by Bella Grant
“I’d like to ask you the same thing, Laon,” Reinhart snapped as he stood.
Jackie glanced around the room serving as his office and flinched when she spotted Shane in the corner, holding his head and looking as if he’d been in a fight. “Shane? Where have you been?”
“I was at the safe house when it was attacked,” he said.
“Attacked? Eddie and Savage?”
Reinhart crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at her. “We hoped you knew.”
“They’re gone?”
“Took off during the fight,” he said. “They abandoned Shane there. Ted is dead, and several more agents. We have no contact with Savage or Sage. They’ve turned off their cells, and the Hummer they took can’t be tracked. They disabled the GPS in it.”
Jackie glanced from Reinhart to Shane, every red flag flying up. “Sir, I request permission to track them down.”
“Denied.”
She flinched at the harshness in his voice. “Excuse me, sir?”
“I said denied. For all I know those two have gone rogue!”
“With the person who’s trying to kill them, sir? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Nothing about this makes sense, Laon, but I am not about to send more agents to track them down,” Reinhart yelled. “Where were you and Gareth?”
Jackie ground her teeth, her eyes shifting quickly to Shane. The brief look of surprise she’d caught on his face when she walked in played through her mind again. “Following up on a lead which turned out to be a bust, sir.”
“Wasting time, again. You and Gareth are not to leave again unless I give you the order. Is that understood, Laon? Or I will have both of your asses parked behind desks until the day you retire!”
“Yes, sir.”
“Get out of my sight, Laon,” Reinhart snapped.
Jackie turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, the door slamming behind her. The news that Ted was dead would hit Gareth hard, but there wasn’t time to mourn, not yet. If Eddie and Beau had taken off, then she must’ve received Jackie’s message to know Shane was dirty. Now they needed the proof.
She found Gareth at his laptop, working on the report until Jackie told him to delete it—all of it.
“They saw the gunshots on the Hummer,” he said. “We can’t lie forever.”
“We don’t need to.” She glanced around the room at the other techs and leaned closer, whispering in his ear, “Shane’s with Reinhart.” She filled him in on the situation quickly before she sat down.
“What are we going to do? Do we even know they’re still alive?”
Jackie held her head. If they left, Reinhart would find out and they’d be out of the field for good. She needed to contact Eddie, but if her cell was disconnected it was so they couldn’t be found, and the GPS tracker in the Hummer… She nudged Gareth.
“Is anyone else monitoring the Hummers right now?”
Gareth leaned forward and brought up several different screens. “No, there’s no need. The only one missing is Ted’s, and it’s offline… Wait!”
Jackie held her breath, watching Gareth’s fingers fly across the keyboard.
“It’s doing something, but I’m not sure…” he leaned closer and cursed. “Get me a piece of paper.”
She slid a pad and pen his way and watched him jot down the lines and dots. Morse code. Damn that woman, she thought and let out her breath. It took a few minutes, Jackie watching the others in the room closely, not knowing now who they could trust, until Gareth was done and slid it back to her.
She read the short message, stood, and shoved the paper through the shredder. Eight hours. That was all the time they had before Eddie and Beau sprung their trap, and there wasn’t a way to get a message back to them. She tapped her fingers on the table, her mind rolling through ways to sneak out when one of the techs stood and started packing his bag.
“Where are you headed?” she asked casually.
“Reinhart’s sending some of us to another location,” he said. “Following up on leads with the footage at the warehouse.”
Jackie shot Gareth a look before she turned to the tech and asked as innocently as possible, “Who’s taking you and when are you leaving?”
***
Beau checked his Sig and tucked a few extra magazines in his tactical vest. His knife was secure at his back once again, and two more were tucked in his boots. There were two rifles in the back of the Hummer. Eddie was busy loading both and tucking spare ammo in her vest. He watched her closely, her shoulder stiff every time she moved it, but she didn’t mutter a single complaint. He was more worried about her knee. It had stopped shaking, but she hadn’t put any real weight on it yet.
“Think they got the message?” she asked without meeting his gaze.
“Only one way to know,” he said.
She leaned the rifles against the wall and stretched her shoulders again, checking her watch for the time. “I can feel you staring at me, Savage. I’ll be fine. We both will.”
“How good a shot are you with those?”
Eddie pulled out the Sig, checked it, and tucked it back in the holster before she answered. “I don’t miss.”
Beau tucked the last of the ammo in his vest as he took her hand. “I wanted you that first day I saw you at the house,” he said quietly. “And now, I want you even more.”
“Then live through today,” she whispered. “And you’ll keep me.”
His arms were around her, and despite the pain in his side, he lifted her off her feet to hold her against him, his lips hard against hers as they fought to claim each other’s mouths. Eddie was his, and he let her know it as his tongue danced along hers, his hands digging into her back in his desire to have her.
There was no time for anything else.
He set her back on her feet, and she glanced at her watch, breathing heavily, her eyes darker than he’d ever seen them before. “Time to go.”
She grabbed the rifles as Beau started the Hummer. When they reached their destination, Eddie would turn her cell back on. Then they’d wait. Beau’s hands gripped the steering wheel hard, fighting the urge to tell Eddie to stay behind. She’d deck him if he suggested it.
If they lived through the day, he’d look forward to many more hits from her.
If they lived.
***
Shane paced back and forth, weighing his options, when his cell beeped. The sound echoed around him as he stared down at the location, a grin stretching across his lips. “We have them.”
“Then finish this,” Reinhart snapped. “I want it taken care of.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll collect the boss on the way.”
“See that you do,” Reinhart said. “And when you’re finished cleaning up your mess, see that he remembers who he really works for.”
Shane put his holster back on as he reached the door. “Of course, sir.”
He walked down the corridor, whistling, picturing the bodies of Agents Eddie Sage and Beau Savage dead on the ground at his feet. Just a few more hours, and all his problems would be solved. If only the admiral could see him now.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Beau stopped the Hummer just outside the front gate as night fell around them, the engine stalling as Eddie and he stared into the house’s darkened windows and the front doorway, destroyed in the explosion. Eddie tapped Beau’s arm, and he got out of the Hummer while she scooted over. He opened the front gate, letting her drive through, then closed and locked it behind and jogged to the house, following the taillights to the front porch. Eddie parked and turned the vehicle off. She checked that her Sig was secure in her shoulder holster before stepping out. Beau was already at the back, taking out the two rifles and the shotgun he’d loaded for his use.
Eddie was weak in hand-to-hand because of her leg. He would take out who he could, and she would cover him. The weight of what he was trusting her with hit her hard now that they’d arrived at the hous
e. If she missed tonight, it could be Beau’s life. And then they’d come for her.
Beau led the way inside. A path was cleared by the team earlier when they’d removed the bodies of the dead attackers. Eddie clicked her flashlight on, as did Beau, as they checked the first floor together. They only turned on their cells when the gate appeared. No chance for anyone to beat them inside.
“Your com on?” she asked Beau, tucking her own into her ear.
“Read you loud and clear,” he replied. “I’ll clear the back.”
“Meet you upstairs in five.” She drew her Sig and took a step when Beau pulled her back. His lips found hers in a fiery kiss that melted her from the inside out.
“Stay safe,” he whispered, drew his own gun, and took off out the front door.
Eddie straightened and realized that, at the beginning of this, she’d had nothing to live for. Now, she couldn’t let herself or Beau die. Neither one would survive the loss.
She moved to the stairs, both rifles over her shoulder, and braced herself for the two-story climb up. Only the storerooms faced the front, and that was where she’d be. The flashlight beam was low, and she pushed open the door of the first room. She reached the window after checking the room to find it empty as well. She moved on to the rest of the second floor and finally the third. Her gaze lingered on the bed she and Beau had first made love in, and a pang of heat mingled with regret at what they’d started hit her. Depending on how tonight went, they might never be able to go farther with what they’d created together.
With the whole upstairs cleared, Eddie limped back to the storeroom and opened the windows in the first and second one. She readied the rifles near her and checked them again to be sure they were loaded.
Beau’s voice came over the com. “Outside perimeter is clear. Where are you?”
“Second floor. Inside’s clear too.”
“Heading up now.”
Barely a minute later, she heard Beau coming up the steps. “How’s your leg holding up?”
“I could ask you the same thing about your wounds,” she muttered quietly.
“Eddie, don’t start that shit.”
She lifted her gaze to his. “It’s killing me, but I’ll live. Had worse, remember? I don’t have a choice anyway. It’s either end this now or watch Hugh get lucky and kill one of us, and I’m not ready to watch you die, Beau Savage.”
Beau was in front of her before she could blink and pulled her into his arms. His lips pressed against hers in a desperate need to be close, and she knew why. If their plan worked and they lured Hugh and her brother in, there was a chance they might not live. They wouldn’t know if help would arrive or not. No way to know if Jackie had received her message. For the moment, they were on their own.
Beau broke the kiss, reluctance in his eyes and spreading from his hands as he forced himself away. He glanced past Eddie’s head, and his lips thinned. “Headlights.”
“I think our guests have arrived.”
“Damn. You sure this is what you want to do?”
“Little late to back out now,” she said. She wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t come, and the longer she stared into his eyes, the more she knew he felt exactly the same way. His arms were around her once more, his lips hard against hers, fighting for what might be their last moment together.
Then he broke the kiss, set her back on her feet, and left the room without another word.
Eddie blew out a breath. It was time to work. She picked up the first rifle, fully loaded with five rounds and more tucked in her vest. She put the scope to her eye, adjusting it as need be until the faces in the vehicle outside the gate came into focus. They were barely a hundred yards away. She could hit them easily, but she needed to draw them in. She needed to see Hugh’s and Shane’s faces before she pulled the trigger.
“How many?” Beau’s voice whispered over the com. He was hidden downstairs somewhere, ready to take out whomever ventured in first.
“Hang on.” She watched as the gate opened. “Two SUVs. Three men with Sigs in the first and…” She moved the rifle until the scope focused on the second vehicle. “Targets one and two are here.” She tried to distance herself from Shane as much as possible, but the anger came through anyway.
“Hold steady, Sage,” Beau whispered. “Don’t shoot him yet.”
“No promises,” she muttered, but her finger was off the trigger as she watched. “Eight men total. Gate is now closed behind them, and they’re walking towards the house.”
“Ready when you are, Sage.”
She resisted the urge to say she was born ready, placed her finger on the trigger, and waited patiently for her first shot.
***
Hugh glared at the house rising up out of the dark before them. The Hummer was parked out front, and Eddie’s cell pointed to the same location. The question was where they were hiding.
“This is a trap,” Shane muttered beside him.
“Yes, I know,” Hugh said coldly. “You think I’m a fool? They wanted us here, and we’re here.”
The minute Shane called to say they were found, he’d grinned. If Eddie wanted to play with him again, he’d play, and she’d regret every decision she’d ever made. Shane told him about her new relationship with Beau, how close they’d become. It was easy to bug the house while he was in it. Hugh knew he was her lover, and he was going to delight in torturing and killing her in front of Savage before he finished him off.
“Surround the house,” he snapped.
His six men moved up the drive towards the house. They didn’t get far before a shot rang out and one man fell dead with a headshot. They scattered as Hugh and Shane ducked behind the cover of the SUV. He watched his men slink forward again. A second shot rang out, hitting the gravel by their feet, but the third hit home, and the man gurgled on his blood as he died from the chest wound.
“I think we found your sister,” Hugh snapped as Shane glared at the open second story windows. “I thought you were the best shot in the family.”
Shane muttered under his breath as he hurried back around the SUV, staying low. A minute later, he came back with two rifles, handing one to Hugh. “Remember how to shoot?”
Hugh checked the rifle and set himself up on the hood of the SUV. A shot rang out and hit close to him, missing by inches. He held his breath and adjusted his scope as he moved the barrel. Both windows were open. He aimed for the farthest one and fired into the opening. When a fourth shot rang out, pummeling the hood of the SUV, he turned to the second window, lined up his shot, and fired. Something shifted in the shadows, and he grinned.
“First window,” he muttered to Shane. “Move! We’ll cover you!”
Shane took up a position right beside him, and they fired off shots into that window as the remaining four men stayed low and hurried to the front of the house. Another shot rang out at their feet, but Hugh and Shane returned fire, giving the men a chance to take cover under the overhang. Two moved around to the back as the other two hurried through the destroyed entranceway.
“We’ll give them time to get inside and flush them out,” Hugh said, staying where he was.
Shane fired another shot into the window, and Hugh glared at him. “What?”
“Save your ammo. You might need it later.”
A few minutes later, a gunshot rang out from inside the house. Savage. Hugh frowned. Of course they would split up. No matter. He’d kill them both in the end. He pressed his eye back to the scope and leered when he caught movement in the shadows of the room. “And the game begins.”
***
“Beau, they’re coming in,” Eddie whispered. “Probably going to split.”
“Understood.”
Eddie grabbed the second rifle, the first empty, and put it back up to the window when a shot broke through the glass above her. She ducked as glass covered her head. “Bastards.”
Time to move. Beau was on the first floor, and she’d be able to spot
the men from the second floor landing. She glanced out the window again as a gunshot echoed through the house. A minute later, another shot exploded inside the room, and she fell flat again.
“Savage?”
“Still here, Sage,” Beau muttered. “One more down.”
“I’m moving to spot.”
“No. Keep your eyes on the targets. I don’t want to lose them.”
Eddie wanted to argue, but that would be a distraction. “Roger that,” she muttered and pushed herself back up to her knees and hurried for the hall. She checked to be sure it was clear then quickly moved into the second room. A shot into the first room, and she tallied up when they would have to reload. Soon, but so would she.
***
Beau peered out from the basement stairs. The two men who’d come through the front split up the second they were through the door. He tucked his gun back in his holster and drew his knife. He crept out from the shadows. He reached around and slit the guy’s throat, covering his mouth with his hand to muffle his yell. Beau was lowering his body to the floor when the second turned and fired a shot. Beau rolled out of the way and circled around towards the kitchen.
There were two other men accounted for, but he did not want Eddie coming down here. She was safest upstairs, and he was going to keep it that way.
He held his knife in one hand as he drew his Sig again. There was a hall that ran from the front around to the kitchen and the side entrance. Beau arrived at the end of the hall and poked his head out. Shots exploded in the wall around him, and he pulled back, pressing his back into the hall, and waited.
When the shooting stopped, he held his breath and stepped out from around the wall, firing, and ducked on the other side of the counter. He took the time to reload his Sig, throwing the spent magazine aside.
Gunfire erupted over his head, but he couldn’t sit there all night. Beau pulled the Hummer keys out of his pocket and threw them across the room. The shots followed them, and he jumped up, firing into the man fully exposed across the kitchen. His body slumped over the kitchen table, his eyes wide in the moonlight from outside.