Night Moves: A Shadow Force Novel

by Stephanie Tyler

That made Kell snap to. He’d been fighting himself for so long it was almost a relief to transfer his anger onto someone else, no matter how misplaced.

  They’d fought like this only once before. When they were seventeen and Kell had attempted to leave the foster home for good without Reid.

  Now he rammed into Reid, his head down like a charging bull, pushing his friend against the wall in the hallway. Reid didn’t let Kell keep the upper hand for long, used the momentum to propel himself at Kell. They both went tumbling to the ground, arms swinging, fists pounding. There were grunts and curses, months of pent-up anger and frustration behind every hit.

  At some point, they rolled into a bedroom. Reid brought a small table down on Kell and Kell in turn used the leg to hold Reid in place by the neck. Reid drove his leg up into Kell’s kidney, and he howled in pain, hit the wall where Reid practically threw him.

  “Son of a bitch,” he cursed, and Reid went at him.

  “That’s you, not me.” Reid landed a blow and Kell attempted to stand. Reid pulled him back down again and rolled with him until Kell was under him, pinned.

  “Please stop.”

  Teddie’s voice barely registered at first, not when his hand was locked across Reid’s throat. Reid had him in a similar hold and their free hands were alternately blocking and punching. Reid was still on top of him, but Kell brought up a sharp elbow directly to Reid’s side.

  It was Reid’s turn to go down in an angry howl of pain. Kell shifted to grab him again but Teddie moved between them, shoving herself in the small space that separated the men.

  It was a stupid move, and a brave one.

  “Stop it—you’re killing each other,” she said, a hand on both men as if she could keep them apart like that. Reid was looking up at her, his face bloodied, his eyes still glittering with a fierce anger.

  “Move,” he told her. “Or I will move you.”

  “Try it,” she snapped back, pushed at him a little. And he did, went to pick her up by the hips and physically move her out of the way, but Kell stopped him by holding up his hands as if surrendering.

  Reid dropped Teddie and stumbled out of the room, muttering. Kell turned away from Teddie and made it to the bed before collapsing.

  He knew she’d be there when he opened his eyes, and so he did, sooner rather than later, surveyed the damage to the wall, the table. Felt it on his face and body and fists.

  “Christ,” he mumbled, wondered if Reid would accept his apology now and then realized he wasn’t ready to give it yet.

  Fucker. And he was right about everything. Always had been, and that was the most unnerving thing about the man.

  “Want to tell me what that’s about?” Teddie asked.

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “I understand anger all too well,” she said. Left him for a second and came back with a wet washcloth, proceeded to wipe his face where he’d been cut and bruised.

  Reid was a hard opponent, as fierce as he was. If they’d wanted to, they could’ve done some real damage to each other. “We haven’t fought like that since we were kids.”

  “How long have you known him?”

  “Since we were sixteen.” He shifted, winced. He’d still been sore from the fight in the alley. Reid’s beating on top of it just served to remind him that he was being an asshole. Pulling away from the very men who always had his back.

  For good reason. You’re responsible for fucking them up. “Reid’s still pissed at me for leaving,” Kell explained. “It’s a long story—a lot of shit I can’t tell you. And some I just won’t.”

  Would it be that way between them forever? And why was he thinking forever with Teddie when he’d long ago trained himself to think only about today—that minute, that house, only thinking ahead so far as a mission required him to.

  But he couldn’t stop seeing Teddie there, with him. “I assassinated men from DMH—a terrorist organization. I hunted them down one by one. I felt like no one could stop me, and no one did. Instead, they got four men from my team. And they tortured them. Killed one of them. The three that survived will never be the same. And Reid’s one of those three.”

  The kindness in Teddie’s eyes nearly killed him, but he didn’t turn away, not even when she said, “But they don’t blame you.”

  “Reid’s angry. I left him when he needed me to just be there, the way I’ve always been. But seeing him … seeing all of them like that …” He shook his head. “I took off without waiting for orders from my CO.”

  He’d spent a month or two turning every rock, rattling every cage, the panic growing to a point where there was only one way to stuff it down. He let the cold, calculating part of him seep back in—just a little, he told himself—and it had worked. He focused. Killed anyone who’d gotten in his way. “It wasn’t good enough. If I’d been faster, more careful …”

  “You found them.”

  “One of them died because I wasn’t quick enough.”

  “The God complex is not a good look for you.” The words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop them and she was sure they would turn Kell angry and cold. Instead, he looked at her, an animal awakened, savage—and yes, she could see the pain there. Wanted to smooth it away with a word, a touch, a kiss … all the while knowing it could never be that easy.

  Or could it?

  She leaned in and touched her lips to his. He responded instantly—hungrily—reached for her. Pulled her close as blood coursed hot through her, a rush like a sudden fever, a clawing, all-consuming need. It didn’t seem to matter to him that, minutes earlier, he’d been fighting.

  It was as if that had brought his blood to boil, but she didn’t care what did it. She felt as if a wall had been broken, as if she suddenly understood him.

  She wanted to know everything about him and she wasn’t sure how or why it happened, but it was too late to stop it.

  “You want to fix me, don’t you?” he whispered against her neck, and she nodded.

  “You want to fix me too,” she whispered, and he snorted a little, kissed his way up her neck as his hands wound around her waist. And then he just stopped, like he knew she had more to say. “I’ve turned into someone I don’t recognize. I hurt, all the time, and when I’m not thinking about the people I’ve lost, I’m thinking about revenge.” She paused. “I guess you understand.”

  “Better than you know.” Kell splayed his palm along her lower back to pull her in close. “You want to feel, right? Something—anything—besides hate and fear.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you really?” he asked, tilting his hips toward her, his erection jutting against her, a hot, wet heat between her legs that made her press back against him, lighting a fire in his eyes.

  “Yes. Why are you doing this?”

  “I’m doing it to get what I need,” he growled, before his mouth covered hers and she didn’t have to ask any more questions. Just needed his skin on hers, his big, strong hands gliding over her body, stripping her down. Letting her come apart.

  “Wait … what about Reid?”

  “He’ll know to stay out,” Kell said against her mouth. “You want to do this even though you’re scared of me?”

  “Because I’m scared of you.”

  Then it was all heat and moans as he moved down between her legs, tasted her through her underwear until she arched against his mouth.

  She’d had sex before, a few one-night stands, even in countries with men who seemed wild—but compared to Kell, they had all been tame.

  Kell was not—his body poised over her like an animal in full predator mode, stalking every inch of her, until she ached to be held down and taken.

  “Kell … yes …”

  “Yes what?”

  “Yes to everything.”

  But then, just as suddenly, he pulled away. Stopped to listen to a sound she couldn’t hear at all.

  “Get dressed—get your things,” he told her, didn’t explain further, and she didn’t need him to. As Kell went
down the stairs and she headed to the room where her clothes were, she saw Reid standing at the door, rifle in hand.

  Her heart pounded and she raced to her bathroom, tearing off the robe and putting on the black pants Kell had left for her, tying them up as best she could and grabbing her own clothes and stuffing them into her bag.

  She shoved her feet into her sneakers and went down the stairs quietly, not wanting to disturb the men. She sank onto the bottom step and waited for Kell or Reid’s next direction. Watched as Kell collected the mens’ things as Reid stood guard.

  “Come on, Teddie.” Kell finally motioned to her from the doorway leading out to the garage.

  She got into the second seat of the truck’s cab—it seemed way sturdier than the Jeep and she figured the safest spot would be in back. Ducking. Although she doubted it was bulletproof.

  “Are you any good at shooting?” Kell asked, and yes, she’d learned when she’d been traveling in dangerous places. She’d honed her skills this past year, only leaving her gun behind so she could cross the border more easily, then buying one in Mexico.

  “Didn’t I prove that to you already?”

  He arched a brow. “You proved you’re willing to shoot. What I want to know is, how good’s your aim?”

  “I wouldn’t have missed.”

  “Good.” He handed her his gun, butt-first. “Keep your eyes peeled. Don’t shoot me or Reid, no matter how tempting.”

  She laughed in spite of herself, nearly horrified at what a foreign sound it was. “Where are you going to be?”

  “Reid will be here, with you. I’m going to scout outside so we’re not driving into an ambush.”

  That should’ve made her feel safer. Instead, she was terrified. “Don’t get hurt.”

  “That’s the idea,” he told her as Reid got into the driver’s seat. In seconds, Kell shut the door and disappeared as both she and Reid waited in tense silence, staring at the garage door in front of them.

  “We’ll be fine, Teddie,” Reid said after a long moment, his voice calm and oddly reassuring.

  She’d thought he was as angry at her as he seemed to be with Kell, but from the tone of his voice, she suddenly knew that wasn’t the case at all.

  There was no one outside the house. Kell checked the entire perimeter twice, moving silently through the thick bushes that kept the place private from passersby.

  Reid said the security cameras hadn’t captured anything. But if he and Reid were coming at this house from the outside, the cameras would never have captured them either. It was why he only put stock in his instincts.

  Maybe his instincts and Reid’s were all fucked up from the threat Crystal posed. But no matter what, staying in the house was no longer an option.

  “Come on out, Reid,” he called. “I’ll check around the front gate, but it looks all clear.”

  The garage door opened almost silently. What happened next wasn’t even close.

  When the bomb and the flash-bang grenades went off simultaneously, Kell was far enough away to get hit with only part of the blast. The full brunt would’ve surely killed him, as the partial was still close enough for him to get thrown to the ground hard and to—hopefully temporarily—take away the majority of his hearing.

  And then Reid was kneeling over him, his lips moving and Kell tried to tell him he was fine but must’ve been yelling because Reid slapped a hand over his mouth to shut him up.

  The aftermath of an explosion was always eerily quiet, but his lack of hearing made it far worse.

  “Don’t move, don’t talk,” Reid was saying, and Kell nodded, but fuck that hurt. He saw spots and knew he’d pass out soon, tried to get up so Reid wouldn’t have to carry him to the truck. But he got halfway up and Reid mouthed, “Stubborn bastard,” and then everything went black.

  Teddie heard the explosion, felt the heavy truck actually rock when it was halfway through the garage door, and she pressed a hand to her mouth so she didn’t scream.

  Instead, she moved to the front seat after Reid abandoned it to look for Kell and tried to see through the front window.

  The night was too dark, the smoke too chokingly dense, and she fought the urge to leave the truck and run to see if the men were all right.

  They had to be.

  Finally, after what seemed an eternity, she saw two figures emerge through the haze, one carrying the other. She scrambled to the back of the truck and opened the doors. Reid set Kell down and crawled in after him.

  “Is he …?” she asked.

  “He’ll be fine. Can you drive us out of here?”

  “Yes,” she agreed without hesitation, moved behind the wheel and got the truck moving, her heart beating a tattoo in her chest.

  Reid couldn’t have been lying to her—Kell was okay. He’d been breathing, and that was always a good sign.

  The road outside the house was quiet and she sped along the dirt and rock as fast as she could manage in the large vehicle, which was surprisingly smooth. For about four miles, there were no problems. And then she caught sight of something in the rearview mirror.

  It was a car coming up behind them with its headlights switched off, and it was moving fast.

  “We’re being followed.” She willed herself to stay calm, listened to Reid telling her to bank a hard left and floor it. As she followed his directions, she heard him readying a weapon, the truck bouncing more than she’d like it to because of Kell. But Reid reassured her she was doing great, that he would take over as soon as he could.

  “Teddie, lose them,” Reid instructed.

  She would because she knew for certain she needed these men, needed to prove to them she could be an asset. She shoved her fear down and let a more productive and empowering anger take over. It pushed her to maneuver the heavy truck easily down the back roads.

  She’d had the good fortune and privilege to meet all kinds of people over the years, spent some time learning to drive race cars, and now she let those underutilized skills come back to her.

  “Hang on,” she called as she swerved hard and watched the car behind her shake on its wheels. She slammed the brakes and doubled back, letting the other truck careen past and into the ravine on the side of the road. She wasted no time savoring her victory, instead punched down the gas until they were flying down the road again and then cut across to the main road, trying to avoid being spotted.

  When she was done she didn’t hear a single complaint, just an appreciative whistle and Kell saying loudly, “Where the hell did she learn to do that?”

  “I don’t care where you learned, I’m just glad you did,” Reid said, a note of surprise and approval in his voice. Instead of taking over, he directed her down back roads, and even though no one was following them now, she used a series of circle maneuvers, just in case. Held her breath until she realized they were no longer being followed.

  Then she exhaled, nearly every part of her body shaking, and continued driving to keep them in the clear.

  “Teddie, we’re going to the border,” Reid said.

  “But Reid, I—”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Reid told her, and she heard him talking on his phone to someone about needing a special dispensation to cross back into Texas.

  When he got off the phone, he told her, “Pull over when you can and you and I need to switch.”

  “Will do.” But she wanted to make sure the danger was truly behind them for now. And she needed to make sure that the scared girl she’d left behind wouldn’t return anytime soon.

  Now was the time for strength, for keeping her shit together. She would do it if it meant staying safe.

  She drove for another half an hour at top speed, and so far, so good. When she caught sight of a hidden spot along the road, she pulled over and killed the lights, then quickly switched spots with Reid.

  Reid turned the lights back on and gunned it. “We’re ten minutes from the border,” he said. “Just hang on—it’s going to be rough.”

  She was sitting mainly
on the floor and letting Kell take up the majority of the backseat. Her limbs were like jelly, thanks to the adreneline and the tight hold she’d kept over her body during the driving.

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Yeah. He had a double whammy with the flash-bang grenades,” Reid explained. “They blur your sight and take your hearing temporarily. They toss you down hard, worse if you try to fight it. These took him by surprise. He was lucky as hell—his sight came back fast.” Reid paused for a second and then asked, “You all right?”

  “Yes. Where are we taking him?”

  “We’re going to get him checked out. Lose the truck and get to another safe house. One that lives up to its name,” Reid muttered that last part angrily.

  She touched Kell’s cheek gently, relieved to feel the warmth, reassured by the steady rise and fall of his chest. “Is he unconscious?”

  As if to answer her, Kell squeezed her hand. No.

  Good.

  “How’d you cross coming in?” Reid asked.

  “Easily.” She’d been worried the whole time, but they’d let her pass without incident, viewing her as a single woman headed for a vacation adventure.

  Getting out would be a different story—something she’d planned on figuring out later. The marshals had taken her passport and IDs last year when she’d gone into hiding, issuing her a new one under a false name, which is what she’d used. “Reid, I don’t have a passport,” she reiterated. “I have no ID or tourist card—I left them at the motel by accident when I went to the restaurant to meet Samuel.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Just stay where you are and don’t open your mouth,” Reid said as they pulled up alongside a border guard carrying a big gun.

  He looked in and saw her and Kell holding hands, told Reid, “I’m collecting on this favor.”

  “Can’t blame you for that,” Reid drawled.

  “Try to stay the hell out of Mexico for a while.” He tapped the side of the truck, called, “All clear.”

  Her heart pounded as they drove across the border, leaving Mexico in their rearview mirror.

  But somehow, she realized, she was involved in far worse trouble than when she’d started.