Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
He’d been rotating between two worlds. Hell, if he counted the world of politics that would make three. He was like one of those guys you read about in the tabloids who had separate families . . . wives, kids, houses, and neither one knew about the other.
But could he live in all of them at once? Was it possible? Could he merge his worlds without the entire house of cards falling? Without losing the person he cared for more than anything?
Adriana would forgive him. He was certain of that because he knew her. Her heart was too big not to, but did he deserve it?
Yes, he’d taken an oath, and when she’d pushed back the other day about not sharing details because of her job—he’d understood more than she probably realized.
But everything he’d ever done, everything he did, was to keep her safe, wasn’t it?
Even if it wasn’t necessary to live such a secretive life, wouldn’t it be better for her not to know the details? Easier for her? She’d worry with every mission. And he’d worry about her worrying . . . then he’d lose focus.
Last year, he’d had to parachute into Argentina, and he’d jumped stiff. Had to use his reserve, and things could’ve very easily ended without his feet hitting the ground first. He’d told his buddies he was out of practice, but that wasn’t why he’d messed up.
How could he tell them he’d been thinking about Adriana, a woman he’d kept hidden from them for years?
“Is that why you kept her away from us? The real reason?” Wyatt’s question pulled him out of Argentina and back into the car.
“One of a few,” he said under his breath.
“I think she bought the story,” Liam said from the third row. “And you weren’t lying. We do side gigs at Scott and Scott.”
“I just left out all the other stuff we do.” Omissions were lies. He couldn’t pretend they weren’t anymore.
And Liam was wrong. Adriana hadn’t bought it for one second.
He saw the way she looked at him after the team recited their rehearsed lines about Scott & Scott and what they did for a living.
She’d only let the team think she believed them.
Adriana had put her neck out for his people by taking him to Chelsea’s earlier, and she was still risking her job for them now. She deserved the truth.
“She’ll be fine. She’s a tough cookie,” A.J. said as Knox reached for the radio to change the song. “Don’t even touch that dial. That’s Kenny Chesney.”
“Kenny who?” Knox glanced at Wyatt, and he shrugged.
“I’m gonna have a heart attack if you don’t know the Kenny Chesney.” A.J. mumbled something under his breath. “But hey, on a more serious note, when are you and Adriana gonna tie the knot?”
What? Knox shifted in his seat to face A.J., who was next to Asher in the second row. He lifted his sunglasses to catch the cowboy’s eyes. “You’re such an ass,” he said at the sight of the grin on his face.
“Who wouldn’t want to marry their best friend?” A.J. asked, zero hint of a joke in his tone.
“Don’t get any bloody ideas,” Wyatt said with a laugh. “You’re not my type.”
“Ah, you think we’re best friends?” A.J. teased. Wyatt lifted one hand from the wheel and reached back to try and smack him. “Sorry, brother, I got a thing for redheads. Maybe one in particular, too.”
“For being in our line of work, you guys should pay better attention to details,” Liam said.
“Quinn has a white line around her wedding finger. She either doesn’t wear her ring to work, or she’s recently separated.
So, I think you’ll strike out. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see you try.
” His phone began ringing. “It’s Emily,” he said, interrupting whatever response A.J.
would’ve managed. “She must have news.” He placed the call on speakerphone.
Knox dropped his shades back in place and kept his eyes on Liam. He was in need of a distraction to temporarily remove his guilt.
“He’s seven pounds and six ounces. He has Sam’s dark hair. He’s so stinking cute,” Emily made the announcement as soon as Liam answered. “Owen wanted to call, but he’s busy making the nurses crazy to ensure Sam and the baby are okay.”
They should’ve been there for Bravo Two. It killed him they weren’t, and he couldn’t help but feel to blame. Then again, unless they solved this case, they might not even have a team.
“What’s his name?” Liam asked.
“Oh, right!” Emily exclaimed. “Matthew Jason York.”
Jason was Owen’s brother’s name, a SEAL who’d died on a covert operation over ten years ago.
Another loss. There’d been too many over the years.
“Tell them congrats,” Wyatt called out.
“Send us some photos,” Liam requested. “And let them know we’ll be there to see them when we can.”
“And how are things going?” Emily asked in a soft voice as if nervous to hear the answer.
“We’re good.” Liam coughed into a closed fist, clearly not comfortable with the lie. It was contagious.
“Liam James Evans, don’t you lie to me,” Emily said, her Southern accent about on point with Adriana’s.
“Shit, she three-named you, bro. You’re in trouble.” A.J. laughed.
Adriana loved to throw Knox’s middle name at him, too. Emily and Adriana would probably get along well. Maybe if he’d brought her into the group sooner . . . hell, he didn’t know where to go with that thought.
The past was the past.
He had to move forward and figure out how to deal with everything now.
“I’ll call you later,” Liam said. “Give Elaina a kiss. Love you.”
“Shit, man. You’re going soft,” Wyatt said, looking at Liam in the rearview mirror.
“Yeah, well, wait until you meet the one, and then we can talk,” Liam grumbled.
“Hell no,” Wyatt shot back as he pulled into the truck station. “I already tried the marriage thing, and I’m gonna die alone. Happily so.”
Wyatt’s ex-wife.
It was something the man never talked about.
It’d been how he got his citizenship. But that’s all anyone knew.
“You feel like talking?” Asher slapped a palm on the back of Wyatt’s seat. “We’re here for you, man.”
“Shut the bloody hell up.” Wyatt flicked a dismissive hand.
“By the way,” Liam said, “Asher’s officially the softest of us all. Has anyone seen the way this guy acts around Jessica?”
“Do you blame him?” Wyatt turned off the car and hooked his sunglasses at the front of his tee. “The woman can scare the balls off a man.”
“Yeah, I kind of love that about her,” Asher said with a smile.
“Brother, you got stars in your eyes.” Knox faced forward and sought out Ike’s rig.
“I think that’s his truck. It’s still here.
” He pointed to the rear of the parking lot.
They had to put their game faces back on.
No more kidding around. And no more thoughts about Adriana for now. “I’ll text Luke and let him know.”
He sent Luke a message then retrieved his 45 and tucked it beneath the back of his tee, hiding it from sight.
“Let’s take a look at the truck first. We’ll flank the sides, and one of us can come up from behind,” Wyatt said. “If Ike’s inside, assume he’s armed.” He reached into the console of the car and retrieved comms.
“Good idea. I hated being off comms this morning when we got split up,” A.J. said.
Knox dialed the frequency to the correct setting and positioned the next-gen wireless tech Jessica had designed into his ear.
No extra hardware needed. The comm could pick up his speech, and he’d be able to hear his teammates.
One tap of the earpiece turned it on. Two taps muted his speech.
Jessica had unveiled the design not too long ago, and the comms had worked beautifully on their last op in Panama.
“Rules of engagement?” A.J. asked.
“We’re Stateside,” Wyatt replied, “no firing unless fired upon.”
“But let’s try and not get into a shooting match out here in broad daylight if we can help it,” Liam said with a wink then slipped on his shades.
“That’d be ideal.” But assholes weren’t always predictable, and after the shit Ike pulled in the park earlier by positioning his firearms on innocent people, he expected the worst to happen if the prick was there.
Liam pointed to a rig four parking spots away from Ike’s. “I’m gonna see if that red truck is empty and climb on top for a better vantage point.”
“I’ll do the same from the left side,” Wyatt said, which meant Asher, A.J., and Knox would take the truck directly.
“Roger that.” Knox adjusted his shirt, ensuring his gun was hidden as the team split up and moved into positions. He nodded at a trucker pulling his rig past him as he approached Ike’s eighteen-wheeler, hoping to hell he blended in.
“This is Echo One,” Wyatt said three minutes later. “I’m in position. Bravo Four?”
“This is Four. The trucker was asleep inside. I’m looking for an alternative. Copy?”
“Copy that,” Echo One replied.
Knox flanked the side of Ike’s truck, skirting along the edge and out of notice of the extra-large mirrors on the driver side window.
“Bravo Five. Come in?” Asher came over the line. “I’m in position.”
“This is Five. I’m ready.”
“Echo Two?” Wyatt came on the line.
“Ready to roll,” A.J. answered.
“This is Four. No movement in the parking lot on my side. From my vantage point, you’re clear to approach,” Liam said.
Knox kept his hand at his back with the gun clutched if needed as he headed toward the front side of the rig, hoping he didn’t have to use his 45.
There was a truck directly opposite of him, hiding him from the view of the convenience store a hundred-plus feet away. And thankfully the owner of the truck was either sleeping or not inside.
“This is Echo Two. The back’s locked. No sounds from inside that I can hear.”
“One second,” Asher said. “Shit, I think I see something in the back cab. Hold your positions, Two and Five.”
“I’ve got eyes on you. Approach with caution,” Bravo Four told Three.
A second later, “This is One. I’ve got a visual on the target. He’s not the one in that rig. He’s between two trucks off to your left. I don’t have a clear shot yet.”
“We need him alive.” Knox dropped to a plank, trying to identify Ike’s position.
Ike was crouched beneath the rig two over, and his eyes were locked onto Knox.
Damn it. “This is Five.” He went for his 45. “He’s got his gun on me.”
The bastard kept his gaze pinned on Knox.
Was Ike playing chicken—see who’d blink first?
Sweat trickled down the sides of Knox’s face. “I’m going to try and draw his fire.” Knox went flat to his stomach and rolled to his right side in one fast move as he stretched his arms out in front of him with the gun in hand, hoping Ike would take the bait and shoot.
Knox shifted to his back in a split second, assuming Ike would fire, which he did. The bullet clipped Knox’s forearm. He ignored the sting as he listened for what he knew would come next.
One quick pop. A thud of a body dropping after.
“Target is down,” Wyatt announced as someone screamed. Their presence was no longer a secret.
Knox tucked his gun away, ignoring the blood on his arm, and rounded the backside of the rig to maintain cover to get to Ike’s body.
“Bravo Three, have you confirmed if someone is in the back of that rig?” Liam asked.
“Yeah,” Asher snapped out over the line. “And I think it’s Sarah Reardon. If we want to keep her alive, we gotta get her out of this heat.”
Sarah?
“I’m calling an ambulance,” A.J. announced. “And I’m getting Bravo One on the phone for an extract.”
An extract? How?
They were going to be screwed. Possibly arrested.
This wasn’t normally how their operations went down. Not so publicly, especially on American soil.
The president would be hesitant to stick his neck out for them again.
It’d be too risky. But . . . “Tell Bravo One to get ahold of Deputy Secretary Glenn Sterling from Homeland. He’s in town for the investigation and a friend of the family.
” Maybe he could finally take advantage of his political past.
“Roger that,” A.J. responded.
“Ike’s unconscious, but he’s got a strong pulse. He’ll live,” Wyatt said as Knox approached the body facedown on the ground.
Knox knelt next to Ike and rolled his body face up. “We need to get that rig unlocked.” He patted him down for the truck keys and tossed them to Wyatt as sirens began to wail in the distance.
“Shit, you get shot?”
“It’s a graze.” Knox peeled his shirt over his head and wrapped it around his arm and Wyatt assisted in tightening it over the wound to stop the bleeding. “But go.” He tipped his chin, reminding him Asher needed the keys. “I’ll stay with Ike.”
“I’ll remain on overwatch until the police arrive,” Liam said over comms a second later. “We’ve got a bunch of scared people hiding out in the store. And some truckers who might be armed and think we shot one of their own. Someone has to watch your backs.”
“Judging by those sirens, we’re less than two mikes out from that happening. And two mikes from possibly getting our asses thrown in the slammer,” A.J. said glibly.
“Right, well, here’s how we’re going to play it,” Knox began, his mind racing.
“I need someone to go calm down those people inside the store and let them know the guy we shot had a kidnapped woman in his truck, and he’s wanted for the attempted assassination of my dad.
Tell them we have a license to carry and we were fired at first.”
“I’ll do it,” A.J. volunteered.
“Don’t get shot,” Wyatt bit out.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” A.J. remarked over comms.
“Sarah’s okay,” Asher announced, and Knox looked toward the sky in relief. At least one good thing had come from the day.
“We need to try and talk to Sarah before the police get here,” Knox reminded him.
“Looks like Ike’s been keeping her drugged,” Asher replied. “But Sarah confirmed he’s the one who took her, which means he’s our shooter, Knox.”
But it wasn’t over, was it?
Aaron was still out there, and he had to be connected somehow.
And someone still wanted his dad dead.
No, this was far from done.