But she would go along if it meant protecting her grandmother and helping Ryan.
She started for the Blackhawk.
More heel digging.Grandma struggled and pulled them to a stop, twisting her arm free.“Don’t be ridiculous!You’re wounded, and I need you here to take care of the guests.You were a Bradford longer than you’ve been a Wentworth, and I need you to take charge right now.”
Clenching her jaw, Candace glanced toward Ryan.He was jogging toward them now, and she knew with one look at his hard expression that he’d insist she stay put.They didn’t have time to argue.Every second the helo sat on the ground gave March and his men time to escape.
I hate this.“Dammit.”She put her right hand on her hip and shot Ryan a warning glare.“You better take care of her,” she shouted over the increasing noise of the Blackhawk’s engines.
“Like she was my own sweet grandma,” he called back, and held a hand out to beckon Ruby forward.
Candace stood there watching while Ryan jogged her grandma over to the waiting helo and lifted her inside it.Everything in her screamed in denial, demanding that she go with them.It wasn’t an option, however.
Stuck here and helpless to do anything to keep her loved ones safe, Candace stood shivering in the cool night air and watched the Blackhawk lift into the inky darkness above the resort.
Guilt hit her hard as it flew away.Her stomach sank, and she immediately regretted not being on board.
“Ace, the fire captain needs a word with you.I told him you were the woman in charge.”
Heart heavy with worry, she made herself turn around to face Devon, who was standing with Erin and a firefighter in turnout gear by the front entrance.The only thing she could do now was take care of things here on her grandmother’s behalf.
“Coming,” she called out, and headed toward them.
Pulse thudding in his ears, Eric thrust the last of his electronic equipment into his duffel, zipped it up, and hurried to the tunnel entrance.The diversion op had begun more than twenty minutes ago and he hadn’t heard a word from Lyle.
Trying one more time to reach the team, he grabbed his radio as he ascended the stairs toward the surface.“Specter, report.”
No answer.Just dead air.
Either his men had been captured, or they were dead.Didn’t matter which one it was, because he had to get out of here right the hell now.
He hefted the heavy ruck onto his back and picked up both duffels holding enough supplies to get him through the next few days, until he reached the safe house.The perimeter alarm went off just as he neared the upper hatch.He paused, then shoved the heavy steel door upward, because he had no other choice but to run.
A cold breeze whipped over his face as he climbed through into the darkness.The sound of a helo’s blades somewhere overhead froze him.
Tipping his head back, he searched the skies and his disbelieving gaze spotted the outline of a Blackhawk against the silver moon as it sped toward him.What thehell?The diversion had only begun a little while ago.There was no way any government agency would have had time to respond this fast, let alone pinpoint his location.So who the hell was coming after him?
Fuck.His heart rate shot up.No time to run, and someone might already have seen him.They might track him using his body heat signature.His best chance now was to hide down below, where he knew every inch of the system, and barricade himself inside.
“Specter, I’m pinned down at HQ.Need immediate rescue, over,” he said as he climbed back down and secured the steel door overhead.With any luck no one on that helo had seen him.The upper hatch was exposed now, but it couldn’t be helped, and nobody knew the location but him and Lyle.
Another perimeter alarm went off when he neared the bottom of the staircase.The area was too heavily wooded for anyone to land a helo near here.Whoever was coming after him must have fast-roped from the helo.
His heart thudded hard in his chest as he knelt and unzipped the duffel, removing grenades and a few blocks of Semtex, then got to work.As of this moment he was trapped like a gopher with a pack of hungry wolves waiting above.
If he was going to die tonight, he would do it fighting for the cause he believed in.One he was prepared to give his life for.
But when the wolves came, they’d find a few unexpected surprises down here.And if he took out enough of them, he just might be able to get out of here, lose them, and win the chance to live and fight another day.
