Rescuing Macie (Delta Force Heroes #14)

Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

Mercedes Laughlin was in bed reading when she heard the noise.

At first she didn’t think much about it. She heard random noises at night all the time. The apartment building she lived in wasn’t exactly quiet. There were people coming and going at all hours of the day and night, and she’d definitely heard her share of domestic arguments.

Macie’s apartment was on the second floor and toward the back of the building.

She loved how she could see a creek meandering through acres of trees from her living room.

And since she spent most of her time there, sitting at her desk and working on her computer, it was soothing.

It wasn’t the most expensive apartment complex in Lampasas, but it wasn’t a shit hole either.

All in all, she’d lucked out in finding a place where she felt safe and could be near her brother.

But the noise she’d heard was unusual. It wasn’t like the sounds she heard from outside…cars driving by, people talking, it sounded as if it was right inside her apartment.

Putting her ereader aside, she held her breath and waited to see if she’d hear the odd sound again.

When she did—and it sounded closer—Macie froze. Then she heard a voice.

“Shut up, you idiot! We don’t want her to wake up until we’re in her room.”

“She’s not going to hear me shuffling across the floor, but she is going to hear your dumb ass talking. So you shut the fuck up!”

Without thought, Macie threw back her covers, grabbed her cell phone, and headed for her closet and the sort-of safe room she had there. But the next words from whoever was in her apartment made her stop in her tracks.

“Remember, if she’s not in bed when we get there, check the back of the closet. He said that’s where the shit’ll be and where she’ll probably hide anyway. If we push on the right side, the door’ll open up.”

“You gonna let me have first crack at her?”

Macie was breathing hard now, and she felt dizzy, but she didn’t hesitate as she changed course and headed for the window instead.

As someone who suffered from anxiety, she’d made sure she had a place to feel completely safe inside her apartment.

She’d hired a local carpenter to build a false wall in the back of the walk-in closet.

There was just enough space behind it that she could sit and be comfortable.

She used the space when she needed absolute darkness and quiet, or when she was simply overwhelmed with whatever was going on in her life.

But that hidey-hole wouldn’t keep her safe tonight. Whoever the men were in her apartment, they knew about it, and it was obviously the first place they’d look for her.

She definitely didn’t like the sound of the one man wanting “first crack” at her.

So she was resorting to Plan B.

Her first choice would always be to hide inside.

Away from the world. Cocooned from prying eyes and judgmental stares.

But being pragmatic, she also knew if a tornado came through, or if there was a fire, she couldn’t hide inside the apartment.

She needed an escape route. And that was the other reason why she’d chosen this unit.

Right outside her bedroom was a large tree.

It wasn’t easy, but she could jump from the window ledge onto the large branch that grew perpendicular to the ground, toward the building.

She knew she could do it because she’d practiced.

Always in the middle of the night, when no one was around to see what she was doing and judge her.

Every moment of her life, Macie worried about what people thought of her. Were they looking at her and laughing about her clothes? Did her hair look weird? After she met someone, she always wondered if she’d said the right things, if they were talking about her to their friends.

It was a curse, and she hated feeling the way she did, but she couldn’t turn it off.

She took Lexapro daily to try to control her anxiety and to quiet the voices in her head that were constantly telling her she wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or capable of doing her job.

And when needed, she took a Vistaril tablet, which made her feel nothing at all, and that was bliss when her anxiety got the better of her.

Knowing her apartment wasn’t that big and she had mere seconds before the men came into her room, Macie quickly raised the window, thankful that she’d recently made sure it was in good working order, and eyed the tree branch.

Her breaths came out in short puffs and she could feel the tips of her fingers begin to tingle.

She really wanted to run back in and grab her meds, but she had no time.

“Remember, he’s not sure if she’s already found the stuff, but if we get it tonight, we’ll earn an extra grand. So don’t spend too much time with the bitch.”

“Awwww, come on. I love it when they cry and fight. It makes it that much better.”

There was a muffled smacking sound and a quiet umph before the first man said, “We get the shit first. Then if there’s time, you can have your fun.”

The men were whispering, but she could still hear them clearly.

Macie didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to know what they were talking about.

At least when it came to the “fun” the one man wanted.

She had no clue what they could possibly be looking for, but she’d run out of time to even think about it.

If she’d been asleep, she wouldn’t have heard them until it was too late.

Shoving her cell phone in the waistband of the sleep shorts she had on, Macie ducked and climbed onto the windowsill.

It was second nature to make sure she always had her phone on her.

She needed the security it provided. The small electronic device was a way to get help if her anxiety completely overwhelmed her… which it had more than once.

She wished that she could find a way to close the window after she jumped, so the men in her bedroom wouldn’t know where she’d gone, but it was too late to think of that now.

Hyperventilating, Macie eyed the branch—and jumped.

She let out an umph when she landed on her stomach on the limb.

She held on for dear life, but felt extremely shaky and wasn’t sure she could hang on.

She vaguely felt her inner thighs burning from scraping along the rough bark, but the pain barely registered.

She had probably thirty seconds or so, tops, before one of the men looked out the window.

They’d probably see the empty bed and go straight to the closet first. At least she hoped that’s what they would do. It would buy her a bit of time.

Scrambling to her feet quickly and carefully, Macie shuffled along the large branch, holding on to the smaller limbs above her as she made her way toward the trunk.

She began to climb downward as fast as she could, mentally counting the seconds.

When she’d practiced this, she’d always been wearing jeans and sneakers.

Bare feet and pajama shorts weren’t exactly conducive to a middle-of-the-night escape.

Macie was trying to be quiet while still moving as fast as possible. Climbing down was harder because of her lack of proper clothing and the way her entire body was shaking. Stretching her leg down to the final branch, she sighed in relief, thinking she’d made it.

“Hey!” a low voice shouted from above her.

She startled so bad, she missed the branch and tumbled the three feet or so to the ground, landing on her ass.

Without looking up at her window, Macie leaped to her feet and took off running.

As she ran, she pulled out her cell phone—which had miraculously not fallen out of her shorts as she’d climbed out of the tree—and frantically pushed one of the saved numbers as she tried to figure out where she could hide.

Colonel Colton Robinson ran a hand over his face wearily.

It was oh-two-thirty in the morning and both Delta Force teams were finishing up their debrief of the mission they’d just returned from.

The fourteen men, from two different teams, had worked together to bring down a high-value target who had been hiding out in Africa.

Logistically, the last week and a half had been a bitch, but Colt had never doubted the men under his command for a second.

Ghost’s team was older and more experienced, and tended to err on the side of caution.

All seven men were married, some had children, so their main concern was getting home to their families safe and sound.

Trigger’s team, on the other hand, was younger, mostly late twenties and early thirties, and all of them single.

They had no problem taking risks and doing everything necessary to get the job done.

Together, the fourteen men were the best he’d ever had the pleasure to command.

Colt trusted each and every one of them, and the latest mission had been no exception.

The HVT was neutralized and they’d done it without blowing their cover.

As far as the African government and the terrorist organization was concerned, the man had died in a local skirmish, not at the hands of the US military.

Colt knew everyone was anxious to get home, but debriefing was required. He listened as Lefty explained how they’d exited the compound where the HVT had been holed up. Colt knew all the details, but protocol demanded they review it one more time.

He heard the unmistakable sound of a phone vibrating and turned to frown at the man sitting to his left.

Truck knew they weren’t supposed to have their phones on, but at least he’d had the decency to put it on vibrate.

Colt wouldn’t reprimand him—if he had a wife or kids at home, he’d want them to be able to get ahold of him at any time—but he glared at Truck to let him know that he was walking a fine line.

Truck looked down at his phone and frowned. He brought the phone to his ear. “Mace? What are—”