She drew in a deep breath and waited for his signal to get out of the truck. She had to be reliable for him. She couldn’t cause any mistakes. If she did, it could mean death for him or countless others including herself.
Chapter 21
“Get out and stay low. When I tell you to go, you run to me and we’re going to move along the line of the houses, out of direct sight of anyone in the house. Always stay behind me unless I say otherwise.”
She slipped out the door and crouched low as she gently shut it, even though she doubted anyone in the house down the street would hear the door slam against the howl of the wind and rain. She blinked as sheets of rain washed over her and the wind nearly slammed her into the side of the truck.
She had only been crouching near the front of the truck for a few moments before Santo yelled for her. “Now, Evie, now!”
She raced around the front of the truck to him and he grabbed her right hand and guided her to grab his belt at his back. He moved quickly, and she was grateful she didn’t have her heels on to slow her down. He paused at the side of the house, staring down his scope.
Santo glanced back to check on her and she gave him the thumbs-up sign. He nodded and took off again and she held tight to his belt, following his lead and pressing herself alongside the walls of the houses. Her heart pounded in her chest as they arrived at the side of Judge Mitchell’s house. She didn’t hear the frenzied activity of a family trying to get everything together to flee a hurricane. Only the rain hitting the side of the house made a sound.
Santo turned and pulled her close, placing his lips against her ear and a shiver of awareness slipped down her spine. He’d whispered plenty of things to make her blush during her time with him before leaving for Corpus. Focus, Evie! Now is not the time to picture him naked. “Stay low. There are windows we need to crawl under so we aren’t seen.”
She nodded her understanding and squeezed his hand, letting him know she’d stick close. He turned again and dropped down to his hands and knees. She followed him, keeping one hand on his calf so he knew she remained behind him. After what seemed an eternity, they made it to the front porch and he stood, pulling her up and behind him.
He moved past the front door and pressed her flat against the wall, his body slightly covering hers as he rang the doorbell. Evie squeezed her eyes shut and prayed hard for the judge to open the door and look at them like they had lost their minds.
With his body partially covering hers, she felt overwhelmed with sensations. Fear, anxiety, desire, and hope mixed to form a tight knot in her gut.
“Just breathe,” he said softly, and she felt his breath blow across her cheek. She could feel the tension in his body, the way his muscles were bunched and ready to leap into action as soon as necessary.
The loud blast of a shotgun startled her out of admiring the way Santo carried himself and the front door exploded outwards. He wrapped his body around hers for protection, holding her tightly. The front entrance had two wooden doors side-by-side, and the second door exploded outwards only moments after the first.
Santo moved quickly, swinging his rifle up and dropped low and aiming through the hole in the right front door. He fired off a couple of quick rounds and Evie heard someone fall to the floor on the other side of the door. He moved back beside her. “Stay behind me.” He squeezed her hand gently. “I don’t know what we’re going to see, so you may just want to stare at my back.”
Evie’s heart skipped a beat. They were in an extremely dangerous situation, but he wanted to ensure her well-being. She held his belt and stayed behind him, keeping her posture low just in case someone became trigger happy. She kept her eyes on Santo, not interested in seeing another dead man. The one at the courthouse earlier had been more than enough for one day.
Santo pivoted once inside, sweeping his gun carefully as he searched for anyone else. The open floor plan allowed them to see nearly the entire first floor at once. Evie didn’t know if she should continue clinging to his belt or not. She didn’t see anyone else around.
Her eyes ran over the interior of the home and realized someone had been searching for something—more than likely the file she possessed. Everything had been torn apart, from bookshelves to the entertainment center. Suddenly, Santo turned, his rifle slung over his shoulder, and grabbed her shoulders.
“Don’t go any farther, Evie. Just turn around and wait for me near the kitchen. I need to completely clear every part of the first floor.”
Her stomach twisted in knots at the expression on his face. He had seen something. She began to turn, deliberately keeping her eyes downcast so she wouldn’t see anything, but the sight came into view, and she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from crying out loud.
The scene before them could only be described as gruesome. The judge, her husband, and her teenage son had all been tied up with their hands and feet bound behind them. Duct tape covered their mouths. They had all been shot execution-style at the back of the head.
“Evie, I’m sorry. They didn’t stand a chance.”
“Their guard?” She tried to stay strong.
A sound on the staircase made Santo whirl around. He moved so fast Evie felt dizzy. As he spun, he yanked his handgun from the holster in his jacket and fired off a round as he shoved her down. She heard the sharp crack of the gun the man on the stairs held and she grabbed Santo’s shirt, trying to pull him down with her.
The thought of him getting shot terrified her. In the short time she’d known him, she’d developed deep feelings for him, even though she’d tried to fight it. She hadn’t wanted to care about him, but from their first kiss, she knew her heart could be in trouble. He fired his gun again, and the sound made her ears ring painfully. This time, the man on the stairs didn’t return fire.
“Evie, I’m going to protect you. I don’t need you trying to protect me.” He helped her stand, holding her hand gently.
“I just—I don’t want to see you get hurt, Santo. I can’t see you get hurt.”
He pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “I won’t. Grab my belt again. We have to clear the rest of the first floor and check upstairs to make sure we are completely alone.”
She avoided looking at the bodies of the judge and her family on the floor as well as the bodies of the two men Santo had shot. He moved systematically through the house, and she gained a new respect for how silent and quick he carried himself.
“You’ve done great. I know this hasn’t been easy. We’re going to head home now.”
He grabbed her hand again and wrapped it securely around his belt. “What about the judge and her family? And the two guys you shot?” she asked, talking to his back as he moved toward the blown-out front door.
“Buzz will take care of things. Don’t worry.”
She followed behind him, walking at a fast pace to keep up with his long strides. He hesitated at the doorway leading out of the house and pulled his gun out again. Slowly he scanned their surroundings, but Evie wondered how he could see much of anything through the rain.
He stepped forward and they began to hurry across the lawn, headed for the street. Water rushed towards the drains strategically placed in the curbs, and Evie hoped they would be able to get out of town. Roads may have already started flooding. She longed for the safety of the ranch.
They were near to the truck when a man stepped out from behind a tree, his gun aimed at Santo. Adrenaline flooded her veins and she shoved Santo hard, throwing him off balance and to the side. Cursing, he pivoted his body and aimed at the man.
They fired their guns at the same time. Pain erupted in Evie’s chest and she staggered backward. Her senses seemed to go into overdrive. She felt the coarse pebbling of the asphalt of the street under her bare feet. The rain struck her hard, and she realized the wind had torn apart the bun on top of her head, and her hair whipped around her in wet strands.
She saw the shooter jerk as Santo’s shot hit him in the arm. She knew without a doubt if she hadn’t shoved him, S
anto would have been seriously injured. Santo fired off a few more rounds at the man, and it appeared he may have struck him again, but he had turned and fled, stumbling behind the houses so he couldn’t be seen any longer. Santo whirled around to confront her. “Are you okay? Didn’t I explain I can protect you?”
“He wasn’t aiming for me. He wanted to kill you.”
Santo’s face relaxed some. “It would have never happened.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Can you wait by the truck?” She nodded and numbly strode to the truck, hoping no other gunmen hid in the shrubs or behind trees. As she stood next to the truck, she wondered if she had pulled a muscle in her chest when she shoved him. The pain seemed different, though—more intense, deeper than a muscle.
Santo pulled something out of the cargo pants he wore, and she watched in fascination as he extended a metal stick with a mirror on the end of it. He moved around the truck, angling the mirror up underneath the carriage of the vehicle so he could see. “What are you doing?”
He didn’t look up and continued around the back of the truck. “I’m making sure there aren’t any bombs that guy put on here while we were in the house.”
Evie’s eyebrows shot up. She had surely traveled into an alternate universe.
He finished circling the truck and stopped directly in front of her, the rain still pounding down on them. “It’s clear. We need to move fast, Evie. The storm is getting more intense, and there is no way of knowing if more people are on their way. Let’s go.”
She nodded, feeling the weight of the nightmare they’d just experienced settle on her shoulders. Santo lifted her into the truck and smoothed her hair back from her face. “We’ll find who’s doing this.”
She caught his hand and held it to her cheek for a moment, then kissed his palm. “Of course you will. You’re a badass SEAL.”
He gave her a half-smile and shook his head before closing the door closed and racing around the hood of the truck. He jumped into his side, and within seconds Judge Mitchell’s home full of death and destruction lay far behind them. Evie struggled to get her seatbelt on. The pain in her chest made everything difficult, even breathing.
Santo hit the button on his steering wheel and the sound of a phone ringing filled the cab again. “Please tell me you are on your way back. That hurricane is a little over an hour away from slamming full force into Corpus,” Buzz said as a greeting.
“We’re on our way, but it’s only me and Evie. We weren’t able to get Judge Mitchell.”
“Hang on… I’m going to put you on speaker. We’re all in the conference room.”
For a few seconds, everything went silent other than a couple of odd clicks. Then Buzz’s voice came through clearly. “What happened?” he asked.
“They executed her entire family.”
Santo’s words alone made Evie sick to her stomach and fought the tears burning her eyes. She ran a trembling hand through her wet hair. She felt chilled to the bone. Even her teeth were chattering together. She adjusted the vents of the air conditioning so they pointed away from her.
“Are you out of Corpus yet?” Evie recognized Stryker’s voice.
“Not yet. Unfortunately, the judge lived on the far side of the city, close to the ocean. We’re getting slammed with the wind and rain.”
“Is it safe for you to get out of there, or do you need to find a place to hunker down?” Stryker asked.
“We can make it. As long as we don’t run into any roadblocks on our way out, we’ll be on Highway two-eighty-six in just a few minutes.”
“Evie, are you there?” She recognized Snap’s voice, had a sudden moment of clarification. The entire group of men were SEALs. It matched with the ‘team’ Santo referenced earlier. It only made sense that the strong, hard men she had met and come to care for made up the team he talked about.
“Yes. I’m here. But don’t worry. Talk fancy SEAL talk in front of me. I’ll just listen like a fan-girl.” She smiled when she heard several of the men chuckling.
“You’ll be safe at the ranch very soon. Everything’s going to be okay. How are the roads looking?”
“It’s hard to drive fast with the rain pouring down so hard, but I’m pushing as much as I dare. We just jumped onto Highway two-eighty-six. We’re going to be on this for thirty to forty-five minutes depending on how fast I can drive.”
“Keep us posted as you go. You don’t have anyone following you, do you?” The genuine concern in Stryker’s voice reminded Evie how close the men were. She had thought they were all best friends. They were more than that. They were brothers-in-arms and would die for each other if necessary.
“I don’t see anything in this rain, so I doubt anyone can see me follow me.”
Evie tried to squeeze some of the water from her suit jacket onto the rubber floor mats of the truck, hoping to dry off some and get rid of the chills. She stared at the red moisture on her hands, wondering where it came from. What the hell?
“Evie.” Santo drew her attention and she saw him looking at his hands, red blotches covering his palms. Suddenly it dawned on her what it could be.
“You’re bleeding!” she cried. “He did shoot you. I thought he missed. Where are you hit? Show me. Santo, please, let me help you.”
“Santo, have you been shot?” Snap’s voice came through tense and urgent.
“Do you know where? How much pain are you in?” She recognized Phantom’s voice firing off the questions.
Santo’s lips pulled into a thin line. “I’m not shot.” He looked at her with frustration and concern. “Evie is.”
Chapter 22
The concern on Evie’s face quickly turned to confusion. “What are you talking about?”
As soon as he realized where the blood had come from, a strange calmness wrapped around him. His military training took over, and he knew he had to act fast, but remain level-headed or there could be terrible consequences. Worst-case scenario—Evie died.
His stomach clenched and some of the calm gave way to mild tremors. He wouldn’t let her die. She sat next to him alert, confused, and frustrated. The round had probably only grazed her and he just needed to find a way to make a temporary bandage.
“Take off your jacket, Evie. I need to see what we’re dealing with.”
She sat stiffly upright in her seat and her fingers moved to the buttons on her jacket. He had to keep his eyes on the road but continued casting sideway glances at her. Her hands were shaking so hard she struggled with the buttons. As she undid each one, more blood seeped through onto her fingers.
“Evie, are you in pain anywhere?” Phantom asked. Phantom had received medic training in the navy, and they relied on him for his medical experience.
“M-my chest hurt earlier, but I don’t feel anything right now.”
Santo didn’t like her answer. She could be going into shock. Finally, she slid the last button free and he took one hand off the wheel to help her pull the jacket off her shoulders. What he saw told him instantly she hadn’t been grazed by a bullet.
“Why did you push me, Evie? I would have been fine and you wouldn’t be hurt.” His throat felt rough as he tried to force the words out. He couldn’t tear his eyes off her pale pink blouse that had a hole at her upper chest and had turned a deep shade of red down the front. “I need you to take your shirt off. I need to know how serious it is.”
“We have bigger things to worry about than this. If I’m not in a lot of pain, that’s a good sign, right?”
“Evie, if you won’t listen to Santo, please listen to me. We have to make sure we take care of you. Are you bleeding much?” Phantom’s voice remained calm and reassuring.
“The entire front of her shirt is covered in blood.” Santo fired off a reply before Evie could say anything. He wanted nothing more than to pull off the road and focus entirely on her injury, but he had to put distance between them and the storm and the killers who could be pursuing them.
“I’m sure Santo will know how to take care of me just f
ine.” Evie gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. She untucked the shirt and began to pull it over her head.
He heard her breathing harder than usual, and she paused halfway in pulling the blouse off, squeezing her eyes closed tightly. She’s in pain. Why the hell didn’t she tell me she’d been shot? A sudden thought entered his mind. “Did you know you had been shot?”
“No. I suppose that’s the funny thing about all of this. I thought I pulled a muscle when I pushed you.”
He wanted to kiss her and shake her at the same time. He hated to admit to himself she had probably saved his life. The man had been aiming for him first, and once he took him down, he would then go after Evie. If it hadn’t been for her quick actions and selfless sacrifice, they could both be dead.
Evie struggled to pull her blouse over her head, and he once again took a hand off the wheel to help her. Once free of the shirt, she seemed to lose some of her energy and cheerfulness and leaned back against the seat.
Constantly checking the road in front of him, he briefly pulled his eyes away for a second at a time, gently wiping away as much blood as he could with the fabric of her blouse. It seemed to only smear the blood and he couldn’t tell exactly where she had been shot.
“Evie, behind you on the floor is a towel. Are you able to get that for me?”
“Sure.” She turned in her seat and reached for the towel. He heard her sharp gasp of pain when she moved, and his hands clenched the steering wheel so hard it made his knuckles sting with the strain. Maybe she thought diminishing the severity of the wound to him would make it a reality. She slowly rolled back into her seat, holding the towel.
“Try to wipe the blood off. Don’t worry about getting completely clean. Just wipe off most of it. I need to see where you were hit.”
She didn’t argue, merely nodded in understanding. He didn’t like the pallor of her skin and wanted to see her smile again. She moved the towel across her stomach and came across a spot on her side that bled slightly.
Protected in His Arms: An Elite SEAL Rescue (Texas Elite Seals Book 3) Page 21