Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Harper’s heart thumped like the powerful beat of a kettle drum as she set her thumbnail between her teeth and watched the aerial footage from the drone over the village.
Roman and Finn were making their approach to the gates to perform the “modified A.J.” maneuver, and they had the President, admiral, CIA director, and Knox on the line from the Situation Room at the White House waiting with bated breath.
“Your people didn’t retire, did they?” Phillips side-eyed her as he stood at her three o’clock. “All of the times Congress turned us down to handle a situation, your people went in instead, am I right?”
“With all due respect, I can’t answer that.” She didn’t want to lie, but she’d be violating her oath to the President if she said anything.
A chill swept over her skin, and she reached for the other necklace she often wore when she didn’t have the trident secretly hidden beneath her shirt.
She smoothed her mother’s small white gold cross between her fingers, hoping for an extra assist today.
They could use all the help they could get for this op.
Operating with a DEVGRU team in Taliban country wasn’t on her list of expectations when they arrived in Barcelona a week ago.
How had so much happened in only a week?
Roman was now about to operate even though he’d recently suffered a concussion, but she knew better than anyone that there’d be no stopping the man from joining his team to get Bravo One and Jessica back. Plus, they all wanted to end Will and his twisted game of revenge once and for all.
“Men like Luke Scott are lifers. It never made sense to me that he’d left the Teams so early,” Phillips went on, assuming her non-answer was a yes.
“This is Echo Four. We’re moving in.” At the sound of Roman’s voice, Harper stepped forward and positioned her hands to the desk, goose bumps scattering across her forearms.
“This is Command. That’s a good copy,” Phillips responded, reaching for the radio while observing the screen displaying the transmission from the drone overhead. He relayed the positions of all Taliban men visible in the village over comms and added, “Charlie mike.”
“Roger that,” Roman answered, and her body shuddered with anticipation as she watched him on screen, the feed remarkably clear.
“Alpha Team is in position. Ready on your mark,” Alpha One, Master Chief Bradford, announced a moment later.
“Bravo is ready to move,” Liam joined over comms.
“That’s a good copy,” Phillips answered.
Jessica and Luke had the best of the best coming for their rescue, and if they killed a local drug lord and terrorists who wreaked havoc on the lives of innocent villagers, well then, so be it.
It was hard to believe Will had managed to convince a guard at a CIA prison to help him, but after the CIA located that guard two hours ago as he tried to cross into Bangkok with a million dollars, she supposed the guard felt as though he had a million reasons to betray his country and let two men escape.
Harper didn’t want to blame the warden considering his wife and daughter had been held at gunpoint by terrorists working with the accountant, and after knowing everything Roman did to protect those he loved . . . what else would she expect of the warden?
“The door is opening.” Phillips leaned forward, setting both hands on the desk, his eyes on the screen.
They were alone in the room to prevent any more questions about why Harper was there, along with her teammates, since the admiral said it was all “need to know,” and Phillips better keep it that way, or it was his ass.
Faint sounds popped over the radio since they were using their suppressed rifles, which drastically cut down the noise but didn’t fully silence the shots.
She eased back a step from the screen as her teammates went to work, hoping they got to Jessica and Luke before Will tried to take their lives.
Regardless of the precautions they’d taken, that was always a risk, one Asher knew and refused to entertain as a possibility.
Jessica had twins back at home. Luke had two children. They had families that needed them back.
What if I lose Roman one day? And . . . no, stop.
Saying goodbye to Roman before he’d left for the mission had nearly done her in, reminding her of one of the main reasons she’d claimed they shouldn’t be together.
More like excuses. Because she knew whether they were a couple or not, it’d be the same as losing her own heart if she lost that man. But worse.
“This is Five. Guards are down. Alpha, Bravo, clear to infil,” Finn said, his tone steady from experience even though they had a hell of a lot riding on this op.
“This is Bravo Three. Moving in on the target location.”
Harper turned back to face the screen at Asher’s words. She peered closer, fairly certain Owen and Chris were flanking his sides.
“Perimeter secure,” Alpha One announced.
“Hold up,” Phillips suddenly said, and Harper panicked, her throat squeezing at the sight of what the drone was picking up about three klicks out.
“You have incoming. Five vehicles manned with artillery on approach. Looks like someone made a call. Most likely Taliban. You have two minutes to secure the HVTs and get out of there and make your way to the exfil site.”
Harper banded an arm across her abdomen, her adrenaline kicking in as her nerves became tangled.
A sudden battery of gunfire, definitely not discharged by their people, had her flinching.
“Two armed tangos are running toward the target location,” Liam announced, and he must have found an overwatch position within the village. “Permission to—”
“Take them out,” Phillips cut him off, and Harper let go of a pent-up breath when she watched the two men collapse one by one as Liam shot them with precision.
“Confirming three heat signatures inside the house,” Wyatt announced.
It has to be them. The rest of the villagers had already scattered at the sound of conflict. Innocents ran to safety. The assholes ran toward their people.
“Jessica,” Asher hissed in a low, sorrowful tone as if someone had set a boot to his chest, and the line crackled.
Sounds of gunshots and a scuffle followed, and it crushed her not to see what was happening inside the house.
“I had a feeling you’d figure it out. Guess I taught you—” Will’s unmistakable voice was cut off a moment later.
“The village is secure, but we need to exfil now,” Master Chief Bradford said. “Are the HVTs secure?”
“We’re secure.” The sound of Jessica’s voice had tears in Harper’s eyes, and she cupped her mouth, trying to find her breath. “Thanks for picking us up,” she rasped, and from the sounds of it, Asher was squeezing her tight.
“Glad to have you back.” She recognized Roman’s voice over the line.
“But let’s get you two out of here before the rest of the party shows up with some fireworks,” A.J. chimed in.
They all had to be choked up, but it wasn’t over yet. They needed to get out of there. The five vehicles heading their way were basically modified war machines, and if they didn’t want to alert the world to their presence and have QRF blast those assholes, they needed a clean escape.
“The Ghost is down. I had no choice. Bringing his body back,” Chris remarked in a low voice as Harper caught sight of a floor rug, most likely with Will’s body inside it, being carried by Chris and Owen as Asher held Jessica in his arms. A.J.
joined them and looped an arm around Luke’s waist, who was moving slower.
The Ghost. That’d been Will’s call sign back in the SEALs.
There’d been no chance for Will to explain his motives, not that it mattered since they knew them. But if Chris said they had to kill him, she believed him.
“The tangos are one mike out and prepping what looks like some type of RPG. Get your asses out of there,” Phillips rushed out a moment later as the enemy vehicles tore up the path to get closer to the village. “Put some distance between yourselves.”
“Alpha Team is clear of the village and en route to the exfil site,” Bradford answered.
Now they needed to get Bravo and Echo away, too.
“Incoming,” Phillips hissed. “Incoming! Take cover.”
Harper nearly grabbed the sides of the screen when dust and fire filled the view, momentarily blocking their eyes in the sky.
“Radio check. What’s your status?” Phillips looked to Harper, then back at the screen as her world felt as though it might go black. “Come in.”
“This is Bravo Three. All of our people are okay,” Asher said, out of breath and sounding hoarse, “but we’re staying put and taking care of these sons of bitches. No one shoots an RPG at us and fucking walks away.”
Harper sprinted toward Roman the second he hopped out of the Humvee and onto the tarmac near the cargo plane currently getting prepped to transport them home. He spotted her and dropped his gear off to his side and began jogging her way.
As he lifted her into his arms, she peppered kisses of relief and love all over his face.
When he finally released her, he stealthily slipped her trident pendant around her neck. “This is where it belongs. With you.” He bent forward for another kiss, then turned at the sounds of their teammates surrounding them.
Harper looked around for Jessica and Luke, wanting to put eyes on them even though she knew they were okay.
Roman kept Harper pinned to his side as they walked over to Luke and Jessica, who were being loaded on stretchers despite their protests. Typical.
“I just want to know if anyone was hurt in Lithuania,” Jessica rasped. “And then you can check my pulse or do whatever the hell you damn please.”
“You better listen to my wife and stop trying to put that mask on her,” Asher warned the corpsman.
“They’re okay, sweetheart. Four wounded.
No deaths.” He bent forward and set a kiss to her forehead, and when he stood upright, he swiped the backs of his hands across his cheeks, trying to discard the evidence of his tears.