Brendan grabbed her arm, pulled her to her feet and started running. He stumbled and went down on one knee as agents surrounded them.
“Get him to the chopper,” Attie told Colin. “He’s losing blood fast. Don’t let him talk you into letting him fight.”
The Scot nodded and grabbed onto Brendan, who shook his head and fought to stand. Assured Colin wouldn’t bend, Attie searched the agents. She saw Kyle Brandt, Rogan St. Klare and his laptop, and then spotted the man she was looking for. Gabriel MacKenzie. Bullets were flying, men were shouting as the small war raged on.
“Where do you think you’re going?” MacKenzie asked, kneeling beside her and pinning her with a stare that wouldn’t allow her to lie.
“I have to finish this,” she said. “I need a weapon.”
“This is a rescue mission. Your rescue,” he said, though it was pointless, as he took a Beretta 9mm from his hip holster and handed it to her. Then he handed her his H&K MP5 and clapped her on the shoulder. There was understanding in his dark blue eyes as he nudged her away from her brother and told her Brendan would be on the chopper waiting for her.
Attie wasted no time slipping the Beretta into her waistband and closing her hands around the submachine gun. It had been too long. She promised Brendan she’d be back soon and disappeared into the trees.
She was immediately flanked by Brandt, who was just plain scary and made her thankful he was on her side. He was a genius with explosives and tough as nails, hence the nick name Iron Man. The tall, dark haired, dark-eyed, unsmiling man looked like he’d just as soon break her in half as talk to her. He took no prisoners and had scared the daylights out of her the first time she met him. He was the first man to ever intimidate her. Hell, he still did, but once she’d gotten to know him she realized he took his job very seriously and was the best at what he did.
Attie moved silently through the trees in search of Noah and Carlos. She ducked bullets and took cover behind trees and boulders. A man charged out of the trees to her left and was taken down by Kyle’s bullet.
She trusted these men with her life and felt a tug in her chest. She missed them. She missed this. These guys were her family. This was where she belonged. At that moment she decided she was going to go see the psychologist at ATCOM and get help. Then she would return to the world she belonged in, fighting side by side with men she’d come to trust and rely on.
Things were quieting down around them as ATCOM gained the upper hand. Attie continued her search, knowing Brandt was behind her, protecting her. It didn’t take her long to find her target. She stopped dead in her tracks when she stumbled into the clearing near the mountain’s edge.
Noah had Carlos by the throat and was holding him over the ledge at a dangerous angle, his face a mask of cold rage. The bandage on his head was red with fresh blood.
She saw something else in his face that hit her straight in the heart. This had gone from professional to personal and that was not like him. He didn’t get emotionally involved in anything. He was always the soldier. Right now Noah Kincaid—The Rock—was dangerously close to losing it on the sadistic bastard she wanted to see dead as much as anyone else.
But that would be too easy. Carlos wouldn’t suffer like they had. It would be over quickly and he would never have to pay for his sins. She wanted to see him pay for a very long, long time. With every day reminding him of what he’d done, as she had suffered the last year. She wanted him to spend his days cooped up in a cell with no hopes of escape, because that was what she had been feeling for the past year. She had been a prisoner in her own home, afraid to remember, afraid not to.
Stepping forward, she called out to Noah, trusting Brandt to cover them from behind.
“You can’t do this, Noah,” she said, inching closer.
He didn’t look at her, simply tightened his hold on Carlos’s neck.
“Not like this. It’s too easy. We can’t let him get away with what he’s done.”
Carlos looked at her, a smile on his lips. He looked ready to burst, but he was still the madman she remembered. Even in death he would be victorious and she knew they couldn’t let him win this way.
She stood a foot away from Noah now and reached out to touch his arm. The muscles beneath her hand bunched and strained, but she didn’t let go.
“Let him go so we can take him in and make him pay for the rest of his life,” she said quietly. “Do it for me so I can live out my days knowing he’s in misery, because he will hate prison. Please, Noah, let me finish what I started one year ago. I had enough to put him away then and we have enough now.”
Noah turned tortured eyes to her and her breath hitched. She had never seen this kind of emotion from him. He fought an inner battle between good and evil. Noah never did anything rash, never fed his emotions. Until now. A war waged inside him and she wasn’t sure which side was going to win.
When he spoke, his voice was ragged with emotion.
“I can’t risk him getting out of prison and coming after you. I won’t have you living in fear and looking over your shoulder the rest of your life, Attie. This is the only way. It has to stop.”
Her heart leapt.
“You can’t slay my dragons, Noah,” she said quietly.
“The hell I can’t.”
“It isn’t your decision. It’s mine. If anyone kills him it should be me.”
His eyes flickered and his mouth tightened. A muscle clenched in his jaw. It was her kill and he would respect that.
Noah eased his grip and Carlos took deep, gulping breaths. He was pulling Carlos back from the ledge when Attie saw what was in Carlos’s hand. She lifted her weapon and opened her mouth to warn Noah, but Carlos had aimed the pistol at her and fired before she could stop him.
She felt the punch of a bullet as it tore through her chest, heard the crack of a high-powered weapon in the distance. She recognized the sound of a sniper’s rifle. None of the ATCOM agents had been carrying a sniper rifle.
Confused, she looked at Noah as her legs buckled beneath her. Pain wracked her body. She couldn’t breathe.
The ground came up to meet her. She saw Carlos lying beside her with a bullet hole in the center of his forehead and two holes in his chest. As the blessed darkness claimed her she smiled. Noah’s and Brandt’s bullets.
It was over.
She was finally free.
* * * *
“What the fuck happened? Holy shit! Attie!”
Noah clutched Attie to his chest, protecting her from any more harm, her blood staining his clothes. He wasn’t aware he had reached the chopper until he heard Brendan shouting. A hand touched his arm and he pulled away.
He was numb, his head buzzing. Santiago had won after all. And it was all his fault. He’d underestimated the man and now he would lose Attie because of it.
Pain like he’d never felt tightened his chest. He kept replaying the last few minutes in his head. Santiago pulling a gun. His bullet hitting Attie. Her look of surprise and confusion, then peace. She’d been smiling as she went down.
It wasn’t supposed to be her.
Someone grabbed his arm and Noah jerked away, holding Attie’s limp body tighter against him and growling at whoever tried to take her from him.
“Jesus! She’s been hit. You were supposed to be protecting her!”
Brendan was irate, shouting, cursing over the sounds of the helicopter.
The hand on his arm tightened. “She’s going to bleed out, Noah. You have to let her go so we can treat her.”
Noah stubbornly held on to her, ignoring Gabe.
“Goddammit, Kincaid, get her on that chopper.” Brendan.
Noah looked at Gabe, eyes dark. “I can’t let her go.”
Gabe very carefully unpeeled Noah’s fingers from around Attie and gently took her from him so he could lift her into the chopper where Colin waited. Noah stared down at his hands.
Gabe put a hand on his shoulder. “She’s going to be fine. We have to go.”
Coming out of his daze, Noah nodded and climbed into the chopper. He no more than sat down when Brendan lunged at him, face twisted in rage.
“How the hell did this happen? You were supposed to protect her,” he shouted as the chopper lifted off.
On the floor, Colin worked to stop Attie’s bleeding. Kyle sat in the corner, watching, his expression unreadable and Gabe waited, ready to intervene if necessary.
“You son of a bitch,” Brendan said, fighting to remain conscious. “You slept with her.”
Noah didn’t block the punch that slammed into his jaw. Welcomed the physical pain. In Brendan’s place he would have done the same thing. He never should have let this mission get personal. It was ATCOM’s number one rule and he’d broken it.
He was a damn fool and he deserved more than what Brendan was giving him. He suspected if Brendan had been up to par, he would have beat the hell out of him. And Noah would have let him. He was a piece of shit for what he’d done. And now Attie was paying the price.
Jesus, how many times was she going to have to pay?
“She better make it through this,” Brendan said, swaying. “I’ll kill you if she doesn’t.” Then he fell back into his seat, eyes closed.
Everyone was looking at him, but Noah paid no attention. His eyes were on Attie. If she didn’t make it, he’d save Brendan the trouble. He would retire and never look back.
Chapter 24
Max hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. The team was on their way back. No casualties. Yet.
History was repeating itself. The last time this team had rescued Attie she had been taken straight to the hospital, not expected to live. Gabe’s report was no different this time. Santiago was dead, shot by two ATCOM bullets and a mysterious sniper bullet. What the hell was that about? Tyler Lynx was out of the country and he was the only sniper they had. Who else had been on that mountain with them?
Max didn’t like unknown variables. He hadn’t sent a sniper in, yet one had been on the mountain. That didn’t settle well. Had another government agency been in on the game? CIA or FBI?
No, no way in hell. He would have known. He still had contacts in the CIA; they would have alerted him. Especially knowing the history ATCOM had with Santiago. No, something else was going on and he wanted to know what.
Everything surrounding Santiago was fucked up. Somehow, the bastard had breached security and discovered the identity of his agents. St. Klare went to extreme measures to make sure that very thing didn’t happen. In the years he’d been running ATCOM, no one had ever broken through their security.
There were only two explanations. One, St. Klare had a bug in the system, or two, they had a mole. Neither of which he liked.
The door of his office swung open and Sheri rushed in. She came around the desk and hugged him, eyes swimming with tears.
“Oh, Max, they made it. They’re safe. I’m going to meet them at the hospital. Attie is going to need a friend. Can I hitch a ride with you?”
Max set her away from him. He certainly hadn’t expected that. He wanted to tell her that Attie didn’t have friends like Sheri wanted to be, but kept his mouth shut. Sheri could rule with an iron fist when she wanted to, but at the same time she was too sensitive to be part of the team. She was going to be devastated when Attie didn’t return her friendship.
“I have to make a call first.”
“I’ll meet you in your car. We have to run into town and pick up some flowers and balloons first, so hurry up.”
She bounded out of the room and Max rubbed his forehead. Balloons and flowers? He was too old for this.
He picked up the phone and dialed Jed Devayne’s number, wishing he didn’t have to do this again. The last time had almost ruined his old friend. This time wasn’t going to be much different.
Jed had raised Attie and Brendan from the time they were in knickers. And he’d done a fine job. Both were outstanding agents. Brendan was a daredevil who walked too damn close to the edge and Attie was the most stubborn, bull-headed woman he’d ever met. She’d stormed ATCOM’s walls and none of them had been the same ever since.
He still remembered the day she graduated the academy. Jed had been proud, sitting on the sidelines as Attie walked across the room, head held high. She’d earned her place and she deserved it.
If only he’d known when he broke down and agreed to let her try the academy. Hindsight was twenty-twenty and all that but, hell, he could have saved them all a lot of heartache.
A woman shouldn’t have to go through what Attie had. No woman. And not one of his agents. It was hard enough the first time. He never thought he’d have to go through this again. What the hell had happened on that mountain? He would get a full report tonight, then he would decide if he was going to continue to allow women to become agents.
Dialing, he waited for Jed to pick up, and prepared to tell him his niece was en route to the hospital.
And pray she made it.
* * * *
Attie opened her eyes slowly and blinked as bright light filtered in. Her chest hurt. She recognized the white walls of ATCOM’s hospital and heard the familiar bells and whistles. She had been here before. It smelled the same as she remembered. Like antiseptic, bringing back many painful memories of the time she spent here healing and hurting.
ATCOM employed some of the best doctors in the world, but they’d called the priest for last rites the last time she’d been here. She’d surprised them all then and she was sure she was surprising them again because she was very much alive. Santiago hadn’t gotten the best of her this time either.
Someone moved beside her bed and she looked over to see her uncle standing beside her. He picked up her hand with tears in his eyes. Oh, God, it had happened again. She’d done the one thing she vowed never to do: she’d hurt her uncle.
Everything came crashing in on her.
“Uncle Jed,” she said, her voice cracking. She cleared her throat and squeezed his hand. “What’s wrong? Is it Brendan? Where is he?”
Jed blinked the wetness from his eyes and said, “Brendan is waiting outside the room along with six burly men that are making the staff irritable with their scowls and questions.”
Attie smiled. She bet she knew who those men were. They could be intimidating when they were protecting something. “He’s okay, then?” she asked.
“Got a nice set of scratches across his chest. Otherwise he’s fine.”
“Thank God.”
Jed leaned down and kissed her cheek. “It’s over. You can rest now. That bullet wound is going to need some time to heal, so don’t go harassing the nurses about letting you out of here anytime soon.”
Attie held tight to his hand, feeling tears well in her eyes. She owed this man more than she could ever repay. He had raised her and been there for her whenever she needed him, and she had pushed him away after her release from the hospital. The love he had for her in his eyes warmed her heart.
She had made a lot of mistakes over the last year. Pushing away the people who meant the most to her. Her family was her support system; she needed them. It had taken Carlos Santiago and his maze to make her see the truth, as difficult as that was to accept. He may have been a madman, but he’d helped her. In his own sick, twisted way he had shown her the path to healing.
And it began here.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Jed,” she said quietly.
He bristled. “Nothing to be sorry for. You just rest and get strong. There are plenty of stalls to be mucked when you get home and Demon needs a new gate. He’s destroyed his, the rogue.”
Attie chuckled, then winced. Her horse, Demon, was a temperamental thorn in the sides of both Brendan and Uncle Jed. For the first time in a long time she was looking forward to going home, and not because of what was in the barn. This time she was going home to heal her heart and her mind instead of her body.
She pulled Jed down for a hug and whispered, “Thank you. For everything. I should have said it a long time ago.”
&nbs
p; When he pulled away, his cheekbones were tinged pink, but his eyes sparkled with joy. Attie knew that the past had been laid to rest. Her uncle was one of a kind. He didn’t hold grudges. He would do whatever it took to help her through this.
But the path she was about to embark on couldn’t be taken by anyone except herself. And she was ready to begin.
Clearing his throat, Jed straightened. “I better let those men in before they break the door down. Not one of them will admit it, but they worry about you. I’ll be back after dinner with a change of clothes for you. Don’t let those guys stay too long. You need your rest.”
“I promise.”
Jed opened the door and stood aside as six brawny men filed into the room. He gave each one of them a warning look before disappearing out the door. Attie realized how lucky she was to have him in her life. She could never have made it without him.
She smiled as Brendan, MacKenzie, MacGregor, Brandt and St. Klare surrounded her bed. They were all in fatigues and looked battle weary. How long had they been standing sentry outside her door?
“You look like hell,” MacGregor said with a grin and that sexy Scottish brogue that women found irresistible.
Attie grinned. “I wouldn’t enter any beauty contests if I were you.”
That earned guffaws and some clucking. Attie relaxed and slipped her hand in Brendan’s. They shared a moment while the others talked around her. None of them mentioned the bullet hole in her chest that had missed her heart by an inch, or the mission. It was just like old times. They joked and teased and strutted like roosters and she loved it. It made her realize what she had done to herself the past year when she locked herself away and refused help. The best medicine was standing in front of her. She’d never deny it again.
One by one they said their goodbyes, ordered her to stay in bed until the doctor gave her the green light and filtered out of the room. Attie warned them to start getting in shape, knowing that each of them was in top physical condition, because she was coming back to kick their ass on the obstacle course at the academy.
The Maze (ATCOM) Page 25