Men of Mercy: The Complete Story

by Cross, Lindsay

  As Marley had seen fit to remind him, all Air Force pilots had to complete SERE training before going active and beginning pilot school, which meant she had been taught what to do in these types of situations. But the likelihood she’d ever had to use those skills was closer to zero.

  Until now.

  He doubted she’d seen much combat at all, let alone a plane crash in the Congo with a team of guerrillas hunting them. Then there was the not-so-small detail that her copilot had intentionally crashed the plane.

  All in all, Mack thought she was handling it very well, maybe too well. Was it possible she really had played a role in the crash? Mr. J’s backup in case the copilot failed?

  Mankel had already proven he had no problem sacrificing people for his cause, men, women, or children. What did Mack even know about her, except she had a very feminine, curvaceous body under her flight suit? Nothing, other than that she was feisty and possibly afraid of heights—something that still baffled him.

  But he didn’t have time to question her, and he wouldn’t until they figured out where the hell they were and where they were going.

  “Hoyt,” Mack kept his voice as quiet as possible. Just because they hadn’t heard any sounds recently didn’t mean the guerrillas weren’t still out there stalking the survivors who had dared step foot on their turf. They’d probably figured out that whatever was on that plane had to be pretty precious. “Can you get up that tree? We need to figure out our location so we can get the fuck out of here. I have no intention of being taken out by guerrillas before we complete our mission.”

  Hoyt scooted closer, the long, jagged scar running down his left cheek even more terrifying looking in this environment. Marley flinched.

  Hoyt pretended like he hadn’t noticed and saluted, “Yes, Sir.”

  And then he disappeared up into the tree closest to them, deadly silent in his ascent.

  “What happened to him?” Marley whispered.

  Mack held silent, motioning for his men to fan out in a tight circle. Finally, he said, “He was captured and tortured. It’s not his fault.” For some reason he thought her question was less of a shallow remark about the scar than an uncomfortable reaction to Hoyt.

  “He deserves a medal for what he’s been through,” Mack growled. Had he read her so wrong? His interrogation training had taught him that people’s initial reactions almost never lied. Something akin to disappointment filtered down to his muscles.

  Why the hell did he care what she thought? He hadn’t even ruled out the possibility that she was a double agent working for Jack Mankel.

  “He reminds me of a good friend I made the first time I joined up. Not long after being deployed for his first tour of duty with the parajumpers, he was captured and tortured. When they rescued him, he was seconds from dying, and I think for a while after that he wished he had. I went to see him in the hospital, but he refused to see me the first couple of months.” Marley fell silent

  Mack heard the pain in her voice and realized he had not misjudged her. He also took in the fact that she hadn’t given up on a buddy for months in a situation that sounded so much like Hoyt’s. His voice was raspy when he asked, “And did he make it?

  The rest of his team stayed fanned out to a few feet away, constantly scanning their environment, eyes aligned with the sights on their rifles, but he could tell from their stances they were all listening to her story. Hoyt’s capture and torture had hit them all on a deep level. Special Forces operatives were closer than family. The team brought them together—as did the knowledge that each and every one of them would actively give up his life to save a teammate.

  Marley drew in a breath, the sound of the air pulling through her lips sort of wobbly. “No. He made it long enough to get his living will in order. One day he asked me to look out for his wife and make sure she was okay. I thought he was just asking me as a friend, you know? That he figured a female officer could talk to her a bit more easily than one of our male counterparts. But after I left that day, he stole a scalpel and killed himself.”

  The air in the jungle weighed on the entire team like a three-ton elephant. Hoyt had come close to doing the same damn thing, and if it hadn’t been for Hunter and Ranger’s sister, Hayden James, he would have.

  Chill bumps covered Mack’s arms. Just the thought of losing one of his teammates made him physically ill. And the thought about what Hoyt’s older brother, Jared, would have to endure if Hoyt gave in to his demons . . .

  Fuck, he was glad he had one tough-ass crew. Mack cleared his throat of the gravel that seemed to have grown there. “I’m sorry.”

  Marley shrugged casually, but there was nothing casual about her expression or the pain in her eyes. “It happens, unfortunately. I just wish he had been strong enough to fight through it.”

  There was a rustling of leaves, so faint Mack’s trained ears barely detected it. Hoyt stood not two feet from them.

  Chapter 5

  Hoyt’s powerful legs filled Marley’s vision and she took a big gulp of air. Why had she thought it was a good idea to relate her friend’s story, even indirectly, to a man who was going through a similar experience?

  She couldn’t blame him if he cursed her right now—she actually wished he would. If the raw, acid-like pain blazing from Hoyt’s blue eyes gave any indication of what he thought about her, she’d be better off crawling under the nearest rock and never coming out, living with the snakes and insects where she belonged.

  Hoyt cleared his throat, the sound as rough as the man. “Sorry to hear about your friend.”

  Marley rocked back on her heels. Stammering out, “I-I-I didn’t mean to bring up any bad memories. It’s just that . . .” Shut up before you say something even stupider.

  Hoyt’s entire face twisted in a grimace—no, wait—was that a smile? “It’s okay, my fiancée tells me it helps to talk about it, so don’t worry. I know what I look like, but I don’t bite.”

  He’d just cracked a joke about his torture. Wow. His strength amazed her. Her friend had caved to the pressure and pain, yet here stood a clearly scarred man willing to poke fun at his scars, “You don’t look like you would bite.”

  “I think I’m going to like you, Mitchell.” And with that, Hoyt turned to Mack. “There are two mountains to the north, and it looks like the land dips to a lower elevation just past them and off to the west. Give me a map.”

  Marley did her best to squeeze into the smallest size she could make herself. She’d much rather have Hoyt on her side than against her, and for that much she could be glad. But the killer look Mack had shot her before turning to his men clearly stated he knew exactly what she’d been thinking. Then again, Marley was beginning to realize Mack always looked angry about something. Maybe that was just a permanent expression for him—resting asshole face.

  Geez, as soon as she found her copilot, she would kill him. If this hadn’t happened, she’d probably be on the phone with her baby girl right now, talking about her flight, because Maddie always liked to hear details. Her father said Marley had been the exact same way at Maddie’s age. Inquisitive to a fault.

  Her phone. She’d forgotten about putting it in her pocket! Marley quietly dug the cell from her pocket, hands shaking. If she could get a call out they’d be safe.

  She tapped the power button and nothing happened. She tried again, and again. The screen bleeped green and then went black. After one more attempt, the phone wouldn’t turn on. With a frustrated sigh, she dropped her dead phone into her pocket.

  “I think we can make it to Boga within twenty-four hours if we move now,” Hoyt said. The team was studying a large topographical map they’d spread out on the ground.

  Marley scooted closer, wanting to hear exactly what kind of decisions they were making. She studied the terrain of the jungle, tracking where her flight path was supposed to have brought them. Boga was close to the border of Uganda, but she hadn’t heard of any military outposts anywhere near that town.

  The Congo River cut
across most of Africa, filled with predators above and below the water. Most of the country was straight-up tropical jungle, filled with mountains and deadly cliffs and drop offs, and home to dangerous animals like the snake Marley had come face-to-face with after their initial drop.

  Her entire body shivered uncontrollably at the thought that she had nearly become lunch. She had no intention of ending up in the belly of any creature in this godforsaken jungle. She would do what it took to survive and get home to her little girl. It would become her mantra.

  “You stay close to me like before. Keep your head down, your gun ready.” Mack’s harsh voice ripped her out of her thoughts and Marley nodded instinctively in agreement.

  No matter how much he got on her nerves and no matter how much her body’s reaction to him got on her nerves, this man and his team were her best hope for getting home to her daughter. “Okay.”

  “Ranger, you and Hunter did missions here before. Do you remember anything about the locals that we should know?” Mack asked.

  Ranger pointed to an area north of them. “You’ve got your Mai Mai controlling the territory up there. To the east are the Ugandans. Both of them are pretty bad ass, and they have a solid policy of kill first, ask later, especially when it comes to anyone who looks like an outsider. There were a couple of French and British mining operations that took out entire villages before anyone found out about it, so they could have all the rights to the area. Those companies got filthy rich and managed to kill off a few hundred locals before anyone wised up to what they were doing and tried to stop it. Needless to say, both tribes have a reason to kill anyone who doesn’t belong on sight.”

  Hunter picked up where his brother left off. “It would be better for everyone involved if we just avoid detection completely. I don’t think they would appreciate anyone like us being in their territory.”

  Mack pointed to a spot on the map further east along the Aruwimi River. “Sounds like we’re going west then. We’ll try to avoid contact if at all possible. But if it proves unavoidable, take them out as silently as possible and move on. If we get separated, we’ll meet up here.”

  The man they called Reaper unfolded himself from his position sitting on the ground, coming to his full towering height. Marley guessed that he had to be somewhere close to seven feet. “I’m not going anywhere until we find out from her exactly what happened in the cockpit.”

  Marley faltered, the soullessness of his gaze covering her in dread-filled chills. This man killed without hesitation, she could sense it, and he could do it to her before she took her next breath. Marley felt as if the world around her were shrinking, descending on her shoulders and pressing her down into the earth.

  Mack stepped in front of her, crossing his arms over his chest and causing the muscles in his shoulders to ripple. “I’ll be the one who questions her. Not you.”

  Underneath that veneer of rough command was a threat of protection, and Marley found herself leaning in closer to the shield that his back offered her.

  “Everyone here knows the depths of Mankel’s treachery,” Reaper said gruffly. “His schemes have more layers than an onion. Don’t act shocked that I would question her involvement.”

  Mack took a step toward the big man, and Marley had to fight the urge to tag along behind him.

  Reaper dwarfed Mack, but the colonel didn’t seem to mind in the least. He got up toe-to-toe with the soldier. “You’re under just as much suspicion as she is. In fact, more so. Mankel could very easily have planted you and used Merc’s past to get you in. I don’t trust you. Not yet.”

  Merc edged in closer to the pair. “Commander, I think—”

  But Mack cut him off with a sharp slice of his hand in the air. “I know what you think, and I don’t blame you for it. But it’s my job to protect everyone in this group, whether you want it or not.”

  “I’d like to hear what happened up there, if it’s all the same. Not saying I blame the lady, but information is power. She might’ve seen something that can help us,” Hoyt said.

  Everyone turned to her and Marley recoiled. God, she should have never taken this mission. Sexy colonel or not.

  She sought Mack’s comforting gaze, but his expression had fallen into that cold mask he was so proficient at utilizing. Any single one of these men as an individual was intimidating as hell, but the collective put Satan himself to shame.

  So, what was she going to do? Stand here mute, like a scared little girl, or square up, like the soldier she’d been trained to be, and face them with the power of the truth?

  She hadn’t done a damn thing wrong, and yet they all looked like they expected her to break into a confession that she’d worked for some man she’d never even heard of before today. What kind of insanity was that?

  Hot anger flushed out the fear and Marley stopped backing away. “You are all crazy. You think I want to die? I don’t know about you, but I have a daughter to live for, and I would kill each and every one of you rather than take my own life and deprive her of her mother.”

  Okay—not exactly the right thing to say, threatening to kill a group of elite operators when she only had a Beretta and one clip to defend herself. This whole fanatical situation had finally gotten to her. Her lack of reasoning robbed her mind of its ability to process thoughts logically and send them out of her mouth in a way that made any sort of coherent sense.

  It didn’t help that everyone was staring at her like she was a serial killer—everyone except Riser and Mack. The hard line of Riser’s lips had lifted into a halfcocked smile once more.

  Mack’s cold expression had changed too—but not in any positive direction as far as she could tell. It seemed that he was once again irritated with her.

  Great, half the team wanted to kill her. Riser would probably laugh while they did it, and Mack would give them a relieved thumbs up as they finished her off.

  “Look, we were at cruising altitude on autopilot. Before I knew what he was doing, Ramsey flipped off the pressure control. I blacked out right after that. When I woke up, he was gone and we were in an uncontrolled dive. I got the plane leveled out, and when I was coming back to check on y’all, I saw the bomb hidden on the other side of Ramsey’s seat.”

  No one moved despite her detailed and level-headed explanation. But then again, what did she expect? The story sounded crazy to her own ears—how could she expect them to believe it?

  “Sounds like something Mankel would do.” Mack scratched his beard, studying her intently.

  “The bastard has always had a plan B. Look at Caroline and Nightshade,” Hunter said.

  Merc seemed to bristle. “He kidnapped my wife and raised her like she was his own daughter, keeping her from her twin sister. And now that we’ve finally rescued Nightshade, Mankel kidnapped her sister. We’re on a mission to rescue Caroline now.”

  “Mankel waited nearly twenty-six years to put his plan into action, plotting the whole time. I guarantee you he had the copilot plant the bomb in case the plane didn’t crash. It was his failsafe.”

  The air in her lungs escaped in a whoosh. No wonder these men looked so lethal. If this Mankel guy had mistreated the people she loved that badly, she’d want to fight him to the death. So, what did it mean now that they were stuck in the middle of the Congo without resources? “Can we still make it in time to save her?”

  It was Mack who spoke this time, the irritation and whatever else he’d directed toward her deflating. For the first time she saw weariness in his expression. “I hope so. According to what we found out, he’s using Caroline and her blood to create more soldiers like this guy.” Mack hooked a thumb in Reaper’s direction.

  Confused, Marley said, “What does her blood have to do with making a soldier?”

  “Nightshade and Caroline’s mother worked with Mankel to create a protein-binding synthetic serum to enhance a person’s physical abilities. It would give a trained operative an edge over even the best soldiers.”

  “Wait, you’re telling me this g
uy is using Caroline’s blood to make more of him?” Marley pointed at Reaper.

  “Exactly,” Mack said.

  “And what does he intend to do with these soldiers?” she asked in a shaky voice.

  “Sell them to the highest bidder.” Mack’s voice was as flat and hard as the man himself.

  Gunfire erupted around them and Mack dove for Marley.

  Chapter 6

  Mack shielded her body with his. “Anybody get a direction?”

  Merc was closest to them, flat on the ground with his weapon raised and ready. “It was coming from the east, less than a klick out. They’re tracking us.”

  “Could be the other side, too.” Ranger rolled over from his back to his stomach and got to his knees. The thick vegetation shielded part of his body. “We gotta get out of here, boss.”

  “Roger.” Mack lifted up, scanning the vicinity. He needed to get a bead on their surroundings and map out a trajectory for their evacuation, but the thick foliage seemed like an endless tangled spider web of green leaves and vines.

  There was a sharp report, then a bullet zinged within a few feet of his head, slicing through the grass with a sharp hiss. Mack dropped back to the ground and Marley let out a cry when she took the full weight of his body on top of hers. Damn, that had been close. Too close.

  Keeping to the ground, Ranger bellycrawled toward Mack. “That came from the east.”

  Mack gave a grim nod. “I gathered that.”

  Although Hoyt had gotten a good look from up above and they had been able to map out a path, his team was still basically working blind. And they were fighting an enemy on foreign territory, an enemy who would undoubtedly kill each of them on sight. Marley squirmed again, inadvertently pressing her more than abundant breasts to his chest, and Mack’s body responded. Dammit.

  She froze and her brown eyes widened, her reason for alarm different from the guerrillas slowly tightening the noose around them. But before she could eke out a protest, Mack covered her mouth with his hand and said with his mouth next to her ear, “Stop squirming.”