Chapter 16
ANTOINE FOUND a place to park the RV off State Road 81. He’d positioned it so whoever was behind the wheel could go north, to comparative safety, or south toward San Rios. Behind him, the children played or napped. Out the windshield, the women held a pow-wow at the back of the SUV. The rear door was open and the women pawed through things in the cargo area.
He didn’t want to consider the consequences if any of them were injured. Their mates would tear him to shreds. At the same time, what could one man—even if he was a Wolf—do in the face of such concerted determination? Someday, he hoped a woman loved him so fiercely that she would come to his rescue despite the danger.
Liam appeared at his elbow, silent and focused. “You need to go with them.”
Tilting his head slightly so he could watch both the boy and the women, Antoine raised a brow in question.
“Izzy and Annie can stay with us kids. They both can shoot and I can help. Plus, Annie can drive this thing.”
Antoine swiveled to face Liam. “You have given this a lot of thought.”
“Yeah. It’d be smart if Liz stayed behind too because she could run the computers and stuff. But she won’t. Izzy and I will have to monitor communications.” He lifted shoulders beginning to fill out with the breadth of the man he would grow to be. “They’ll need you to scout for them and to get into town to tell Dad and the Wolves. Mom won’t like that. She’ll want to go in all crazy, guns blazing. Hopefully, Jacey and Amy can keep her under control.”
Before he could continue, the RV rocked on its base and the women all jerked around to stare toward the south. Then the sound caught up with the concussion. The baby woke up screaming, Micah clung to Cody, tears filling his eyes. Liam went to the kids without a word from Antoine.
Outside, a glow painted the southern horizon with fingers of red and yellow. Antoine cleared the doorway so Annie, Liz and Sally could reach their children. He joined Hannah, Jacey, and Izzy.
Hannah had a set of binoculars up to her eyes. “I need to be on higher ground.” She lowered the glasses. “I hope to hell that was Sean’s handiwork.”
RADIOS CRACKLED with traffic and phones rang all through the law enforcement network of southern New Mexico. Highway Patrol. Border Patrol. FBI. Dona Ana County Sheriff’s office. Las Cruces Police Department. DEA. The ripples extended all the way to Fort Bliss, which was the direction most of the officials looked. Only the explosions didn’t involve any part of the post.
DSS and Homeland Security got involved when photographs of a blond woman in black BDUs surfaced. Phone lines hummed with orders and counter orders. Until a DEA agent and a Border Patrol agent pinpointed the heart of the blast. San Rios. A dying shell of a town on a dead-end road at the edge of the US-Mexican border.
In the headquarters building of the 1-501st Aviation Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Greg Rudolph braced his hands on his desk and stared at the other two men in the room—Command Sergeant Major Joe Donner and Major Mark Swift.
“Are you sure it was Major McIntire?”
Mark nodded but looked slightly shell-shocked. “Yessir. I served with her…what…eleven years ago? brAC commission. She was Captain Jackson back then. You say she actually married an NCO?” He cut his eyes at the growling snort of disapproval emanating from the man next to him. “No offense, Command Sergeant Major. Just—”
“Just nothing. She resigned her commission, got married, then went civilian with Defense Security Service. Mac ended up taking retirement and joining DSS as well.” Joe exchanged a long look with his commander. “I don’t believe any of that bullshit the Pentagon put out, Colonel. I know Mac. Know the major. And Colonel Harjo.”
Rudolph rubbed his hand over the short bristles of his hair. “We still have orders.”
“Delta Company is up in rotation.” Donner’s expression didn’t change.
“The Wolf Pack?” Rudolph’s brow wrinkled.
Donner drew himself up, almost standing at attention. “Yessir. And I’d like permission to join the mission.”
“Major Swift, you are dismissed.”
Swift straightened to attention. “Yessir.” He snapped a salute and exited, glad he didn’t have to stick around for the discussion to follow. He just wanted to get back to his tanks. Chopper jocks were a law unto themselves.
SEAN ROCKED back on his heels, his eyes assessing Honi Montoya for signs of injury. The girl appeared to be okay, if frightened.
“Wha-what was that?”
“Not one of mine, darlin’.” He glanced over at Senora Artez. “You okay?” The old woman nodded. “Look after Honi while I go see what the hell happened.”
He had to wrench the door open—not a good sign. The hallway was filled with a mix of acrid smoke and dust. Coughing by the time he reached the door to the alley, he cautiously stepped outside. The radio earpiece emitted a high-pitched and irritating hum. He jerked it out and resorted to old school methods.
“Mac!”
“Sean?” A figure, covered in adobe dust, emerged.
“Danny?”
“Yeah. What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know but I’m damn sure gonna find out. Stay here and guard Honi and the senora. I’ll go find Mac.”
At the end of the alley, Sean peered around the corner. The square looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off. The front of the cantina had collapsed, along with other buildings facing the well and fountain in the center of town. The only building seemingly unaffected was the church.
People emerged from the rubble, coughing and wiping at their faces.
“Anybody hurt?”
A familiar figure, stocky and bald, loomed up beside Sean. “Lightfoot?” Mac looked toward the bell tower of the church, his expression worried.
“No contact, boss.”
“Radios are nothing but static.” Lightfoot’s voice drifted down from above.
“Are you okay?” Mac yelled up to the other man.
“Yeah. Mostly. Ears are ringing.”
“What was it?”
“RPG.”
“Motherfucker. Where the hell did they get an RPG?”
Sean shrugged. “I’m more worried about what else they have. A rocket propelled grenade is bad, but there’s no telling what else they have in their arsenal.” He lowered his voice. “Boss, they blew up the well. That’s our water supply.”
“They blew up more than that. The back half of town is gone. There was an underground cavern. They had it packed with explosives. That explosion probably set off every seismograph in the country.”
“That means we’ll be having company.”
“Maybe.”
“We have to get these people out of here.”
Mac looked exhausted and Sean felt guilty for pointing out the obvious. They were all tired, all on the edge, but Mac more than any of them. The decisions affecting the welfare of every last one of them rested on his shoulders. His and Harjo’s. Sean looked around for the other man. “Harjo?”
“He and Nate are looking for a way out. Rudy’s running the perimeter.”
Sean knew that meant Rudy had shifted to wolf form. He knew the feeling. His own wolf paced just below the surface and the animal wanted free to hunt and blood their enemies. Too bad there were more enemies than the Wolves could account for in wolf form.
In the distance, a wolf howled. Sean and Mac both tensed as a second, closer wolf howled in reply. They knew, even before Michael called down to warn them. The shit had hit the fan.