And, oh, Savanna. This couldn’t be easy for her. Ella reached out and squeezed her hand in support.
The sight of Griffin had her clutching Savanna’s hand even tighter as they watched him moving alongside Jesse, then shooting someone . . . on the roof?
The rest of Jesse’s team seemed to fan out to different locations, but Ella’s attention was riveted to Jesse. To his every move as she followed him from screen to screen. “They’re inside now.” She brushed her fingers over Jesse’s face on the screen, which now showed him in the foyer.
She gasped when Jesse discharged his weapon. She couldn’t hear anything from inside the safe room, and she wasn’t sure if that made watching the action better or worse.
Griffin and Oliver were now behind Jesse, who held up a fist, a signal for the guys to remain in place for a moment. Jesse allowed his sling to catch the rifle, then withdrew a sidearm from his hip and a knife from his thigh. He motioned toward the stairs as if letting the others know he was moving up a level. Griffin and Oliver remained downstairs, one going left and the other right.
It was killing her to remain in the room while they were out there risking their lives, but there was no other option. She and Savanna were decent shots, but they couldn’t join the fight. Not with an unknown number of “tangos,” as Sydney had called them.
“No one has found the study yet. That’s something,” Henry spoke up for the first time in a few minutes, but Ella didn’t bother to respond.
Regardless of whether or not he was involved, and her gut was leaning toward “he was,” she knew her role as a “gem” was over. Her main concern right now was that everyone walked away from the night alive and preferably uninjured.
“I lost him on camera. You see him?” Ella frantically searched the screens, but just as she was on the brink of panicking, she found him, thank God. But also, just in time to see Jesse draw a knife across a masked man’s throat. She covered her eyes with her hand like she did when watching a horror movie. Even though she loved crime shows and podcasts, she’d never cared for blood and gore. And especially not when her “husband” was the one to cause the red river to flow.
She was going to lose the three bites of food she’d forced down when the French had provided them with dinner earlier.
Ella slowly lowered her hand, watching Jesse on the move again, gun in one hand, knife situated in his other.
And before she knew it, another tango had turned the corner, catching Jesse by surprise. But Jesse dropped him to the ground a moment later and wrapped a leg over the guy’s chest.
He sliced yet another throat, the man’s blood spurting all over Jesse, and Jesse brought his gun to the man’s chest and shot him next. End his suffering quicker?
How could she watch any more of this, even if the killings were justified? Seeing Jesse perform his job in vivid detail on screen was too real, too much for her to handle.
And now it was Savanna squeezing Ella’s arm for support.
Was that their new friendship motto? Real friends help each other watch the men they love kill people.
Griffin was the next to take a life. His rifle instead of a knife.
Ella spotted Oliver on another screen in time to see him take down an enemy with his sidearm, after which Sydney ran into the room poised and ready to release another arrow seconds before she realized it was Oliver.
After they exchanged a quick word, Oliver peered straight at one of the cameras. “We’re coming,” he mouthed.
“I’m sure Sydney told them we’re here,” Ella softly said, the sick feeling in her gut easing up some.
“Gray’s inside now. Carter too,” Savanna announced. “Perimeter must be secure. That’s a good sign.”
“Jesse,” Ella cried out at the sight of him entering the study on screen a minute later. She hurried to the door and set her hands against it, not sure what to do. She needed him to give her the OK.
She looked back at the screens and discovered Jesse peering around the room searching for a camera, and when he spotted it, she read his lips: “It’s all clear. You can come out.”
Chapter Eighteen
Jesse nearly squeezed the breath from Ella’s lungs, holding her so tight against his frame that his ammo vest dug into her ribs, not that she cared. She didn’t want him to let her go.
“I want a bow,” Ella mumbled, thinking about Sydney and how she’d handled herself while waiting for the cavalry she hadn’t known was coming.
“What?” he whispered, still cupping the back of her head with one palm while the other remained firmly against her back. At least he’d shifted his rifle to his side before hugging her, so she was grateful that wasn’t digging into her as well.
“Everyone okay?” The deep voice belonged to Carter.
“We’re good,” Savanna answered, but Ella remained quiet, not ready to leave Jesse’s strong embrace.
“Did anyone touch you? Did Rochella—”
“No,” Ella cut Jesse off, her voice trembling. “No one hurt me.”
“Thank God. I’m so sorry,” he rasped into her ear before easing up on his hold and slowly releasing her. Ella reluctantly untangled herself from him when that was the last thing she wanted to do.
“I’m okay. We’re all okay,” she whispered, letting her tears flow as the shock of what had just happened tried to take hold. She’d held herself together while in the safe room watching the scene unfold, but now her resolve was faltering. The attack on Henry’s estate was the proverbial cherry on top of a day from hell. And she needed to keep moving forward, or the fears that were right on her tail would overtake her. Not gonna happen. “The timing of this . . .”
“I know.” His tone was grave, but as he stared into her eyes, she swore she saw what looked a bit like hope. “Shit,” he said, breaking the moment. “I, um, got blood in your hair. Probably on your sweater too.”
“It’s okay.” She set her hand to his chest, needing to feel the comfort of his heartbeat, but the chest plate and ammo vest were in the way.
He took another step back and peered around the room as if remembering they weren’t alone or that he’d taken the lives of multiple men only minutes ago.
Ella followed his gaze and did a headcount of who was now with them in the study. Henry was parked in the armchair by the fireplace, as still as a mannequin, but that was probably because Carter stood beside him, a sidearm in hand and a look on his face that would put the fear of God into anyone.
Griffin and Savanna stood near the safe room, as far away from Henry as possible. The grim expression Griffin was aiming at Henry pretty much said it all—he didn’t trust the man. He probably shared the same concerns Sydney expressed right before she’d gone badass operator mode on the intruders.
When Gray and Sydney joined them in the room a second later, Ella had to assume Jack and Oliver were outside, keeping an eye on the property for any unexpected visitors.
“They didn’t cut the lights or security cams, just jammed the phone and comm feeds,” Sydney shared, stating the obvious, which seemed uncharacteristic of her based on what little Ella knew. Which meant Sydney was going somewhere important with that line of thought.