Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Rory’s head was spinning as she replayed Danny’s confession in her head while she and Chris followed Roman down the hall. The Italian was invented for me. It was un-freaking-believable, and she was certain she had more reason to want to kill an ex-boyfriend than most did.
Rory flinched at the booming noises surrounding them as if they were inside a movie theater with surround sound, but this was real. It sounded like they were in the midst of a war.
Was that enemy fire or return fire? She had no clue. Machine guns, from the sounds of it, but she wasn’t an expert.
Grenades or explosions of some kind going off outside, too.
Roman had secured Danny in the study, locking him up, and then handed Rory a Glock for protection since Chris was already armed. Roman remained in front of them, holding a rifle with an attached suppressor, as they navigated the halls.
A few of Cutter’s men had managed to breach one of the weaker points and made their way inside the home.
The security systems had crashed, and the surveillance cameras were down. After Harper found Cutter’s location, Roman brought her to the command center to work on kicking the hacker out to get their systems up and running.
Roman stuck a fist in the air, and Chris pulled Rory tight to his side, bringing their backs flat to the wall. She supposed that was the signal for them to stop and wait.
Roman peeked around the corner, and Chris set a hand to his shoulder, checked left, then tapped his shoulder twice.
They began moving again but only for a moment before a man went flying into the foyer by the double staircases.
Chris shielded Rory with his body, but she stole a glimpse of Sebastian striding with assured steps toward the guy. He lifted the man by the shirt and brought an elbow to his face. “My wife may not want me killing anyone, but that doesn’t mean this won’t hurt,” he seethed.
“I have no problem killing him.” Roman stepped forward and shot the man twice in the chest, startling Rory as the guy collapsed motionless on the floor. “Maybe call your wife and get permission?”
“Or ask forgiveness after?” Chris chimed in, and Rory had no clue if they were kidding or serious.
Sebastian tipped his head to the side, his mouth tight, as though he were considering their suggestions. Roman pulled a piece from the back of his pants and tossed it to Sebastian.
“Yeah, okay,” Sebastian reluctantly replied.
And if Sebastian could do that kind of damage with only his hands, what would he do with a gun?
“Come on. I’ll take you to Harper.” Sebastian angled his head for them to follow his lead. “Harper thinks you two should meet with the rest of your team in Cosenza,” he added as they walked. “My brother-in-law will fly you there in the chopper.”
Rory didn’t bother to ask how they’d get to the helicopter. Based on how The League leaders appeared to operate, they would have a plan.
A masked enemy circled to stand before them, and Sebastian quickly popped off two precise headshots.
“Like riding a bike,” Chris commented, and Sebastian stole a look back at him, clearly not on the up and up with SEAL humor during battle. The League must’ve operated differently.
Rory stepped over the body with the help of Chris holding her hand. “Do you need our help, though? Should we stay?” She didn’t want to abandon ship, as the saying went.
“I’m not opposed to getting you out of here,” Chris replied, “but I don’t want you in some cowboy showdown with Cutter.”
Yeah, she saw that coming from a mile away.
“This floor is still secure,” Sebastian told them, then glimpsed back at Rory. “Carter Dominick believes you should be there, too. Cutter wants you.”
Chris stopped walking. “What, to draw his fire? Fuck that.”
“I need to do this,” Rory insisted and set a hand to Chris’s chest, feeling his heart pounding fast beneath her palm.
“He’s been manipulating me for five years.
” Probably even longer. “I have to face that son of a bitch myself. And if Carter chooses to kill him in the name of revenge, I’ll stand by his side while he does it. ”
And she meant every word.
There could be no justice for what Cutter had done.
No justice other than death.
“You’re okay with murder?” Sebastian steadied his eyes on her.
“Have you taken the life of an unarmed man? Because I have. It changes you. And it’s a hard thing to come back from, so you better be sure that’s what you want.
” He swiveled his gaze to Chris as if saying, don’t let her do it, then started forward once again.
Rory let his words simmer as they made their way to Harper’s location in the command center, where she was guarded by Finn and one of Emilia’s men.
“I just got the security cameras up and kicked the hacker out of the system. We’re no longer blind,” Harper said, and Finn alerted his team over the radio to the enemy locations he now saw on the cameras.
“How many guys have y’all taken out so far?” Rory asked in shock, setting her focus on the ten or so screens showing various camera angles. A multitude of bad guys lying on the ground.
“Thirty or so,” Finn answered, and Rory blinked in surprise. “There are probably double that number left.”
“Do you want to go to Cosenza?” Harper turned in the chair to view Rory. “Do you want to be there when that prick goes down?”
“Yes,” Rory said with absolute certainty, and she thought back to the view from her room.
She closed her eyes and mapped out a plan.
“Does Emilia have a climbing rope? I think we could rappel down the sides of the hilltop. Choose a starting point that overlooks the water.” She set her attention on Chris.
“How are your climbing skills? Rappelling is pretty straightforward.”
Chris’s lips tipped into a surprising smile. “I can handle it.”
She checked her clothes. “But we should change to better blend in with the setting.” Her eyes moved back to Harper. “Once we reach the ground, what are your thoughts as to how we’ll get to Adam’s chopper?”
Harper handed Chris a small GPS device, which must have had Cutter’s location on it. “Emilia has a motor yacht docked down below. Since it’s dark out, we’ll kill the dock lights, and you should be able to get there unnoticed.”
“Can either of you drive a yacht?” Sebastian asked.
“I can,” Rory and Chris replied at the same time.
“We’ve got men in position. They’ll draw enemy fire while you two escape,” Sebastian added. “Once you’re on the yacht, you’ll head to the nearest port. Adam is on standby. The helo is twenty minutes from here. One kilometer from the port you’ll dock at.”
“I’ll set you two up with everything you need once we get to our exfil spot,” Roman said. “You should take some extra ammo and my rifle.”
Sebastian turned for the door, then looked back at them. “I need to go back out there, but if anything happens to Adam—”
“It won’t,” Chris cut him off and nodded, then Sebastian focused on Rory. “Good luck,” he added before leaving.
Rory’s heart thundered in her ears as she waited for a response. “So, we’re good with the plan?”
“I have faith in you,” Chris said, his voice soft. “If this is what you want, then I’ve got your back.”
Before she could find the words, Roman pointed out, “If you’re gonna go, you better do it now. There’s a lull in gunfire out there. I think they’re regrouping.”
“Probably didn’t know what they were getting themselves into,” Emilia’s guard said, his Italian accent thick.
“We’ve got you covered.” Finn surprised Rory by pulling her in for a hug, then Harper stood and did the same.
“This isn’t goodbye,” Chris said as if the hugs made him nervous. “What’s our ETA on Bravo?”
“They’ll get in a few hours after you do, so you’ll need to wait for them.” Rory knew Harper’s answer wasn’t what Chris wanted to hear, but she couldn’t make their jets go any faster.
“We’ll do some recon and try and confirm Cutter’s location while we wait.” He motioned for Rory to follow him. “Let’s go.”
Finn and the guard stuck with Harper, and Roman provided extra cover for Rory and Chris as they made their way down the hall to change and prep for their exit.
“You and me,” Rory said while stopping a few minutes later to view Chris, setting a palm to his cheek, “we’re a team.”
A small smile pulled at his lips as he set his palm over hers. “We are.” He leaned in for what she refused to believe was a goodbye kiss.