Grant held up three fingers and mouthed “Three, two, one…”
On one, both he and Holden shoved the door to the abandoned house open and rushed inside. They each held a gun, though they hoped they wouldn’t have cause to use it. That wasn’t the intention at all.
This was a rescue mission. A personal favor for a U.S. diplomat. In the middle of the night. In Brazil.
Grant and Holden weren’t here to pull a U.S. citizen out of a tight situation. If they had been, only one of them would have been sent. Nope. They were here to rescue a mom and two young kids.
A Chinese mom and her children.
When Grant had first gotten the orders to head to Rio de Janeiro for this mission, he’d cringed. The mysterious Charley had requested this mission from the Holt Agency, though Grant failed to understand why the hell someone from the Holt Agency would be sent to rescue a Chinese citizen from anywhere, let alone three of them.
Two hours later, Grant had understood the mission much better. He’d also reminded himself that not all Chinese people were bad just because their government was trying to subdue an island.
There were regular Chinese citizens living all over the world who were good, honest, kind, hard-working people. The ambassador to China stationed in Brazil was one of them. He was a personal friend to the U.S. ambassador. The two of them had known each other for years.
Unfortunately, the Chinese ambassador had gone missing several days before. There was no intel yet to indicate why he had disappeared. Though everyone suspected an abduction, no country had claimed responsibility.
The ambassador’s wife and children had fled their home and were hiding somewhere presumably safe; however, they were surrounded by unfriendlies. It would not have been safe for them to simply head to the airport and try to get flights out of the country.
So, Grant and Holden had been called in to rescue them. It should have been simple, but when they arrived, the three individuals were no longer at the safehouse. That had been two days ago. Grant and Holden had been following one step behind ever since.
Grant was nervous. Something didn’t smell right. He hated everything about this mission, but he trusted the U.S. ambassador would not have steered them wrong.
With his night-vision goggles in place, Grant scanned the room of this out-of-the-way presumably safe house. They hadn’t knocked because at this point, they trusted almost no one.
Heart pounding, Grant was beyond relieved to find three figures huddled in the corner of the single room. A woman and two children. The mother was holding two small kids at her sides, eyes wide, face a mask of terror.
Grant lowered his gun at the same time Holden did. “Li Ting?”
The woman hesitated and then nodded slowly.
“We’re here to help you.” He tucked his gun in his pants and lifted his hands to show her he meant no harm.
“Help? Save?” she questioned.
He’d been warned she spoke very little English, but he hadn’t expected the two single words in a hard accent.
He nodded and crouched down to their level. “We’re here to get you to safety.” He enunciated his words, but the woman gave no sign she understood him. She was young. Much younger than the ambassador. That meant nothing of course. Grant had learned long ago not to judge people. Love had no boundaries.
He flinched at that last thought as Callie’s face popped into his mind. Unwanted. He was too busy to entertain the visual, so he shook it from his head.
There were tear tracks on the woman’s face. The children were about two and four. The younger one was asleep. The older one looked terrified. Grant couldn’t blame her.
“We need to get you out of here. This location isn’t safe,” Grant informed her while Holden stood guard at the door.
She crouched back farther into the corner, eyes wide, hugging her kids closer.
Shit.
Holden glanced over his shoulder. “Can we move?”
“I don’t think so. She doesn’t trust us. Can you blame her?”
Holden rubbed his temple and then glanced back again. “Call her.”
“Call who?” Grant stiffened a moment later. Callie. Of course. He winced. “It’s the middle of the night.”
Holden’s eyes shot wide. “You want to wait for daylight to make this rescue?”
Grant shook his head. “No. Right. Of course.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket. His fingers were shaking as he placed the one call he’d put off for three weeks. He had all but decided he would never call her. She’d made it clear she didn’t want him to. He’d decided to respect her wishes.
And now this. It wasn’t a social call. He needed her.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath while the phone rang. This was a longshot. She would be sleeping, right? Her phone could be turned off or in night mode.
“Hello? Grant?” Her voice was rough with sleep. Soft. Heavenly.
“I’m so sorry to wake you. I need your help.”
She cleared her throat. “Okay.”
“I’m in the middle of a rescue and the woman only speaks Mandarin. Can you please tell her she’s safe with me? She’s scared out of her mind.”
“Yes. Of course. Give her the phone.”
Grant handed the phone to Li Ting. “Talk.” He pointed at it.
Li Ting’s hand was shaking as she took it from him and held it to her ear. She didn’t say a word, but Grant could hear Callie’s voice through the receiver. She said several things, speaking for a while.
Finally, the woman relaxed and stared at Grant, nodding. She responded to Callie and handed him back the phone.
“Callie?” he said, uncertain if she would still be there.
“She understands. She’ll follow you now.”
“I can’t thank you enough.”
“You just did. Good luck.”
Grant didn’t know what to say. How should he end this call? Time was important. He couldn’t chat right now.
“Go.” She ended the call for him with that one word. She understood.
Grant reached for the four-year-old, staring at Li Ting, imploring her to trust him.
Li Ting said something to the little girl and the scared child lifted her arms. Thank God.
Grant held her against his chest and reached out to help her mother stand with the baby.
“Clear,” Holden announced.
Grant stepped back, indicating Li Ting should follow Holden. Then he brought up the rear, patting the toddler to help calm her. Luckily, she remained quiet. If she started screaming, people would come out of their homes and take notice.
The five of them hustled through the narrow streets of this low-income neighborhood to the sound of barking dogs and insects. It wasn’t easy. They had to retrace their steps back to the vehicle they’d left parked several blocks away. A valuable tip had led them to this location where they’d finally gotten lucky.
Grant was relieved when they reached the SUV without incident, and he opened the rear passenger door as quickly as possible, holding it open for Li Ting to enter. He handed the toddler in next and pointed at the floorboards.
Li Ting understood and slid down behind the seats so they wouldn’t be easily seen in the car. She held her baby close. The toddler settled behind the other seat also on the floor.
Grant jogged around to get in the front passenger seat just as Holden took off.
“Husband?” Li Ting asked, her voice trembling.
Grant turned around to face her, seeing the moisture in her eyes. He shrugged. That would tell her what she needed to know. No one was sure where her husband was yet.
She nodded and kissed her baby on the forehead, rocking him back and forth behind the seat.
“You okay?” Holden asked as he drove.
“Yes. Of course.” Grant wiped his forehead. He was hot, sweating. They’d been going for hours trying to catch up with their assignment.
Holden glanced at him but didn’t say anything else.
Grant stared out the window.
Fuck.
She was under his skin. Just hearing her voice had made him come alive more than he’d been since the last moment he’d seen her rising off the ground in the damn helicopter.
Four days he’d had her. Four short days. Why did they seem like months or years? A lifetime. They’d packed a lot of life into those few short days. And nights. He couldn’t forget the nights.
When he’d met her, he’d thought he could abide by her wishes. Vacation relationship only. What guy would turn that down? Hot sex. A fun companion. Days by the pool with her in a bikini.
He smiled at the memory of her covering up that hickey. It would have still been there when she returned to D.C. He doubted it would be an issue. She most likely didn’t wear anything revealing at work, and even if she did own several low-cut blouses, she wouldn’t have worn them until the mark went away.
Had she thought about him every time she showered and saw the bruise in the mirror as it turned blue and then yellow? He hoped so.
It was poignant that she hadn’t contacted him. Or maybe it wasn’t. He kept reminding himself she’d insisted on no future contact. But still he’d hoped she would renege on that and reach out to him.
Three weeks had gone by. Three incredibly long weeks without her smile, her giggle. The noises she made when she came.
Grant ran a hand down his face and shook the thoughts from his head. He needed to focus right now. He was in the middle of a job. Now wasn’t the time to reminisce on better days. Better days he would never see again.
Holden remained quiet for the rest of the drive. He understood Grant. He knew without speaking of it that Grant was frustrated over the loss of Callie. Hell, Holden was in a similar situation himself. He had made a connection with Melanie on that cruise too.
Holden’s situation was different. He’d had more days with Mel even if they were stress-filled and tense. He’d also been in contact with her since the cruise. Not regularly, but often enough. Their window of communication was open. Grant’s was not.
Holden turned off the main road and onto a more secluded dirt road that would lead them to their meeting location. The spot where they would turn their three passengers over to another driver who would get them to safety.
About thirty seconds later, Grant’s hair stood on end. Something didn’t feel right. He grabbed Holden’s forearm.
“What is it?” Holden hissed.
“I don’t know.” Grant looked around. He was expecting a few landmarks that weren’t in sight by now. A clump of bushes on the right. A tin trashcan on the left. They hadn’t seen those yet.
Holden slowed down. “You’re right. I don’t like it.” He came to a stop, put the SUV in reverse, and turned the wheel before backing up off the side of the road. In seconds, they were heading back the way they’d come.
“Fuck,” Grant muttered as he took his phone out of his pocket and dialed the Holt Agency.
Ajax answered on the first ring. He would have been asleep, but he didn’t let himself sound like it.
Grant started speaking immediately. “Something’s not right. We aborted the drop-off location.”
“You have the three individuals with you?”
“Yes. We tracked them down at that last location provided by intel. Not a problem. The arranged drop-off didn’t feel right.”
“Okay. Get out of there. I’ll work on it.” Ajax hung up.
Grant didn’t need to tell Holden what to do. They’d been in situations like this dozens of times with the SEALs. Time to improvise and hole up somewhere to wait for further instructions.
“I’m going back to the safehouse,” Holden announced.
Grant nodded. That was the best plan. Grant and Holden had been hunkered in a safehouse for a few days, using it as a home base while they chased lead after lead trying to find Li Ting.
They hadn’t intended to return to the safehouse, but there weren’t better options. They also hadn’t intended to bring Li Ting and her kids there. It was hard to say how the occupants might react. Hopefully the owner of the property wasn’t racist or judgmental.
There was unrest in the entire world, but more in South America than other places. After all, the Chinese had occupied Panama for days before being overtaken and forced from the country.
It felt like nine-eleven all over again. There was no reason for the actions of a few people to reflect on every single individual of that race or country, but it happened every time. This incident was no different.
The best thing would be to keep Li Ting and her kids out of sight until a better exit plan could be put into motion. Maybe the aborted mission would have been fine. Maybe someone had moved the trash can. Maybe Grant had overlooked the bushes. Maybe those two landmarks had been misjudged and had been located slightly farther down the dirt path.
None of that mattered now. Grant’s gut told him it wasn’t safe, and he knew better than to ever doubt his gut.
Ten minutes later, Holden turned in to the driveway of the safehouse and waited for someone to open the gate. A guard came out, nodded at Holden and Grant, and opened the gate. He was used to the two of them. He didn’t look in the back seat, nor did he question them.
Holden pulled to the back of the property.
Grant jumped down from the SUV as soon as the engine was off. He glanced around before opening the back door and reaching for the young girl. She was groggy and half asleep, dead weight, but he had no trouble lifting her.
Li Ting said something in Mandarin but she climbed out of the car with the baby and followed Grant into the small outbuilding.
Grant didn’t breathe easier until they were inside with the door shut. He glanced at Li Ting to find her brow furrowed in confusion. Shit. He really needed a translator. Too bad they didn’t have readily available Mandarin-speaking translators in the middle of nowhere Brazil on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. What a joke.
Hell, even if they did have someone in the area who spoke English, Portuguese, and Mandarin, it wasn’t as if Grant and Holden were above the radar and could request such a thing.
Li Ting stared at the door, holding her baby tight while the four-year-old squirmed to get down from Grant’s arms and then grabbed on to her mother’s leg.
Grant pointed at the bed in the corner of the room. There was only one bed, but Li Ting needed sleep more than anything.
She sat on the edge, eyes wide, muttering in a language Grant now wished he knew fluently. Dammit.
Holden handed her a bottle of water and a protein bar, pointing at the toddler.
The woman took the offerings, but she was visibly shaking.
Holden set his hand on Grant’s shoulder and met his gaze, speaking without words.
Grant sighed. “Yeah. Okay.” He pulled his phone out and dialed Callie again. This hadn’t been in the plan. He hadn’t intended to entertain Li Ting for any length of time, but plans changed. Li Ting needed to understand. She wouldn’t be able to relax without details.
“Grant?” Callie sounded more awake this time.
“Yeah. I’m so sorry to bother you. We hit a snag. Our drop-off location was compromised. We’ve had to move the woman and her kids to a safehouse while we wait for new instructions.”
“Okay. You need me to explain that to her.”
“Yes. If you would. Please.”
“Of course.”
Grant’s chest was tight as he handed the phone to Li Ting. He watched the frightened woman as she listened to Callie. She nodded every once in a while, even though Callie couldn’t see her.
She spoke several times, responding to Callie. Eventually, she smiled and handed the phone back to Grant.
He drew in a deep breath as he walked toward the room’s only table and chairs and sat. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome. She’ll be okay. She’s more scared for her husband than herself.”
“Understandable,” Grant agreed. He shuddered at the thought. If he were in a foreign country where he didn’t speak the language and someone came into his home in the middle of the night and took Callie from him at gunpoint, he would lose his fucking mind.
“I told her you were working on a safe exit plan and when you had one, you would transport her there. I hope I convinced her to trust you. She knows you’re American and that you were hired to rescue her.”
“If that hadn’t been my plan, I would have had plenty of opportunity to prove that already.” If he and Holden had meant Li Ting ill, they could have murdered all three of them and dumped the bodies already.
“Exactly.”
“She told me who she is and who her husband is.”
“Ah, then you know where I am.”
“Yes.” There was a hesitation. “Grant…”
“Yeah.” He drew in a breath. God, it was good to talk to her.
“Be careful. I don’t have to tell you how much unrest there is or how dangerous this situation is.”
“I know.” He was well aware, but he didn’t get snarky with her. She was only trying to express her concern. It was sweet.
He shook his head. He shouldn’t think of her concern as being sweet. She was simply a human being doing her best to help another. Just because she didn’t want Grant dead didn’t mean she wanted him back in her life.
Callie drew in a deep breath. “I haven’t heard a word about the Chinese ambassador being kidnapped or his wife and kids being stranded, so I’m going to assume you took this assignment from whoever your contact is with whatever faction of the government is operating under the radar completely in the dark.”
Callie was resourceful and informed. Grant wasn’t surprised she knew as much as she did, or that she’d been able to piece that together. He also trusted her to keep this information to herself. “Yes.”
Indeed, the job had come from Charley. Even though Ajax had made the arrangements and was playing point man for this gig, Charley was the main contact.
The Chinese ambassador was apparently important to someone somewhere, important enough that his wife and kids were also important and high on the priority list.
Grant and Holden weren’t privy to the details. It didn’t matter why they were here or even who they were sent to rescue. They were hired to do a job and they did it.
“How have you been?” she asked in a lower voice.
“Fine. Good.” He sounded ridiculous. “Busy. I haven’t had a moment to…do anything really.” Call you. Of course, that was pure bullshit. He could have called her at some point. He’d certainly thought about it a million times.
“Right. Of course. Me either. I’ve been working long hours day and night. I can’t wait for this issue to resolve itself so I can have my life back. Such as it is.” She gave a forced chuckle.
“I can imagine.” This conversation was strained. Uncomfortable. It pissed him off. He wished he were standing in front of her. Holding her. Looking her in the eye. He wished he had the balls to show up at her door and tell her to fuck her stupid vacation-boyfriend edict. It was bullshit.
There was every chance she would tell him to go fuck himself too.
Grant rubbed his forehead. “Listen, I should go. I need to touch base with my boss.”
“Of course.”
“Thank you again for helping. I really appreciate it.”
“Any time, Grant,” she said softly. “I mean, we’re both professional. Just because we, uh, slept together a few times, doesn’t mean we can’t help each other out. Don’t feel like you can’t contact me.” Her voice was strained.
It was also annoying. Grant’s frustration level was through the roof.
Slept together a few times? Was she fucking kidding? That was not how he would describe their time together. He’d done far more than shove his cock into her. He could have done that in the dark with his eyes closed if he’d wanted to scratch an itch.
Hell, he could have done that without putting his mouth on her or making her scream over and over. He wouldn’t have needed to play tongue hockey with her either. Or spend the days with her. Take her dancing. Arrange an excursion. Gotten up at five-thirty to make sure she had the best view of the canal.
Slept together a few times, my ass.
Grant swallowed back his annoyance. “Right. Well, I’ll let you go. Thanks again.” He ended the call without waiting for her to respond. He was too angry to continue the conversation. Plus, he was in the middle of a damn mission.
He needed to put the entire exchange out of his mind for now and do his job. He could process the words she’d just spoken to him later. Stateside. When he was alone with his punching bag. Not here.
When he turned to Holden, he found his friend staring at him with an understanding expression, nearly wincing. He licked his lips. “I just spoke to Ryker. We have a new plan. We’re leaving in fifteen minutes.”
Grant nodded. “Excellent.” He was glad. Staying busy was important. Getting these people to safety was the only thing he needed to be focused on.