“Who the hell’s Siegel?”
Tucker blinked, not believing his eyes. It was Maverick Carson standing just feet away, his eyes black and his breathing heavy, his rifle aimed at Tucker’s head. “Damn you, Chase, you’re supposed to be long gone by now. Lower your weapon.”
Relieved, Tucker did just that while three more of Stewart’s finest, Taylor Armstrong, Gabe Cartwright, and Ky Winchester, emerged from the greenery. All junior agents and all suited up with body armor and enough weaponry that they looked like they were going to war and prepared to win. When Tucker lowered his weapon, they did the same.
“Hi guys,” Melissa said brightly.
“Morning, ma’am,” Maverick returned calmly.
“You guys mind?” Tucker asked, nodding slightly to the future Mrs. Chase still wrapped up in that flimsy poncho. At least the ponchos weren’t see-thru, but these guys needed to turn their backs so she could get dressed. No one but no one got to see her lovely naked body.
Ky and the Fearsome Threesome chuckled, coughed politely, and complied like the gentlemen they were. Melissa scurried into her clothes. Cutest sight ever.
The presence of Stewart’s men instantly brought a measure of calm. Carson, Armstrong, and Cartwright were somewhat revered in ex-military circles and reverently referred to as the Fearsome Threesome. All three had served on a failed purple operation in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Camp Leatherneck. Helmand Province. Lashkar Gah. Tucker knew well the cost of confronting their target, a psychotic Taliban cleric and his army. Gabe had left the better part of a leg behind. Maverick had lost his baby brother.
All were heroes, but it was Taylor Armstrong who’d singlehandedly carried Cartwright on his back and dragged Carson out of harm’s way. Taylor, as quiet as he was, led his band of Marine Corps brothers back to the cleric’s hideaway in the mountains days later. They smoked the Taliban’s ass that day. Burned the cruel cleric back into the hell he’d crawled out from. Taylor should’ve gotten the Medal of Honor for all he’d done that day. Shit. Shouldn’t they all?
Tucker had been on that hillside with them. He knew exactly what had happened. He’d survived the same ambush. He’d seen the bravery of all troops in action. But he had his own share of survivor’s guilt. His best buddy died on that same hillside. All he’d brought back was the body in a bag.
“Hey, Tucker.” Ky Winchester grinned when Melissa was at last presentable, another welcome sight. He’d survived his own brand of hell in Afghanistan at the hands of a madman known to torture American soldiers for the sport of it. But there Ky was, bright-eyed, married, and happily in the employment of Stewart. The guy had a definite knack for pulling only the bravest and the best into his TEAM. It was too bad they were mostly Marines.
“Ky. Maverick.” Tucker held out a hand in heartfelt greeting. “Good to see you, Gabe. You too, Taylor.” SEALs would’ve been better, but these ex-Marines were a welcome sight.
A round of quiet back slapping ensued. “Morning, Mrs. McCormack.” Maverick nodded with a quick two-finger salute to Melissa. “Sorry if we scared you, ma’am, but we’re your ticket home. Hoverboat’s waiting on the Mekong. We don’t have much time. Get ready to move.”
“She stays with me,” Tucker growled, his hand shackling her upper arm.
“She stays with me, too,” Isaiah announced as he stepped out from the jungle. “You do know you were followed by Vietnamese regulars, don’t you?”
“’S okay,” another familiar American voice rumbled from the direction of the creek. Damned if Mark Houston didn’t clear the thicket, decked out in body armor and carrying an arsenal the same as the rest of his team. He stood there like a wall, his boots spread, his hands on his hips, and a bemused grin on his face. “I popped yellow smoke to their rear. They’re following it at the moment, not us. That gives us maybe thirty minutes to clear out. Melissa. Alex sent us to get you out of Vietnam. Now.”
Tucker tugged Melissa into his side. “I can’t leave yet,” he said firmly. “Neither can you. Siegel’s running a child sex-slave business. I’m almost sure of it. We’ve got to get back into his camp and rescue the girls he’s keeping there.”
“He’s what?” Melissa asked, her voice edged with disbelief. Her eyes widened. “How do you know? Is that what those...? Oh, God. Tucker. That’s why all those little girls are there, isn’t it? That’s why the separate camp. Those poor babies.”
He pulled her back under his arm. Melissa hadn’t seen the world like he had. It was no wonder she hadn’t recognized Siegel’s operation for what it really was. “I’m going back,” he declared evenly. Mark Houston could like it or lump it.
“Are you certain of this?” Mark asked, the lines of his face taut with worry.
“I am,” Isaiah piped up. “Hey, Mark. I’ve made contact with one of the women guarding the girls. She’s not talking to me, but I’ve been in her mind. Siegel’s running girls by truck from Cambodia through the Mekong. He links up with his contact near the south end of the delta. Contact Alex. If you’re quick enough, he can run an intercept before these girls get sold and are gone for good.”
Mark shot an appraising stare at the FBI agent on loan. His brows narrowed. Tucker knew Mark had been with Ky Winchester the day they’d rescued Isaiah from certain death. He’d seen the two psychics in action, Eden and Isaiah, He’d witnessed their direct link, their uncanny ability first hand. He, more than anyone else on The TEAM, believed in Isaiah’s power to do the impossible. Still, he hesitated. “Are you positive? Alex will be pissed if we deviate from our main objective.”
“Your main objective will always be children.” Melissa stepped forward. “Alex will understand.”
Tucker held his breath. Stewart did tend to stick his neck out when it came to kids. He and his team had single-handedly gone after the Black Dragon Syndicate years earlier and saved hundreds of orphans in the process, all without receiving one dollar of compensation. How he’d managed to keep his head above fiscal waters amazed Tucker.
“And then what?” Mark asked, his voice ominously low. “You need to understand that these girls probably weren’t kidnapped by Siegel. Their parents and families most likely sold them into this ugly business. Once we rescue them, what do we do, take them home where their parents will surely sell them again? Siegel’s not the source of the problem. Simple economics is. These people are dirt poor. They’re doing what they can to survive.”
The same old question. Do I stay or do I go? Do I follow my heart or do I turn a blind eye and pretend I saw nothing when I know damned well what I saw? And what about Deuce?
“Then go,” Tucker spat, his mind made up. “Siegel might not be the problem, but he’s sure as hell willing to capitalize on human suffering, isn’t he? Shit, Houston, I can’t save the world, but I can save these...” He glared at Isaiah. “How many?”
The answer came quickly back quickly. “Twenty-one girls, Tucker.”
“I can save these twenty-one little girls. What if those were your girls were in Siegel’s camp, huh? How can you be so sure those girls’ parents sold them? Who even cares how they got there?”
“Damn, you really care, don’t you?” Maverick asked, one brow lifted as if he was considering the option. “I’m starting to like you, Chase.”
Mark blew out a soft sigh through pursed lips. “We give a shit, which is why we’re here, and you don’t have to tell me how bad little girls in these countries have it. I’m just trying to save them from more of the same. Let me check with a friend of mine in Phnom Penh. He runs a safe house there for girls caught up in the sex trade. He might be able to help.”
That floored Tucker. “You have a friend in Cambodia? You speak Khmer?”
Houston’s dark brown eyes twinkled. “Why would you think that? He’s an American. Ex-Marine. He still thinks he has to save the world, too. Ring a bell?”
Tucker had no answer to that smart-assed question. Some men were hard-wired to protect the innocent. He was one of them. Go figure.
Mark tur
ned ninety degrees, his finger at the earpiece in his right ear and speaking in terse, short clips. All Tucker caught was, “You heard me. Twenty-one.”
“Melissa’s proud of you,” Isaiah whispered. “Look at her.”
Tucker glanced down at the genteel lady under his arm, the one with the soft glow in her blue eyes and the smile on her face. “Don’t worry. We’ll get this figured out. We won’t leave ’em,” he told her gruffly.
She lifted to her tiptoes and graced his lips with one feathery angel kiss. “I know you won’t, Tucker.”
Wow. A guy would do somersaults for that kind of a smile. And then some...
“I just talked with Rory and Zack,” Mark muttered, one hand raking through his dark head of hair. “They’re manning our exfil out of here. It’ll be a tight squeeze with one hovercraft, but Zack knows a guy. I called my buddy. He’s got an underground railroad set up between Vietnam, all the way to Thailand. He’s standing by to take the girls. He’ll make sure they don’t go back into the business.”
“Your buddy got a name?”
Mark nodded. “You know him. David Tao.”
“No shit?” Tucker hadn't seen that one coming. “He quit working for Stewart?”
“Not exactly,” Gabe muttered, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “This was David’s idea, but Alex is backing him. It’s a two-year assignment for now. David and his family live in Phnom Penh. His kids are having a ball with the whole cultural exchange thing.”
“Didn’t he adopt one of those little orphan girls from the Black Dragon Syndicate?”
Gabe nodded. “Get ready. Alex is thinking of going international. You want in at the ground level? I’m sure he could use someone like you.”
“Guys,” Mark hissed, “stow the chatter. We’re on the clock, remember? Our biggest problem will be getting those girls out of Siegel’s camp and all the way to the border of Svay Reing. It’s not far, but it will be tough going with a bunch of frightened girls.”
“You do know there are Cambodian rebel forces between here and there,” Tucker added.
“Understood, but most of them are farther south in the delta. David’s got friends who’ll be looking out for us along the river closer to the border.”
“Then why are there Vietnamese Army patrols in the area if the rebels aren’t this far north?” Isaiah questioned.
“My guess is they’re after your buddy, Siegel.” Mark turned to his men. “Guys? Your thoughts on throwing a wrench in the sex trade while we’re here?”
Maverick leveled a truly malevolent eye at Tucker. “I’ve pissed Alex off before. I’m good with whatever you decide, Mark.”
Gabe pointed a finger at Maverick. “Yeah. What he said.”
Taylor, looking the part of the stoic American Indian with his long, black braid, his arms folded over his chest, nodded. “It’s what we do, isn’t it?”
“Then it’s settled. What’s the plan, Chase?” Mark asked, one hand on his hip. Interestingly, the rest of his guys assumed the same pose, the jokers.
Tucker studied his options. The plan had been simple when it was just him, Isaiah, and Melissa. Rescue the girls and run like hell. Okay, so it wasn’t a great plan, but it would’ve worked. At the least, it would’ve given the girls a fighting chance.
But Mark had proposed a no-kidding, viable solution to the real problem. The girls could still go home to their families if they wanted to, but they’d be safe if they chose to stay with David Tao. Mark had solid connections, and he’d brought enough manpower with him to get the job done right. Better yet, David Tao could get help for the girls after they were rescued. Mark’s plan came with a little more vision.
“May I propose a solution?” Isaiah raised his hand like a kid in school.
“Yeah, what?” Tucker twisted to look at his partner. Isaiah had changed the last few days, his eyes a little darker, the laugh lines etched a little deeper. But he still wasn’t a covert operator, and he, along with Melissa, had no business being caught up in the middle of what might be a tough battle.
“Let Mark and his team rescue the girls while you and I get Deuce.” Tucker could’ve hugged the kid. Finally. He got Deuce’s name right. “We can be back before the hovercraft leaves. Then we’ll all go visit David at the same time.” “Unless you go Rambo on me and kill your kid’s stepfather.”
“Vinnie isn’t Deuce’s stepfather, damn it. I’m not dead yet!”
Tucker caught the disparaging glimmer in Isaiah’s eye, the whispered, “See what I mean? Vinnie is Deuce’s stepfather whether you like it or not. That doesn’t mean he’s adopted him, Tucker, only that he married Nicole. Think about it. If you can’t control your temper, you might lose your son for good.”
Sobering.
“What’s up with you guys?” Mark asked, his tone suspicious. “What’s going on? Are you...? Damn, Chase. Are you psychic, too? Are you talking behind our backs?”
Tucker glared at Mark, daring him to say it again. “Isaiah’s plan is plausible, but still risky,” he muttered through gritted teeth, not willing to admit to any such thing as psychic ability, although it was fairly obvious. “There’s a problem, though.”
Mark headed him off at the pass. “Don’t even go there, Chase. There is no way Melissa doesn’t leave with us. Understand that right here and now. She goes with me while Taylor, Gabe, and Maverick proceed to rescue the girls. Sound good?”
All four TEAM agents nodded affirmative like trained marionettes, but Tucker hit the roof. “No way in hell. She stays with me.”
Mark shifted his entire wall of a body toward Tucker and Isaiah, an outright threat. “This isn’t open for discussion, Chase. I’m not running a democracy. I’m taking her out while I still can. We’ll wait at the hovercraft to rendezvous with the rest of you guys, but if things get hot before you make it back, she’ll be safely out of the frag zone. Isn’t that what you really want?”
It made sense. Tucker just hadn’t planned on telling her goodbye. Not this way. Not this soon. “Yes,” he admitted, tightening his hold on her just the same.
“Besides, Tuck.” Isaiah just kept opening his big mouth. “Those little girls will feel safer with a woman once the guys get them away from Siegel’s camp and link up with Mark. Let Mark take Melissa, so she can help those twenty-one girls while we go get your son. It’s the best solution.”
Shit. Just shit. A glimmer lifted at the corner of Tucker’s still swollen eye. He wanted Melissa and Deuce safe, not just those girls. “Fine. Good plan. I… I wasn’t thinking. I—” His gaze dropped into two pools of the purest blue love.
“It’s okay, Tuck.” Melissa winked, her palms flat to his chest, but not pushing him away like before. Her fingers were knotted in his shirt this time, tugging to stay with him, and God, he wanted her to. He wanted this ugly business behind them so he could start living again. So he could breathe. He just couldn’t take the chance that she’d get hurt. He stowed his overly possessive streak, set his need to be the dominant alpha aside, and he let Mark step up to do what was smart.
“You’re hurting,” Melissa said tenderly. “Your eye’s still swollen, and I know something’s wrong with your side that you’re not telling me about. Your rib’s cracked or broken. I can hear the hiss when I listen to your heart. And you’re limping.”
Tucker chuckled, his hand trapping hers over his heart. Wasn’t that just like her to be worried about him? He kissed the center of her forehead. “This is nothing. I’ll be fine, babe.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him, ma’am,” Isaiah promised.
She looked to Mark, her fingers interlocked with Tucker’s like vines that wanted more time to grow together. “You promise you’ll wait for Tucker and Isaiah and Deuce? I won’t leave without them.”
“You know we will,” Mark’s head bobbed as he answered. “We never leave a man behind.”
Tucker knew where Melissa needed to be, so he headed her off at the pass. As much as it galled him to let her go with another man, this part
icular guy was the one for the job. “Go with Mark, Melissa. He’s right. This is about saving twenty-one little girls, not me. They’ll need your help, and Mark’s a good man. You can trust him.”
She melted into his side, her arm around his waist. “I know that, Tuck. Just don’t take too long.”
He framed her face between his ragged hands, the hands that had taken life in the name of freedom and self-defense, the hands that didn’t deserve to hold a creature so pure and noble.
She lifted up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck, and there, in front of God and a goodly portion of Stewart’s almighty TEAM, she planted the wettest, sweetest kiss on his lips, murmuring as she did. “I love you, Tuck. Be careful.”
He lifted her off her feet, needing more than just one stolen night in paradise. The world needed to take a break from avarice and greed and mayhem, damn it. Wars needed to stop. The power mongers, the pillagers, and every other brutal jerk out there needed to drop dead and let the planet heal for once. Just so Tucker could stop worrying. So he could stay with her.
“I love you, babe,” he whispered, easing her out of his arms and back to her feet. “Wait for me. I’ll be coming home to you.”
“I know you will,” she said, tears glistening on her lashes. “I love you, Tuck. I’ll be waiting.”
And damned if he didn’t let her go again.
Chapter Nineteen
Two days later, Tucker and Isaiah made their way out of the jungle and through the rice paddies to Hồ Chí Minh City. Mark had hooked them up with earpieces, but there wasn’t much in the way of chatter between the teams. Tucker wanted to talk with Melissa, not Mark. Besides, he had Isaiah. If anything went wrong with the planned extraction of the girls, or if Mark got waylaid for whatever reason, Tucker assumed his psychic buddy would tell him.
They hitched a ride the last thirty miles on the back of a wagon filled with assorted vegetables. By then, the night was the same as all the others: dark, humid, and sweltering. Isaiah took point, secured a room on the outskirts of the city, and reported in. Wouldn’t you know? Stewart was still pissed.
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