by Laura Day
The other problem is Ryker is so young! During their conversations she has found out he won’t be thirty until September and she will be thirty-eight the following April. Eight years’ difference. Eight! She has picked up on Ryker’s subtle expressions of interest, and while she is terribly flattered that someone like Ryker finds her appealing, she isn’t ready to throw away what she has with Kenneth for one night of hot and sweaty sex.
But what if Ryker’s interest isn’t just a passing fancy? What if her desire is more than just an itch that needs to be scratched? Life with Kenneth is comfortable enough, but he doesn’t affect her the way Ryker does.
Ronnie stands in the shower after another early morning workout with Ryker, allowing the water to pour over her as she thinks. Maybe she should just invite Ryker back to her room, fuck the shit out of him, then see where they stand. Kenneth has made it clear on more than one occasion that he is not interested in being married again so she doesn’t feel like she owes him any particular loyalty, but she enjoys Kenneth’s company and he is good and kind to her.
She doesn’t want to throw that away for a fling. But then, on the other hand, what happens in Lebanon will likely stay in Lebanon. With a growl of frustration, Ronnie slaps off the water. Why does life have to be so damn complicated?
“Dr. Baker. Come with me please,” the Marine says when she answers her door later on. While the embassy offers plenty of comfortable common rooms to relax in, she feels most comfortable spending time in her room when Ryker isn’t around.
“Is there a problem?”
“No ma’am. I am to escort you report to the motor pool. There is a car waiting. They have found your father.”
She feels her heart leap at the news as she hurriedly gets her shoes on. She follows the Marine down where a driver is waiting with a car. She piles in and they roar away.
“You found Dad?” Ronnie asks Ryker excitedly as she bounds out of the SUV.
“I’m sorry, Ronnie. We thought we had them but they slipped past us.”
She can feel her face fall. “They told me that you had found him.”
“I’m sorry, Ronnie. I really am. We did. We just missed them. We probably passed them on the way in. We were that close. So close they didn’t have time to take anything. That’s why you’re here. We need you to look over the equipment they left. See if that tells us anything.”
She is so frustrated and disappointed that she wants to cry, but she sucks it up. “Okay. Show me what you’ve got.”
Ryker escorts Ronnie up the three flights of stairs to the small three-room apartment. The room is in disarray with a couple of folding portable tables, one of which is lying on its side. There is a sequencer lying broken in the floor nearby. “Looks like they left in a hurry,” she observes dryly.
“Yeah. The spooks are canvassing the area, seeing if they can pick up their trail.”
She gives the room a thorough once over. “There are two sequencers still here, but there are no computers and no virus, obviously. There is also no growth medium, no gloves… nothing that looks like they were actually working. I would say you got here before they could really set up shop and get to work. Anything done here would have to be theoretical without supplies.”
She turns slowly, looking the apartment over. “Looks to me like they just grabbed the computers and ran. I wonder if they have the virus with them?”
“Don’t know, but that’s what we suspect. They got a tip we were on our way and didn’t have time to break down. So they grabbed your dad, the computers, the virus vials, and hauled ass out of here. What pisses me off is that whoever tipped them is probably the same source that tipped us. The asshole is playing both sides. The spooks are looking for him right now. If they find him he’s not going to have a good day.”
“Did you or someone else tell me they think these guys are Syrians? Why are the still here? Why aren’t they in Syria already?”
“Can’t get there. Crossing into Syria isn’t easy at the best of times, but now the border is sealed because of the shooting at the hotel, not to mention the civil war in Syria. We have them trapped. We just have to hunt the bastards down.”
“If the fucking Lebanese would just help…”
“Ronnie…they are helping. They sealed the border to trap them here. Their people are looking just as hard as we are. Everything that can be done is being done, okay? We’ll get them.”
“It’s just so damn frustrating! We’ve missed them twice now!”
“I know, Ronnie. But hang tough. We’ve got them scared now. Scared people make mistakes. We’ll get them the next time.”
She almost believes him. “I wish I had your confidence.”
“We’ve captured their equipment. That is going to hurt them. If they try to replace it, we’re going to know. Then we’ll have them.”
“And if they don’t try to replace it? Then what?”
“Then we’ll find them without it.”
She smiles sadly. “Okay. I believe you. But what I’m worried about is that they may kill dad because they…”
“They won’t do that, Ronnie,” Ryker says, interrupting her.
“Why?”
“Several reasons. He’s too valuable as a hostage to do that, for one. If they really get into a bind, he becomes a bargaining chip. Second, someone will be willing to pay handsomely for him and the data. Iran maybe. Or the North Koreans. Third… I won’t let that happen.”
Ronnie looks at Ryker, and that quiet confidence makes her smile. “You know, I almost—”
Before she can finish her sentence, the building of twelve apartments is rocked by a shattering explosion, glass from the windows flying about, stinking like angry wasps.
Ryker grabs Ronnie and hauls her to the floor while drawing his weapon. “Stay down!” He scrambles to the window and takes a quick look out. The three embassy cars are heavily damaged and there are several bodies lying about, the men either dead or severely wounded.
He scrambles back to her. “We’ve got to move! Now!” he says, hauling her up. She looks slightly dazed and is bleeding from a couple of small cuts, but otherwise seems fine. He drags her into the common hall for this floor of the apartments, immediately turning for the stairs heading for the street. Ryker switches his earpiece to two-way. “Hargraves! You there?”
He knows Hargraves is monitoring this channel so he gives him a minute. The Colonel probably has his hands full. As he and Ronnie pound down the stairs the late afternoon is split apart with the sharp reports of gunfire. He freezes on the steps, stopping her behind him. He watches as the plain clothes Marine at the bottom of the step fires his weapon, then jerk twice as he is hit by return fire, falling where he stands. Ryker begins to push Ronnie back up the steps. “Quickly!” he hisses.
“Hargraves! We’re in deep shit here!” Ryker hisses again.
“Sit Rep!” Hargraves snaps in his ear, asking for Ryker’s situation report.
“Pinned down and taking fire. Several men down. I have Dr. Baker with me. We need immediate evac,” he reports coolly as he backs up the steps, weapon pointed down the stairwell as he covers their retreat.
“What the fuck happened? Most of my comms are down,” Hargraves asks. “Evac rolling.”
“Probable IED,” Ryker states, hustling Ronnie down the open hall. “Vehicles likely non-operational. Several dead or wounded.”
“Fucking suicide bomber,” Hargraves mutters in Ryker’s ear.
Ryker stops before last door on the opposite side of the hall from the apartment they had raided and delivers two vicious kicks to the door, shattering the jamb. The woman and child inside, already cowering from the explosion and gunfire, look at them in silent fear as he drags Ronnie through the apartment.
He looks out the window and sees the roof of another part of the building, then heaves a silent sigh in relief that he hadn’t gotten turned around and picked the right apartment for their escape. He grabs a chair from the kitchen table and throws it through the glass, then
swipes the bottom edge with the gun to remove any shards. “Out onto the roof! Hurry!”
Ronnie climbs through the window, Ryker pushing her ass from behind and then following her out. He quickly moves to the edge and looks over. The roof is too high jump. He whirls and runs to the other side. Even worse. The third side has a drop of about fifteen feet to another roof. It’s going to hurt like hell, but they are hemmed in and have no choice. “We’re going to have jump! I’ll go first, then you jump and I will catch you! Land with your legs bent or you are going to break your legs! Got it?”
He doesn’t wait for her answer, holstering his weapon before jumping over the edge. He lands with a grunt and rolls out of it with a parachute landing fall, using his entire body to absorb the energy of the fall. He pops back to his feet, turning to look up at the roof where Ronnie stands, staring in wide-eyed terror.
Ryker holds his hands up to Ronnie. There is no way he can prevent her from hitting the ground, but he will do all he can to ease her impact. “Jump!”
She shakes her head, stepping back from the edge.
“Ronnie! You have to jump! I’ll catch you! Jump!”
She takes another step back from the edge.
“Ronnie! You have to jump or you will die! You can do it! Jump!”
“I can’t!” she wails.
“You can! Come on! Jump!” he shouts, jerking his hands upwards in beseeching encouragement.
She steps to the edge and pauses. “It’s too high!”
“Come on Ronnie! You can do it!”
Ryker sees the man behind Ronnie a split second before he grabs her around her neck, hauling her back. He quickly pulls his weapon but holds fire for fear of hitting her. “Fuck! Colonel, they’ve have Dr. Baker!”
“Goddammit!” Hargraves spits out. “We’re losing control of the situation!”
Ryker looks over the edge of the building. It’s a hell of a drop, maybe as much as thirty feet, but he has no choice so he reholsters his weapon and jumps. He hits the ground with bone-crushing force, rolling out of the fall, but even so he is stunned by the impact. He struggles to his feet, falls to one knee, and then regains his footing. Grimacing in pain, he begins to run, heading for the sound of gunfire.
He stops at the front corner of the building and peeks around. Two of the embassy security men are crouching behind an SUV. The gunmen have them thoroughly pinned down. He scans the area, looking for an opening, anything he can use to his advantage. A man in a third-story window, probably the apartment the lab was in, is sniping at the Marines. His line of fire is better than the pinned Marines so Ryker steps from around the corner, squeezes off three quick shots, then retreats back to cover. He probably didn’t hit the man, but the rifle quickly withdraws from the window all the same.
Movement on the ground catches his eye and he sees Ronnie and her assailant come out of the building and turn, heading away from him. The man is holding Ronnie, pushing her long in front of him, but she is fighting like a wildcat, lunging and kicking, her hands like claws as her arms flail, looking for any weakness.
She gets partially free and Ryker doesn’t hesitate. He steps around the corner again and the Beretta barks once, the bullet taking the man high in the back of the shoulder on the side opposite from Ronnie. The man falls, knocking her down and away as he does. As she scrambles away he pumps two more rounds into the man to make sure he stays down.
“Ronnie!” Ryker shouts, trying to get her attention.
Ronnie whirls at the sound of Ryker’s voice. She had thought she was going to die, but seeing him standing there, gun level and unwavering, fills her with a flood of relief. She turns toward him and begins to run.
“Get down!” Ryker screams as another gunman steps from around the far corner of the building. His angle is bad and he is well out of effective range, but he fires three quick shots anyway, trying to force the gunman back. He sees his shots spatter into the wall, but the additional shots from the Marine that pops over the hood of the SUV are true and the man goes down.
Ronnie hears Ryker’s shout and she throws herself down, tearing the hell out of her hands and knees, covering her head as guns pop all around her.
Ryker skids to a stop beside Ronnie. “Get up, Ronnie! We’ve got to move!”
Ronnie screams in panic as a hand grabs her arm and she tries to jerk away until Ryker’s voice registers. She scrambles to her feet and runs as fast as she can behind him, not even noticing her bleeding hands and knees.
“Colonel! Baker secured! Baker secured! Need immediate evac!” Ryker says as he drags Ronnie around the corner of the building.
“Evac inbound… six minutes,” Hargraves says.
“Two Marines pinned by enemy fire! Front of building! Several dead or wounded!”
“Understood.”
“Baker secure and vacating area!” Ryker repeats to make sure Hargraves understands not to send the evac to the original location.
“State location!”
“Unknown!” Ryker says as he and Ronnie turn left onto another street, running hard. The streets are clear as civilians have gone to ground because of the explosion and gunfire. Ryker hears the wail of a staining engine. He shoves Ronnie down and stops hard, pivoting to bring his weapon around toward the sound. As the Toyota skids to a stop he takes his shooting stance. The moment he sees the weapon extend out of the side window he fires through the windshield, three into the driver and three more into the passenger as he begins to exit the car.
“Baker taking fire! Baker taking fire!” Ryker shouts. He holsters his empty weapon before reaching down and hauling Ronnie to her feet again.
“Evans! I need your location! Evac in four minutes!” Hargraves yells in his ear.
“Stand by!” Ryker shouts, running toward the approaching sirens, dragging Ronnie along. They just reach the corner when a bullet pings off the car next to them. Ryker once again shoves Ronnie down and behind the car, then crouches down with her. “Corner of Yamout and Sadat! We’re taking fire and I’m down to throwing rocks! Have the car come up on the sidewalk on Sadat, right side, beside a red Porsche! Make it fast Colonel!”
Ryker looks around, desperately searching for a way out. They are pinned down and out of ammo. He didn’t come prepared for a fucking firefight. He pulls his gun anyway and pops up, pointing the useless weapon toward the gunfire. The gunman sees Ryker and ducks back, buying them a few more precious seconds. He won’t fall for that again without realizing that he is empty.
“Two minutes!”
“We don’t fucking have two minutes!” Ryker shouts in frustration. “Ronnie! Stay here!”
“Where are you going?” Ronnie squeaks.
“I’m going to draw his fire! When the embassy car gets here, you get your ass in it and go!”
“Don’t leave me!” she screams in panic.
“Ronnie, we’re both going to die if I stay here! Get ready!”
“Ryker! No!” she yells again, grabbing his arm.
He shakes free of her grasp and begins to rise when he hears the heavy roar of a V8 engine. He crouches and covers Ronnie with his body in a last ditch attempt to protect her. The big embassy SUV barrels around the corner, bouncing over the curb, obliterating display stands and rebounding off the building as it shrieks to a halt.
With the bulk of the SUV between them and the gunman Ryker grabs Ronnie, jerking her to her feet, then wrenches the rear door open and shoves her inside. She scrambles across the seat while shots ricochet off the armored windows and doors. Ryker piles in behind.
The surge of the hard accelerating truck slams the door shut on his leg, but he kicks it open, yanks his foot in, and slams it shut just before the driver jerks the truck to the left and back onto the road.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ryker and Ronnie have to suffer through a three-hour debrief moments after arriving back at the embassy. Ambassador Satterfield, Consular Hooster, and Colonel Hargraves all attended, along with a Mr. Spreck, whose function is never clearly stated,
though Ryker assumes he is the senior CIA representative. They go over the details of the attack again and again. Ryker does most of the talking. Ronnie speaks little, apparently still in shock.
Final count lists eight dead and six wounded. Five of the dead and one of the wounded are Syrian nationals. Of the wounded Americans, two are critical and are not expected to survive. Ryker and Ronnie are not counted among the wounded as their injuries are minor.
By the time the debriefing is over everyone concludes that Dr. Veronica Baker was the target in both attacks. There is no supporting evidence, but the consensus is that Dr. Julian Baker has convinced his captors that he is useless without his daughter to assist him. While clever in that it helps preclude him from having to produce a deadly virus, it also places Ronnie at much greater risk.