“Grace, be reasonable.” Her father stood with his bearing straight, his jaw clenched, and his frown muscles working overtime.
“Fuck reasonable. Tara’s the one worth saving. She’s sweet and good and kind. She doesn’t deserve to die. Not because of me.” Gray swiped at her cheek, brushing away the tear that fell. Emotion would get her nowhere. Her father responded best to cold, deliberate calculation.
“Gray—”
“Let me go.” Calm and determined, she cut Chase off, keeping her attention focused on the one man who could stop her from leaving. If the colonel ordered his unit to lock her up, they would. Then she’d be fucked. “Tara’s the only family I have left,Colonel. I made her a promise, and I intend to keep it.”
Her father recoiled as if her words wounded. The Graysons weren’t a family and hadn’t been since before her mother died. This mission, whatever had been so important to the colonel and the JTT for the last two years, had taken everything from Gray.
Adam. Jackson. And now Tara.
“Adam, tell him.” She looked at her brother on the screen. “Tell him to let me go.”
“No,” Chase growled. “Tell her what Bodak will do to her instead.”
Gray didn’t turn her head. She didn’t need to. She could feel the cold burn of Chase’s black glare. It pierced straight through her back in an attempt to get to her heart. No risk there. She had that fucking organ locked up tight.
“Bodak won’t let Tara go, Gray. And if he gets his hands on you, he’ll kill you too. Slowly and painfully. He likes to break women, and he’ll take a great deal of pleasure out of breaking you, specifically.”
“Then she won’t die alone,” she replied, her gaze never leaving her father’s. “You owe me this much. You know it. Tara doesn’t deserve to die in a shitty warehouse alone. She’s my family. Let me go.”
Shoulders rounding, the colonel looked ready to give in, and her relief weakened her knees.
“No,” Chase spat from behind her.
She rounded on him. “You don’t have any say in the matter, Rambo.”
“Like hell, I don’t.” He stepped in toe to toe with her, his fury hitting like a physical punch to the gut. “But since you don’t care what I think, what about the rest of the JTT?” He swept his arm around the room. “It’s bad enough we have to watch you throw yourself in front of every damn bullet. But not one of us is going to let you give yourself to that sadistic prick.”
She heard a couple of grunts of agreement, and Grant Kincaid muttered, “Not a fucking chance.”
Because she knew it would piss Chase off, she snorted and stepped back. “Fuck you. Is that what you think? Is that what you all think? That I have a death wish?” She laughed without humor and pointed out the obvious with a hard poke to his pec. “Around here, I’d have to throw myself in front of the damn bullets if I wanted to off myself. Wright would’ve had better luck hiring Junior to take potshots at me.”
“What did you say?” Jay snapped.
She had to lean her body around Chase to speak to Jay directly. “I said Wright’s assholes were a lousy shot.” She pointed to the man standing at the back of the crowd. “Kincaid almost bought it before I did.”
“Not that. You saidJunior. Fuck me. I was looking for the wrong guy.” Every head turned in Jay’s direction, and muttering under his breath, he bolted for his computer. The atmosphere changed instantly, the hairs on the back of her arms rising in anticipation.
“What’re you thinking?” The first to recover, Doc gravitated toward the computers. With the toe of his boot, he pushed a chair in Jay’s direction.
Fingers flying over the keyboard, he sat down when the rolling seat hit the backs of his legs, eyes never leaving the screen. “Wright’s men, they weren’t aiming for Gray. He doesn’t want her dead, not yet.”
“So, who were they aiming for?” Cody asked, taking up position beside Doc.
“Sounds to me like it was Kincaid,” Tak said.
“What the fuck?” Kincaid snapped his head around.
“Wright doesn’t know who you’re working for,” Jay answered, gaze flicking to Kincaid then back to his screen. “He’s the one pulling the strings. He doesn’t want Gray in Bodak’s hands. It’s not part of his plan for her. You were too big a risk.”
With a punch of a key, Jay lit up the SmartBoard. “There.” He hitched his chin at the trail of text on the screen. Gray scanned the old message from Jackson quickly.
How you doing, sweet cheeks? When are they springing you?
Two days. JR here again today. He’s driving me crazy. Won’t take no for an answer.
Careful. He might shoot you in the other leg and finish the job.
