Olivia shook beneath him, and Jake wanted nothing more than to storm that fucking camp and take out every single one of the assholes himself. Pushing back his fury, he responded to his team.
“Copy that. Matthews?”
“Taking fire, but holding them back,” Trevor answered swiftly.
“Mac? Coop? You still in position?”
“Negative, boss,” Coop answered for them both. “Already had boots on the ground when they came out shooting. Making our way to cover now.”
Just then, Jake heard a grunt of pain followed by Mac’s uncharacteristically panicked voice. “Coop!Shit! Coop’s down! I repeat, Sean’s been hit!”
Fuck. “How bad?” Jake asked, praying it was just a graze.
“Leg,” Coop’s voice came through the mic as a painful growl. “Through and through. I’ll live, but...goddamn it!I’m gonna need Mac’s help getting out of here.”
Jake’s heart raced with fear for his friend. If Coop said he’d be okay, Jake believed him. Still, knowing a member of his team was injured—especially on a personal mission like this one—was like a kick to his balls.
“Mac, get Coop to our bird!”
“Copy that, boss.”
“Trev, you got eyes on them?” Jake asked.
“Affirmative,” Trevor answered immediately. Then, addressing Coop he said, “I’ve got you and Mac covered, Coop. Now suck it up and haul your asses outta here!”
Jake handed out more orders. “D, Hill...listen up! I need you to keep these assholes on the defensive so I can get Olivia out of here. Hill?”
“Yeah, boss?”
“Once Mac and Coop are clear, hit the bastards with everything you got.”
“Roger that.”
Almost belatedly, Jake added, “And someone disable their fucking chopper!”
The gunfire continued. Trusting his team to follow orders, Jake wasted no time pulling Olivia to her feet. He didn’t miss the wince she tried to hide.
“You okay?” Stupid question, but he had to ask.
Completely bypassing it, Olivia looked up at him with worried eyes. “One of your guys is hurt?”
Damn. She would pick up on that. “Don’t worry. Coop’s tough.” Jake started moving again, but stopped when her small hand grabbed his forearm.
“Was he shot? Jake, you know I can help him.”
The expression on her face told him she was serious. Olivia was willing to do whatever she could to help Coop, even though she’d never met the guy. Even thoughshewas still at risk. Just when he thought he couldn’t love her more...
“If we can just get to where he is”—she kept on—“then I could at least try to...”
Jake raised a hand palm-up to stop her and put it to his ear as Mac’s voice came through again.
“Three tangos headed your way, boss. Damn it! They’re spreading out and coming in hot.”
He heard the regret in her voice. If Mac had any sort of shot on them, she would have taken it, which meant she either wasn’t in a good position, or she had her hands full with Coop. Probably both.
“Got it covered,” Jake responded with confidence. “Just get yourselves out of there.” He gave Olivia a quick glance before adding, “If we aren’t at the chopper when the rest of you get there, initiate Plan B.”
There was hesitation from his team, and Jake understood why. No one liked to rely on a Plan B, but sometimes there just wasn’t any other option. There’d been times they’d been forced to skip right the hell over Plan B and had gone straight to Plan E. Still, he needed to make sure the order had gone through clearly.
