanged baffled looks as the man unlocked the munitions storage and started strapping on weapons. It was only when he started tossing extras their way that Elijah asked.
“What the hell?”
“Ava’s at the cabin. Powers is with her and he’s not answering his comm.”
“Go,” Ward said, swiping at the blood dripping off his chin at the same time he slid the gun out of his ankle holster. “I’ll cover Rengel.”
Ava? Panic ripped through him like vicious shards of lightning. “What the hell are you talking about?” Elijah yelled as he ran, full out, toward the cabin. He didn’t worry about stealth as he tore over the blanket of pine needles, leaping logs and boulders as panic fueled his steps. “Ava left,” he ground out as he ran. “She and Nathan were escorted out of here at two-hundred-hours.”
“Nathan was escorted,” Savino said, keeping pace with Elijah as Lansky brought up the rear. “Ava refused. Powers stayed behind.”
Elijah grabbed his silenced cell phone from his back pocket, but before he could call her, check on her, he saw the text message flash over his screen.
Help.
It could only mean one thing. “Ramsey’s there. He’s got Ava.”
That’s all he said. All he had to say. As one, he and his teammates flew through the forest.
A million questions raced, faster than his steps, but Elijah didn’t bother voicing them. He’d get answers later. All that mattered right now was reaching Ava.
They didn’t slow until they reached the break in trees, then moving in concert, they again spread out. Lansky to the left, Elijah to the right and Savino straight up the middle.
Noting no movement, they slowly began canvassing the perimeter. Elijah rounded the trees to the right just as Lansky came around left while Savino crawled down the roofline like a lizard.
Savino lifted a finger.
Lansky froze. Despite the desperate need raging through him to storm the house and find Ava, Elijah forced himself to do the same.
Hands gripping the gutters, Savino slowly inched his eyes over the edge to check the porch. His expression, as unfathomable as ever, froze as he lifted his gaze to meet Elijah’s.
The world stopped. It simply iced over as Elijah felt terror for the first time in his life. Without thinking, he started to run toward the house. When Savino slashed his hand through the air, training halted his steps, but only for a second. Savino slashed again, this time with a jab of his finger.
Sucking air through his teeth, his vision blurred by fury, Elijah froze. Sonovabitch. Ava was in there. Ramsey must be in there. He had to save her.
His eyes met Savino’s.
Even yards away, he could see the intensity in his commander’s gaze. The authority. For over a decade, Elijah had unquestionably followed that authority. Had trusted the man.
After two hard breaths, he accepted that if he wanted to save the woman he loved, his best chance was to follow that pattern.
To listen to Savino. To treat this as an op and do his fucking job. He gave himself another half second to rein in control, then gave Savino a nod. He slid a side glance at Lansky, who tapped a finger to his brow to signal he was ready.
Their comms were active, but until they’d assessed the situation, they couldn’t risk being overheard. So they worked with hand signals.
Savino circled his finger, indicating that Lansky go around to the front of the house. The man gave Elijah a reassuring look before he angled through the trees, and on Savino’s command, ran across the clearing in a low crouch. Eyes locked on Savino, Elijah waited for the signal, then made the same run toward the east side of the house.
Crouched low to stay out of view, they moved as one for the secluded visibility of the kitchen door, each checking their weapons as they moved.
“Ava?” Elijah mouthed.
“Unsecured,” Savino signed.
“Anything from Powers?” Lansky asked, his voice just above a whisper as he yanked a length of wire from the back of his belt. He wasn’t on duty, so unlike Elijah and Savino, he didn’t carry a gun. But like them, he was trained to improvise.
“He’s down.”
“Ramsey?”
“In the living room with Ava.” He checked his weapon, then tilted his head toward the window he’d jimmied open. “On three.”
One. Elijah stretched his head to the left, then to t
he right.
Two. Elijah crouched low.
Three. Savino slid the window high. Hands on the frame, Elijah rolled inside with an overhead flip.
He landed silently on his feet with his gun in one hand, knife in the other, both aimed at Ramsey.
And blinked.
Because Ava was keeping the treasonous bastard too distracted to notice three SEALs bursting in.
Holy shit. She was going hand to hand with the guy. She was losing, but damned if she wasn’t making him work for it.
“I was chatting with Harper,” Ava said breathlessly, her leg sweeping out in a hook kick that barely missed Ramsey’s belly. “Gotta say, I wasn’t surprised to hear that all it takes is a straw to give you a blow job.”
Elijah might have laughed if he wasn’t in shock. Ramsey didn’t think that insult was funny, though.
Flushing beet red, the man roared and charged. Before Elijah could shoot, Ava grabbed hold and shifted her weight, flipping the man over her shoulder. The former SEAL went crashing into a table, wood exploding into splinters.
The men rushed in. Lansky took over the ass kicking, going hand to hand to take Ramsey down.
And Elijah grabbed Ava.
“Oh my God,” he breathed, pulling her into his arms. “What the hell were you doing?”
“Waiting for you. I knew you’d come. I knew you’d save me. You love me. You’d never let anything happen if you could help it.” She kept babbling, her words moving so fast they ran over the top of each other. Her fists clenched the back of Elijah’s shirt, her sobs breathless as reaction set in.
“You kicked ass, babe,” Elijah assured her, his own heart racing as he ran one hand down her hair, the other wrapping tight enough to hold her to him forever. “You’re amazing. I do love you. I’ll always be here. Never let anything happen. Anything you want.”
Maybe he was babbling a little, too.
“You definitely kicked ass,” Lansky agreed. “Guess we’re going to have to change your name to Cupcake Kick Ass.”
Ava’s laugh was breathless as she turned her head, still resting against Elijah’s chest, and met Jared’s eyes.