And then—as if Lennox had jinxed everything simply by having a positive thought—Keller stepped forward and aimed that same huge handgun he’d been carrying in Brazil straight at Talia’s head.
Not Bogdan but Talia.
“You didn’t think you’d be walking out of here so soon, did you?” Keller said casually to her, letting his eyes take a slow scan around the cargo hold. “Not before I meet that boyfriend of yours. Lennox, isn’t it? The brave Navy SEAL. I’m sure he’s around here somewhere waiting for the perfect moment to make his appearance.”
Lennox felt a pallet of lead bricks drop into his stomach at the same time he heard Colt curse in the background of the radio, his Teammate muttering something about them being screwed sideways.
His finger instinctively tightening on the trigger again, Lennox leaned forward and took aim at the center of Keller’s chest.
Then Keller stepped forward, close enough that the barrel of his weapon was only an inch or so away from Talia’s temple. Even from this distance, Lennox saw the terror in her eyes.
“You should come out now,” Keller continued in a deadly calm tone as one of his men came up to put a restraining hand on Talia’s shoulder. “Before things get messy.”
Shit.
Keller wasn’t the kind to make empty threats. He’d shoot Talia in the head without blinking an eye or losing a wink of sleep.
“Colt,” Lennox whispered into his mic, “I’ll be going off comms in a second so when this gets ugly, I’m depending on your judgment on when to bail me out.”
“I’m tempted to ask what your definition ofuglyis, but something tells me that I’ll know it when I see it,” his friend said.
“I hope so,” Lennox said.
He placed his radio, earbud, and backpack on top of the cargo container, then slowly stood. He considered leaving the MP5 behind with his other gear but changed his mind. He probably wouldn’t get a chance to use the weapon, but he’d rather have the option of having it nearby regardless.
Lennox slung the MP5 over his shoulder by the short sling then jumped into the gap between the stack of cargo containers he’d just been on and the next stack over, his arms and legs pushing out against the container walls. He slid down the metal walls, his boots taking the majority of the friction as he reached the deck of the ship.
“Drop the weapon,” Keller ordered as soon as Lennox walked into the central part of the cargo hold. “You won’t be needing it.”
Lennox truly doubted that but with Keller still pointing his handgun at Talia’s temple, there wasn’t much he could do at the moment. Slowly taking the weapon from his shoulder, heused the distraction to look around the cargo hold, memorizing everyone’s location and threat level.
Bogdan and a frightened, tearful Maria were standing to the side of Talia, with Keller at her shoulder and two of his men right behind them. The other four mercenary types were scattered in a semi-circle to the left and right of their boss, their demeanor relaxed but ready for him if he decided to make a sudden move.
It hurt to see Talia right then. She was pale and tense and looked like she was seconds from passing out. She gazed desperately at Lennox, probably assuming he had a plan that’d get them all out of this situation. She would have almost certainly been disappointed to know he was basically winging this.
Lennox finished taking the MP5 from his shoulder, then carefully placed it on the steel deck. A little shove with his foot sent the weapon bouncing and skittering across the rough surface where it came to a stop about halfway between him and the closest member of Keller’s mercenaries.
“Search him,” Keller ordered, swinging his weapon away from Talia’s head and pointing it at his.
Talia took the opportunity to try and run over to him but the man holding her roughly held her in place. Lennox bit his tongue, fighting the urge to throw himself forward to protect her. Doing so might make him feel good for a few seconds, but then he’d be dead and Talia would likely be right behind him.
The man searching him finished and took a step to the side, nodding in Keller’s direction, confirming that Lennox wasn’t carrying any other weapon. Hell, he wasn’t even carrying his cell phone or car keys.
“I have to admit,” Keller said as he walked toward Lennox, the barrel of his oversized handgun dropping down to hang loosely at his side, “when I heard that the nanny’s pet SEAL wascoming to save her, I expected a bit more of a fight. I didn’t expect you to show up and simply walk into my trap.”
Lennox was moving before Keller even finished speaking, taking a quick step back and to the side, reaching out to grab at the man who’d searched him a moment before. Getting a grip on the guy’s shoulder, Lennox turned and twisted, sending the man over his hip in Keller’s direction.
Diving for the deck, Lennox flinched as Keller’s gun went off. Lennox rolled back to his feet in time to see the mercenary he’d thrown collapsed limply to the deck, hit by the round Keller had just fired.
Even as other guns started raising all around him, Lennox lunged forward. He reached Keller just as the big man was adjusting his aim, swinging a punch at the guy’s jaw as hard as he could. Keller flew backward, tumbling into Bogdan, Maria, and Talia along with the men who’d been guarding them.
Lennox took a step in Talia’s direction only to have to throw himself to the deck again as more gunshots filled the air. That one footstep had been enough of a distraction to give him a fraction of a second to make it to the MP5 still lying on the deck. It probably wouldn’t be enough to save his life but maybe it would let him save Talia, Maria, and Bogdan.
He came up with the submachine gun, finding the trigger by pure instinct as the bullets slammed into the deck all around him. Then he turned, knowing there were still six guys left to deal with, praying Colt came to bail him out.
But as he started to pull the trigger, the doors on two of the nearby cargo containers slammed open and more mercenaries in tactical gear came pouring out.
That’s when everything really hit the proverbial fan.
