Chapter Twenty-Six
GRANT PUSHED HIMSELF to run harder, ignoring the searing pain in his side where the bullet had traveled through his body. The mission clock ticked loud and clear in his head, making him more aware of the borrowed time Rayne lived on.
He tapped his earpiece. “Sit rep, Z.” Yeah, he knew he’d asked the same question two minutes before. A lot of bad things could happen in two minutes.
“I was hoping to give you good news, man.”
“Yeah?”
“Rayne escaped the room she’d been left in but was recaptured soon after.”
Grant’s breath caught. Oh, man. Her escape would anger the soldiers. He prayed they hadn’t hurt her. “Is she all right?”
“They weren’t happy that she escaped, but no one hurt her. Since she’s a flight risk, instead of being locked away in a room by herself, Rayne is in the kitchen, taped to a chair. All the men are there. They’re arguing.”
“What about?”
Zane remained a moment, then said, “Who gets to have Rayne when you’re dead.”
He scowled. “Let me guess. Ellis?”
“Got it in one, my friend. He’s obsessed with your woman.”
“Not news to me.”
“Well, this next piece of news might be. Good old Ellis is suggesting that his friends take the rest of Artemis for themselves after disposing of Echo unit.”
“Sick creep,” Teagan muttered. “That’s never going to happen.”
“Rayne just told them as much.” He paused. “Get a move on, guys. Ellis has a knife to Rayne’s throat.”
The operatives increased their pace. “Do we have any way to communicate with her?” Grant asked.
“With the soldiers in the room, no. The only thing I’ve been able to do is send a command for the watch to vibrate. It’s not much, but at least it’s a reminder she’s not alone. Rayne should also be able to feel the heat of the GPS tracker we activated.”
Grant clenched his teeth. Not nearly enough support. “How far out are we, Z?”
“Five minutes.”
“Any guards outside the structure?” Seth asked.
“Negative. That may change soon. The leader thinks Grant is already on the way to rescue Rayne. They’re planning to set a trap for Echo unit and kill the lot of you. Donovan Vance has been killing the survivors of Red Dawn to be sure he takes down the people responsible for his brother’s death.”
“So he’s cleaning house because he doesn’t know who’s guilty?”
“That’s what Rayne pulled from Donovan. Grant’s woman is a good interrogator. Donovan’s next target is Echo.”
Andre said, “No surprise there. What about Gino and his cronies? Is he going to take them out?”
“Don’t know. The original plan was not to kill them. They’re friends. Rayne is making him question their loyalty and friendship.”
Grant poured on more speed. “We have to get to her. Even though Ellis is obsessed with her, he might turn on her for causing dissension in the ranks.” An idea came to him. “Zane, is there a way we can hear what’s going on through Rayne’s tactical watch without them hearing us?”
“Hold.”
Seconds later, they heard Ellis’s voice over their earpieces. “Answer me. Do you want to die?”
“That wasn’t in my plan for the day.” Rayne’s voice sounded strained.
“The next time you mouth off to me, remember that I hold your life in the palm of my hand. All I have to do is slice your neck, and all of us get rid of five problems with one swipe of the knife.”
“What happened to your plan to take me for yourself? Can’t do that if I’m dead.”
“You can be replaced easily, beautiful. Don’t forget that.”
Rayne gasped. “Don’t.”
“Just a reminder of who holds the power here, and it’s not you.”
“All right. Just stop cutting me. I’m afraid of knives.”
Despite the dire situation, Grant smiled. Considering Artemis’s affinity for knives, that statement was funny. It was also a way for Rayne to let them know she was still thinking and able to help them.
A few hundred yards ahead of him, the lights of the old farmhouse gleamed in the darkness, a beacon to lead him straight to the love of his life. Although he wanted to sprint across the distance, he’d be asking for another bullet if he did.
Seth held up his fist. He turned to Grant. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”
“Would you do anything different if Teagan was in there in Ellis’s hands?”
“No.”
“I can’t think of another way to do this. The land is open with no cover from here to the farmhouse. Rayne is the bait for me.”
“Donovan wants you dead,” Andre snapped. “You’re just going to deliver yourself to him on a silver platter? What if he shoots you on sight?”
“He won’t. The sniper wants me to suffer first.”
“You hope that’s the case. Besides, you’re putting Rayne’s life in even more jeopardy by doing this. The way to make you suffer is to hurt your woman.”
“I’m counting on you, Seth and Teagan, to prevent that from happening.”
“Risky.” Teagan checked her weapon one more time. “You'd better be right about this, Grant. If Rayne doesn’t survive the night, I’m coming after you. She’s my friend, and I don’t have many of those.”
He didn’t have to worry about Teagan’s lethal sniper skills. If Rayne didn’t survive the night, it was because he’d failed to protect her. He would do anything to keep Rayne safe, even sacrifice his own life for her. Besides, his life wouldn’t be worth living if he lost her. “I hear you. Z?”
“I’m here.”
“Is anyone inside the farmhouse checking the perimeter?”
“One man just set up watch on the south side, one is on the north side, and one on the east. No one’s on the west yet.”
“East side, Grant,” Seth said. “Try not to antagonize Ellis and the others too much. I’d prefer not to train a new operative to work with our team.”
“Copy that, sir.” He circled around to the east side of the farmhouse and began his walk. About two hundred feet from the back door, a curtain over a window twitched.
Let the game begin.
He remained relaxed, his stride confident.
His Sig remained holstered. Didn’t want to provoke Donovan or someone on Gino’s team and earn himself another bullet hole.
He had plans for the next few weeks and didn’t want to waste his precious time out of team rotation by having to spend days in a hospital.
Been there, done that, and had the scars to prove it.
He’d much rather spend that time with Rayne.
The back door flew open, and two men holding weapons stormed from the farmhouse. “That’s far enough, Bowen.”
Gino. “You sent me an invitation, Savage. It’s rude not to at least invite me in.”
“Drop your weapons right there. All of them.”
No problem. That would give his teammates time to get into position.
Grant removed his Sig and placed it carefully on the ground, then did the same with the Glock strapped to his calf.
Next, he pulled knives from various sheaths on his body and dropped them on the growing pile of weapons.
He laid his rifle beside the pile and added the flashbangs and grenades.
No point in dropping the garrote. He doubted Gino or the others would find the weapon hidden in his watch band.
When he finished, Grant stood with his arms up and his legs spread. “Want to check me?”
Gino nodded at the second man, who jogged to Grant with his weapon trained on him. Barry. “If you move, either Gino or I will shoot you. You don’t want to test us, Bowen. Remember, we have your woman. You shouldn’t leave her in Ellis’s hands for long.”
Like they needed to tell him that. Ellis had a reputation in the military, and it wasn’t a good one where women were concerned. The thought of Ellis having his hands on Rayne for any length of time made Grant sick to his stomach. “Let’s get on with it, then.”
Gino kept his weapon trained on Grant though he scanned the area frequently, no doubt looking for Grant’s teammates. He wasn’t worried. His teammates were too good at their jobs to be seen.
Barry finally stepped back, empty-handed.
“Satisfied?”
“For now.” He looked at Gino. “He’s clean.”
Gino sneered. “Forget everything you learned in the military? You never give up all your weapons.”
“You threatened to hurt Rayne if I held something back. I’m not taking any chances of your following through on your threat.”
Barry laughed. “Oh, that’s rich. I can’t believe it. The EOD man with a block of ice for a heart is wrapped around the finger of a beautiful woman. The rest of our team would never believe it if I told them.”
“But you can’t tell them, can you? Donovan killed everyone but your team and ours.”
“He’s doing what’s necessary to avenge his brother. Wouldn’t you do anything to protect your parents and siblings?”
“I wouldn’t slaughter innocent soldiers who did nothing except survive a mission gone horribly wrong.”
“No one really knows how they’ll react until the worst happens,” Gino said flatly. “Be grateful you didn’t lose one of your siblings to a senseless war.”
Hmm. That statement right there might be the key to finding out why Gino and his team turned into thieves. “I did what you asked. Where’s Rayne?”
“Not so fast, Bowen.” Barry brought out two zip ties. “Can’t have you roaming free in our safe house while we wait for the rest of your team to show up.”
“Do you see anyone else but me?”
“Nope, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t out there.” He gestured to the empty acres of land. “Your unit always had each other’s backs. I can’t see that changing this late in the game.”
Oh, how right good old Barry was. Grant turned his attention back to Gino while Barry cinched his wrists together with the zip ties. One zip tie was easy to break. Two zip ties made for more of a challenge. Hopefully, Rayne still had at least one of her knives on her. “I want to see Rayne.”
A shrug from the team leader. “It’s your funeral. Donovan is with her. If you’re lucky, he’ll allow you to say goodbye to Rayne before he works on you. I don’t believe your death is meant to be quick, Grant.”
“Take me to her.”
“So eager to die?” He shook his head as though disappointed. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
So did he.