Page 76 of Riptide

“I guess you could say that.” Seth nodded. “You know how it is. Girl saves boy. Then kidnaps him. Takes him on an adventure. They save the day. There’s always a happy ending. It’s a pretty nice story.”

“Really?” Evan’s eyes darted to Kaimana. “I know another story about a girl. She’s got this protective big brother type friend who will kick the ass of any boy that hurts her.”

Kaimana laughed.

“You getting what I’m laying down?” Evan raised an eyebrow at him and then winked at Kaimana.

“Loud and clear, man,” Seth replied without hesitation. “Loud and clear.”

“Is Marcus awake yet?” Evan asked. “We’ve got to start planning out the strategy for tonight. I know the FBI can probably handle some of this, but we’ve got to make sure everything is perfect. Set up contingency plans. I don’t want even one of these assholes to get away. We need to have all bases covered. Land, air, sea. If we get birds in the air, they’ll never know what hit them. And the hotel…we’ve got to cover that too.”

“Wait.” Kaimana’s eyes widened at the realization Evan thought he was coming. “No.”

“No what?” Evan asked.

“No. As in, ‘No Evan. You aren’t going on this raid.’” Out of the corner of her eye she saw Seth grinning. “I’m serious. I just got you back. You’re not leaving.”

“The hell I’m staying here.” Defiance shone in Evan’s eyes.

“Dude. I love you, bro, but come on. You can barely walk. Hell, you barely survived. As in you would have been dead.”

“Not the first time.”

“I know but for real. Look at you. You’ve got burns on your feet. Both of your hands are bandaged. You’re actually missing your left pinky. You are aware, right?” Seth’s expression went serious. “You can’t even hold a gun.”

“No. No way,” Kaimana said.

“That will be a no from me too, bro. A hard no.” Marcus waved as he entered the kitchen and began pouring a mug of coffee. “You are what they call a liability, Evan. You know it and I know it. So yeah, no.”

Garrett turned the corner and entered the room. “Not happening.”

“I know I can’t get around too good, but I can go in a helicopter,” Evan proposed.

“You can’t fly,” Seth told him.

“You can’t be a copilot either,” Garrett chimed.

“Can’t shoot a gun,” Marcus called out from the kitchen.

“Please, Evan, don’t,” Kaimana pleaded.

“I will go by copter. I don’t need to shoot. You’re not going to have enough men on this op to have more than two people in a helicopter. Seth can fly. Garrett comes too. We’ll do strictly surveillance. We won’t engage. We’ll watch. Just advise.”

“I don’t know,” Marcus said.

“Evan.” Kaimana shook her head. “This isn’t a good idea. Please just stay here.”

“You can stay here with Kaimana,” Garrett suggested.

Her eyes lit with fire. “What? No. I’m going in with them. It’s been a while since I was at the range, but I’ve always been a sharpshooter. Of all the people in this room, I could outshoot all of you.”

“No way are you going,” Seth told her. “No. No fucking way. Not after what happened to you.”

Anger coursed through every cell of her body. “Who do you think you are to tell me what to do? No. No way. You don’t know what happened to me. I deserve justice. And I’m gonna get it. You,” She looked to Seth and then Evan and Garrett, “none of you are going to stop me.”

“Justice will be served, but Kai, you’re too important to me,” Seth told her.

“You’re important to me too, but you don’t get a say.” She turned to Marcus. “Tell them it’s okay for me to go.”