Rescue Me

by Allie Adams

  Shit. Shit!

  “Does anyone have eyes on Lyons?”

  “Oh, shit.” Snyder spoke up. “Jesus fuck. The son of a bitch got Lyons.”

  Spencer took his chances and sprinted over to the other side of the clearing. Still no shots. Their sniper must have taken off. Either that or he was reloading.

  He rounded the bush and shock had him skidding to a stop at the sight.

  Dear God, no. No!

  “Lyons!” He sprinted to the other man's side and dropped to his knees. Although the single shot in the center of his forehead and the open, vacant look in those lifeless eyes already told Spencer that Lyons was gone, he still felt for a pulse. Jesus. No. “Fuck, no. Fuck! No!”

  Emotions thickened in his throat and he fought to keep them down. Not Lyons. Please, God. Not Lyons. Spencer felt for a pulse again and choked on a sob. Goddamn it! His mentor. His friend. Now gone.

  “I'm sorry,” Snyder offered with a hand on Spencer's shoulder.

  Pulling himself together, Spencer pressed his mic and forced his voice out. “Report in.”

  “Aims. No injuries.”

  “Cummings. Ditto.”

  “I'm right here,” Snyder said. “I'm not hit.”

  And then silence. Spencer knew McKoy wouldn't be radioing in.

  “Aims. Cummings. Circle around. Find me that shooter.”

  “Permission to terminate,” Cummings requested, shocking Spencer. He was usually the calm one of the team.

  “Negative. Bring him in alive.” Spencer fought to keep his emotions in check. A vice clamped down on his chest, making it impossible to breathe. The tightness moved up to his throat and constricted it. His eyes burned. Fury raced through him and he slowly rose to his feet. The shock left his body as he settled into assassin mode. There were times, like now, where missions centered on hunting down a person not to save them, but to eliminate a threat. He tapped into that now.

  Spencer wouldn't rest until he found the sniper and did to him exactly what the coward bastard had done to Lyons and McKoy. He turned and sprinted toward the cabin. Salazar better have answers. If he so much as hinted at an answer Spencer didn't like, the man would die. Slowly. Painfully.

  He flipped on the light of his M16 and threw open the door. Snyder appeared next to him and gave him a signal that he'd take the left. Spencer hurried off to the right.

  “Clear,” Snyder whispered into the mic.

  “Son of a bitch!” Spencer kicked the closest wall. “It was a setup. The whole thing was a fucking setup.”

  “No shooter,” Aims announced over the radio. “But we've got a set of some sort of vehicle tracks. Narrow. Real narrow. Maybe a motorcycle?”

  Cummings broke in. “They're from motorcycles converted into snowmobiles. Single ski in the front. Single track in the back. They went straight down the mountainside and fast. I can't even hear them.”

  “They must be headed to the highway,” Aims pointed out. “Cummings and I are going back for the SUV. They have a huge head start on us but those things can't go on the highway.”

  “Which means they have another rig waiting to pick them up at the bottom.” Spencer pulled out his phone and called Weber.

  “Is the—”

  “We need the north side of the Black Hills contained immediately. Our suspect is on the run.”

  “What?” Weber roared into the phone. “What the fuck do you mean he's on the run? What in the hell happened up there?”

  He didn't have time to explain. They had to find Salazar and the shooter that helped him escape before they were gone forever. “Get some birds in the air and a shit ton of guys on the ground.”

  “Allen, what happened?” Although Weber kept an even tone, the agitation sliced through the line.

  Spencer closed his eyes, not ready to face the reality that two of his men were gone. “Please, Weber. Just get me some resources and fast.”

  “I'll get Rand on it right away.”

  “Do not call K-SAR.” His gut clenched. He couldn't think of Kathryn being up here with Salazar and whoever helped him escape on the loose. “Weber? Did you hear me?”

  He'd already hung up.

  * * * *

  A bone-jarring chill tore through Kat. The temperature had really dropped after the sun went down. Even in the Northwest the temperatures were known to dip into the teens on rare occasions. The vision of the snow dancing around before it melted on the water added to Kat's aching midsection.

  Spencer was out on a “quick” find. He promised he'd be back before sunup, that it was a simple in-and-out, but she knew better. There was never anything simple about one of TREX's finds. She had firsthand knowledge of that.

  Would he follow in his father's footsteps? In every way? Would she ever get that dreaded knock on the door every wife of a husband in covert operations fears?

  Wife. Kat laughed at the very word. He'd never given her any indication he wanted to marry her, and she'd given him no signs she wanted to marry him this time. Still, they were back together. They were happy again. It was only a matter of time before she slipped up and said those three little words that got her into so much trouble the first time around.

  She focused on a cluster of snowflakes yet to melt on the water. A storm had settled over the southern region of the state and dumped snow in the mountains, and slush everywhere else. Now the slush was ice and wreaked havoc on an area not used to this kind of weather.

  That familiar apprehension inched its way into her thoughts. She knew he had a duty, a calling as he referred to it. Oh how she wanted to protest, to beg him to crawl back under the warmth of the covers and stay with her.

  But she couldn't. There were people out there who needed him more than she did right now. Because he was a Superman in his own right, she knew she couldn't be selfish and keep him all to herself. Even Lois Lane understood that.

  Didn't mean she had to like it.

  Pulling the comforter closer around her, she stared at the feeble fire she'd managed to build. It was nothing compared to the roaring fire Spencer had made in the fireplace so many times before, but it would do in a pinch. It would be daybreak in a few more hours anyway.

  Another siren wailed somewhere in the night and she tensed. Sirens equated to an emergency. Someone, somewhere, needed their own Superman.

  The wind whistled down the chimney and caused the fire to flicker and fade. She crinkled her brow and tightened the comforter around her as she numbly watched her fire, mesmerized by the dancing flames.

  Kat wanted Spencer in her arms, safe and warm. He didn't need to be out there saving the world all the time. Aside from simply wanting him safely by her side, she wanted to talk about the promise he'd made right before he left.

  “When I get back, we'll talk about our future together. I promise.”

  Just hearing that promise had her anxious. Their future. Together. That meant he actually wanted one with her.

  She glanced at the battery-powered clock since the ice had knocked down the power lines right after dark. Five in the morning and still no word from him. Her lids drooped, but she fought to stay awake. She wouldn't allow sleep to take over, not when the man she loved was still out there in this weather.

  Kat's cell phone rang and her heart leapt into her throat. Should she answer it? What if it was the news she prayed she'd never hear? It rang again and she closed her eyes, too scared to lift it to her ear. One more ring and her hand trembled as she answered. “Spencer?”

  “Try again,” the voice growled through the line.

  She frowned and every muscle in her body grew rigid. Oh God, no. Dan Weber? “What happened? Where's Spencer?”

  He ground out a sigh and Kat sucked in a breath. Here it came, the news that would forever destroy her. Her stomach twisted. Her heart stopped. She stiffened as she held her breath and waited.

  “I've got him on another find and we need K-SAR's help.”

  Oh, thank God. Relief washed over her like a warm bath. “Is he okay?”
>
  “Ask him when he gets home.”

  “What happened?”

  Weber's voice was guarded, ominous, as he stated, “There's been an incident.”

  That didn't sound good. “What sort of incident?”

  “Damon Salazar.”

  That man. Just hearing his name had Kat tense, her pulse pounding in her ears. “What did he do this time?”

  “I'm not at liberty to read you in on all the details.”

  “Of course you're not.”

  When he sighed it came out as a growl. “Kat, I honestly don't know why you're suddenly so interested in the details of our finds. You're asking questions you know you aren't going to have answered. You know the rules when you work with TREX. We keep you in the loop when necessary.”

  “And the details behind the kidnapping of Tommy Miller aren't necessary? Quit trying to bullshit me.”

  “It's no bullshit. You shouldn't even know that much.”

  This time Kat sighed. “Weber, if you want K-SAR to step in, you have to give me more to go on. I'm willing to assist, but not blind. I won't send my people out if they will be in any danger.”

  “No danger,” he replied way too eagerly. “I've got Allen and his team already up there.”

  The thought of seeing Spencer and helping him on another search had her willing to look past Weber's evasiveness. “What do you need?”

  “Talk to Rand. He has the details.”

  Unbelievable. “Does TREX think they have open access to my logistics officer? First Spence, now you?” Her other line beeped and she pulled her phone back to see who would be calling her at five in the morning, not surprised to see Rand's number pop up. No doubt he already had half the teams en route. “We'll be ready by daybreak.”

  She ended her call with Weber and switched over to Rand. “Hey, Rand.”

  “Good morning, boss. We have to stop meeting like this.” Rand usually sounded so damn chipper it would irritate her. But not this time. This time he sounded clipped, his voice edgy, tight. His accent was more pronounced, which sent her guard shooting straight up.

  “Tell me what's going on.” She hated to beg but at this point, she'd do anything to get the truth for once.

  “You sound tired.”

  “Quit trying to avoid the question.”

  “Whoa. Someone woke up on the wrong side of Happyland.”

  She hadn't slept since Spencer got the call just after midnight, so waking up on the wrong side of anything wasn't the issue. Overbearing males who thought they could order her and her teams around without giving her an ounce of detail were. And logistics officers avoiding her question.

  “Rand, please.”

  “We already have enough in the field,” he went on, ignoring her plea. “We just need you.”

  “We?”

  Rand laughed. “I mean TREX. Listen to me. You'd think I worked for them, too.”

  “So, no K-SAR resources?”

  “Not this time.” There went his accent again and Kat's suspicions went into full alert. He only let his accent slip if he had something else on his mind.

  “Why won't you tell me what Dan Weber told you?”

  “That's what I'm doing. TREX is asking for K-SAR's expertise only. That's you.”

  “What about Travis? He drives the Com Van.”

  “He's on his way to the flat spot before Capital Peak. It's you they really need on this one, Kat. Got another call coming in.”

  Before she could say anything else, Rand hung up. Kat ran into the bedroom to change. Grabbing her coat and keys, she disarmed the alarm and hurried out the door. The snow had stopped and as the day started to break, she saw only a few inches on the ground. That wasn't so bad.

  She jumped into her Xterra and stuck in her earpiece in case she got any calls on the way. No sooner did she activate the Bluetooth than her phone rang.

  “Kat Davis.”

  “Hey.”

  “Spence?” Her heart skipped and she both loved and hated that she still had that kind of reaction whenever he called. He didn't normally call while out on a find so, of course, she assumed the worst. “Is everything okay?”

  His voice trembled. “No.”

  Her stomach clenched. “What is it? What's wrong?”

  He drew a shaky breath. “We lost a guy tonight. He...” Spencer's voice faded and pain seeped through the line, straight into her.

  “Spencer? What happened?”

  “I ran over.” Another shaky breath. “It was too late. Gabriel Lyons. Been on the team longer than any of us.” His voice cracked.

  “Oh, Spencer.” Kat brought her hand to her mouth. She'd only met him on the Miller search. Spencer spoke of him often. He really cared for him, almost as a son would a father.

  Oh God. No. Her heart ached. Yet another father taken from him.

  “I'm so sorry.”

  “We have another one barely hanging on. Just a kid. They air vac'd him out. He's in surgery to remove the bullet.”

  “Bullet!” she cried and white-knuckled the steering wheel. “You were shot at?”

  “Yeah. No one else was hit.” After several ragged breaths, he went on. “I just had to hear your voice. Jesus, Mary is going to be devastated when TREX tells her. This will destroy her. This is why I won't... I can't do this to you.”

  Her heart stopped, the pain so intense she couldn't take a breath. “Spencer, don't say that. Don't you dare say that.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  “No,” she begged as her emotions got the better of her. Her eyes swelled with tears and her voice quivered. “You promised me. Please don't do this.”

  “Kathryn, baby. Don't cry.”

  “Don't make me cry.”

  “I just—” He swallowed a groan. “I can't. I just can't, Kathryn.”

  “Tell you what,” she said, bargaining for more time. He was clearly in no state to talk about their future and she needed to stay focused on the upcoming search. “Let's just talk about this later, okay? We don't need to talk about this now.”

  After several stressful seconds of silence, he answered, “Okay. I have to go. Please promise me something.”

  “Anything.”

  “If you get a call from Weber, don't take the job.”

  “I'm actually on my way there now.”

  “Sweet Jesus. Turn around, baby. Don't come up here.”

  “I'm coming,” she told him, determined to do whatever she could to end this. Whatever this was. She couldn't stand hearing Spencer in so much pain. He needed her. It was her turn to be his superhero.

  “Kathryn, don't. It's too dangerous.” The urgency in his voice scared her.

  That gave her pause. “What sort of danger?”

  “I-I can't tell you.”

  Of course. Well, to hell with the secrets and constant lies. This time, she'd put herself in the center of it all. This time, she'd get her answers for good.

  “ETA in twenty. I'll see you there.” She hung up before he convinced her otherwise.

  EIGHTEEN

  “We found a truck,” Cummings reported. “Straps in the bed. Yep. This definitely transported something up here.”

  “Oh darn,” Aims said after a crash sounded over the radio. “Someone broke this guy's window. Let's see who our mystery asshole is. Looks like the vehicle is registered to a Samuel Green. Address is a post office box so that's no help. No other info in the glove box.”

  “Anything else?” Spencer asked. He'd stayed behind with Lyons until TREX arrived to retrieve the body. The night gave way to another day despite the chaos that had stopped his world on a dime. Lyons was gone. McKoy was barely hanging on. And still, life went on.

  Aims went on. “It smells like ass in here.”

  “Musty,” Cummings cut in to clarify. “It's been parked here a while. Judging by the snow piled in the bed, it's been here about a week.”

  “A week?” Spencer growled. “Are you fucking kidding me? Salazar had this planned from the beginning. He played us on the Mi
ller search.”

  “Son of a shit storm.” Weber's voice sounded through the radio, which meant he had to be close. “No wonder Kat expertly extracted information out of him we couldn't. He knew we'd see right through him and counted on her doing exactly what she did.”

  “I don't think he meant for her to find the kid,” Spencer added. “His death was for another purpose. Why else hire mercs to kidnap a six-year-old?”

  Spencer spotted Weber's rig and waited until he pulled up to the cabin. He stepped out and walked up the hillside to the blanket covering Lyons's body. Kneeling down, he then lifted it and peeked under. He sucked in a breath and dropped the cover back down before standing.

  Weber turned to Spencer, a solemn look washing over his face. In a rare show of emotions, he said, “I'm sorry about this, Spence. I know what he meant to you.”

  “Thank you, Dan.”

  And, just like that, his face lost all expression as he hardened back into the gruff SAC Spencer needed right now. A TREX van pulled up behind Lyons's SUV. Spencer stood back and never took his eyes off Lyons as the team bagged his body and placed him in the van.

  “Do you want a cleaning crew, sir?” One of the agents looked at Weber.

  “Already on the way.”

  “There's not a whole lot of blood so it shouldn't take long.”

  “The bloody mess is over here.” Spencer led him over to where they'd extracted McKoy.

  “That sounds like something I'd say,” Rand cut in, his accent strong, no doubt on purpose.

  “Will you be joining us on this one?”

  “Not this time. I'll be monitoring the find from my office. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, Spence. I know you and Lyons were close.”

  Jesus Christ. If one more person offered condolences, Spencer would lose it. He was barely holding on as it was. He swallowed down the tightness in his throat and watched as the team took Lyons away.

  “Tell me what happened.” Weber's voice broke him of his trance of watching that van drive off with the man who had taken Spencer under his wing and taught him everything.