Chapter Thirty-Three Seraphina
Chapter Thirty-Three
Seraphina
“I’m sure she’s giving us a heads-up it’s them so we don’t shoot.” Alex sent the call to voicemail again, continuing to drive away from the meeting site. “And is that a helo I hear?” He cursed, switching back and forth between English and Spanish.
“The Agency’s using the same satellite as us. We’re the ones who hacked into the government’s feeds,” Reed pointed out. “We’re not going to be able to outrun them.”
“And as much as I hate your ex, I’m not getting into a gunfight with her or any GRS operators.” Ryder leaned forward and patted Alex on the shoulder. “We have no choice but to pull over and talk to them.”
“What’s GRS?” So many acronyms to get straight ever since we met.
“Global Response Team, also known as SOG, the Special Operations Group,” Reed answered as Alex did as Ryder instructed and pulled off the back road onto the dirt.
“They’re a paramilitary unit that works for the Agency.
They protect officers and agents. Most are former Tier One operators like we are.
Hell, some in those SUVs may even be our friends. ”
Alex canceled another call from Beth while parking the SUV. “Clearly, this is why she was at our hotel in DC. She somehow got wind of what happened in Miami, and she planned to try and tag me like an animal to follow us to Sera, but she didn’t have a chance to.”
“Because we called you away from her to my room,” Ryder finished for him. What in the world were they talking about? “DHS knew we were in Mexico. The Agency probably followed us down there, then told Lainey to have us back off.”
“Knowing damn well we wouldn’t. They used us as bait to get to Sera. Those motherfuc—” Alex cut himself off when his phone started up again. “So help me.” He began talking under his breath in Spanish, probably forgetting I could understand him.
“They’re on our six,” Reed alerted us, focused intently on the satellite feed. “About to box us in, more than likely.”
“You mean, trap us so we can’t drive away and escape?” I asked, and Reed looked back at me and nodded.
“You’ve gotta be Delta One again. I’m sorry.” Alex grumbled more curses, facing Ryder. “I won’t be able to think clearly with Beth involved. You know how she mindfucks me. The fact I didn’t see this coming with her pisses me off.”
“I get it,” Ryder was quick to say, somehow remaining calm in the face of this new chaos. “We’ll figure this out.”
Honestly, his tone was much more relaxed than I’d anticipated, considering three SUVs did exactly as Reed had predicted. They closed in on us. One in the front, one in the back, and one parallel to our Tahoe. The only place we could drive would be into the woods, which wouldn’t be happening.
For whatever reason, my heart wasn’t beating wildly. I remained calm and collected. I had to be mirroring Ryder’s behavior.
“I’m not letting them take you. Got it?” Ryder kept hold of his 9mm and, with his free hand, reached for mine, probably worried I was going to spin out.
“I don’t want you going up against your allies. I mean, that’s what they are, right? Or should I say frenemies in this case?”
Ryder pulled his hand away so he could use his phone, and he quickly began typing.
“I need to get word out to Carter about this. I gave him a heads-up earlier that the CIA might be coming down here, but now we’ve got confirmation of that.
He has connections at the Agency. He might be able to pull—” He stopped talking only to swear under his breath. “She’s jamming the signals.”
“So you can’t send the text?” I asked as two guys slapped their hands against the sides of the SUV.
“No, it won’t go through.” Ryder lifted off the seat to shove his phone in his pocket. “Carter will figure out something’s wrong when I don’t make contact.”
“Get out. Hands up,” one of the two armed men shouted.
Alex was the first to open his door. He didn’t waste time and began facing off with the only woman out there.
You must be Beth. With them standing in between our SUV and hers in front of us, and with our headlights on, I could easily make out Alex’s ex. Her no-nonsense, boring black pantsuit didn’t hide how obviously pretty she was.
“Come out my side. Stay right next to me.” Ryder set down his weapon and opened his door, then offered me his hand.
I hesitated. Stared at him as delayed fear caught up with me. The inside lights were on, so I could make out his pinched brows and concerned eyes.
“It’ll be okay. I won’t let them hurt you.” I wanted to latch on to his promise, but my dad used to say the same thing, and now he was dead.
It took someone coming up behind Ryder to snap me out of my shocked state. Seeing a rifle could do that.
Reed had already set aside the laptop and was now exiting, so I finally worked up the nerve to do the same.
Ryder’s big hand swallowed mine, and I bent my head and ducked out.
“We’re unarmed,” Ryder let the guy behind him know, and he gave us both a subtle nod and remained quiet, backing off to allow us to walk around the vehicle to join the others gathered on the road.
Thermal imaging had shown eight bodies, but there were only five in present company.
The other three must’ve remained behind the wheels of their SUVs.
When I turned, I had to squint from the harsh high beams coming from an SUV. I shielded my eyes with one hand, searching out Reed and Alex.
From the sounds of it, the helo was taking off, which meant the CIA didn’t plan to open fire on us. Well, not from above, at least.
When a second guy came around to face us, I stumbled forward in recognition. I know you, don’t I?
Ryder hauled me behind him in one swift movement. “You son of a bitch.”
I kept hold of Ryder’s waist, then stole a look behind me, realizing there was another armed operator a few feet back. How would Ryder shield me from so many?
“What the hell are you doing here?” Ryder asked him, then clocked the fact we had company coming up from behind, so he switched me over to his side. He slung his arm possessively around me, burying his fingertips into my hip.
“Please, give Beth an excuse to let me Taser your ass,” the guy said while resting his hand on an object strapped to his outer thigh.
“I knew I couldn’t trust you.” Ryder’s calm state turned to boiling hot real fast. “Was pulling Leo into this your idea? Is the ink even dry on the GRS contract you had him sign before flying him down here?”
“Leo’s here?” Alex abruptly spun in our direction and away from his ex.
The fourth guy on your team that night—so that’s how I know you.
“We heard things didn’t work out and offered him a position with us.” Beth kept her tone as cold as her Icelandic-blue eyes.
“How convenient,” Ryder muttered, no longer walking us forward.
When Leo held up his rifle, pointing it at me, Ryder immediately stretched his arm out, fearlessly wrapping a hand over the barrel, nudging it away from me.
“Whatever you’re thinking, pause and rethink it,” Ryder warned.
Beth waved her hand in the air. “I don’t need a pissing contest between the two of you.
” She turned to Leo. “If he gets squirrelly, I’ll let you handle him.
Right now, just stand down. Got it?” She pointed to Alex and Reed next.
“Same goes for you two. If you don’t want to be put down and you want to stay at Miss Torres’s side, then I suggest you behave. ”
The idea the CIA would try to snatch me away from Ryder wasn’t one I wanted to consider. I also knew Ryder wouldn’t go down easily. He’d put up a fight if they tried to take me from him. Outgunned, though. Outmanned. Out-everythinged.
“Are you running your own team now?” Alex asked her as Ryder let go of the rifle.
“I’m in charge of a special team and operation, yes,” she said, like she was answering an interview question for a job she didn’t want.
“Talk,” Ryder demanded.
“You need to continue on mission.” Beth faced me. “I need you to head to the meeting with ángel Morales as you intended to do before you changed your mind. We’ll meet you right after. We have a safe house, so you’ll no longer need the place you’re staying at now.”
“What?” I blurted out. “You’re not trying to stop us?”
“On the contrary, I want you to go through with it. The whole plan, in fact. I’m here to make sure you do. With a few adjustments, of course.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“It means they’re using us as bait,” Ryder explained, his tone softer since he was speaking to me. “And that’s not fucking happening.” And that was for her.
Beth gestured to her armed men. “Please explain to me how you’re in a position to tell me what can or can’t happen.”
Point taken yet again. We were currently at her mercy.
“So help me, Beth ...” Alex circled her, lining himself up on my other side. “Do not do this.”
She lowered her hand, casually glancing in his direction. “Alejandro—”
“Don’t ‘Alejandro’ me.”
“I’m doing what needs to be done. My job,” she responded almost casually. “It’s nothing personal.”
“Yeah, well, it’s personal to me.” Ryder broke forward, taking me with him, and Leo didn’t waste time training his rifle on him.
I lifted my free hand, my silent request to not point a weapon at the man I was falling for.
“Tell us what’s going on.” Alex held both hands up, stepping forward as well. “We’re in this together now, so clue us in. What’s this special team and operation you’re running? You owe us that much since you’re trying to hijack control of our mission.”
She directed Leo to lower his weapon, and my body relaxed when he did. “We recently learned the DEA had assets embedded with the Sokolovs’ organization, and the Feds lost those assets. The director had the task force disbanded—not that it should’ve ever been formed in the first place.”
“Director Johnson? Not your immediate boss at the CIA?” Ryder asked her. “Why’s the director of National Intelligence—”
“Need to know,” she interrupted him.