Chapter 42
Chapter Forty-Two
COLE
I speak into the mic as I run. “Coming in, east side. Over.”
Marshall’s breathing hard when he replies. “Hold at the perimeter. Over.”
When I reach the exterior wall of the building, I press myself against the brick wall, waiting on Marshall’s next directive. The shadows are deep here, providing perfect cover.
“Copy. Over.”
The sound of a scuffle echoes inside the building. A gunshot splits the night. Keeping my breathing steady, I use my long honed skills to stay cool when the world is in total chaos.
Roark comes over the coms. “Cole, there’s one coming your way. Exiting in ten seconds.”
I’m exactly three meters from the open doorway, weapon raised. “Got it, over.”
The man bursts from the door. His face is bloody from a gash on his brow. If he thinks he’s getting away with just that, he’s wrong. Very wrong.
“Freeze!” I yell.
No need to be quiet now. The shit is hitting the fan.
My eyes barely have time to register a glint of metal. A knife hurtling at me, fast as lightning.
Reflexively, I shift to the right. The blade still finds me. It cuts my deltoid with a painless slice. The pain won’t come for another few minutes.
His throw gives me the advantage. He’s off balance. Over confident in his throw. I can see it in his eyes.
No dice.
He lunges at me. My fist collides with his throat.
With a gasp, the man collapses at my feet. He rattles the ground like a giant tree smashing into the forest floor.
The sound of his gagging echoes off the building.
Holding his throat, he tries to kick me. I scoop up the knife he tried to end me with and stab him right in the quad. He yelps and tries to get away.
“Bleed, you son of a bitch. That’s for touching my woman.”
He roars, coughs, roars again.
Aiming my gun right at his dick, I give him one warning. “Move again and you’re gonna have to piss in a bag for the rest of your life.”
He stills as his eyes flick between my eyes and the gun.
“That’s right. I have no qualms about blowing your manhood into a thousand pieces. Roll over.”
His eyes get wider. His mouth trembles. “No. No, don’t shoot me.”
I should. I don’t know who this man is in the operation, but he’s going down. I snarl and kick him in the same leg I just stabbed. “Roll the fuck over.”
He slowly complies, groaning in pain.
It takes every ounce of my willpower not to empty my magazine in him and then cut him into a giant pile of confetti. A cut for every second Sierra suffered at their hands.
Instead, I land a solid punch with the butt of my gun. He goes under. Eyes rolling back in his head, his wheezing trailing off.
Into my mic, I give a fast report. “One hostile subdued. Over.”
The bastard will be out for a couple minutes at the most. Making quick work, I hogtie him. Binding his hands and legs together with gigantic plastic ties, just like he had on Sierra.
I’m heading toward the door to the warehouse when Marshall yells in the mic. “Stand down. I repeat, stand down. All subjects detained. We’re coming out. Over.”
I slow down, still alert. On the lookout for anything that could be a hazard. I take the first truly deep breath in half an hour. Hell, the first one since Sierra went missing.
Simona emerges first. Her eyes are wild, and she’s grinning. “Go take care of your woman.” Her voice is light, as if the last thirty minutes weren’t filled with opportunities to die.
Marshall pushes a man in cuffs along in front of him. His expression is satisfied. Roark follows, with another, looking like his usual calm, cool self.
I tilt my head toward the man I intercepted. “That’s three. Where’s the fourth? And where’s Bryan?”
Marshall pushes the second man down onto the ground, next to the first. “The fourth Army guy is inside on the phone with his handler. Turns out, he’s an undercover federal agent. He was integral in the takedown. Bryan’s with him. Police will be on site in roughly sixty seconds.”
I’m sure I look stunned, because Marshall claps my shoulder. “There’s a lot to this story. Go take care of Sierra, we’ll have time to fill you in after you tend to her.”
He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I sprint the block to where Simona and I left the Ford parked. I break my personal best run record.
A weak street lamp is nearby but it barely casts enough light for me to see the silhouette of the seats. Only it’s enough that I can tell for sure there is no one peering out the windshield.
My feet stumble. My heart does an ugly somersault.
“Sierra!”
I have no idea what makes my legs work, because there’s no blood moving in my body, but they keep moving until I’m tearing at the handle for the back door.
Please let her be safe.
I jerk at the door, my hand flies off. Locked.
I press my face against the glass. “Thank god!”
She’s deep in the shadows of the back floorboard.
“Who is it?” She scrambles backward. The pistol in her hand is pointing right at my face. Her eyes are wide. Unblinking.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s Cole. Put the gun down.”
The expression of fear on her face falls, replaced by relief. She rushes for the door handle. “Cole! Ohhhhmygod… I could have shot you.”
I’m inside the back floorboard with her the next second, pressing the gun aside. I take her face in my hands. My hands are numb from adrenaline. “Holy hell, Stinger. The last twenty-four hours scared ten years off my life.”
“Me too.” Tears brim on her thick lashes.
I kiss her. Careful to be easy. “It’s okay, baby. I’ve got you now.”
I crush my face into her tangled hair. Wrap her up tight. Hold her harder than I’ve ever held anyone.
Something hard and hot clogs my throat. I know it’s words I need to say, stuck there. Only I can’t speak to save my life.
For a few seconds, I seriously consider buying a little island and whisking her far, far away, somewhere that we can be in a little cocoon.
A place where corrupt Army Rangers, her drug addicted brother, and everything else dangerous will never touch us again.
A little slice of paradise, where slow mornings and long beach walks are the only to-do items for the day.
Sierra wraps her arms around my shoulders, twists her legs around my hips as my throat burns hot with emotions.
God, it feels good to have her in my arms again. Safe.
I sound ragged. “You’re never getting out of my sight again. Do you hear that? I’m so damned thankful to have you in my arms right now.”
“Me too, honey. Me too.”
“Your brother’s safe, by the way. He’s with the others, talking to the cops.”
She twists her hand into the collar of my shirt. “Oh, Cole. I was so wrong to be mad at you for calling the police on Bryan that night. I was just trying to do the right thing… but he was in something so deep and dark, I had no idea.”
“I think Bryan is going to be fine. He might need rehab. That will take time to sort out. The operation went perfectly and your brother helped. Actually, it went better than we could have expected. One of the guys in there was a plant. He’s an undercover federal agent of some sort who was trying to crack the drug ring. ”
She burrows closer. “I’m so glad it’s over. I have a million questions.”
We just breathe for a few minutes. I bury my face in her hair again, soaking in her closeness. “We’ll get you answers. I promise. Right now, this is all that matters.”
She lets out a sharp squeak. “Ribs.”
I freeze. “I’m sorry, baby.” I ease my hold. “We need to get those x-rayed. There could be unstable fractures that could threaten your lung. Your wrists are a bloody mess. I’ve got to get you somewhere and get that cleaned up. Infection could set in—”
She slides her arms from around me, grabs my face. “Cole. Cole! Stop talking and kiss me, for heaven’s sake. That’s all I need right now.”
Her hands coax me toward her as a little smile turns up her beautiful lips.
I take a deep breath and try to rein in my obsession with her injuries. “You’re right.”
She leans toward me. When our lips touch, I forget everything.
The world spins down to the sensation of her delicious, perfect, soft mouth against mine. The little moan that escapes her throat is the only thing I can hear. The feel of her body in my hands is the balm my wrecked soul needs.
It’s perfect.
Driving my tongue into her mouth, I inhale her.
She moans and devours me back. My body starts to hum to life, the adrenaline being replaced with lust. I don’t just need to get her somewhere to clean up her wounds, I need to get her alone. Burying myself deep inside of her is the only thing that’s going to make me feel like this is truly over.
When we break apart, our ragged breaths fill the space between us. Her fingernails dig into my forearms. I cup her face in my hands. She looks back at me lovingly as she begins to smile.
The anger is gone.
My heart trips up again and again. The reality of how close I came to losing her crashes into me.
A fresh wave of fear rushes through me. “You,” I growl at her, “I ought to spank you for taking off. You promised me you wouldn’t leave.
I got home and found out you were gone. Worst moment of my life. ”
“Wait. Cole, what?”
“It crushed me when you weren’t there.”
She closes her eyes. Shakes her head slowly. “You didn’t get the message.”
I stiffen. “What message?”
“I called you before I left.”
“I didn’t get a message.”
She winces. “God. It must have been when I lost cell signal. I tried to leave you a message.”
I’m frowning. “You called me?”
“I did. I didn’t want you to follow me, but I called you. I told you to leave me alone.”
I pull her closer and rest my forehead against hers. “I would have come anyway. You’re not getting rid of me.”
She shakes her head. “I’m glad. I’m sorry if I acted like an idiot and took off. You didn’t answer your phone. I knew you were on the training mission. I couldn’t think straight. The only thing I wanted to do was get home to search for Bryan.”