“I got ya, brother.”Angelo’s voice sounded in his ear,“But ten minutes and I am handing you over to Harper, so I can go wheels up with the team.”
“Roger that.” Cade crawled around the corner, confident in his movements now that Angelo had Overwatch for him. Once he reached Rio, he could see the reason the other man hadn’t moved. The one he had called Nahim was pinning him to the floor, with a piece of the ceiling wedging them into the corner. “Got my six?” he whispered.
“Always,”Angelo immediately responded over the earpiece. Cade could hear the distinctive sounds of a weapon being checked. Telling him Angelo was gearing up in the War - Room.
He made fast work of lifting the fallen debris and dragging the body aside, “C’mon.” He held out a hand to Rio. He frowned at the blood coloring the other man’s shirt red. “You hurt?”
Rio pulled himself to his feet using the leverage Cade offered, “It’s not mine.” He turned to move toward the foyer.
“This way,” Cade grabbed Rio’s shirt and tugged, making him pause mid-step. “We’re not going that way. Follow me.”
“Okay.”
“He’s docile.”
“Shut up.” Cade didn’t bother to consider why Angelo’s statement bothered him, but it did. He led the way to the bar, keeping low, trying to keep them out of view of the doorway. It pleased him that Rio didn’t need to be told to do the same. He followed Cade’s lead—so far.
“What?”
“Not talking to you,” Cade whispered over his shoulder, “Got one of my guys on my cell.”
“You are a cop?”
Cade led the way to the door, leading to the staff area behind the bar. For now, he ignored the question. Although, he made a mental note to check out Rio’s background. The language he spoke, the names. But he pushed it aside, they were close enough to the Tri-Border Area,= that Lebanese was often heard on the streets of Brazil, due to the diaspora. He wasn’t imagining the odd tone in the man’s question—right?
“Clear.”Harper’s voice came through his earpiece, ensuring that the question over who this man was got pushed to the back of his mind. He could sort that shit out later. Right now, he had to get them, and anyone else he found on route to the door, out alive.
“Copy.” Cade responded. He pushed on the door, hoping it wasn’t locked or protected by a key card. The faster he got them out of here, the better.
“Sold—”
“Shh.” Cade breathed out a sigh of relief when the door opened. He could still hear sporadic gunfire overhead. Each rat-tat-tat sending a wave of regret through him. He was a protector, damn it, he was meant to fucking protect people. But he was alone, with a freaking sig, against an unknown number of well-armed assailants. Pushing the door open enough to allow him and Rio to crawl through, as soon as the other man cleared the doorway, Cade carefully shut it behind them. “How are we looking, G one seven?” As if this was an authorized mission, he made sure to use Harper’s code name. He didn’t even dare use the name Ghost, just shortened it to G. No matter how attracted he was to Rio. Eh, he was more than happy to admit it. He would love to get in his freaking pants. He would not compromise Ghosts, especially when that freaking niggle in his brain was reminding him to be careful.
“You have a waitress hiding under the counter next to the ovens.”
Cade scrambled to his feet and raced around the kitchen pass, where the meals were dished, to the area Harper had indicated. He could see the tip of one shoe peeking out of the gap between the unit and the wall. The waitress huddled, trying to make herself as small as possible, her fists stuffed into her mouth, probably in an effort to prevent herself from screaming. Her tear-stained eyes widened as Cade appeared into view. But she nodded in response to the finger raised to his lips. He knew this kid. She had served him dinner earlier this evening.
“You gotta move now.” Harper warned, “Tango’s in the elevator.”
“Shit.” Cade caught the waitress by the arm and hauled her out from her hiding place, “Is anyone else here?”
“Pedro?” She pointed to the bar.
“I’m sorry.” Cade shook his head. He turned to where Rio stood waiting from them, his eyebrows rising at the boning knife the other man now carried in his hands.
“I am okay with guns,” Rio shrugged, “But knives… I am better with knives, at least I can, how is it you say, hit the side of a cow house?”
“A barn.” Cade provided. Okay, he would take it. A knife was better than nothing. “You stick close to him,” he instructed the waitress. Taking the slight nod of her head as agreement. Leading them through another door, he followed the fire escape signs to an exit. “G One Seven?”
“No cameras out there.”Harper warned,“So I don’t know what you are walking into.”
Flying by the seat of his pants, it was then. Cade double checked his weapon. He ignored the sharp inhale of breath from the waitress, concentrating instead on the locking mechanism on the door.
* * *
As soon as Cade turned his attention to the exit door, Rio turned to face the opposite direction, with the waitress sandwiched between them. He was wary as fuck. His guts told him this was about him. This part of Rio de Janeiro was meant to be safer than most, and the cartels and gangs didn’t have a foot hold here. It was one of the reasons he didn’t stay at the house his father had arranged for him. Fuck, if he was the reason all these people died, he would never forgive himself. He was an idiot. Gripping the boning knife he had grabbed from a butcher’s block in the kitchen, he would watch Cade’s back. He didn’t quite trust that the man wasn’t a cop. But considering the efficiency the man moved with, it was more likely he was a soldier. He reminded Rio of the men his father sometimes hired. Ex-soldiers made good bodyguards.
“On my count—fuck,” Cade reached for the waitress, who bolted passed him as soon as the door was unlocked.
