Grabbing the large duffle from the back seat, she hoisted the bag’s thick strap over her shoulder and headed toward the building’s entrance.
The single door was windowless, and Mac couldn’t tell if the rust color was original or had weathered down to that tone over time.
“You good Mac? Can you hear me okay?”
“Mm hmm,” she hummed softly, not opening her mouth to actually speak in case she was being watched.
Jake had already checked her coms three times on the way here. Her boss’s need to make sure hers was still working after all that told her he was as anxious about this situation as she was.
“What’s the signal?” Trevor asked, also sounding nervous.
The same thing it was the last four times you asked me.
Scratching an imaginary itch above her mouth, Mac used her hand to conceal her moving lips. “Bad day.”
“Don’t be a hero, Mac,” Grant chimed in with the others. “You need help, use the signal.”
Mac scratched that itch again. “Yes, Dads.”
Taking the hint, the guys laid off and quieted down.
The sound of water moving filled the night air, the creek beside her rolling downstream at a slow but steady pace. Adding to it were the usual chirps and clicks that came with springtime, the combination typically creating a sense of peace and tranquility.
Not tonight.
Tonight the peacefulness was tainted by the sound of her own blood rushing past her ears. Not to mention the adrenaline already coursing through her nerve-filled system, and the fear that she would do all of this and still be unable to save the man she loved.
Between the Army and R.I.S.C., she’d been on hundreds of ops, but never had she been this scared. Of course, this wasn’t just any op. This was her man. Herlife.
It didn’t matter if Coop decided he was done with her for good. Partners or not. Lovers, past or present. She was a better person for knowing him, and the world a better place with him in it.
He made her feel things she’d never felt. Made her want things she thought were out of her reach.
Sean Cooper made McKenna Kelley—a woman hell-bent on never letting anyone in—realize what it felt like to love andbeloved.
For that alone, she owed him her life.
Almost to the building’s entrance, Mac forced it all away. The fear. The worry. Her many regrets.
She pushed it out of her mind and focused on the only thing that mattered. Ending this thing once and for all.
“Okay, Mac.” Derek’s voice came through next. “I’m gettin’ four heat signals from inside the building. One is separated from the others right now. My guess is that’s our boy.”
Mac’s stomach tightened.
“According to the building plans I was able to scrounge up, it looks like he’s in what used to be the rec room. Nothin’ but four walls, a drop ceiling, and a row of windows along the north wall.”
“And the others?” Jake asked through the coms.
“One’s inside near the entrance, and the other two are off in what used to be the kitchen, down the hall and to the right. Mac, I’ve got the west side and Grant’s got your six on the south. Trev and Jake are making their way along the west wall to the north side of the building, now.”
They’d already gone over the floor plans earlier, so Mac knew the building didn’t have a back entrance. Probably one of the reasons the nearby communities stopped using it. Something like that would definitely go against current building code.
Derek also hadn’t mentioned the east wall because it was so close to the river’s rocky edge, they’d deemed it too much of a pain in the ass to mess with. Unless, of course, it became necessary.
If it came down to it, they’d take any risk needed to get their teammate free.
Mac stopped in front of the door. Unsure of whether she was supposed to go in or not, Mac decided she didn’t give a shit what this guy preferred and opened it.
