4. Lucas
LUCAS
The first explosion was controlled.
A muffled thump.
Just enough to blow the hinges off the rear service door.
The steel door crashed inward.
“Go!”
Adam was already moving.
Boone and Hawk flowed through the opening like shadows while Russ covered the exterior.
I entered fourth.
My rifle swept left.
Empty hallway.
Broken machinery.
Stacks of abandoned crates.
The warehouse smelled like diesel fuel.
Dust.
Fear.
A guard rounded the corner.
He never had time to raise his rifle.
I drove him into the wall with my shoulder while Boone secured him with flex cuffs.
“No shots,” Boone whispered.
I nodded once.
We kept moving.
Every second mattered.
Adam’s calm voice filled my earpiece.
“North hallway clear.”
“Hawk, clear.”
“Russ, exterior secure.”
I reached the next doorway and raised two fingers.
Three…
Two…
One…
I shoved the door open.
Two armed men spun toward us.
“Drop it!”
One obeyed.
The other reached for his weapon.
I fired.
My suppressed rifle coughed once.
The man collapsed before he could pull the trigger.
Silence returned almost immediately.
“Move.”
We pushed deeper into the warehouse.
Then I heard it.
A child crying.
I stopped.
“There.”
Adam pointed toward a pair of massive steel doors.
Heat signatures glowed behind them on Hawk’s thermal display.
“That’s our room.”
My pulse quickened.
Dozens of people.
Maybe more.
Please…
Let us be in time.
Adam looked around the team.
“Hawk.”
“Breaching.”
The explosive charge was in place within seconds.
Everyone moved into position.
I found myself beside Adam.
Three fingers.
Two.
One.
The charge detonated.
The steel doors flew inward.
“GO! GO! GO!”
Flashlights cut through the darkness.
“AMERICAN SPECIAL FORCES!”
“STAY DOWN!”
“WE’RE HERE TO HELP!”
Panic erupted.
Children screamed.
Adults dropped to the floor.
Some covered their heads.
Others simply stared at us.
I cleared the room the way I’d done hundreds of times before.
Corners.
Rafters.
Doorways.
Windows.
Threats.
“Clear left!”
“Clear right!”
Boone hurried toward a frightened family.
Hawk secured another doorway.
Russ began ushering terrified prisoners toward the exit.
I scanned every face.
An elderly priest.
Aid workers.
Children.
A doctor kneeling beside an injured man.
Another woman comforting a little girl.
Journalists.
Nurses.
No immediate threats.
My heartbeat finally slowed.
“We’ve got them.”
Then someone whispered my name.
Not loudly.
Barely more than a breath.
“Lucas?”
Everything inside me stopped.
That voice.
No.
It couldn’t be.
Slowly, I turned.
My flashlight settled on a woman standing near the back wall.
Dust covered her clothes.
Dark hair was pulled into a loose ponytail.
A bruise darkened one side of her face.
Her split lip was swollen.
One hand rested protectively on the shoulder of a frightened little girl.
Then she looked at me.
Emerald-green eyes.
I’d know those eyes anywhere.
“Wynn…”
For one endless moment, neither of us moved.
Neither of us breathed.
The warehouse disappeared.
The shouting.
The radios.
The crying children.
Everything faded away.
It was just her.
She stared at me as though she couldn’t believe I was real.
“You…”
Her voice broke.
“You actually came.”
I didn’t remember crossing the room.
One second, she was standing twenty feet away.
The next, my hands were gripping her shoulders.
I searched every inch of her face.
The bruise.
The split lip.
The exhaustion.
The hollows beneath her cheekbones.
Someone had hurt her.
The fear hit me so hard it nearly knocked the air from my lungs.
Not anger.
Not yet.
Fear.
Pure.
Violent.
The kind that settled deep in a man’s soul and never let go.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
My voice was low.
Dangerously controlled.
“I was reporting.”
“In a war zone?”
“Yes.”
“Without telling anyone?”
“I didn’t think I needed your permission.”
My jaw clenched.
“You could’ve been killed.”
“So could you.”
“I’m trained for this.”
“So am I.”
“Not for combat.”
“I’ve spent six years covering wars, Lucas.”
“And six years terrifying everyone who cares about you.”
Her emerald eyes flashed.
“You don’t get to lecture me.”
“I absolutely do.”
“No. You gave up that right when you signed the divorce papers.”
The words hit harder than any bullet ever could.
For one heartbeat, neither of us spoke.
Adam stepped between us.
He looked at Wynn.
Then at me.
“You two know each other?”
I didn’t take my eyes off her.
“She was my wife.”
Silence.
Even Boone stopped moving.
Hawk looked from me to Wynn.
Russ muttered under his breath.
“Well…”
He shook his head.
“That explains a lot.”
Adam hid his smile surprisingly well.
“We can catch up later.” He pointed toward the exit. “Right now, we’re getting everyone out alive.”
I finally released Wynn’s shoulders.
But I didn’t step away.
Not even an inch.
I leaned close enough that only she could hear me.
“You don’t leave my sight.”
She folded her arms carefully, protecting her bruised ribs.
“You’ve been giving me orders since the day we met.”
“And you’ve ignored every one of them.”
A tiny smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“I suppose some things never change.”
I stared into those emerald-green eyes for one long heartbeat.
“No. They don’t.”
Outside, the first gunshot shattered the night.
The militia had found us.
The reunion was over.
Now it was time to fight.