by Laurie Roma
“What did you do?” Tara whispered.
“I have ensured my safety or the destruction of this city. You choose, pet. You come with me and my men and I will call off the attack on the city. If not, we will all die. Every single man, woman, and child will die and their deaths will be your fault.”
“Bullshit,” Slade growled. “He’s bluffing.”
“I assure you, I am not. I have men in place waiting for me to either call in before the designated time or they will release the sarin and destroy the city. You Americans and your filthy ways…This city is the very essence of what I loathe about your people. Morally corrupt, godless creatures who aren’t worthy of life. If you don’t let me go, you will be the cause of millions of deaths.”
It happened in an instant.
The door to the room cracked open as a laughing couple began to push it open.
“Fuck!” Devon hissed as he dove at them, taking the startled couple through the doorway, down onto the hallway floor. The door snapped shut.
At the same time, the terrorist in the waiter’s uniform backed away from the sliver of light made by the crack of the opened door. He tripped on one of Tara’s shoes and went down hard. His finger slipped on the trigger of his gun and he began to shoot, causing a chain effect.
Gunfire exploded and echoed throughout the room as everyone reacted at once.
Mikayla dove into Brett, knocking him out of the way of the falling guard’s bullets. Glass shattered as Rock kept his promise and took down the guard with the mole on his forehead with his sniper rifle. Before the guard’s body collapsed, both Slade and Lucian fired at the other guard. The second guard’s body jerked with the impact of each of their bullets, then slumped to the floor, dead.
When the gunfire began Tara let her weight drop, pulling Sharif off balance.
He fired.
His gun slipped from where he had been holding it against her throat so the bullet kissed along her skin at her temple instead of lodging under her jaw. The pain was sharp and clear as the burn of the bullet tore through skin. Blood streamed down into her eye as she used one of her arms to knock his gun hand away from her. She struggled with him so he couldn’t get another shot off. With her other hand she brought up her knife. She aimed for his heart, but missed. Her knife slid between his ribs, into the soft tissue below.
Sharif let out a cry of pain and kicked her back.
Tara stumbled. She wasn’t prepared as Julian let out a primal roar of fury and barreled into them, knocking the three of the down to the floor.
Sharif’s gun skittered across the floor, away from them. Tara shook her head and gasped for air as she swiped at the blood pouring down from her head wound. She gaped at the sight of Julian on top of Sharif, whaling away at his face with his fist. Tara scrambled to her knees and tried to pull him back.
“Julian, enough!”
Slade and Lucian rushed forward to help her pull Julian off of him.
As if coming out of a dream, Julian shook his head then cursed as he got a good look at her. “Fuck! You’re bleeding!” He tore off his jacket and held it up to her head, trying to stem the bleeding.
Across the room Mikayla groaned. “You fucking owe me again,” Mikayla panted from where she lay on the floor, holding a hand pressed over where she was shot in her right leg.
“Shit, Lynx. Damn it, woman, why’d you have to go and put yourself in the way of a bullet meant for me again?” Brett tied a strip of cloth around her leg to stem the bleeding. “That’s twice now in the last two missions I’ve worked with you that you’ve saved my life.”
“Well, stop walking into bullets, then.”
“How was I supposed to know that idiot was gonna trip on Tara’s stupid shoe?” Brett’s voice was rough with concern.
“You’re like my bad luck charm,” Mikayla replied dryly, trying to mask the pain with humor. “I can’t take you anywhere.”
Sharif let out a scream as Lucian stepped down on Sharif’s hand, holding his bruised, bleeding body on the floor. It was evident from the wound that Tara’s knife had left that there would be no saving him. His life’s blood ran thick and dark on the floor, creating a macabre halo around his body that was growing wider with every passing second.
Slade knelt down next to Sharif’s body. “Where is the canister, Sharif? Tell me.”
“Fuck you,” Sharif whispered. “You may have killed me, but I will take you all to hell with me.” He let out a maniacal laugh, and then died.
Chapter Twenty-One
Countdown: 1 hour, 46 minutes, 33 seconds…
“Coming in,” Rock said through the comms a few seconds before he and his brother pushed into the room. He and Adrian surveyed the scene, taking note of injuries and the dead men littering the floor. Rock hurried toward Tara as Adrian went over to help Brett with Mikayla.
“T-rex?” Rock said her name in question, a demand to know if she was okay.
“I’m fine,” Tara complained as Julian pressed the makeshift bandage to her head. Rock placed a bag on the floor and began pulling out medical supplies.
“Oh god, baby. I’m so sorry,” Julian whispered.
“I said I’m fine, Ace,” Tara repeated. “You have nothing to be sorry about. Stop blaming yourself for this or you’re gonna piss me off.”
“Let me see.” Rock gave an impatient grunt. “Stop being a baby and let me see the damn thing.”
Tara shifted her head to the side so Rock could look at where the bullet had grazed her. Relief flooded his system as he saw for himself that the wound wasn’t that bad. “You’ll live.”
“I know that,” Tara muttered.
“But she’s bleeding so much,” Julian’s voice broke as he watched her with terror-filled eyes. Tara reached out a hand and clasped it around his, entwining their fingers together. That small connection helped center them both.
“Head wounds bleed like a bitch,” Slade commented from where he was squatting next to them.
“Ouch, damn it, Rock!” Tara slapped his hand away from her. “Stop poking at it and just slap a bandage on it.” Her eyes narrowed. “And if you even think of using one of those Hello Kitty Band-Aids I know you have hidden in your kit, I’ll kill you myself.”
“Damn, now why didn’t I think of that?” Rock laughed evilly as he dressed the wound with small butterfly bandages.
“We have LEOs heading in,” Adrian informed them from across the room where he was helping Brett. “Devon and hotel security are taking care of the guests that freaked when they heard the gunfire. There were only a few people down in this wing, so I think everything is pretty contained. Devon will show the medics in when they get here.”
“Fine,” Brett said. “Now we’ve got to figure out what the fuck Sharif did with the sarin before the entire city dies.”
“I’m down,” Mikayla said, “but if you need me to—”
“You’re going to the hospital,” Adrian demanded. “You ain’t doing shit but getting this leg taken care of.” He glanced up to Brett’s hard face. “Took another one for you huh, Bishop?”
“Fuck,” Brett breathed as he looked down at the blood on his hands.
“I’m fine. Go do your thing so I can keep breathing after they pull this bullet out.”
They turned as Devon ushered in the medics.
“Go,” Mikayla ordered.
Adrian and Brett left Mikayla to the care of the medics and walked over to join the others around Tara.
“He wasn’t bluffing,” Lucian said.
“No, he wasn’t,” Tara confirmed.
“Ma’am, let me—”
“Go away,” Tara said through clenched teeth as she glared at an approaching medic.
Julian ran a gentle hand over her hair. “Sweetheart, maybe you should let him look at you.”
“We don’t have time for this!” Tara hissed, then turned back to the medic. “Touch me and die.”
“Hey, no problem. You want me to leave, I’m gone.” The medic hurried away as fast a
s his feet could take him.
Rock let out a low laugh. “I love it when you talk dirty.”
“Sick bastard,” Tara said as she tried to hide a smile.
“We’ve got less than an hour and forty-five minutes left to figure this shit out,” Brett reminded them as Devon walked up to join them.
“I’d like to help,” Devon offered.
“Sure,” Brett muttered. “Feel free to join us for the shit storm.”
“At least for the next few minutes, since that seems to be how long we have left. Dude, it’s times like these that I wished I’d bagged that skanky blonde actress earlier,” Adrian said with a sigh.
“Focus,” Brett growled.
“Do you think it’s in the hotel somewhere?” Julian asked, concerned for the people in the building.
“No. A coward like Sharif would never have left it somewhere where it could have killed him by accident. I’d say it’s somewhere within two hours’ distance from here,” Lucian said.
“Gee, that narrows it down. Anyone want to hazard a guess where in particular that would be? Maybe we should call the psychic hotline and ask for directions,” Adrian scoffed.
Tara rolled her eyes. “Geez, Adrian, you’ve been hanging out with Finn too much.”
The agents continued to throw out ideas in a rapid-fire pace as Julian got up to get Tara a bottle of water. He didn’t like letting go of her hand, even for a minute, but he didn’t like the pallor of her skin and he knew she would see this through to the end.
Seeing her bleeding on the floor after the gun went off had almost killed Julian. His heart had stopped in his chest and a red haze of fury had washed over him like a tidal wave. Before he knew it, he was on Sharif, pounding his face into a bloody mess. The feeling of stark pain in his fists as each blow fell had felt like glory.
Julian grabbed a few bottles of water from the bar and hurried back to Tara’s side. “Here, baby, drink some of this.”
“Thanks,” Tara said before taking a sip.
Well, shit! That was it!
Tara inhaled the water as she gasped. She violently coughed as Julian pulled her into his arms. “What is it, Tara? Are you hurt?”
“It’s the water!” Tara exclaimed, her eyes bright with the knowledge she was right.
Brett cursed. “Of course, where it the nearest water treatment plant?”
“There are two. One is about a half an hour south, the other is about two hours northwest of the city,” Julian said.
Brett and Tara’s eyes met. “It’s the second one.”
“But we still have to make sure it isn’t the closer one. He could have planned for us to go to that one only to have planted his men at the other plant,” Lucian argued.
“Steele’s right,” Adrian agreed.
“Steele, you, Adrian, and Slade head to the first location. T-rex, Rock and I will head to the second,” Brett ordered.
“We’re on it,” Slade said.
“Gear up and move out in ten.” Brett slipped his phone from his pocket and strode from the room, snapping orders into it as he left.
Adrian turned to Devon. “You still want to help?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know where the treatment plant is?” Slade asked.
“Yes, and I can get you there in twenty.”
“Good. You’re coming with us.”
Rock stood and grinned down at Tara. “Come on, T-rex. Let’s boogie.”
“I’m going with you,” Julian said.
Rock shrugged. “Whatever. I ain’t the one you have to convince.” He shot a pointed stare at Tara before walking away.
Yeah right, there was no way in hell she was going to let Julian come with them into the line of fire again tonight. She still hadn’t been able to process what had almost happened to him earlier. Instead of arguing, Tara got up off the floor and sighed. “It’s a damn good thing this dress is red. You can’t even see the blood.”
“Something to always keep in mind when making a fashion decision.”
“It is for me. Come on, I have to change. If I die tonight, I’ll be damned if I do it wearing millions in diamonds.”
“Yes, because that would just be embarrassing.”
* * * *
Countdown: 48 minutes, 29 seconds…
“If you get yourself hurt, Ace, I’m going to kill you.”
Julian sighed. “I heard you the first twenty times you’ve said that.”
Tara simply grunted as she and Julian made their way to the back entrance of the water treatment plant. The team had split up, with Rock and Brett making their way through the front.
Julian shadowed behind her, remaining silent as he followed her lead. It had been a long, vicious argument, but Julian had refused to back down. This was his city, his woman who had already been injured and he had made it clear that he would not let her go on this mission without him by her side.
Finally giving in, Tara had made him dress in the specialized combat gear of black pants and shirt made of a material that Julian had never seen before. There had been a brief moment of hesitation on his part as they had strapped on various weapons, but he had manned up and was ready to go when the team left the hotel.
They had taken his helicopter to the second location, putting down out of sight and going in on foot so any sentries wouldn’t see them coming. They had blanked the security system, running the tapes on a loop as they made their way to the building.
This was all very new to him. He knew how to use a gun and was sure that he could hold his own in a fight, but he was smart enough to know that he needed to follow Tara’s orders if he was going to help and not get in her way.
Tara was seething inside.
Back at the hotel Julian had been stubborn as hell, insisting on going with them on the op. What she had wanted to do was knock his ass out and lock him in their room where he couldn’t be hurt, but she could respect his need to protect the city he called his own.
Tara held her hand up in a silent gesture to stop them from moving forward as her comms signaled.
“Slade to team two.”
“Bishop here, go.”
“We’ve checked site one. It’s a negative. Repeat. We have check and there is no sign of Sharif’s men or the canister, over.”
“Copy that. We’re heading into site two now.”
“We are on our way to secondary location and will patch in when we arrive. Good hunting,” Slade said then cut the connection.
“Did you copy, T-rex?”
“Affirmative. We are in place at the back entrance.”
“Move in,” Brett ordered.
Tara pulled out a set of tools and quickly went to work picking the lock on the back door to the facility. In seconds she had it opened.
“That’s a handy skill.”
“Sure is. Get your game face on, Julian. We’re going in.”
Julian’s grip tightened on the Glock in his hand as they slipped through the door. Inside, the building was empty of people. Knowing that a skeleton crew was on shift made it easier for the team to slip into place.
Tara made her way down the hallway on silent feet, cringing internally as she could hear Julian following her. She turned around to glare at him.
“Buddy, we need to work on your stealth skills.”
Julian flushed and made a conscious effort to lighten his tread as they continued on. Tara placed a hand lightly on his arm, stopping him instantly.
“Stay here,” she whispered before creeping forward, gun trained at the ready.
Julian watched as she made her way to the end of the hallway where she quickly checked the other corridor before motioning him forward again. They had studied the layout of the building during the flight and knew where the main treatment machinery was located. As they made their way there, Tara once again held her hand up to stop them. She moved forward to the body lying on the floor. The guard had been shot.
“Shit. Bishop, we’ve got a guard down,” Tara said.
&nb
sp; “There was no one at the security desk up front either. They’re here.”
“Yeah, they are,” Tara agreed. “Proceeding to target location.”
“We’ll meet you there.”
Tara led the way down a set of metal stairs into the heart of the building then burst into a run as Rock’s voice sounded in her ear. “Fuck, we’ve got contact. Five tangos by the main water lines. We’re pinned down.”
“Keep them busy,” Tara ordered as she and Julian ran down a metal gangway then down another flight of stairs. They could hear the shouts and gunfire now, coming from in front of them.
“Are you ready for this?” she whispered to Julian.
“Yes. Let’s get this done.”
Tara held her gun up and slowed her steps, controlling her breathing as she sighted her first target down. It was a man holding the canister, trying to unscrew the top in a hurry as he rushed toward the main water line. She pulled the trigger and dropped him.
One of the terrorists turned to fire at her, but Julian took him out before he could fire his weapon. Rock took out another as the terrorist scrambled for cover. Tara fired at another but was pushed off balance as Julian rammed into her. A bullet pinged off a metal pipe where her head had been.
Tara squeezed off a shot as two more terrorists fired at them from the metal catwalk above. One of the men clutched at his chest and fell while Julian shot at the other.
“Clear,” Brett called out.
“Clear,” Tara said but still held her gun up, looking for any more possible threats.
“I’ve got the canister,” Rock announced.
Tara turned to see him holding the metal canister in his gloved hands. “Did he get a chance to open it?”
They all held their breath.
“It’s still sealed. Call someone in to get this shit. My balls are shriveling just thinking about what’s in this thing.”
Brett barked out a laugh. “That is certainly a colorful way to put it.”