Which was going to be pretty damn hard to miss.
Cam braced.
The crunch of metal screeched over the comm in his ear, the ram-fitted SWAT van barreling through the property’s metal entry gate.
“Hostiles drawn to the front,” Jamie reported as gunfire erupted over the comm.
Perfect.Just as they’d planned.
“Go, go, go!”Cam hopped over the cliff with his team and ran flat out toward the house, Beta and Charlie teams in his periphery doing the same.
“Comms going white for pop,” Jamie said.“In three, two, one...”
White noise crackled in Cam’s ear, a protective buffer, as Jamie’s drone dropped out of the sky, fought for a terrifying second with the wind, then emitted a high-pitched pulse, muffled by the white noise, that instantly shattered every window in the house.
It cleared their path and distracted the guards inside, who’d instinctively ducked and covered their heads and ears.
“Go for entry,” Cam called, and all around the redwood deck that circled the mansion, FBI agents leaped the rails and crashed the rest of the way through the blown-out windows.
Gunfire escalated from either end of the house, Beta and Charlie teams drawing fire while Alpha team blitzed the living room, headed for the kitchen.But between them and Lette stood half a dozen guards, shaking off their disorientation and drawing their weapons.
Cam charged the nearest one, grabbed his partially raised firing arm, and slammed his wrist against his raised knee, knocking the pistol loose.Cam kicked it clear, then rammed his shoulder into the hostile’s chest.Keeping his center of gravity low, he flipped the guard over, sending him to the ground with a thunderous boom.
Beside him, Garrett had another guard by the arm, twisted behind his back.He ripped the pistol from his hands, kicked the backs of the guard’s knees, and forced him to the ground.He knocked him the rest of the way over with a roundhouse kick to the head.“Lette!”he hollered.
A crack of wood sounded behind them.“Do your job, bro!”she yelled, sounding both exhilarated and winded.
Cam moved to turn, to check on her condition, but was cut short by two more guards rushing toward them from the hallway.“Lorton, clothesline, now!”he shouted.
Standing by the hallway entrance, out of sight of the charging guard, Lorton threw out a stiff arm.The hostile rammed right into it and flailed backward.The trailing guard hopped the downed one, charging forward, but Cam was waiting.He swept out a leg just as the hostile’s feet touched the ground again, not giving him a chance to catch his balance.He went down hard on his ass with a startled yelp.
“SWAT’s cleared the front,” Jamie radioed.
“Send ’em in!”Cam replied.“We can use the reinforce?—”
A sharp sting sliced across Cam’s calf, turning his words into a hiss.The guard on his ass had a knife in hand, swinging, trying to land a second cut.Cam swung his uninjured leg, just out of reach but tempting enough for the guard to lunge forward, giving Lorton a chance to wrap an arm around his neck.Lorton dragged him back while Cam intercepted his flailing elbow with his foot, dislodging the knife and kicking it clear with the guns.
Cam straightened, turning toward Lette, and saw a hostile, gun arm raised, coming through the window closest to where Garrett had just disarmed the last hostile between him and his sister.As important as saving Lette was, so was keeping Garrett alive.Nic would never forgive himself if something happened to Garrett either.
“Sare, drop!”Cam shouted, doing his best to mimic Nic’s captain voice.Garrett responded immediately, hitting the floor.
Cam fired at the shooter, hitting him square in the shoulder.The impact drove the guard back a step, but then the next instant, he corrected and lurched forward, right at Cam.Cam lifted his gun to fire again, but the guard’s forward momentum stuttered.He wasn’t charging—he was falling—and making a last-ditch effort to take Cam with him.
Cam jerked to the side, out of the way, and the guard hit the floor, face-first, a knife protruding out of his back.Gaze whipping up, Cam followed the knife’s trajectory, right to Lette.She stood tall in the kitchen, another knife in her hand and another guard unconscious at her feet.She was pale and winded, chest heaving as she gasped for breath, and blood trickled from a cut at her hairline, but she was also smiling.“Glad I practiced that with Mel.”
Teams radioed in “Clear,” Jamie’s the last, and Cam finally loosed a grin himself.“There’s someone else you need to meet,” he said to Lette.“Y’all are going to be best friends.”
Hopping bodies, Garrett made it the rest of the way to his sister and hauled her into his arms while Cam surveyed the room, counting the unconscious bodies and looking for a blond head among them.
All guards.No blonds.No Vaughn.
“Anyone have a twenty on Duncan Vaughn?”
“Negative,” all around.
“Lette, did Nic show you a picture of Duncan Vaughn?About six foot, blond, light brown eyes.”
“Yeah,” she said.“Mom’s old friend.He’s not here.He never was.”
