“I’m here, baby.” He squeezed her against him before pulling back slightly.
“Oh, god.” Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d done. “I almost shot you!”
“It’s okay, sweetheart.” He grinned. “You didn’t know it was me.” He gave her a quick once-over. “You okay? Are you hurt?”
“I-I…”
“Hey, Turner,” Gabe interrupted, pulling their attention away before she could answer. “Sorry, man, but we need to get going. That explosion and all the gunfire is going to have the locals hot on our ass in minutes.”
Right on cue, they heard the thump, thump, thump of the twin choppers Ghost had obtained for their extraction. That they’d been given the green light by Delta to land meant only one thing…
The rest of the building was clear and secure.
Taking precious seconds to cup Kat’s cheek, Matt looked into the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen and asked, “You ready to go home?”
Fresh tears fell from those same eyes, streaking through the dark soot clouding her perfect skin. “Y-yes.”
Linking his fingers with hers, Matt used his free hand picked up Bukhari’s pistol and shoved it into his waistband as he led Kat out of the bathroom.
Waiting until they’d stepped over the man’s unmoving body, Kole asked, “What do we do with him?”
The look on the man’s face told him Bukhari wasn’t unconscious. He was dead.
Ah, fuck.
Apparently, Kat picked up on it, too. “Oh, my god.” She covered her mouth before letting her hand drop again. “Ikilledhim? I-I didn’t mean to.” Shocked, she looked at the others and back to Matt. “I swear. I hit him with a piece from the back of the toilet. Just to keep him from—”
“Hey, hey, hey,” Matt whispered, cupping her face with both hands this time. “Look at me. You were defending yourself. He would have killed you if you hadn’t hit him. His death is not on you. Okay?”
Her chin quivered, but she didn’t break down. “O-okay.”
“Let’s leave his ass here,” Gabe answered Kole’s question. “His people can do whatever they want with him.”
“If I have to guess, I’d say they’ll probably dance around the asshole’s body,” Derek quipped before turning and heading down the hall. “I sure as hell would.”
Matt looked down at the man who’d caused so much terror. Not only for them, but also for his own people.
Countries around the world had been trying to take Bukhari down for decades. The United States, included. In the end, he was taken out by a tiny scientist with a heart of gold.
Matt couldn’t help but be filled with overwhelming pride knowing that scientist was his, and his alone.
He gave the asshole one final glance.Not so tough now are you, fucknut?
Resisting the urge to kick the dead man, he held Kat tightly against him as they walked away.
Using his handheld radio, Gabe gave Delta a quick update. “Headed to the extraction point with Package A. Seven tangoes down on our end, including Package B.
“Copy that, Bravo One,” Ghost responded immediately. “One tango for us. Two went running your way. Sounds like you got ‘em.”
Gabe smirked. “You could say that. What about the last one?”
There was a slight pause before Ghost said, “Package C was not obtained.”
“Motherfucker,” Matt bit out. Package C was the label given to Adrian Walker.
The bastard had gotten away. Again. Matt thought of Zade, hating the idea of telling him. He’d promised to take Walker down this time. It was the one part of the mission he’d failed.
“The man can’t run forever.” Derek slapped his shoulder. “His time will come, brother. His time will come.”
