Wade waved them over, tucking his cell phone back into his pocket.“Taylor almost here, and apparently he’s got a big lead.We’re supposed to meet him on the front lawn in two minutes.”He glanced at Jackson as the PJ shoved something into the wound.
Ryan sucked in a breath and gritted his teeth, his vision wavering for a second at the swift, sudden burn.
Wade frowned at him.“You still good to go?”
“Yes,” he said between his teeth.
Leaving the rest of the guests behind with the resort security, who were scrambling to secure the scene, Ryan took Candace’s hand and walked with the others to the front entrance and out onto the lawn where the resort security had set up a perimeter.He didn’t want to let her out of his sight even for a moment.Cops and fire trucks were just showing up on scene.
Then a familiar pulse overhead broke the silence.All of them stopped and looked skyward.
“I’d know that sound anywhere,” Devon said, craning her neck to search for the approaching helo.
Yeah, they all would.
Moments later the unmistakable outline of a Blackhawk appeared overhead.It circled the wide north lawn once, then touched down in the center of it and two men hopped out.Jeb Taylor and someone Ryan didn’t recognize.
They jogged over, in full tac gear.“Satellite feed just showed the fourth shooter heading by ATV in the direction of the location you guys found in the mountains,” Taylor said to them over the noise of the rotors.“Intel says it could be Eric March’s second-in-command.”
“You think he’s headed for the bunkers?”Ryan asked, aware of the way Candace had tensed beside him.He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand in reassurance.
“Maybe, and if we’re lucky, March will still be in the area.This is my brother, Craig, by the way.Former Marine, now works ops with me,” he said, motioning to the black-haired, dark-eyed man next to him, who nodded at them.“I’ve talked with my FBI contacts.There’s no way they can get a team here in the next hour.So they’ve given us the green light to go after March and his men before they can make it out of the area.You guys up for a night mission?”
Fuck yes.They were going after those assholes.“You got gear for us?”Ryan asked, releasing Candace’s hand to wrap his left arm around her shoulders and pull her into him.
“On the bird.”
Perfect.
“Wait a second, what about us?”
Ryan and Taylor both glanced at Maya, who was staring at them with a furious expression.Candace was glaring at them too.
Maya raised a dark eyebrow at them, her stare burning holes through them all before narrowing on Taylor.“You need operators, then I’m in.”
Taylor watched her a moment, then nodded.“I’ve got gear on board for four.You guys need to figure out in a hurry who’s coming.”
Ryan whirled to face Candace.“You’re not going,” he told her flatly before she could say anything.“You need to stay here and talk to the cops, and help guard the other guests?—”
“But—”
“No.”There was no fucking way he was allowing her to come.It had nothing to do with not trusting her ability, and everything to do with wanting her safe.She was wounded and in pain, still coping with the trauma of what had happened in Afghanistan, and he just couldn’t deal with the thought of putting her through anything else.He wrapped his left hand around her nape, squeezed as he stared into her eyes.“I need to know you’re back here, safe.”
“I—”
He cut her off by sliding his left hand into her hair and bringing his mouth down over hers in a hot, hard kiss before raising his head.“Please,” he murmured.
She relented, but she didn’t look happy about it, and her eyes were troubled.“You better not come back with any more holes in you,” she warned.
His wife rocked.“I won’t.”
Maya came over and wound an arm around Candace’s waist.“If there’s only enough equipment for you guys, then I guess I’ll stay and help get the place locked down, keep my eye on her with Dev and Erin.”
Ryan nodded once.“Thanks.”He kissed Candace once more and left her with her friends, relieved that she was in good hands.Any one of those women would protect her with their life.
“So you know where the bunker location is?”Wade asked Taylor as Ryan and the other guys headed for the bird together.
“Not exactly, but March’s 2IC will.And just in case he doesn’t go quietly and tell us what we want to know, we’ll take along a little insurance.”His gaze swept past them to Candace’s grandma, standing with the other women.“Ruby,” he called out.“You game for a little recon mission?”
