Chapter 18
“WE NEED to get everyone out of here.”
“I know, Harjo. But we have to finish this. And finish it before anyone else gets hurt. These people deserve a life free from fear.”
Harjo stared at Mac and the men standing behind him. Even Rudy and Antoine stood solidly with the Wolves. He wavered between anger that the entire group of wives and kids had arrived and relief that they were together so he could look after Amy. He glanced at his wife’s pale face. She gripped a shotgun and radiated determination. So did the other wives who were present. Jacey remained with Honi while Annie babysat the younger kids in the RV.
“So, what’s your plan?” Harjo’s stomach churned, suspecting what Mac had in mind.
“We take the fight to them. Hannah and the girls will get everyone out of town using the RV, our three SUVs, and whatever other vehicles we can scrounge up. That frees us up to take on the Los Malvados.”
“No holds barred?”
“Is there any reason to be merciful?” Mac spread his arms and turned in a slow circle. “They’ll turn San Rios to complete rubble before they give up.”
Hannah stepped closer to Mac and he slipped his arm around her shoulders. “I took an oath and no matter what the damn government has done, despite the price on our heads, I have to do this. If we don’t protect these people, if we don’t stand up for law and justice, then who will?”
Nate glanced from Mac to Harjo, nodding in agreement. “That damn oath used to mean something, Harjo. To me and everyone here. I say we wipe the fuckers off the face of the earth. If we get it done before the cavalry arrives, then we ride off into the sunset. If not…well.” He swallowed and inhaled deeply before continuing. Words still didn’t come easy to him. “I’ve been in hell before. I survived.”
While no one, with perhaps the exception of Jacey, knew exactly what Nate had endured while imprisoned in the labs in Nevada, having his humanity ripped from him and trapped in the body of his wolf changed the man profoundly. He never spoke much, preferring actions over words. As a result, when he did speak up, the Wolves listened.
Each of the wives present moved into the embrace of her husband. They offered a solid front. The two most reticent men Harjo had ever known got positively eloquent over this situation. That said a lot. These men still looked at him as if he was still their commanding officer. Before Harjo gave the order, Senora Artez burst into the room.
“Senor Sean, Senor Sean! It is time. You need to come now. The baby.”
“WE DON’T have any intel?” Colonel Rudolph stared at the operations officer.
“No, sir.”
“They want Delta Company to fly in there blind?”
“We have current satellite surveillance, Colonel.” The woman’s fingers danced across a keyboard and a big screen on the wall lit up. “That’s San Rios. Frankly, everyone thought it had been abandoned. DEA asked us for SAT recon last year and the place looked deserted.”
Rudolph’s eyes narrowed and he rocked back on his heels, hands shoved deep into his pockets. “Well, somebody fucked up.” He moved closer to the screen and stabbed it with his index finger. “Those are people. Women. Children. The place looks like a fucking war zone.”
“Yessir.”
“And they want us to level what’s left?” He pivoted and speared her with a glare before marching from the room.
In the hallway outside, Command Sergeant Major Donner fell into step with him. Neither spoke until they were clear of the confines of the building.
“Back channels confirmed it, sir.” Donner looked around, his gaze taking in everything around them.
“We owe him, Joe. We owe all of them.”
“Yessir. So what are we going to do about it?”
“I’m going to brief the Wolf Pack. You?”
“I’m calling in a favor from an old friend.”
“Merry Christmas, Command Sergeant Major.”
“Merry Christmas, Colonel.”
MAC WATCHED Hannah. He wasn’t glowering. He wasn’t amused. In fact, for the first time in all the years they’d been together, she couldn’t decide the exact state of his mind. Not for the first time, it irked her that, as a Wolf, he could so easily discern her emotions just by her scent. She had to rely on basic human abilities—body language, facial expressions, tone of voice. At the moment, he was pretty much a blank slate.
They were facing off in the back of the church. This was not the time nor the place. She knew better but she couldn’t help herself. She opened her mouth to defend her actions. Before she could get a word out, Mac raised one hand, palm in her direction. She could almost feel the sigh he didn’t release.
“Mac—”
He cut her off. “Not now, Hannah.”
Her temper bubbled. “If not now, when?”
“Later.”
“No. We aren’t playing that game again.”
“It’s not a game, Hannah.” He threw out an arm in a sweeping motion. “This is very real.”
“You think I don’t fucking know that?”
“If you know, why are you here? This is a damn war zone, babe, and you dragged all the women and kids right into the middle of it. For what? To keep a promise you shouldn’t have made in the first place? To prove that you’re some kind of bad ass?”
His anger hit her like a wall of flame and her own flared in response. She notched her chin, planted her hands on her hips and opened her mouth to rip him a new one.
“It wasn’t like that, Dad.”
She and Mac both whirled to face their son.
“Don’t blame Mom. This is all my fault.”
Mac closed his eyes, reached blindly for his son and pulled Liam close. “I’m not blaming anyone, buddy.”
Liam leaned against his dad. “It’s gonna be okay. We’re together, right? And that’s all that matters. Right?”
Mac opened his eyes to look at his mate. Her face softened and he reached for her too. “Yeah, buddy, that’s right.”
“PUSH, HONI. It’s now or never, darlin’.” Sean had doctored soldiers in worse conditions, but bringing a baby into the world with hands smelling of tequila was a first. It was the best he could do for antiseptic with no running water.
Honi groaned, but she gritted her teeth and bore down. Jacey sat behind her, propping up the girl’s back, urging her on. “Can’t. Believe. David.” She stopped speaking to pant several times then flopped backwards, leaning against Jacey.
“That’s good, Honi. Almost there. When the next contraction hits, give it all you’ve got. Let’s get this young’un born, ’kay?”
“Easy for you to say. If I ever see my husband again, I’m going to kill him.”
Jacey chuckled as she wiped sweat from Honi’s face. “That’s the spirit.”
“ Ooohh-owwwww !” Honi rolled her shoulders forward and pushed hard.
“That’s it. Come on. Doin’ great. I can see the baby’s head. Lots of hair, Honi. Dark. Push. Push hard.” Sean coaxed her on.
With a last grunt, Honi fell back against Jacey as her son entered the world wailing at the top of his lungs. With Senora Artez’s help, Sean cut the umbilical cord, cleaned the child with baby wipes, and wrapped him in a soft blanket. The women cooed over the bundle while Sean waited for the afterbirth. Once it delivered, he checked for abnormal bleeding. Honi seemed to be fine, if exhausted. He slipped out to find the rest of the Wolves.
“It’s a boy,” Sean announced as he walked into the church. “And I’ll be damned if he’s not the spitting image of Nakai.”
“Can they travel?” Mac went straight to the heart of the matter.
“Damn straight, Mac. We need to get them to a hospital ASAP.”
“Yeah, about that…” Harjo’s voice trailed off. “Highway Patrol set up a roadblock this side of the interstate.”
“That’s good. They can deal with the civilians and get Honi and the baby to the hospital.”
“We can’t send the girls out.”
Sean stared at Mac, thoughts clicking through possible reasons, and then glanced to Harjo for confirmation. “Arrest warrants?”
“Liz is almost as good a hacker as you, Sean. They all have warrants, just like us. And there’s an order to pick up the kids to put them into Social Services custody,” Harjo explained, his voice tight.
Mac fairly vibrated from the anger surging through him. He was too angry to even speak.
Sinking down on the nearest pew, Sean resisted the urge to pound something. “Oh, fuck no.”
“Dasher and Lucy Fox are organizing the locals to get them out. They can take the RV and the rest of the vehicles but for one SUV. That will buy us some time as the cops deal with the civilians. We’ll send Honi out with them.”
“Where’s—” Sean didn’t finish his question as Annie’s arms slipped over his shoulders from behind.
“Right here, Sean. Cody and I are right here with you.” She slipped around the pew and joined him as Cody crawled into his lap.
Hannah glared at no one in particular and resisted the urge to kick the pew. Keeping her voice low, she muttered, “Merry fucking Christmas.”