“The stakes have never been higher, Rikki. You never had this much to lose—Bella.”
“You.” She brushed her knuckles across his cheek. “We’re going to do this, Quinn. And then I’ll introduce you to your daughter.”
He squeezed the top of his shoulder. “I’m not sure I can do anything with this shoulder. How am I going to fire my rifle?”
“Your whole team will be there. It doesn’t have to be you who takes out Vlad.”
“After what we’ve been through with him, it would be a gold star for any of us. It might not just be Vlad. We might have to take down Dawson, too, although Ariel might prefer we bring him in for interrogation. Are you okay with that?”
“David is already dead to me. He turned, and he didn’t even do it for ideology. He did it for money.”
“And because he could—pride.” Quinn toyed with the edge of his bandage. “You said you read his book, right?”
“Yeah, the whole thing.” She rolled her eyes. “It was painful, and that was when I still liked the guy.”
“Do you have it somewhere so I can read it?”
“You’re not going to pick up any tips from it.”
“Maybe not about writing, but there could be lots of tips about Dawson in there.”
“I can get you to it.” She stepped away from him and sat at the table with his laptop in front of her. “He put it up on a document-sharing platform for me to read. It’s over a year old. I read it before we went to Dubai, so if he’s made any changes they won’t be in this draft.”
“That’s okay. Bring it up for me. I’ll need something to read on my flight to Berlin. My military transport is not going to be as comfortable as your first class on a commercial airline.”
Rikki spent several minutes at his laptop navigating to the shared document site. She scribbled something on a slip of hotel stationery and propped it up on his laptop’s keyboard. “Here’s my user name and password for this site.”
Quinn stretched his arms over his head. “I’d better get packing. I leave tonight.”
Rikki rose from the desk and returned to his side. She skimmed her hand down the front of his body and curled her fingers into the waistband of his shorts. “You didn’t take any of those painkillers, did you?”
“No.” When she touched him like that, he felt no pain at all.
“Because if you’re leaving tonight, that means I have to spend the night in this giant suite in that giant bed all by myself.”
His breathing grew shallow, and prickles of desire raced across his skin. “That would be a damned waste.”
Sliding his hands down her back, he slanted his mouth across hers and kissed her hard and possessively. If she had to pretend to love Dawson, he didn’t want her to forget what true love felt like.
She took his hand and led him into the suite’s master bedroom.
Sometime later, with their legs and arms entwined around each other, when he didn’t know where he ended and Rikki began, she kissed the edge of his jaw.
“I want you to know, Quinn McBride, before we go into this battle and risk everything, I love you. I loved you in Dubai. I loved you when I found out you’d had orders to kill me. I loved you when I found you again in New Orleans. And I love you now. I’m not afraid of love anymore, not your love.”
He smoothed her hair back from her face. “That’s all I ever wanted to hear from you.”
Later that night, Dawson’s words bounced on the screen as the C-5 hit an air pocket over the Atlantic. Quinn steadied his laptop.
The story dragged and Dawson’s prose reeked, but Quinn couldn’t shake the feeling that if Dawson used his villain’s name for Vlad, there might be other hints in his work of fiction. Dawson must’ve been working with Vlad already when he penned this mess. In fact, Frederick Von seemed to be a thinly veiled reincarnation of Vlad.
Quinn plowed through the rest of the book, his eyelids drooping until a passage gave him a shot of adrenaline, a passage about Von’s hideaway—a schloss in the Grunewald forest outside Berlin.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Ariel’s team had a full day to set up at Grunewald before Rikki’s meeting with Dawson and Vlad. They’d located a schloss in the forest owned by a blind trust.
In case Vlad had his people in the area, the sniper team came in as construction workers, tourists and locals out for a stroll. But if Vlad’s people were counting, they’d know not everyone who’d entered the area for work or play left.
That first night with his brothers, his sniper team, had been like a homecoming for Quinn. They’d been scattered for so long, but the teamwork and comradery returned like second nature.
Alexei stroked his rifle like he would a beautiful woman. “Who’s going to get the final shot at Vlad?”
“If there is a final shot.” Austin Foley, gung ho and still a little green, looked up from his laptop. “We don’t even know if this is the place.”
“It’s the place.” Quinn formed his fingers into a gun and aimed at Austin.
Austin tapped the keyboard. “Rikki’s in the hotel. Are you sure Dawson won’t be able to detect the GPS in her system?”
Slade Gallagher waved him off. “You worry too much, Austin. Dawson’s not going to know, and if he suspects, he’ll be confident that Vlad’s people are not going to allow anyone to follow him and Rikki.”
“We know who’s not going to take the shot.” Josh Elliott tipped his head toward Quinn. “You got yourself a bum shoulder, son. You’re out of the running.”
Quinn snorted. “I’m almost sure I still have better aim with my jacked-up shoulder than you do, Elliott. Hell, even skinny Miguel over there has you beat.”
Miguel Estrada chucked a glove at Quinn. “Watch it. I may have dropped a few pounds, but I’ve got more reason than anyone here to make that shot count.”
The door to the loft in the schloss a half mile away from Vlad’s cottage burst open, and every last sniper reached for his weapon.
A woman with dark hair in a ponytail wedged her hands on her slim hips. “I’ll make that decision when the time comes.”
Quinn’s jaw dropped. He’d had a vague picture of Ariel in his head, but this woman, whose face they all knew, wasn’t it.
Alexei, the blunt Russian-American, voiced what was in all their heads. “You! Lauren West, the wife of Defense Secretary West.”
“That’s not who I am here.” She crossed her arms and propped up the doorjamb with her shoulder. “I’m Ariel, and I’m still the leader of this task force.”
Once they all got over the shock of Mrs. Shane West being the infamous Ariel, they dug in to discuss their plans.
They wouldn’t all be stationed in this hunting lodge. They had visibility of Vlad’s schloss from a few well-hidden treetops and a museum that would be closed to the public tomorrow.
Ariel instructed Austin to keep tabs on Rikki and to notify her immediately if it looked like Rikki was not headed in their direction.
Quinn clamped a fist against the knots in his gut. He had to be right about the location of this meeting. It made too much sense. It synced up with Ariel’s belief that the meeting would be in this forest.
His gaze tracked to the vibrant brunette giving orders as well as or better than her husband ever did, and Shane West was one of them—a retired Navy SEAL sniper. How had she known? What connection did she have with Vlad? Her husband had come up against him a few times, but nothing like how the team in this room had.
A few hours later, after a meal and talk about the assignments that had led them all to this forest on this night, Quinn’s teammates began scattering again—this time to take down a terrorist who had threatened them all and the ones they loved.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Quinn peeled a banana and made it his breakfast. He had stayed in the schloss with Ariel, the only two who had bud
died up, and for the hundredth time he cursed the gunshot wound in his shoulder. But if he thought his close proximity to Ariel would get her to open up, he couldn’t be more wrong.
Which one of them would Ariel choose for the honor? All of them were at the top of their game, even Miguel after his time in captivity. Alexei could be a hothead, but not in a sniper situation, and Slade was laid-back enough to step away and let others take credit.
He and Josh had the most experience, but given his current condition, it might fall to Josh Elliott to take out their nemesis.
It was anyone’s guess at this point, and Ariel kept her lips sealed.
The radio crackled, and Austin’s cowboy twang came over the airwaves. “Our subject is on the move. Leaving the hotel.”
Quinn tossed the banana peel in their makeshift trash bag and wiped his hands on his jeans. He shouldn’t have eaten anything. His stomach churned.
Ariel studied him through narrowed eyes. “Don’t worry about Rikki. She can handle herself.”
“I know that, but if this isn’t the meeting place, I screwed up royally and we’ll have to scramble to catch up to them.”
“You didn’t screw up, Quinn. This is it.”
He ran his tongue along his teeth. “How can you be so sure? How did you know it would be Grunewald forest when Rikki mentioned Berlin?”
Fire sparked from her dark eyes, and her nostrils flared, giving her a completely different appearance from the sophisticated, put-together lady of Washington. “You’re not the only one who knows Vlad.”
Quinn’s brain whirred for the best response to get Ariel to open up, but Austin’s voice interrupted him.
“They’re on the autobahn, leaving the city.”
The knots returned to Quinn’s gut, and his shoulder throbbed. A jumbled prayer ran through his head that Rikki would head straight to the schloss, that she’d be safe, that Bella would be safe.
Austin’s voice filled the room. “Headed this way. On track. The subject is on track.”
The others hooted and whooped it up, but Quinn silently thanked God as his gaze met Ariel’s.
Throughout the morning, strangers had wandered into the forest and along the lake, and the team had ID’d them as operatives for Vlad. They clearly had no clue that they were already surrounded by a team of Navy SEAL snipers and a support group whose sole purpose over the past year had been to neutralize Vlad and his terrorist network.
None of them knew what Vlad looked like. He’d changed his appearance like a chameleon in every fuzzy, vague photo they had of him. But he’d be the one meeting with Dawson and Rikki. There would be no question about that, so they had to wait. They couldn’t just start taking down people as they got out of cars or made their way to Vlad’s hunting lodge, giving him a heads-up.
After the tense waiting of the morning, everything started unfolding faster than Quinn had anticipated.
Ariel started spitting out directions in the military manner she must’ve learned from her husband, the secretary. She had Quinn zeroing in on the car carrying Rikki and Dawson.
He’d had some painkiller injected directly into his shoulder, and the numbness prevented him from even feeling the heft of his rifle resting there. The car pulled up on the gravel drive of the schloss, and Rikki stepped out.
For the second time in less than two years, Quinn lined her up in his scope. He whispered. “C’mon, Buttercup. We’re gonna do this.”
Rikki threw back her head, laughing at some quip from Dawson, but Quinn could almost believe she’d heard his quiet entreaty.
Another car pulled up, and several men exited.
Quinn held his breath. The tension coming off Ariel stifled the air in the room.
She’d joined him at the window, her own rifle, a sleek, deadly model, hoisted and ready. How long had she trained for this?
As the group began moving toward the house, Rikki paused and shook hands with a tall man, the sun glinting off his clean-shaven head.
With rapid fire, Ariel gave them their targets. Josh had the man Rikki had just greeted. He must be Vlad. Lucky bastard.
Quinn had the driver as his target, but they had to assume he was armed as well and would pose a threat to Rikki and even Dawson once the shooting ended.
Ariel gave the countdown before the group could even move inside. She must be sure of Vlad and that he wasn’t waiting inside for them.
Three. Two. One.
Quinn felled his target and then swept his scope to the other fallen men. They’d left Dawson alive, and his mouth gaped in shock.
Then he reached for a weapon as Rikki backed away from him, and Quinn took his second shot.
Rikki stood amid the dead men, her face composed, her dark hair blowing in the breeze.
Slade, who’d been stationed in one of the trees, closest to the schloss, ran onto the scene and grabbed Rikki and pulled her away. Vlad could still have reinforcements nearby, but the head of the snake had been chopped off.
Josh cackled from the museum. “I got him, boys. I got that bald-headed bastard.”
Ariel winked at Quinn. “No, you didn’t, Elliott. Vlad was mine. He was always going to be mine.”
EPILOGUE
Quinn held a sleeping Bella in the crook of his arm as he stood on the hotel room’s balcony next to Miguel’s son, Mikey, and RJ, the son of Josh’s girlfriend, Gina.
RJ squirmed. “When are the fireworks?”
“Another half hour, buddy.” Quinn patted his head.
Josh swept up the boy and put him on his shoulders. “You can watch from up here when they start.”
Gina came up behind them and wrapped one arm around Josh’s waist as she tugged on RJ’s foot. “Patience. I’m going to get you and Mikey some more food.”
Miguel scooped up Mikey. “You hungry?”
Jennifer, Miguel’s wife, hovered next to both of them. “I think he’s been stuffing his face with beignets all day. You need to eat something, too, doesn’t he, Quinn?”
Miguel rolled his eyes at Quinn. “She thinks I’m gonna break.”
Quinn slugged Miguel in the arm. “This guy’s unbreakable.”
He cuddled Bella against his shoulder and strolled into the hotel suite where the childless couples had gathered, drinking more than the parents and anticipating the fireworks less.
Austin’s girlfriend, Sophia, sat on the arm of his chair, excitedly making a point by grabbing his arm, the diamond in the side of her nose catching the light.
Austin shrugged. “I think that’s a good idea, Sophia.”
Quinn grinned and elbowed Slade. “The kid might be young, but he catches on quickly.”
Slade winked. “I taught him everything he knows about women.”
“I don’t think there’s enough time in the world for that.” He pointed at Slade’s girlfriend, Nicole, deep in discussion with Alexei. “What are those two cooking up?”
“The mad Russian has Nicole convinced that she needs to do a documentary film on the crime families of Russia.”
“Do you want me to stop him?”
“Nicole will do exactly what she wants, but Alexei’s girl, Britt, can keep him in line.” Slade waved at Britt, and she shrugged, a smile curving her lips, as she stroked Alexei’s hair. “She even has Alexei on board for adopting the orphaned baby of his worst enemy.”
Slade cranked his head from side to side. “Did you invite Ariel, or should I say, Mrs. West?”
“I did invite her, but she and the secretary are at the White House for the fireworks.” Quinn checked his watch. “Probably already saw them.”
“Did Rikki ever tell you how or why Ariel knew Vlad?”
Rikki swooped in on them and kissed the bottom of Bella’s foot. “That’s Ariel’s business.”
Slade raised his eyebrows. “But you know.”
“I�
��m a CIA agent, sailor.” Rikki drew her fingertip across the seam of her lips.
Slade laughed and crouched beside his sleek, polished girlfriend as she grabbed his hand and began to tell him about her new project in Russia.
Rikki patted the bandage on Quinn’s shoulder. “Feeling okay?”
“It aches. My doctor was not happy when I told him about that shot I got that allowed me to hoist my rifle.”
“But you nailed your target…and I’m glad you did.”
“Dawson was going for a gun, Rikki. He was going to kill you for betraying him.”
“I know that.” She kissed his shoulder. “You don’t have to defend yourself. I don’t think Belinda Dawson was too upset by the turn of events, either. The CIA already talked to her, and they’re going light on her.”
“What about my buddy Jeff? Did Ariel tell you what was going on in New Orleans?”
“Purely bad luck. That was the Agency on his tail. They noted his suspicious movements and were tracking him. Seems after that Rikki Taylor turned, the CIA got jumpy.”
“Can you blame them?” He tugged on a lock of her red hair. “Did you know which one was Vlad before we opened fire and Ariel killed him?”
“No. I was being introduced around. David never gave away Vlad’s identity. I don’t think I would’ve ever known. Each of those men at the schloss planned to join us for the meeting, so I never would’ve known which one was Vlad.” She shook her head. “I still can’t believe David was stupid enough to put details of Vlad’s hideaway in his book. I’m sure he never told Vlad about that.”
“Like I said, hubris. Dawson was the only one who’d come close enough to Vlad, outside of Vlad’s inner circle, who even knew he had that hunting lodge by the lake.”
“Tobias Bauer. His name is not Vlad.” Alexei stood up and uttered some oath in Russian. “Let’s not give him that power anymore.”
Nicole asked, “But who was he exactly? Can you tell us that?”
Quinn glanced at Josh and shrugged. “The intelligence agencies are still figuring that out, but we know he was a child of about ten in East Germany when the Berlin Wall fell. He and his mother moved to the more prosperous cities of West Germany during the reunification, but she died soon after and Toby, as he was called, took to the streets—stealing, hustling, getting in trouble with the authorities.”
Kick A** Heroines Box Set: The UltimatumFatal AffairAfter the DarkBulletproof SEAL (The Guardian) Page 108