17. Wynn #2
Never.
The voice continued.
“Come out, and everyone else lives.”
The medic never stopped compressions.
Samir’s monitor continued its terrible, unbroken tone.
Smoke burned my lungs.
The wounded medic moaned somewhere behind me.
Outside, more people would die if the attack continued.
I tightened my grip on the pistol.
Lucas shook his head.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“They’ll kill everyone.”
“They’ll kill everyone anyway.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I know men like this.”
The voice came again.
“Thirty seconds!”
Lucas crawled toward me.
“You are not surrendering.”
“If I can stop this?—”
“You can’t.”
“You stopped a sniper for me.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“Because I’m trained to take that risk.”
“And I’m not allowed to?”
“No.”
“That isn’t your decision.”
“It is now.”
His hand closed around the back of my neck.
“They don’t want to negotiate with you. They want what you know. And when they have it, they’ll put a bullet in your head and leave your body somewhere no one will ever find it.”
His voice broke on the final words.
I saw it again.
The fear he couldn’t hide.
Not fear of dying.
Fear of losing me.
“Twenty seconds!”
Lucas brought his forehead against mine.
“You asked me to choose you.”
My eyes filled.
“You said I never fought for us.”
“I didn’t mean like this.”
“This is the only way I know how.”
“Lucas—”
“So let me fight.”
The first tear fell.
“You could die.”
“So could you.”
“Ten seconds!”
Lucas pulled back.
His silver eyes burned into mine.
“If we survive this…”
“When.”
“What?”
“When we survive this,” I said, my voice trembling. “You don’t get to say if.”
Something almost like a smile touched his mouth.
“When we survive this, I’m taking you to dinner.”
A broken laugh escaped me.
“You’re asking me on a date now?”
“I’ve had better timing.”
“Your timing has always been terrible.”
“I know.”
“Five seconds!”
The rear doors exploded inward.
Lucas spun.
His rifle erupted.
I raised the pistol.
Men in black tactical gear poured through the smoke.
One fell.
Then another.
Lucas changed position and fired again.
The attackers returned fire.
Bullets ripped through the transport.
Janice covered Samir’s head while the medic continued compressions.
I fired at the man closest to Lucas.
The pistol kicked hard.
The bullet struck his vest.
He stumbled but didn’t fall.
I fired again.
He dropped.
Lucas looked at me.
“Good shot.”
“Less talking.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A grenade rolled through the open doors.
It stopped between us.
Lucas lunged.
I screamed his name.
Before he could reach it, a burst of gunfire tore through the attackers outside.
Not enemy fire.
Precise.
Controlled.
Familiar.
Hawk.
Lucas hooked the grenade with his boot and kicked it through the opening.
The explosion shook the transport.
Then Boone appeared in the doorway.
His face was streaked with blood.
His rifle smoked.
“You two planning to stay in here all day?”
Lucas stared at him.
“Where the hell have you been?”
“Saving your life.”
“You took your time.”
“I was enjoying the peace and quiet.”
Adam’s voice thundered outside.
“Brave, clear the vehicles!”
Lucas grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the exit.
“Janice needs help with Samir!”
Russ climbed through the doors with two medics.
“We’ve got him.”
The first medic continued compressions.
“He still has no pulse!”
Another medic connected a portable cardiac monitor and opened the emergency kit.
“Keep going.”
Lucas lifted me through the damaged doors.
The road outside was covered with burning vehicles.
Enemy bodies lay near the concrete barriers.
The Brave had broken the ambush.
But beyond the roadblock, another vehicle was racing away.
A black SUV.
Adam stood in the middle of the road, firing after it.
“Stop that vehicle!”
Hawk raised his rifle.
The SUV disappeared around the bend before he could take the shot.
Boone searched the body of an attacker near the transport.
“He’s got an extraction roster.”
Adam took the paper.
His expression darkened.
“What?” I asked.
Boone pointed toward a name.
I moved closer.
The list contained every member of the rescue team.
Every medic.
Every soldier.
Every operator from the Brave.
One name was circled in red.
Mine.
Beside it, someone had written two words.
PRIMARY ASSET.
Beneath my name was another.
LUCAS SPENCER.
His was marked differently.
TERMINATE ON SIGHT.
Cold spread through my body.
Lucas took the roster from Adam.
He stared at the order beside his name.
Then he folded the paper and tucked it into his vest.
“Well,” Boone said. “That seems personal.”
Lucas looked toward the road where the SUV had disappeared.
“It is.”
Adam raised his radio.
“All teams, report.”
One response came after another.
Wounded.
Alive.
Still fighting.
Then Russ called from inside the overturned transport.
“We have a pulse!”
My knees nearly gave out.
Janice began to cry.
The medics worked faster.
Samir was alive.
Lucas caught me before I fell.
His arms closed around me.
I buried my face against his chest.
For one precious moment, I let myself believe we had won.
Then the satellite phone on Lucas’s vest rang.
Everyone froze.
He slowly pulled it free.
Unknown number.
Adam nodded.
“Answer it.”
Lucas accepted the call and switched on the speaker.
A man’s calm voice filled the road.
“Mr. Spencer.”
Lucas’s arm tightened around me.
“Who is this?”
“You have something that belongs to us.”
Lucas looked at me.
“She doesn’t belong to anyone.”
The man laughed softly.
“I wasn’t referring to your wife.”
Wife.
My heart twisted at the word.
“The Geneva file,” the man continued. “Bring it to us, and perhaps we’ll allow Mrs. Spencer to live.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then we’ll show you how much worse losing her can be the second time.”
The call ended.
Lucas stared at the phone.
No one spoke.
Then he looked toward Adam.
“We need an aircraft.”
“Where are we going?”
Lucas took my hand.
His silver eyes met mine.
“Geneva.”