“Like I said, be quiet now. If I only have five minutes, I need to work fast. And I don’t normally do anything fast, so I’ll need to concentrate and so will you. Now, sit on your desk and open your thighs.”
Well, one thing I knew for certain; Breck was very, very talented with his hands and his mouth, and, well, his dick. And five minutes later, true to his word, he’d watched me gear up. And he’d relegated himself to being my guy in the van, which I knew had to be hard for him. I was grateful though. I tapped my ear as we drove up along the industrial road toward the warehouse and parked the van just at the ledge that let us approach the warehouse from the back. “Comm check.”
Niko tapped his. “Roger.”
James and Adam verified their comms were working as well. We were all geared in black, pistols in our holsters. I had an additional knife at my ankle. Niko had his long-range gun. James and Adam had that hard edge in their eyes, like military men well accustomed to walking headfirst into danger. And they were ready. Ready to walk by my side and possibly get shot in the process.
Stop it. That little voice inside my head still screamed that something wasn’t right. I only had half my team, barely. Breck was good. He was very, very good, and I trusted Niko with my life. And if Wilder had provided me with men, I knew they would die to protect me. But it wasn’t about that.
I just couldn’t shake the feeling. The feeling that Breck was right. Still, though, I met each of my guys’ gazes, brusque nods were exchanged, and then we all synchronized our watches. “Remember, in and out. Given the guard watch that they have, we know the exact timing of the shift change, so in and out. No elimination. Capture the target, bring him in. If something goes wrong and we have to engage, remember to injure, not kill.”
Niko sighed. “Always with the no killing. You know it’s more fun when you kill them, right?”
I sighed. “Niko.”
He raised his hands. “Okay, okay. I hear you. But what if I shoot a guy in the balls? Does that count as killing?”
I sighed. “Seriously, Niko?”
He rolled his eyes. “All right, all right, fine. I’ll go for the kneecaps.”
The van door slid open. Niko hopped out. Next was James, and after him, Adam. When I went to launch myself out the open door, Breck dragged me back by the scruff of my neck and then leaned in close to my face, his lips an inch from mine. “I swear to God, if you die on me, I will be very, very pissed off.”
I leaned in and gave him a quick brush of my lips. “I’m not going to die. Besides, you already gave me an excellent sendoff. Left me wanting more. So I’ll be back for that at the very least.”
“You’d better be.”
With another quick kiss, I hopped out of the van, shutting the door quietly and then joining my team at the tree line.
With a series of hand gestures, I pointed Niko to his position and signaled the other two to follow me. We had cover from the trees to a certain point, and then we would be in the open for a hundred meters down the ravine.
But Niko was there and ready to provide all the cover we would need.
At the edge of the ravine, I looked down. Niko’s voice was clear. “Ready, boss.”
“All right, on my mark.”
James and Adam were like silent sentries, saying nothing but moving as I moved. Like shadows that were permanently attached and not subject to the whims of the sun. We moved as a unit. At the very lip of the ravine, James went first, and I tumbled after him, sprinting as fast as I could move. Behind me, Adam’s feet were the barest hint of a whisper. Silent. Deadly. I knew Niko had my back. I knew Breck was on overwatch. I was safe. I was protected.
So then why do you feel so goddamn uneasy?
We made it down the ravine. Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters, forty. At the last ten meters, a whisper of death skipped up my spine, and I tapped my comms unit. “Breck, anything?”
“No. All clear.”
We sprinted behind one of the trucks parked at the edge of the property, and I panted, “Niko, you see anything?”
Niko’s voice was low. “No. Nothing. Not even the guards. They’re not due out for another minute, but I see no movement in the windows. Zero.”
I cursed under my breath and then turned to the guys. Even though my senses screamed that I was walking into a trap, I had no choice. I had to keep moving. “Okay, let’s roll.”
We skirted around the trucks through the parking lot until we were at the shadow of the building in a tight formation, weapons drawn, eyes on a swivel. I could practically feel Niko at our backs. I could feel Breck watching out for us. But still, something didn’t feel right. Something didn’t feel safe. Something still felt off and… wrong.
James set the charges for the back door, and we took cover, lining our bodies up behind the dumpster. With a silent one, two, three count, we blew the doors and then we breached. Smoke clouded our vision as we stepped in, weapons drawn, ready, adrenaline pumping and flowing through our veins, but we were met with no resistance. Not a single guard. Not a single bullet. The room felt empty, dank, dark. Adam had his hand on my shoulder, and James had a hand on his, and then we paused. Something sounded like a tick, tick, tick. Not like a watch timer, but like something rattling against something else.
And the next thing I heard was Breck’s voice in the comms. “Shit. Abort. Abort. Sparrow, get out of there now. Now.”
I knew there was no way Breck was going to abort unless it was urgent. I didn’t even think. I trusted him implicitly, at the very least with my life, if not with my heart. And we booked it out. We’d only made it as far as that first room, but I could feel it… death trying to climb up our spines. James was out first, then Adam. And then there was heat at my back, and I was going airborne as my teeth rattled and my back burned. We’d walked into an ambush. A trap. They’d known we were coming. Anticipated our every move. We’d been nothing but sitting ducks. And I’d almost gotten my team killed.
Chapter 14
Breck
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
* * *
“Please don’t look at me like that,” Sparrow whispered, as I looked up at her, my heart racing.
“Like what?”
“Like I’m going to be blown up at any minute. I’m fine. I didn’t get hurt too badly.”
Not this time.
“I know you didn’t…”
“And yet you’re looking at me that way. Instead, you should be looking at me as if I was the one that sent you into that place. Oh, wait. That was me.”
My heart clenched, and I let out a slow breath. I kept seeing Sparrow on the floor, bloody, calling out for help. It wasn’t her fault that her job put her in positions like this. But hell, I’d already lost my parents. Almost lost London. I didn’t know what I’d do if I lost Sparrow too. “Sparrow.”
“Don’t, Breck. Not right now.”
“Talk to me then.”
“About what? What do you want, Breck?” She bit out the words then pressed her lips together, schooling her features.
“Sparrow.”
“Do you really want to do this? Because I’m not sure I want to. What do you want to talk about? Maybe the fact that I almost got my team killed? How about that?” She was so calm as she spoke, but I knew she had to be hurting beneath the stoic exterior. I had to find a way in; I just wasn’t sure she’d let me.