Chapter Two
RILEY RAISED HER hands and held them away from her body, the Sig still clutched in her right hand.
This wasn’t good. They needed to make tracks away from the compound before this guy’s colleagues arrived to lend him a hand or before the trigger-happy soldier shooting at them got lucky and hit her or Andre.
The soldier’s mouth curved into a cocky grin. “Drop your gun or I’ll shoot your friend.”
“All right. Please don’t hurt him. I enjoy having him around.” She heard a soft chuckle behind her. Her lips twitched.
“Drop your gun now.” The soldier motioned with the muzzle of his rifle.
Didn’t these guys know rifles weren’t suitable weapons for close-quarters combat? “Just give me a minute. I’m scared, you know?” She slowly lowered her hand and bent to place her Sig on the ground.
As she rose, Riley pressed the mechanism releasing the knife secured at her wrist. With a quiet snick, the blade slid into place against her palm. She adjusted her hold on the hilt of the steel blade and sent it sailing toward the soldier.
The blade sank deep into the terrorist’s throat. He stumbled backward a few steps, then collapsed on the ground.
“Nice throw.” Andre retrieved Riley’s Sig and handed it to her.
As more bullets pummeled the ground near their feet, Riley and Andre raced for the treeline. Seconds later, they plunged into the safety of the dense jungle.
“Take the lead.” Andre slowed to allow Riley to pass him.
She didn’t like it but didn’t waste time arguing. Andre was watching her back and letting her set the pace through the jungle since her running pace wasn’t as fast as his. Needing concessions galled her.
Seth’s voice came through their earpieces. “Team Five, sit rep.”
Andre tapped his comm device. “We’re out of the compound and headed for rendezvous point one.”
“Teagan took care of the shooter pestering you.”
“Copy that. Thanks, T.”
“Team One, move out.”
“Copy,” Noah said.
As Riley listened to their teammates acknowledge Seth’s orders, she widened her stride. The back of her neck tingled, and that wasn’t good. Someone was bearing down on them. If they weren’t careful, they’d face another delay.
Riley hopped over a fallen log and plunged ahead through the thick underbrush, dodging tree limbs and roots. Breathing became more difficult the longer she ran. She hated running through jungles, and every time Brent Maddox deployed them to a tropical climate, that’s what she ended up doing.
Why couldn’t he send them on a mission in Hawaii? She could get behind that in a big way. Beach, sun, plus a briny breeze added up to a perfect atmosphere in her opinion.
She tapped her comm device. “How’s the boy?”
“He’ll need counseling,” Violet said.
“Copy.” Riley hated to hear that. No kid deserved to be used and abused.
Before the boy left the jet, Riley would make sure he could contact her if he wanted to talk.
Yeah, most boys didn’t like to share their feelings.
Didn’t mean the kid shouldn’t have that option if he needed to use it.
What she would have given to have had the same option when she was a kid.
If he wouldn’t talk to a professional counselor, Riley would be glad to be a listener. She knew without asking that Teagan would also offer to listen any time the kid needed to vent.
Riley checked her GPS and adjusted her course. If they didn’t have interruptions or delays, she and Andre would reach the rendezvous point in five minutes.
“Team One in position.”
As each of the teams reported in, Riley realized everyone was at the rendezvous site except her and Andre.
“Team Five, report.”
“One minute out,” Andre said.
Seconds later, they burst into the small clearing where their teammates waited with Christopher Hatton, their principal. The boy’s face lit up when he saw Andre.
“You’re safe.”
Andre ruffled his hair. “Yep. I told you I’d be back to help you get out of this furnace of a jungle.”
The boy laughed.
“Let’s move.” Seth quartered the area. “Clock’s ticking, and we still have to make it out of the jungle while dodging terrorists.”
“Fine with me.” Iona grimaced. “I hate the jungle. The humidity makes my hair frizz.” She winked at Christopher, who grinned at her.
Violet scanned Riley. “Are you injured?”
“Nothing a cold pack won’t cure when we’re airborne.”
“Really? Where did you get the cut on your neck?”
Her teammates swung around to stare at her. Not what she wanted. Riley hated being the center of attention. “It’s just a scratch. One kidnapper held a knife to my throat and nicked the skin. I forgot about it.”
“I’ll treat that on the jet, too. We can’t take any chances in this atmosphere.”
“Gear up and let’s go. The terrorists haven’t given up on the package yet,” Seth said.
Riley and her teammates settled Go bags on their backs and checked their weapons.
Andre crouched in front of Christopher. “Want me to carry you out of here, or do you want to stay with Noah and Violet?”
“I want to go with you.”
Noah laid a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “If Andre becomes tired, come to me for a while, all right?”
“Yes, sir.”
Once Andre scooped Christopher into his arms, Echo and Artemis formed a loose circle around them with Seth in the lead position.
Riley walked on Andre’s right side. She watched their surroundings, alert for more terrorists. An unknown number of them were combing the jungle for their hostage and gunning for Andre and Riley.
She frowned. Why had the terrorists taken her?
Throughout the hurried trek through the jungle, the men had said nothing to her.
It was only when they dumped her in the room where Andre found her that the men talked.
Unfortunately, they didn’t say enough for her to figure out why they had kidnapped her.
Was it possible they took her as leverage to get the boy back?
If so, is that what they meant about her cooperating with them?
They had to know she would do nothing to harm that child, and placing him back in the terrorists’ hands was not in his best interest. If that wasn’t their goal, what on earth did they want with her?
More importantly, what kind of cooperation did they want? The whole incident made no sense.
Another thought crossed her mind. What if the kidnappers were part of a different terrorist group from the one that had taken Christopher?
Her lips curled. What were the odds of two different terrorist groups operating in the same area?
Although not unheard of, the odds weren’t in favor of it.
That option made more sense than one large terrorist group coming after her and Christopher.
They didn’t know each other. Kidnapping both of them wasn’t logical.
Half a mile later, Seth held up a fist. Andre crouched, covering as much of the boy’s body as he could.
The sight did funny things to Riley’s stomach.
It felt as though a bomber squadron of butterflies had taken off and were fluttering around in her gut.
She knew Andre was doing his job by protecting the child with everything at his disposal.
But seeing Andre willingly lay his life on the line for their principal caused admiration and fear to swell inside Riley.
They were friends, after all. She didn’t want to lose him.
She frowned as she scanned their surroundings. Perhaps the friend label wasn’t accurate. Riley didn’t know what she and Andre were, but it was more than friends.
Afraid to delve deeper into what she longed to have with Andre, she pushed the concerns to the back of her mind and focused on the problem at hand. Terrorists stalked them through the jungle. They had to be her chief priority. Deep introspection could wait until they returned to Nashville.
Seth looked at Elias and Noah, who nodded and blended into the shadows as they went in search of the disturbance.
Christopher looked around with wide eyes, then huddled closer to Andre, who cupped the back of his head. One more layer of protection, thin though it was.
Fifteen minutes later, Noah and Elias returned and signaled Seth that they’d taken out seven terrorists who were tracking Christopher. They returned to their places in the circle of protection, and Seth gave the signal to resume the journey.
They repeated the process three more times before they escaped the jungle and returned to the vehicles they’d hidden in the treeline.
While the rest of them stayed in the jungle’s cover, Seth and Elias checked the vehicles for signs of tampering.
When they didn’t detect unwanted electronic signals, the operatives started the SUVs with key fobs from a distance.
No problems. No explosions. Riley breathed easier.
“Go,” Noah said.
The operatives hurried to the vehicles and climbed inside. Christopher settled into the backseat between Andre and Riley. Noah slid behind the wheel of their SUV with Violet in the passenger seat and cranked the engine as Grant and Rayne slid into the middle row of seats.
Noah drove out of the trees and settled behind Seth and the rest of their teams in the lead SUV.
“What happens now?” Christopher turned to Andre. “Do we have to drive home?”
“We’re driving to an airstrip where we’ll board a jet to fly home.”
His eyes lit up. “I love to fly.”
“Yeah? So do I, bud.”
Riley twisted to watch out the back window.
So far, no sign they were being followed.
However, you didn’t have to be a genius to realize the teams would hightail it out of the area with the boy as fast as possible, and there were only two ways to go.
All the terrorists had to do was split their soldiers into two groups and send them after the Fortress operatives.
Noah glanced back. “Anything, Riley?”
“Not yet.”
Elias turned to watch out the back. “I hope they gave up.”
“Not likely. Sweetheart, watch for traffic coming from the right side. I don’t plan to stop at stop signs or red lights if I can help it.”
Violet smiled at her husband. “Copy that.”