Chapter 13
Razorback tucked Selena into the front closet while he and Sloan cleared the house.
Jackie was asleep on her bed fully clothed on top of the covers.
He dropped to his hands and knees at the door, crawled to the bed, and woke her—telling her about the sniper with his sight trained on her room, and Selena’s injury.
He ran back downstairs for Selena, carrying the girl as he called to Sloan, “Get my medical pack out of my bag.”
The shades were already drawn in Selena’s room, and he inspected her injury as Jackie held her close.
He was grateful to see the cut wasn’t as bad as he’d feared, the flow of blood already considerably less than it had been.
The edges closed neatly beneath his steady fingers, allowing him to use strong medical glue to close it instead of needle and thread.
Selena’s eyes were wide, staring at him while he cleaned the area, her scrutiny intense. “Are you a doctor?”
“Yes.”
She seemed to consider that. “You help people?”
“That’s right.”
She frowned. “You don’t look like a doctor.”
“Why not?”
“Doctors are nice.”
He grinned. “Yeah, well, people don’t always look like you think they will. And sometimes I’m nice.” He winked at her, earning him a smile.
Sloan was on his computer. “The motion sensors on cameras two and three have been tampered with.” He cursed under his breath. “Not just anybody could do that.”
“You call for backup?”
“Just a sec.”
Jackie turned concerned eyes to Razorback. “Not just anybody? Who do you think is out there?”
“The man who attacked you.”
Selena cocked her head. “But Bill killed him.”
Razorback whipped around to stare at Jackie. “Is that true?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
He put his hand on his forehead. This was unbelievable. “After what I offered to do?”
“This was when you first arrived. I didn’t know if I should tell you.”
What the hell else don’t we know?
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. It wasn’t worth getting into an argument right now. He’d save that for later. “Where’s the body?”
Jackie pursed her lips. “I threw it over the cliffs into the ocean before you got here. Well, rolled it out of the bed of the truck, actually.”
“You rolled it out of the bed of your truck,” Razorback repeated, then turned to Sloan. “She rolled it out of the bed of the truck.”
“I heard that,” said Sloan, pulling him aside, out of earshot from the others. “Listen, we don’t just need backup, we might need the whole damn team.”
“What are you talking about?”
Sloan ran a hand through his hair. “You remember my friend who works for SVX? We stopped talking because he had to board his plane, but I’ve been thinking. With the storm, most of the flights were cancelled. We lucked out, remember?”
“So what?”
“How many planes do you think left the airport that day?”
“I don’t know. What the hell difference does it…” His eyes went wide, the pieces sliding into place with a strained click. It was no coincidence Sloan’s friend from SVX was in the airport in Mexico City. He’d been on their damn plane, headed to the same place they’d been going.
Right here.
“Oh, Jesus. That’s SVX out there?”
“I’ll have Moto check with the airline to be sure.
Calling him now.” Within ten minutes, he had confirmation.
“Four other Americans on that flight, all of them male, former military, mid-thirties, and employed by Secure Vigilance X-division. Mac’s on his way, but Atlanta can get here faster. Cowboy’s sending a team.”
SVX. Four of them, here at the resort, no doubt with orders to erase Jackie and Selena from this earth. They hadn’t made their move, and he wondered what they were waiting for. He knew from experience it could be anything. The final go-ahead coming across the comm set.
Darkness.
Weather.
Opportunity.
Selena had slipped beneath the covers and was playing quietly on an iPad, headphones over her ears. Jackie had her arms wrapped around herself as she slowly paced the room. “What do we do now?”
“We fortify our position, and we wait,” said Razorback.
“I’m not good at waiting.”
Neither was he, especially knowing SVX was outside. “Help me go through Bill’s things, see if there’s anything we can use.” She nodded, following him.
“How long will it take your friends to arrive?”
“Five hours, maybe six.” Razorback had left the shades in this room down when he woke up, which meant they could also move freely in here. He could hear the wind picking up speed outside, and pulled out his phone to check the weather. “Shit.”
He held up the device for her to see the colorful radar image. “The storm went out to sea, picked up speed, and is headed back this way.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Not kidding.” He shook his head and pocketed the device. “That’s going to make it harder for them to get here.”
Jackie gave him the key to the gun safe, and he selected an M4A1 assault rifle and a Sig Sauer P226.
Razorback might never have met Bill Whitton, but SEALs were SEALs, and the dead man’s weapons were as known to Razorback as a fork and spoon.
He found several body armor plates and a vest, grabbing them for good measure.
“Should we barricade the doors downstairs?” she asked.
“It’s too risky. Too many windows for sniper fire.”
“You can’t see the first-floor windows from the cabana.”
“No, but no military-trained sniper would stay in a location that’s been discovered. He’s on the move. We don’t know where he is now.”
She dropped her chin to her chest, and he reached for her as if he did so every day. “Come here.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face against him. “We’re going to get you out of here.”
“Promise?”
He knew what they were up against, the men just as trained as he and just as dedicated to their mission. But he would fight for Jackie and Selena with everything he had, right up to the death if that was what it took to save them. “I promise.”
He rested his head on top of hers, inhaling her scent. Jackie. Sweet, beautiful Jackie. She drew him in, every movement of her body a siren call to his own. What would she feel like in his arms, beneath his body as he came into her?
So much adrenaline needing a release, energy searching for an outlet.
He needed to put some distance between himself and this woman.
Maybe then he could stop wanting to touch her face, to tell her it was going to be all right.
Stop wondering what it would feel like to pin her between his greedy hips and a brick wall.
Jesus.
He had to stop thinking with his dick. SVX was waiting to make their move, and it would be soon, he could feel it.
They weren’t going to wait five hours for HERO Force to get here, and Razorback needed to be ready.
Discovering the sniper’s lair had set something in motion, the ticking of a clock counting down to the inevitable confrontation.
He could practically hear it.
Jackie lifted her head, her fingers sliding along the sensitive back of his neck.
He froze. The slightest movement toward her would set fire to the combustible attraction that had been rubbing together since she first opened the door to him, a gun in her hand and a gasp on her lips.
He wanted to hear her make that noise again in an entirely different context, longed to act on the impulse that was beating in his cock, but he didn’t move.
“Ian…” she whispered. It was a question, a plea that required his response, but still he hesitated. Her fingers curled, her nails lightly scraping his skin.
It was his undoing. Her name was a growl deep in his throat, a hunger refusing to be ignored. “Jackie.” He bent his head and kissed her, their mouths meeting with a desperate urgency that left him dazed and wanting more.
He hauled her against him, the sinew of her torso forming soft curves against his body, her hands skimming every exposed inch of his flesh and driving him higher. There was no time for this now, it wasn’t the place, yet he couldn’t have pulled himself away from her if he’d tried.
She kissed down his neck, his desire growing more intense, insistent. The bed was behind her and he longed to spread her out and follow her down, nestling his hardness in the valley between her legs.
The absurdity of doing so now—with SVX outside and Sloan and Selena next door—was what finally snapped him out of his lustful delirium. He lifted his mouth from hers and threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her forehead against his as their breathing slowed.
His heartbeat returned to normal and he reluctantly let her go, noting the high color in her cheeks and wishing he could have seen it all over her body.
She covered her face with her forearms. “Whoa.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I can’t think about that right now.” She walked to the gun safe and back again, giggling.
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh, nothing.” She giggled again. “I just can’t believe the first time I kiss a guy in eight years is while there are hired assassins parked outside my house, waiting to kill me.”
“You haven’t kissed anyone in this whole time?”
She paced. “And there’s nothing we can do about the assassin people, so hell—I guess necking is as good as Scrabble or painting our toenails to pass the time. But still, it’s really odd. Don’t you find that strange?”
What he really found strange was her current monologue. Strange and oddly endearing. He was smiling as he watched her, and it occurred to him that between his interactions with Selena and Jackie, he hadn’t smiled this much in a long time. “I do.”
She stopped in front of him. “I’m not good at waiting.”
“I can see that.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “You’re safe with me, Jackie. Remember that.” He let her go and picked up the weapons, thinking of the SEAL who’d owned them and wishing the older man was alive to lend a hand in their hour of need. “Did Bill have a nickname in the military?”
She smiled. “Peaches. He was a baby-faced redhead from Georgia when he enlisted.”
He held the door open for her. “I like it.”
She laughed, suddenly stopping as she entered the hall. “There’s smoke!”
Dense and black, it came up from the stairwell on a flowing current of air. “Come on!” he called to her, rushing to get Sloan. The house was on fire, and there were snipers outside. Not a good combination if they wanted to live another day.
We might need your help on this one, Peaches, so stay on my six.