by Carnes, Cara
Conver backhanded Sage, who tumbled to the floor in a mass of limbs. Nevada drop-kicked him and yanked on her downed sister. The second guard grabbed them both, only to get slammed into the wall. Blood sprayed on the wall.
The women stared down at the carnage they’d created. Son of a bitch, Dagan hadn’t known they were capable of something like that. Judging from the silence and shocked auras around him, neither did anyone else. They watched as the two began arguing.
“No, we can’t go back, Sage. You know damn good and well what will happen. Those two are dead. Conver won’t kill us for it. It’ll be the guys. We will always be their Achilles’ heels. As long as we’re around, they’re slaves to that bastard.”
“Then we kill him now.”
“No. We kill him and they’ll never stop chasing us. We’ll be labeled murderers and every Shadow will be at risk. We break out, but we do it without a body count.”
Sage drew a weapon from one of the guards and fired two rounds into each of Conver’s thighs. "There. That’ll give us time to circle back, get the others.”
“No. We go alone.”
“Fuck me,” Ace whispered as he leaned back in his chair.
“You know I’m right,” Nevada said. “You know why we’re out of time. I can’t stay here, Sage. I can’t. It kills me to walk away from them, but I don’t have a choice. Conver might be down for now, but his men aren’t. Going back is too dangerous. Someone would die. I can’t have their deaths on my hands. We have go. Alone. Now.”
“I can’t stay here without you. Let’s go back, tell them everything. They’ll understand.”
“No,” Nevada shouted. “They can never know. You think they’ll be okay with what happened? What we did?”
“We didn’t do anything. We survived. There’s a big difference.” Sage wiped her face with her hand. “Fine, you’re right. I hate it, but you’re right. Let me at least say goodbye. Please. This is going to rip my heart into pieces. Let me at least make it easier on him.”
“We can’t,” Nevada whispered. “You know why.”
The two of them hugged, and their soft crying on the video footage echoed in the room. Dagan swore as the tone radiating from his teammates turned from grim to shocked and enraged as they stared at the monitors. Betrayal slammed Dagan hard. He bristled as the emotions of his comrades pounded his senses. Everyone in the room had thought Nevada and Sage were dead. The footage smacked of intent. They’d wanted to escape without them. They’d decided to leave Kaeden and Trent. The team.
As Dagan worked to lock down the growing sense of betrayal and resulting rage within the room, he thought back on their exchange. Something had forced their hand. Neither woman seemed fully vested in the decision to flee. It was as though they’d had no choice because of something that they’d done, something that had happened.
What the fuck had happened?
Ace moved to pause the footage.
“Let it play,” Kaeden ordered, his arms crossed.
The footage continued on the next monitor as they made their way out of the corridor to the exterior. Tears flowed down both of their cheeks as they fled past the camera and out of the building before they appeared in the next monitor and sprinted across the southern edge of the compound and up the hill that led to the forested area.
“We lose sound after this, but I’m assuming you might be able to figure things out since you were there,” Devyn whispered as she started the final monitor.
The compound exploded. Fire engulfed the area they’d been in. Bitter rage chewed away at Dagan as he turned and charged out of the room. He couldn’t handle this shit, not now.
Son of a bitch.
They’d brought that building down. Overpowering the few guards they’d been surrounded by had been simple enough, but hundreds of them had waited in the bunkers—ready to be called up at a moment’s notice. The ordnance they’d set off was supposed to blow a hole in the wall so they could find Nevada and Sage.
Ace paused the footage and pulled up a few other cameras. “Well, that answers the question we’ve had.”
Oxygen tanks in the supply closet on the other side of the wall. Why would Conver store oxygen tanks? Fuck.
“Look, they’re all over the place.” Ace pointed at monitors. “That ordnance set off the place like dominoes falling.”
It had been his idea to blow that wall and go after the twins.
“Dagan.” Devyn’s voice chased him as he charged down the hall and out the back door.
Fuck. It wasn’t safe for her to be up and around this quickly after her recent power usage, and he knew she wouldn’t listen if he asked her to back off.
He charged back into the room as she approached the door. He headed upstairs.
“Dagan, talk to me. Don’t hold this in, whatever it was.”
“It was fucked up, that’s what it was.” Dagan slammed the bedroom door behind them. “We thought they died. All this time we blamed ourselves because we’d blown that wall and brought that whole compound down.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was my idea. I was the one who set that ordnance and blasted it. I thought I’d killed them.” He shook his head. “Why the hell would they leave without us? Why would they hide the fact they survived from us?”
“But they’re alive. That’s a good thing. I’m sure they had a reason for running like they did. We’ll find them.” She squeezed his arm, and the last of his control imploded.
“I don’t know if finding them is the answer. You have no idea how much this destroyed us, shook the foundation of every single thing we believed in.”
“They had a reason. I heard the love in their voices. What they had with Kaeden and Trent was real. Whatever went down must’ve been bad, real bad.”
“Yeah, and that doesn’t help.” He ran his hand through his hair and took a few calming breaths.
Maybe she was right. Conver was a ruthless son of a bitch. As horrible as it’d been for him and the guys to witness the atrocities committed on the women, it would’ve been worse to live them. Hell, they’d been tortured endlessly as well, but that had been in the name of training. Not punishment.
Devyn stood before him, shrinking beneath the heated anger he allowed to flow from him. He cursed softly and pulled her into his arms. “What I know for certain is that you just gave us all something we didn’t have before—hope. You’re right, babe. We can find them and figure out what the hell went down back then. And why. I just pray to hell they’re still alive.”
“I still don’t understand why any of this would make General Conver hunt me down. Why would he care if you found out about them still being alive? For that matter, how would he even know you’d see it, even if he did figure out I breeched his network?”
“Because you don’t leave a trail.”
“Right.”
“Damn Ace. This is all on him. I knew he wouldn’t wait until the recovery op to go through the footage. He always has to go that extra mile, be prepared for whatever may hit the fan.”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Devyn asked.
“In this case, yes. Now we’ve got Trent and Kaeden enraged over what happened back then and me wondering what the hell it all has to do with you.” Dagan wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Not now, not ever.
Chapter Seven
Devyn ran through her inventory one last time. Now that she had everything Dare and Rider would take on an op, she probably resembled Lara Croft. She’d even braided her hair to keep it out of the way.
All she had to do was convince everyone else she was in this op. She wasn’t sure who’d be a harder sell, Dagan or Dare. The latter had yet to speak to her one on one. A knock at the door drew her attention.
“Dare, think of the devil and out he comes.” She studied him a moment and decided to the point was the best recourse. “We good?”
“We’re always good.” Dare smirked as he sauntered into the room. “I figured I’d find you prepping for the op. I�
��m not sure you going alone is the best idea.”
“Really? So you know someone else who can control all the surveillance cameras, traffic lights, and anything else, including the pop-up toaster, if needed? Gee, I thought that’d be a pretty nifty ability to have since there are all sorts of electronics to bypass.”
“Your boy’s not gonna be too thrilled about you being in the line of fire, and I’ve gotta admit I’m right there with him. Conver’s too hot to trot where you’re concerned. It’s not safe for you to go in.”
“And it’s not safe for all of you if I don’t.” She allowed her guilt and pain to radiate from her when she looked him in the eyes, hoping her openness would help him get how important this was to her. “He’s there because of me, Dare.”
“I get it, Indy. More than anyone, I get it. I’m just giving you a heads-up. You’ve got an uphill battle with the crew in there. They’re wound tight and about to implode ’cause of the footage you uncovered. Emotions running this raw are volatile, and adding the need to protect an untrained female operative into the mix isn’t smart.”
“I’m trained. I’m going with them.”
Dare laughed. “You really think they’d consider the few hours of work Rider and I did with you training? No way in hell you’re going.”
Arguing with Dare about whether she was helping rescue Rider was stupid. There was only one way she’d know for sure. Ask Dagan and Kaeden. Not that it really mattered. One way or another, she was going. She charged past Dare and headed toward the door. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled firmly enough to make her look back.
“You did good, babe.” Dare’s voice lowered to a barely audible whisper. “No matter what comes from today, know you did right by them.”
She’d wanted to pay them back for helping with Rider. “I—I can’t lose him.”
“We won’t.” Dare hugged her to him. “We’ll get him back.”
She nodded, unable to get any words past the lump in her throat. Thank goodness Mia wasn’t here to sense the turbulent emotions overtaking her. As they entered the hallway, she turned.
“I’m sorry for, you know, not filling you in on what I found.”
“I get it. If I were you, I would’ve done the same thing. Just remember, even when I may not back your play, I’ll always back you.”
The solidarity strengthened her as she entered the war room. Every eye landed on her. Corbin and Cash both chuckled outright as their gazes ran down her. Rex and Trent looked away with jaw twitches.
“Damn it, you’re supposed to be a geek like me. Why does everyone have to go bad-ass?” Ace glared at Kaeden. “You turned her.”
“Rider’s her teammate. Not a single one of us would sit back and let another team pull one of us out without being right there, doing what we could.” Kaeden’s gaze slid down her in a slow perusal that made her tingle in all the right places. “You’ve got great taste, man.”
“Yeah, I do.” Dagan set his hand on her shoulder as he leaned in from behind and whispered, “You know how to make an entrance, babe.”
“Too much?” She looked down at the snug cargo pants loaded down with a KBAR and a treasure trove of gun clips and anything else she could fit into the pockets. Pockets were awesome. “Maybe I went a bit overboard squirreling stuff away.”
“It’s the girl scout in you.”
Dagan smirked as he took a tactical vest from the table and suited her up. When it was secured, he captured her gaze. “Walk around, get used to the weight.”
“Y’all are letting me go?”
“Recognizing the value of an asset is imperative in an op,” Trent stated. “We move in ten.”
He and Kaeden left the room, followed quickly by the rest of the team, including Dare. They had enough firepower to take on a small country. Okay, several small countries. Terror thundered through her when she imagined one of them getting hurt. No, she couldn’t handle any of them getting hurt because of her, because she’d let Rider get caught.
“Let that guilt go, babe. It isn’t yours to own.” Her pulse flared to life as Dagan fanned kissed along her neck. His fingers glided along her cheek. “This is what we do. We’ve got this.”
She shivered beneath the touch, and her skin tingled. He’d seized her fear and ripped it to shreds with the truth. They had this. She nodded her agreement and settled her hands on her gut. Dear God, please let them have this.
“Do I make you nervous?” He pulled his fingers from her face.
“No,” she whispered as she turned to face him. “You know you don’t.”
He cupped her neck and kissed her softly. Pleasure rippled through her as he licked her lips as if they had an eternity to sample one another. “I need you to do something for me today, Devyn.”
“Okay,” she said breathily.
“First off, I want you wearing these.” He held up earrings that he put on her. “There’s a small transmitter in them. It should be undetectable by standard means, but it’ll have just enough juice for you to pop it on if needed. Ace said something about the components being broken up so they won’t be detected because they aren’t combined or something like that.”
“How romantic,” she quipped. Ace was a true God of geekly things. She’d never thought to break components apart. It was true genius because melding them into a working unit was simple enough.
“It’s the boy scout in me,” he teased. “Now, before Kaeden comes in and drags us out, here’s the real favor I need from you. We get to the site, you hang back and take charge supervising Diaz and his crew. You’ll be on the comm, able to hear everything going down. You can do your thing from a distance. Dare filled us in.”
“So I’m in, but out.”
“I can’t risk something happening to you. None of us can.” Dagan closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on hers. “Please understand, babe.”
Even though the initial euphoria of being one of the guys and in on the op had been doused with reality, she understood. “I get it. I’ll hang back, but, if things go south and I think I can help, I’m in. Don’t ask me to stand back and watch while everyone who means something to me puts themselves at risk saving my teammate.”
Dagan nodded. “Tonight, you and me.”
Arousal flared, pulsating within her core. She squeezed her thighs together and relished the feminine awareness overpowering her senses.
“I’d like that.”
* * * * *
“I’m impressed with your girl. She hung back without a fight. I expected drama.” Kaeden double-checked his weapon before sliding it into place along his right side. “Those kids of Diaz’s crew think she’s an angel who hung the moon.”
“The crew’s larger than I expected, harder to control. We may need to send some of them away.”
“Let Diaz work it, see how he handles his side of the op. The kid’s got a good head. Dare and Rider have done a good job working with him.”
“Think those two are level six?”
“My gut says yes, which makes me wonder what they were doing at the facility in the first place. It seems like a big risk to have them at an unsecured location, even if they were trying to break whatever bond they’d formed.” Kaeden looked over at Dare. “He doesn’t say much about that time.”
“I’m sure he has his reasons. Whatever went down, they weren’t Elite from what he said. It sounded darker, worse than what we’d done. He’d probably like to scrub those times away.” Dagan didn’t like to think about those times and knew most of the guys on his team agreed. “You okay? That footage was unexpected.”
“I can’t think about her right now, man. Trent and I have it locked down. We’ll process later, review the footage again, and figure out a game plan. For now all that matters is getting Devyn’s man back.”
“She thinks there’s more going on. She doesn’t see why the footage would be a big enough deal that they'd come after her, and I have to admit I don’t either.”
“Yeah. Something else is at play. We’ll stay aler
t.”
“Hey, Shadows.”
Dagan stilled and turned to the young punk trudging toward them. He appeared to be fifteen at the oldest, but a lifetime of wariness resided in his gaze as he approached.
“You need something?” Dagan didn’t recall seeing the kid before, but Diaz had quite a few running in his crew.
“Yeah, I’m in.” He fisted his hands and shoved them into pockets. “Let Indy and Diaz know Patch and his crew are in.”
His head uplifted to his left, where a small huddle of three kids no older than ten waited. Their clothes were worn, but clean. They grasped hands and regarded Dagan and Kaeden with widened gazes.
Jesus, how did Devyn handle seeing shit like this on a daily basis and not go crazy? These kids needed to be at home with a glass of warm milk, a blanket, and an animated movie. The biggest worry they should have right now was whether to have chicken nuggets or fish sticks for dinner.
“You’re in?” Kaeden asked as he regarded Patch.
“Yeah, the op.” The kid looked around. “Indy here?”
“She’s with Diaz and his crew. You part of that crew?”
“Nah, Diaz and me are cool, but he don’t get our issues. I take care of us now. Indy makes sure we’re good, and we don’t got to listen to Diaz and his rules.” The kid stared Kaeden down. “I’m in. You owe me.”
“Oh, I do?”
“Yeah, I patched up your man there.” He pointed at Dagan. “Got himself shot up, but Indy got me and my crew on it. We did you a solid. Now you do us one. That’s the way the street works. Rider’s street. We want to be there when y’all get him out, patch him up quick so Indy don’t see whatever shit he got done to him.”
Dagan processed the statements and let the shock settle in him. This kid was the one who had helped him.
“I’m afraid I was out of it that day. Didn’t catch your name afterward.”
The kid eyed him a few seconds. “It wasn’t no big deal. Indy asked, I did my thing. That’s why people call me Patch. You okay now? You need a boost or anything? Sometimes it takes more than once. I’ve got enough juice to boost you and handle Rider. My crew’s got my back.”