“Looks like we need a little more firepower.” Reese headed into the media room then came back carrying a couple of totes. Left, and came back with gun cases. “There’s another bag of weapons downstairs in the garage locker.”
In the meantime, Stealth started to unpack the weapons. Didn’t take her long to realize he and Josh had brought an arsenal with them. Also didn’t take her long to realize Mitch had called not only for the men during the night, but more weapons. She raced upstairs, pulled on a pair of loose pants and top over her swimsuit. Shoved her phone in her pants pocket and grabbed her shoes before heading back downstairs. Mitch still stood at the window, just like when she’d left the room.
“What are you looking at?” Stealth asked, ramming ammo into guns.
Mitch pulled open the window panel in front of the tripod then peered through the scope again. “And there they are. When I was swimming earlier, I saw what I thought was a party boat circling farther out in the water. Even heard laughter.” He shook his head. “It’s not a party boat. Here, take a look. Recognize anybody on that deck?”
Reese and Stealth both stepped up behind the glass, one using a gunsight, the other binoculars. They both let out sighs and son of a bitches as they nodded in recognition.
“How’d they find us?” A chill shivered across her shoulders as she tied on her shoes.
“Not sure. But we’ve been found,” Mitch said.
“You planned for that when you called me in,” Stealth interjected.
“Yeah. But not after this morning’s assurances from Drake and Russ.”
Reese walked over, motioning her toward the hallway. “Why don’t you go into the media room?”
“No!” Mitch said, turning to look in her direction. He quirked the side of his mouth. “Just stay off to the side. If there comes a time…”
Today, she felt as if she could confront anything. If she needed to hide, she’d hide, no questions asked. Somewhere between last night and now, she’d realized how much she trusted him and needed him and loved him. She’d also let the definition of control and responsibility drift apart.
“I understand. If things go south, I’ll do what I need to do. I promise.” She straightened her stance and smiled. “A promise is a promise. Right?”
His expression blanked before he turned back to the scope. “Right.”
That’s all she planned to say about their future. Out on the beach, she’d let him know how she felt. Begging him to stay would be beneath both of them. Even though she thought they could work through their differences, she would leave that decision up to him. But she’d feel more than betrayed if he broke his promise to her. She’d be damn pissed.
Stealth tapped on the glass. “Sounds bulletproof.”
“Yeah,” Mitch said.
“Then you might want to move from in front of the open window panel,” Stealth said. “That man standing on the deck of the boat has got you red-dotted.”
“If he’s got me, I’m already dead.” Slow as a hundred-year-old turtle, he stepped behind the bulletproof glass.
She couldn’t believe the way Mitch had just taunted the red-dot man. Thinking back to the promise on the beach, neither one of them might live long enough for anyone to say goodbye. Her nerves were fraying. What-ifs were trying to inch their way into her thinking. But she wouldn’t let them in. Not after what she’d just seen. If Mitch had nerves of steel, she’d damn well try to be worthy of his defiance.
Josh walked over holding a computer panel. “They’re not going to shoot him.”
“So now you’re reading minds?” Mitch asked.
“No, I’m reading the new CT Leverage list that just came through the system. There’ve been some changes.”
“Read it out loud,” Mitch said.
“Drake and Russ have disappeared from the list. All the other agents and I have stayed at ten thousand. But they’ve checked the dead or alive column after the names.” Josh glanced in her then Mitch’s direction. “And you two have hit star status on two lines.”
Her insides shivered. “Two lines?”
“Read it,” Mitch said.
“First line. Target, Liz. Leverage, Mitch. Second line. Target, Mitch. Leverage, Liz.” Josh sighed. “You’re both at fifty thousand. Both…alive. I’m sure you know what that means.”
Shaking his head, Mitch paced the perimeter of the room and back again. “I knew better than to… Knew it. Knew it. Knew it!” With each sentence he pounded the side of his fist against the wall.
She didn’t like the sound of this, and from the expressions on all the men’s faces, she guessed they didn’t, either. “What does that mean?”
