Page 54 of Her Guarded Hero

The Spanish was rapid fire. She tearfully explained he had grandchildren. And she was beyond thrilled when the man told her he was on his way. That was as far as the conversation got before the line went dead.

He got up and walked across the room, leaning against the wall so he could watch the small family. Dex had tried to contact him during the firefight out in the courtyard, and again while he was checking the house. He’d indicated that he was okay but couldn’t respond, so now he took the time to check-in.

“About damn time you responded,” Dex practically yelled.

“How’s Wyatt?”

“He’s going to make it.”

Dammit, he could hear a ‘but’ in Dex’s voice.

“What?”

“He needs surgery for his leg. Aiden is trying to work his magic.”

Dalton’s gut clenched. “Saving his life is the most important thing,” he replied. “You better not be waiting on me. I’m good. I’ve cleaned out all the rat’s nest here, nobody will be following us. I have three innocents that I need to ensure are safe, then I will get to you.”

“We’re having Griff circle back to you.”

“No need, I’ll be fine.” He hated the idea of Griff exposing himself to more time in the hurricane than necessary. He should just stay with the team and keep heading to the coast.

“Sullivan, this is protocol,” Gray Tyler said through his receiver. He his tone brooked no argument.

“Got it, Sir.”

“Good.”

“Now tell me who these innocents are.” Gray asked.

“Woman who is the housekeeper and two small children. She’s been abused. My guess is she was kept here against her will. Her father is on his way to pick her up.”

“I’m not going to ask how the hell that’s going to happen,” Gray said. “I trust that you’ve got things under control, so get your ass here as quickly as possible.”

“Yes, Sir.”

There was a pause, then Dex came on the line. “Griff should be there in less than an hour.”

“Tell him to be careful, it’s always possible there was someone outside the compound that I missed.”

“Thanks for telling me how to do my job, Sullivan. Any other words of wisdom?” Griff said with a laugh.

Even over the howling of the hurricane, he could hear the others chuckling. Damn, he was tired if he was sticking his foot in his mouth like that.

“Yeah Griff, stay dry.”

“Shut it,” Aiden said harshly. “We need to get Wyatt moved now.”

Dalton waited for Griff to respond, he knew the situation with their wounded comrade and where the team was located in correlation with the coast.

“Depending how long we have to wait for the housekeeper’s family, we should be able to catch up with you before you hit the midway mark,” Griff said.

“Good,” was Aiden’s clipped answer. Dalton knew they were done. He also knew that Aiden must be pretty damned worried about Wyatt, because his Second-in-Command didn’t normally come off so grim. Dalton turned his entire focus to the little family.

“How long will it take for your father to arrive?” he asked in Spanish.

“Not long.” She dislodged herself from the children and went over to the shuttered window. She started to open it.

“No!” Dalton was across the room with his hand on shutter before she could unlock it. “It’s not safe, leave it shut. Why did you want to open it?”