51. Chapter 50
Chapter 50
AJ
J amie and Jay cleared the way for us, using deadly accuracy to remove the guards surrounding the building. The silencers on their rifles provided us with the tactical advantage we needed.
We took the front, while John and Doug moved to the back.
“Aurora and her father are being led upstairs, four tangos with them.”
“This is Three, copy that,” Jack said from behind me a second before John confirmed he’d also heard.
“Sierra One in place. Ready when you are.”
“Sierra Four in place. On my mark.”
“Aurora and her father are still upstairs,” Jay confirmed.
Knowing they were on the second floor meant we could go in fast and hard.
I counted down from three.
On one, we kicked in both doors and started shooting at anyone holding a gun. Which was everyone. Jack and I moved in sync, clearing the front room with lethal speed while Maxwell covered the stairs. The non-stop percussion of gunfire filled the house, only interrupted by the occasional scream or one of our snipers updating us on tango positions.
They’d fucked with the wrong family, and were paying the ultimate price. The red haze lining my vision meant I didn’t care they were just doing their jobs—their job was to harm innocent people, and it ended now.
John and Doug were just as merciless. This wasn’t a small group of dumb guys doing bad things. This was a gang of enforcers and hitmen who were putting up one hell of a fight.
“Clear,” I called out as we finished the last room.
“Clear,” John called out a few seconds later. “Coming to you.”
John and Doug joined us at the bottom of the stairs.
I signaled Maxwell to cover me. The instant she was in position, I headed up the stairs with Jack right behind me.
The two guys standing in the hall made it easy to identify what room they had Blake in. They lifted their guns.
In the space of a heartbeat, I pulled the trigger twice. So did Jack.
They fell before they could line up their sights.
I’m coming, Blake .
“I need an update.”
“No movement,” Jay answered.
John moved to the other side of the door, signaling he’d open it and watch the hall.
Doug, Jack and I would take the room, while Maxwell continued to cover the stairs. As soon as Jack squeezed up, I nodded. We were ready.
I took a deep breath and waited.
The door flew inward. We rushed in, flooding the room with light from our weapon-mounted flashlights.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, despite moving in slow motion.
When I swung around to the far corner; my heart stopped.
Blake and her father were being held at gunpoint. The guy behind Blake was squatting so he could use her as a shield. He was mostly hidden.
Mostly, but not enough to save him .
She looked terrified, and I hated that there was nothing I could do to protect her from seeing what was coming next.
“It’s over. Let them go,” I ordered, my red dot steady on the space between his eyes. Jack and Doug had cleared the rest of the room, flipped on the lights, and spread out on either side of me.
The scumbag holding Blake dragged her with him when he stepped back. If I shot him, I’d save Blake, but the guy holding her father would probably kill him.
Will she blame me? Could I live with that?
“Tango in my crosshairs. Tell me when,” Jay removed the problem when he confirmed he had a clean shot.
“There’s nowhere to run,” Jack said, giving them one last chance to survive the day.
It was more than they deserved.
“You won’t shoot us. Not unless you want them to die, too.”
Wrong.
In complete opposition to how I felt, my voice was calm and steady when I gave the order, “Send it.”
The whites of his eyes rounded, and a fraction of a second later my bullet punched out his lights, forever.
Time sped back up as I rushed forward to catch Blake. Her eyes rolling back as the dead guy pulled her down with him.
Behind me, Jack and Doug helped her father.
Not bothering to so much as a glance at him, I checked Blake for injuries before picking her up. Knowing she wouldn’t be unconscious for long, I cleared the hall and stairs in record time, ignoring the burn in my lungs as they filled with smoke from the gunfight.
I prayed Blake wouldn’t wake up until after I got her outside. She didn’t need to see the carnage or smell the metallic scent of fresh blood.
Voices relayed information, so I knew what was happening as I exited the house.
I split my focus between Blake’s small, unconscious body in my arms and the chatter of assignments being handed out. John ordered Jaime and Jay to stay on over watch while he called 9-1-1.
Once we were outside in the cool afternoon breeze, Blake stirred.
I whispered platitudes in her ear as I sat down on the front steps, hoping to keep her calm as she came to. Jack must have called Meg because she rushed over to us with the first aid bag from John’s car.
“Andrew?” Blake asked.
“Shhhh, it’s okay. You’re safe now.”
“Where’s my dad?” Her voice was rough from fear.
He was alive and unharmed. They’d frisked him and checked for injuries, and were bringing him out in zip ties.
“He’s fine. You can see him in a few minutes.” I stroked her hair as I held her head close to my shoulder.
“Did they hurt you?” I asked as I settled her on my lap and checked again for injuries.
“No, they just scared me.” That much was obvious, as she trembled in my arms.
Blake said thank you when Meg handed her an open bottle of water, drinking half of it in one swig.
I couldn’t stop touching her, reassuring myself she was alive and well.
She asked me if I was okay.
I was. “I’m good. Not even a scratch.”
“And Jack?” Meg asked, fear in her eyes despite the attempt at bravery.
Jack answered over the comms, so I relayed the message. “He’s okay.”
“Sending Davenport out now,” Doug’s voice sounded in my ear.
When I told Blake, she hurried off my lap. Unwilling to lose contact, I stood and held her hand.
Not knowing what had happened between them in the farmhouse, I didn’t know how she’d react when she saw him.
Meg moved to stand on Blake’s other side, where she’d be out of the way but able to offer support if needed. I nodded my appreciation before turning my attention back to my earpiece. I listened for them to announce they were at the door.
“They’re coming out,” I warned Blake.
Doug opened the door for Jack, who led a haggard-looking Davenport out the door. Jack watched for Blake’s reaction, ready to remove Davenport if necessary.
Steve stuttered out an apology. Instead of accepting, she asked, “How could you?”
He blubbered out a lame excuse, stepping close as he did.
Jack’s grip tightened, and Doug put his hand on Davenport’s shoulder.
I stepped between them, nudging Blake behind me.
“Back off,” I growled.
Steve found some courage and challenged me. “I’m her father. Get out of my way.”
After everything he’d put her through, I didn’t give two shits if he was her father or not, I’d still take him down.
Jack and Doug pulled him back, creating distance between us.
Steve leaned to the side so he could see Blake behind me and pleaded for forgiveness.
I turned my back on him and asked, “Do you want to talk to him?”
Blake shook her head softly back and forth. “No.”
“Get him out of here,” I ordered over my shoulder.
Maxwell took over escorting Steve so Jack could go to Meg, who was waiting patiently, but not calmly.
She and Doug took Steve around the corner, out of Blake’s sight.
“Dad?” The panic in Jack’s voice caused me to turn.
John had bloodstains on his left arm.
“Did you get shot?” Meg asked, her voice a little too high to be considered calm or controlled.
“I’m okay, it’s just a scratch,” John answered. Jack and Meg rushed to his side to verify for themselves.
“Let me see,” Meg demanded as she pushed up his sleeve.
Meg still didn’t believe any of us when we said we had ‘just a scratch’ after Jack needed sixteen stitches for a scratch back when they first started dating. Or was it before they started dating? Whatever, it doesn’t matter .
You could’ve heard a pin drop as his other two sons, and the rest of the team, waited for verification.
“What is it with you Sheppard men?” Meg asked. “That’s not a scratch.”
“Meg, Honey, it’s a graze,” John reassured her.
She looked at Jack for confirmation. “He’s right,” Jack wrapped an arm around her, “It’s nothing Doc G. can’t fix.”
We visited the doctor at the local clinic so often we were on a nickname basis.
A collective sigh of relief huffed over the comms.
Knowing John was okay, I turned my full attention back to Blake and pulled her into my arms.