“Mr. Flynn, Good morning.” “ Where am I?” Riley looked up at him. The guy was maybe five foot nine, black curly hair with eyes just as dark. A full growth of beard hung from his face.
“That is not important, please hold this.”
Riley looked at the newspaper in his hand and saw that two days had gone by. “You want the chips.”
“But of course we do, now please smile for the camera.”
Riley snorted. “Fuck you.”
“If you do not cooperate, we will kill Mr. Esposito.”
Riley’s head jerked up. “What?”
“Ah, now that I have your attention, smile for the fucking camera.” Riley slumped in the chair and felt the tears coming. They had Mateo. His stomach was churning and he felt the back of his throat start to burn. A flash went off; he felt a pain in his head, and then nothing.
~~*~~
Mateo let out a loud exasperated sigh. The government liked to have their meetings and talk and talk and talk; he
wanted to take actionnow. Riley had been gone for two
days and the monitor was giving him a clear signal where he was. He looked down at the photocopied picture of Riley and felt his heart lurch. His face was black and blue, one eye closed shut and a split lip. Riley had a newspaper in his hands and he looked scared to death. Mateo closed his eyes and stood up.
“ This is all well and good, but the longer you all stand around discussing the how and when, the less chance we have of finding Riley alive. God forbid, he’s probably being tortured for what he knows. So you’ll excuse me when I say fuck all of you, I’m leaving to rescue him myself, whether you like it or not.”
“Mateo.” Derek looked at him; he knew Mateo would go on his own and probably get himself killed in the process. “ No Derek, I’m going out there and bringing him back with or without help.” Mateo heard the loud slam of the door and looked up to see the rest of his team filing into the room. Josh front and center, flanked by Sam and Troy.
Josh smiled manically. “Where’s the party? We heard a rumor about some ass that needs kickin’, so here we are.” “Thank fucking God.” Mateo let out a loud sigh of relief. “Hey Josh.” The nagging thought of what might be happening to Riley kept him from relaxing too much. Now as he stood, staring at the men he’d fought with and bled with, he finally had a sense of hope. Josh Montgomery was one hell of a bad ass, and Mateo smiled. Josh hadn’t changed. All six foot three of the man was still intact, as well as his short buzz cut, blonde hair and fierce green eyes. The many tattoos surrounding his biceps were intentionally visible.
“ We get that a lot,” Josh smiled putting his hand out. “Damn good to see you, Mat. When General ‘Fuck it’ called, we jumped on the first plane out. As always, ready, willing and able.” Mateo looked like shit. Josh’s eyes scanned the room and he winked at Derek.
Mateo laughed. That was the most perfect description of Derek he’s ever heard. Every time they got in a sticky situation, Derek would say “Fuck it” and in they went, guns blazing. The rest of the guys were lining up behind him, all armed to the hilt and in full uniform. Mateo had never been so happy to see them.
“ I brought some of the guys with me. You remember Troy and Sam, don’tcha, Mat?” Josh walked over to Mateo and put his arm around him.
Mateo put his hand out. Sam Waters and Troy Bishop were the biggest guys on their team and had earned a much deserved reputation for their methods. Just like the rest of the team, they had no mercy. “Holy shit, did you guys have your Wheaties?”
“Every day my friend.” Sam fist bumped Mateo and winked.
“I believe we have a team.” Mateo looked at the men in the room.
James smiled crossing his arms. “Get the cleanup crew on the phone, Mateo Esposito and the Skull Blasters are on their way.” “Hooah!” ~~*~~ Riley was tossed into the shower naked, and a bar of soap was thrown at him. A man stood on the outside of the shower with a gun, leering at him. Riley turned his back and started washing his face. He could see the water running red from his head, and knew they’d hit him. His head was aching, he hurt all over, and he’d barely eaten in the last seventy two hours. Riley knew someone had seen the picture of him by now, but he wasn’t holding out much hope. The Government had the coveted chips and Mateo was being held captive somewhere. They wouldn’t come running for him anytime soon, he was just a guy with a lot of money.
Riley leaned against the shower wall and thought about Mateo. He was in love with him. He had been for a while now. He should have told him. The thought of never seeing Mateo again had him crying softly in the shower. Wiping his eyes, he decided he wasn’t going to let them break him. If he died, then so be it. Riley wasn’t really alive right now anyway. The thought of Mateo dead or hurt was crippling him.
“You are done.” Riley turned to see the man with the beard looking at him. The man’s eyes traveled up and down Riley’s body, and Riley felt the urge to throw up on him. He grabbed his towel and wrapped it around his hips, covering himself as he got out. Riley heard shouting, and then two more men ran in the room grabbing his arms. “Get him on the chopper!”
“ What’s going on?” Riley held the slipping towel across his mid-section. He felt something crack across the base of his skull, and then blackness.
~~*~~ Mateo was boarding a C-130 when the monitor went off, telling him Riley was moving. He looked up at Derek. “They are moving him, find out why.”
The rest of the men spread out. Mateo sat back in the seat and listened to the roar of the engines as the plane started up and moved down the runway. He felt a hand slip into his and looked over to see Josh looking at him with a small smile.
“We’ll get him back.”
Mateo closed his eyes and let out a sigh. “I have to. I promised to protect him, and look what happened.” “ Hey man, you did the best you could.” Josh looked at Mateo. The guy was head over heels in love, and it showed all over his face. When they’d first found out Mateo was gay, it’d been a shock, but that was it. They all respected him, and Josh knew they’d go into battle with Mateo any day of the week.
“ If anything happens to him…” Mateo almost choked on the words. He looked at his duffle bag, and saw the hint of purple fabric and one eye from the hippo. Riley’s hippo.
“ It won’t, you know how we get when we don’t have our caffeine, Mat.” Josh squeezed his hand. “I’m so irritated right now.”
Mateo tried to smile. “Yeah? So am I.”
~~*~~ A quick stop in Germany had them refueled and back on their way. Their next stop was Baghdad; they’d take a military convoy to their final destination. Al Maghayar was a small town on the border of Jordan and Syria. Derek had information leading them here. They’d moved Riley after a local group attacked them. Riley’s bracelet was giving off a strong signal, and Mateo could only hope he wasn’t hurt, or that they weren’t just transporting a body. His stomach lurched at the thought, and he put his head between his knees.
Josh sat with Derek, watching Mateo. He looked over at Derek and smiled. “He finally fell in love.” Derek smiled at the man he’d met at eighteen. Mateo had come a long way since then. He had gotten out of the military and gone into the business of killing people; only to have the one mark he couldn’t kill become the man that finally captured his heart. Mateo Esposito had finally fallen in love. “Stubborn ass.” He murmured.
Derek’s eyes fell on James. He was sitting back with his eyes closed, so Derek studied his face. He knew Pruitt had been in the Army four years before he’d left for bigger and better things, but Derek wasn’t comfortable with him coming along for the ride. It was going to get bumpy and he was already nursing a bad leg. Derek excused himself, and went to sit next to James.
“Stop staring at me.” James smiled without opening his eyes. “ James.” Derek looked at him; he looked so small just then. “I don’t like this. You haven’t been in combat for years.”
this one.”
“Calm down, Girl Scout, I’m just your
eyes and ears on Derek wanted to run his hands through that hair just to see how soft it was, but he knew he couldn’t. Not with his whole team on the plane in close quarters.
“Okay, good.”
James opened his eyes and looked at him. “Gee, for a second there it sounded like you cared about me.”
Derek frowned, his brow crinkling. “That’s not fair, you know I do.”
James sighed and sat back, closing his eyes. “But not in that way.”
Derek sighed. He did care about him in that way, a whole hell of a lot in that way. Fuck.
~~~ On the other side of the plane, the rest of Mateo’s team was getting their gear on. Josh sat back with Troy and Sam, watching the rest of the guys. Ten of the Army’s best Rangers were called in to assist. Not that they needed the help, but they took it anyway. This wasn’t new territory for them; rescue missions were part of the norm. This one was different in a big way, however. They were going to rescue the man Mateo was in love with.
“It’s going to get bloody.” Josh sat with Sam and Troy, watching Mateo sharpen his knife.
“When isn’t it?” Troy sat back closing his eyes.
“Mateo’s not going to stop until he’s killed everyone.” Sam crossed his arms over his chest.
Josh looked at Troy and Sam. “Then I guess we’ve got his back, same as always.”
~~Chapter Fourteen~~ They landed in Baghdad and went to the nearest Army camp. Fortunately, Derek was still in charge of this particular piece of sand. They hit the command center first. Mateo paced back and forth as Derek waited for the drone to feed them aerial pictures of Riley’s coordinates. Josh and the rest of the guys stood at parade rest, hands behind their backs. Waiting.
“ This is taking too long.” Mateo looked outside at the camp. Soldiers were doing PT. It was still early morning here, too early. Mateo needed another damn cup of coffee. Lord knew he missed it sometimes. The regimen, being part of a team; but now, he looked at all the guys running around and almost felt sorry for them. They were risking their lives on a daily basis, even though most people didn’t appreciate it.
“ You know this is the best way, Mateo. We need the schematics of the building before we run in guns blazing. We can’t risk hitting it straight on without knowing where Riley is.” Derek looked up from the computer.
“I just…” Mateo sighed. “I can’t just stand here and wait.” “ Let’s go to the range then.” Josh made his way over to Mateo and grabbed his arm. “You know how you love shooting people; we can use pictures of people we hate.”
Mateo tried to smile. “Politicians?”
“Oh yeah, I like that idea.” Josh laughed and took Mateo’s hand. “Later General. Come on guys.”
~~*~~ The minute they got Riley’s location in the structure, Mateo went into assassin mode. They went by helicopter to Al-Rutba, and then took a hummer the rest of the way to Al Maghayar. Arriving under the cover of darkness, they followed the monitor to within five miles of Riley’s signal, and spread out on foot. Over the sounds of night, and boots walking, Mateo could hear Josh whistling Queen’s “Another one bites the dust.” Mateo had to smile, Josh never changed. They hadn’t run into anyone for a good half hour, when they met with their first batch of resistance. Mateo and the rest of the men took them out quietly, but kept one alive to report back that everything was clear. The asshole wasn’t going to cooperate until Mateo slid his knife under his balls, promising that he would cut them off and keep him alive. Then he was tripping over himself to help.
All in all, the fifteen man team surrounded the small complex where Riley was being held. Derek gave them the signal to go around back, while he, Mateo and Josh took the side. Mateo counted at least twenty men in one room, all eating and drinking, enjoying some down time. He raised an eyebrow at Derek and smiled.
Derek sighed. He knew what was coming next. Smacking Josh in the shoulder, he mouthed. “Fuck it.” They flew into the room and Mateo took them out one by one. Derek and Josh were on the other side, as all hell broke loose; when Sam and Troy flew in with the back- up team. Gun shots were going off in a constant barrage. There was so much smoke, Mateo needed to narrow his eyes to see who was still breathing. His eyes made contact with a man who was limping out the door. Mateo took off after him.
“Mateo!” Derek tracked him running across the room. “Goddammit! Josh, come on!” Mateo ran down the hall and made a mental note of how many rooms he passed. He came to the last door on the right and kicked it down. His training had him automatically drop and sweep the room. It was empty, Riley had been moved. Mateo turned and saw the man he’d been chasing slip through an open door at the other end of the room. Mateo took off after him. As soon as the guy realized Mateo was following him, he ran. Mateo was running right behind him, and squeezed a round off into the back of his leg. As soon as the asshole hit the ground, Mateo was on him, pulling his face up. “Where the fuck is he?”
The man started babbling in his native language, and Mateo grabbed his hair. Pulling his neck back further, he put a knife to it. “Fuck you, you little shit. You don’t think I understand what you’re saying? Where the fuck is Riley Flynn?”
~~ Riley’s head snapped up at the sound of gunshots. He tried to get loose and couldn’t, the knots were too tight. He jumped up and down in the chair trying to get closer to the door but ended up falling on his side landing on his right wrist. Pain exploded up his wrist and into his arm. Riley bit back a scream, and rolled himself off his broken his wrist. He bit through the pain and tried wiggling loose. The chair had cracked on the armrest, and he managed to get his left hand free. Riley worked on untying his right hand as fast he could. He heard the shouting as it got closer, and then the one voice he longed for.
“Riley!” “ Mateo!” Riley felt his voice go hoarse, as tears stung the back of his throat. He tried again. “Mateo! I’m in here!”
Riley felt someone pulling him up, and saw that the man with the black hair and beady eyes. The asshole put him in a head lock, pulling him to his feet. Riley tried to fight back, but the blade nicking his throat stopped him short. Mateo burst through the door and came to a sliding stop.
“ Let him go Nassir, this is between you and me.” Mateo looked at Riley. He was filthy. His chestnut brown locks were plastered to his face with sweat, blood covered his nose, his eye was swollen shut, and his beautiful lip was split.
“ I do not think so, Mr. Esposito.” Nassir snarled. “You killed my Father. I believe I have something in my possession that means a lot to you.” Nassir slid the knife along Riley’s throat.
“ Stop!” As Mateo moved forward, Nassir put more pressure down on the knife. Small droplets of blood slid down Riley’s neck. “Just…stop. Look, take me instead.”
Nassir laughed and narrowed his eyes at Mateo. “You show your hand too easily. How much would it hurt you if I kill him, eh?”
The loud shouts in the hallway caught their attention, and Riley took that moment to make his move. Not knowing what the fuck he was doing, he stomped his right foot down on Nassir’s and elbowed him in the ribs. Sliding out of the man’s weakened grip, he rolled off to the side. As soon as he was clear, Mateo jumped on Nassir. Riley ran across the room looking for anything he could use as a weapon while Mateo and Nassir fought each other.
“ I’m going to fucking kill you.” Mateo growled, punching Nassir in the face and grabbing him around the neck. His left arm still sore, he lost his grip. Nassir flipped them over pinning Mateo down. The knife was precariously close to his eye, and Mateo pushed back harder with his right arm. A shot went off. Mateo looked up into Nassir’s eyes. Blood pooled out of the side of his neck and he was gurgling. Mateo shoved him off and slid away, getting back on his feet. Riley stood a few feet away, gun in hand, eyes glazed. “Riley?” Mateo crossed the distance between them and took the gun from Riley’s shaking hands. “Look at me.”
Riley looked deep into Mateo’s hazel eyes. “Mateo…” Riley’s eyes went wide as another man ran into the ro
om, gun pointed at Mateo’s back. “No!” He pulled Mateo around as the shot went off, and felt it hit his right shoulder. It felt like a hot poker had been shoved through it.
Mateo looked up with murder in his eyes as Riley slumped into his arms. Next thing he knew, Derek and Josh had taken the guy out. He looked down to see Riley cradled in his arms, bleeding. “Jesus Christ Riley! What were you thinking?” Mateo put pressure on Riley’s shoulder. “Get on the radio! We need a chopper!”
“ Love you, Mateo.” Riley murmured. He looked up, then everything went dark.
~~*~~
Riley woke up slowly. His throat hurt like hell, and his shoulder was on fire. He looked over at his wrist and saw it was in a cast. Mateo’s head was on the bed right next to him, and he seemed to be sleeping. Riley tried to find his voice, but ended up poking him with his free finger instead. Mateo’s head popped up, and he smiled, seeing Riley.
“ Hey, you’re finally awake.” Mateo’s heart raced as Riley smiled at him. Riley was battered and bruised, but no worse for wear. They’d had to set his wrist and pull a bullet out of his shoulder, but hell, he was alive.
“Where are we?” Riley’s voice came out as a harsh whisper. “ Germany. We had you transferred as soon as you were stable.” Mateo ran his hand through Riley’s soft hair. “What were you thinking taking a bullet for me? Are you crazy?”
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