“Shit.” Rick ducked low under the dash, reaching for the Sig Sauer Saxon had stashed there before they left. He’d been perfectly willing to hand himself over in exchange for Joe. But the fuckers were shooting at him and at Saxon. Military rules of engagement were clear, the enemy had fired first, he was clear to respond with deadly force.
Saxon slammed the truck into reverse and hit the gas. The windshield spiderwebbed in multiple places where the bullets hit the fortified glass. Thank fuck Noble insisted on replacing all the windows with bulletproof glass, and had even paid extra for a garage to do it as a rush job before they went on this mission. “Motherfuckers, that’s my damn truck, man.”
“Bravo Three, TOC, Status?”
Saxon didn’t have time to do a damn thing, answering Max would have to wait. He could only focus on keeping the truck moving. Dodging bullets wasn’t so freaking easy when you were hemmed in by an urban environment.
“Bravo Three, respond. STAT!”
Rick wound down the window and took aim with his own weapon, firing to cover their retreat as the two tangos raced back to their car. “Were they the assholes we were supposed to meet?” He grabbed onto the oh shit bar as Saxon pulled the handbrake and hit the gas to spin the truck around a bend and into a side street. Thank fuck this area near the stadium was mostly deserted and no civilians were caught in the crossfire. Even so, a shooting in Naples was likely to make the evening news. Noble and the Brass were going to be so thrilled—not.
“No clue, but our target zone was just through those lights.” Saxon focused on getting them out of there. Fuck this shit, if they wanted Rick dead and not to exchange him for Joe McCarthy, then they had to go through him and Red Squadron first. “TOC, Bravo Three, we’re clear?”
“TOC here, Bravo Three, copy that.”Max told him.“Bravo One is after the suspects.”
“Roger that,” Saxon told him. “We’ll rendezvous with Bravo One as backup, send me his location.”
“Copy.”Max answered.“He’s on Via Lepanto heading eas—”
“Bravo Three, Eagle, disregard TOC’s instructions and return to base.”Noble cut off the rest of the directions Max had been about to give. No doubt he was in contact with the Italian authorities, getting his rules of operation from them.
What the fuck? They weren’t going after these dudes? Seriously? Saxon remained silent while he tried to think of a way to persuade Noble they should continue the pursuit. Apparently, he didn’t think or answer fast enough.
“That’s an order Bravo Three. Bravo One will be right on your ass in thirty seconds.”
“Roger that, Sir.” While Saxon was more than freaking happy to return to Red Squadron’s base on Isola Della Maddalena with Rick in tow, it pissed him the hell off that they couldn’t take out the bastards who’d shot up his truck. Still, orders were orders, and he would follow them. He turned the truck toward the motorway. Today he would pay the frick-fracking tolls. He was over this shit. “You, okay?”
“Yeah,” Rick reloaded the Sig and shoved it back into the special holster under the dash. “Just trying to figure out what this means for Joe.”
“I know,” Flashing lights in the rear-view mirror alerted him to Roman’s truck behind him. Good, his brothers were clear too. He hit the hazards for a second, just to let Rome know he saw him, then turned his nose toward home.
* * *
“My ass is dead.”Rick could see Roman and Luc exiting their truck. Thank fuck, it meant they could get out too. He’d worried they would have to spend the entire ferry ride sitting still. But obviously they had been waiting for the boat to make it to open water before moving.
“Tell me about it,” Saxon’s ass was numb from sitting in the truck too. But after the fiasco in Naples, they hadn’t dared stop until they got on the ferry to take them back to base. “Noble is pissed as fuck.” He walked to the railing that surrounded the car ferry and leaned on the side. “It was a shitshow.”
“Yup.” Rick agreed. “Claudio would be shittin’ full-grown cats never mind kittens. What do ya think is our next step?”
“I guess it depends on what Max found.” Saxon’s lips curved in a smirk, or maybe it was a grimace from the blood flow restarting in his butt cheeks. Either way, he kinda smiled. “Max is good at what he does, if the intel is out there, he’ll find it.”
“Man, I’m used to recon, but computers and shit, they give me hives.”
“I’ll take defusing an IED over figuring out much more than sending an email, any day of the week.” Saxon agreed.
Rick studied the two men who had been their backup today. Another job had come in while they were planning this one, and Noble had to send the others to Germany to pick up someone important. “What’s their story?” He was more than a little curious about Saxon’s teammates.
“Rome is a lifer, former Recon.” Saxon answered. “He’s an idiot, but we keep him around for shits and giggles.”
Despite the not so flattering description Saxon was giving for his fellow Red Squadron team member, Rick could hear the affection and respect in his voice too. He got it, you live, sleep, eat, and fight with a guy, you got to either like him or hate him pretty quick. Rarely was there much in between. “And Luc?”
“I grew up with him, my mom was his nanny,” Saxon closed his eyes and shook his head as if the knowledge pained him. “He’s not one of us, but he works for Nemesis.”
“I’ve heard of them, they’re contractors, right?”
“Yeah.” Saxon confirmed. “He and Roman figured their shit out and now they are practically living together.”
“No one on your team cares?”
