“Two more coming for the door,” Costello reported.
Two shadowy figures approached the house through the yard. They split off, target one going for the back door and target two toward the bedroom window. Camden motioned for Jake to take target two, who was looking in the bedroom window. Was he just confirming Elena and Tina’s presence inside or would he try to get in that way? Either way, Jake would neutralize him.
Camden had his own target to worry about. The guy made quick work of the back door then made a beeline down the hall straight for the bedroom. As Camden pursued, Jake reported that he’d neutralized his target while Costello reported that his two targets had breached the front door.
Where they faced Kyle and an extremely pissed-off and protective Toby. Given the choice, Camden would have rather taken his chances with a dozen SEALs than one well-trained military dog, especially one who was protecting his favorite girl. Camden heard Toby lunging for one of the targets, then the man’s screams coming through his earbuds and filling the house.
Camden sprinted down the hallway after the last target who already had his own gun out and aimed at the woman on the bed. Camden grabbed him and shoved his Glock 19 into the guy’s neck just as he fired off three rounds.
But Gina was ready for it. She’d already rolled off the bed and charged him while Camden pulled the trigger. They’d wanted to bring the targets in alive for questioning, but he wouldn’t do it at the expense of one of his teammates.
“You okay?” he asked Gina. She nodded and pointed back down the hall. They made their way back to the living room in the decoy safehouse, miles from where Elena and Tina waited, guarded by Lachlan and Nashville who reported no activity. Camden wished he could ask Gina for the identity of the tech genius who managed to bounce the phone signals from Elena’s new phone to her old one in the decoy house. He owed the man a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle.
“What the fuck?” Jake’s voice came over the system. “Joker, we have a situation.”
“Copy, Crooner.”
Gina kept on going to the living room while Camden veered off to the back to give Jake support. Glock drawn, he thought they had more incoming, and was surprised to hear Jake suddenly counting rapidly.That’s…he’s doing CPR.
Sure enough, when Camden looked out the back door, he saw Jake doing compressions on the target’s chest.
“What the hell, brother?”
“Think…the asshole…had a heart attack….” Jake answered as he continued compressions. “Thirty. Give him a breath and we’ll switch.”
“Fuck.” The last thing Camden wanted to do was lip-lock with the son of a bitch sent to kill his family, but they needed him alive. He took a breath and bent toward the asshole’s face when Gina tore out the back door.
“Stop!” she yelled. “Don’t go anywhere near his mouth!”
“The fuck, Spooky?”
She’d reached them and examined the target. “Same as the one inside. Jesus. It was a suicide mission.” She looked at Camden. “Cyanide capsules or some such. One bite, done.” She blew out a long breath. “You would have been next if you’d tried to resuscitate him.”
“No shit?” Camden and Jake both jumped up and backed away at the same time.
Gina actually snorted. “What, the guy’s not gonna explode. I don’t think. Doesn’t look wired.” She looked up at her teammates. “They never gave you SEALs kill pills on a mission?”
“Fuck no,” Camden answered. “They didn’t generally send us on suicide missions. We cost too much to replace.”
Gina considered that. “I guess I didn’t cost as much.”
* * *
Back inside, Kyle and Costello filled them in on their situation. After Toby had lunged for the third target, who went down screaming, the fourth target turned to escape and ran straight into Costello. They fought until Costello had him pinned. He suddenly convulsed just as Gina got to them. If it weren’t for her, the team might have lost both Camden and Costello, ironically as they were trying to save their targets’ lives. Target three was currently unconscious and bleeding, the kill pill removed from his mouth. Kyle was tending his wounds. Toby was off in the corner enjoying a well-earned Kong, his favorite toy in the whole world.
Jake laid a hand on Camden’s shoulder. “One out of four ain’t bad, brother.”
“If they can even get him to talk. The guy was ready to die. They all were.”
Gina approached them. “Not your problem anymore. His ride should be here in five. They’ll take it from there. Clean-up crew, too.”
Camden watched Kyle administer a sedative as target three started to groan and rouse himself. “Will we ever know their identities?”
Gina gave him a whiplash grin. “I can neither confirm nor deny that you’ll be informed.”
“That’s our Spooky little girl,” Jake said.
She rolled her eyes and went to the front window.
