Levi
The woman was out of her mind if she thought I’d let her close enough to inject The Vicar with the poison vial.
“Are you out of your damn mind?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You’re not getting close enough to The Vicar to inject him with anything. Do you not realize that even if you were successful, his guards would kill you before you could get out of there?”
“There is no other way. If you don’t find Hunter tonight, then I have to meet him and give him the antidote. I’ll give him the real vial so he can test it on someone.”
“And why would he allow you to inject him with the poisonous substitute?”
“If he has the virus, he’ll have no choice.”
“But he doesn’t have the virus.”
“Not yet. But he will.”
‘There are so many flaws in this plan. Not only do you have to get close enough to inject him with a fake antidote; you have to also get close enough to give him the virus in the first place. No—not gonna happen.”
“When did you become the boss of me?”
“When I pulled your ass out of that forest and rescued your son, and you became a part of this team. That’s when.”
Her face paled when I mentioned Hunter. “Damn—I’m sorry, Drew.”
I pulled her into my arms and inhaled the scent of her. She’d become so important to me in such a short time. Last night when I’d heard her sobs, it nearly broke me in half. And then when she’d kissed me as if I was her lifeline, it had taken every ounce of self-control I possessed to pull away. It wasn’t time for us. Not yet.
But it would be—and soon.
And I wanted all of her. Not just the parts that were present at the moment, but every single piece of her soul. And until we found Hunter, that couldn’t happen. Still, she’d felt perfect, right, in my arms, and I hadn’t wanted the night to end.
“Look, we’re going to get Hunter back. Today. Okay? We’re going in just after dark. They won’t expect us. They’ll figure we’ll wait until the wee hours of the morning, and typically, they’d be right. The guards are the most distracted at that time, but the element of surprise should give us the edge we need and make up for that.”
“But what if he’s not there, Levi? I’m supposed to meet The Vicar this evening. He hasn’t told me where or when yet. What if I don’t have time? What if I have to meet him?”
“Over my dead body will you meet him without backup. Is that clear, Drew? When he calls, you need to let me know.”
“Fine.”
I pulled away and tilted her chin to face me. “I mean it. If anything happened to you, I have no idea what I’d do.”
“Why do you care so much?”
I shrugged, not even understanding our connection myself. “I just do. You’ve burrowed yourself under my skin, and I’m afraid that’s a permanent change.”
“You make me sound like a parasite.”
I laughed. It was something I rarely did before Drew came into my life, and now I found myself doing it all the time. She was funny. Sarcastic. Stubborn. And I was at real risk of falling head over heels in love with her.
“A parasite, huh?”
“Yeah, like a tapeworm or a tick that buried itself into your skin.”
“Hmm, I could get behind you being under my skin.”
She slapped lightly at my arm. “Get your mind out of the gutter.” But a smile played at her lips.
“Look, we will get through this, okay? We will find Hunter, we will take down The Vicar, and then you and I are going to talk about this thing between us.”
“This thing?”
“You know—the buzzing electricity that bounces off us in waves. That thing.”
“Oh, right. Gotcha. Maybe it’s static cling?”
I lunged for her, tickling her sides while she squealed and squirmed away from me. We fell to the floor, both of us laughing and panting. Until we weren’t laughing anymore. That buzzing electricity was back. I lowered my head, aiming for her lips when a knock sounded at her door. Drew’s head jerked forward, slamming hard into mine.
“Ow!” We both yelled at the same time. I rubbed my head and lifted myself off her, going to the door to open it. Oscar stood on the other side. He took one look at Drew still lying on the floor holding her head and me massaging mine and burst into laughter.
“What the hell are you two doing? You know there’s a perfectly good bed right there, don’t you?”
“We’re not doing anything. What do you want?”
Oscar continued to laugh, shaking his head. “Ryder has some info and wants to go over this evening’s activities. You coming over anytime soon, or are you, um, preoccupied?”
“Shut up, Oscar. I’m coming. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be over there.”
“Yes, sir!” He saluted me and walked out of the room. Drew was laughing, holding her sides on the floor.
“They love giving you a hard time.”
“And yet they rarely did it before you came.”
“You must have been so serious.”
“I was.” I helped her to her feet. “You make me want to experience life in a whole new way. I wasn’t really living until I met you.”
Her eyes shimmered with emotion, and I dipped my head to kiss her. It was sweet, and gentle, and tender. Everything I felt about her I poured into that kiss. When I pulled away, the tears had tracked down her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why are you crying?”
“That’s just the sweetest thing anyone has ever said about me. And, I don’t know, I guess I kind of feel the same way too. What is this between us, Levi? It doesn’t make sense. We barely know each other.”
“We know the most important things. The other stuff we’ll figure out in time.”
I placed another kiss on her lips. “Get ready. I’ve got to shower and then we’ll head over.”
“Okay.”
I left her room, feeling a void in my heart just from being away from her. I shook my head at the ridiculous train my thoughts were on. I sounded like a damn woman straight out of a cheesy romance novel. Still, I couldn’t help the joy that filled my heart knowing I only had a few minutes until I would see her again.
***
The afternoon passed in a blur. The team and I worked on every possible scenario that might potentially happen that night. We practiced our infiltration several times in full gear to make sure we had it perfect. Normally, we’d discuss it and move on, but nothing could go wrong that night. Hunter’s life was at stake.
The girls took Drew to the firing range to show her how to use a gun, but Jolie informed us Drew was fully capable of firing a weapon, since she’d taught herself years ago when she and Hunter bought the property she lived on. So, they spent the afternoon practicing—and probably talking about me.
Which was fine. I didn’t care. Really.
Okay, I was dying to know what they talked about, but I wasn’t going to stoop to schoolgirl levels and ask Jolie for information. I’d just have to live with the suspense.
It was almost go time, and the team was getting antsy. Jolie and Ryder would be lookouts, staying near the van to cover our butts. Oscar, Cruz, and I would go in with a few members of Johnny’s team from Florida. Since they were still guarding Drew’s house, we left a skeleton crew there, and Johnny Carter, Ramon Silva, and Ryker Scott would help us infiltrate the bunker. With Cade and Piper both out, it left us a little short-handed.
Drew beckoned me over to her as we stood outside loading the van. She fell into my arms, holding me tight. “Please be careful and come back to me.”
“I promise.”
I kissed her, not caring that my entire team was watching, but for once, there were no catcalls or silly teasing. They were too busy saying their own goodbyes. We all knew the risks. One thing could go bad on a mission and end it all. We never took goodbyes lightly.
“I’ll bring him back.”
“I know.”
Drew stepped back, retreating into the building as if watching me get into the van and drive away was too much for her.
Lydia and Ivy were staying with her while we were gone, and I was so grateful for their presence. It made me feel better to know she wasn’t alone.
“Keep her mind busy. You know what it’s like the first time.”
“We know. We’ll prime her with wine and reality TV,” Ivy said, waggling her eyes.
I chuckled.
“I mean, just because I can’t drink, it doesn’t mean she shouldn’t.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid I’ll have to take a rain check on the wine thing, too,” Lydia said with a wide grin on her face.
Ivy whirled around to look at her, her hands over her mouth.
“Shut up! No way! You’re pregnant?”
I couldn’t help the smile that was so big it made my cheeks hurt. “Congratulations, man.” I clapped Cruz on the back and then bent down to hug Lydia. “You too. I’m so excited for you both.”
“It was a little unexpected. We’d thought it would take a few months, but here we are.”
“That’s awesome. I’ll bring him back to you.” I whispered the last part in her ear, and she patted my cheek.
“I’ll hold you to that.”
With the weight even heavier on my shoulders, we drove out to the bunker, reaching the area around seven thirty, just after the shift change, according to Ryder. We hoped they’d be distracted with settling in, which would give us the upper hand.
Cruz turned off the van’s headlights as we parked in the woods about half a mile from the bunker. Johnny’s team was close by on the other side. They would go in through the emergency exit, and we’d clear the building from each side.
We’d hike in the rest of the way to the bunker on foot. Jolie and Ryder would stay near the treeline, keeping an eye out for any unexpected visitors while we were inside. Our first course of action was taking out the guards watching the exits.
Stealth was the name of the game, since we didn’t want to alert anyone in the bunker to our presence. Ramon Silva, from Johnny’s team, was a sniper, and he’d take out the outside cameras as well as the guards.
Lying on our bellies, we crawled up to the edge of the woods, waiting for Ramon to dispose of the immediate threat. Our comm devices were synced, and I waited for Johnny’s command.
“Silva, fire when ready.”
“Roger that.”
After the command came through the comm device, glass shattered, the first camera exploding. The guards looked up just as the second camera burst into a thousand pieces. One of the guards reached for his walkie-talkie but was unable to get a call out. A round hole appeared on his forehead, and he dropped like a log. The second guard barely had time to register the death of his partner before he fell down beside him. Two more shots and two more guards fell on the other side of the cement building. No one was able to get out a call for help before landing face down in the grass.
We weren’t sure if there were any other guards out there, since all we could see were the four guarding the entrances of the building. My gut said that was all they felt they’d need, but I pulled out the binoculars and scanned the area just to be sure. The coast was clear.
“All clear,” I announced to both teams through the comm.
“Roger that, Team A. See ya on the inside.”
With that final sign-off, we left the cover of the trees and crept toward the cement structure.
Oscar jogged to the doors, setting up the explosive strips on each side. We ducked around the corner as he blew them. We crossed our fingers the building was soundproof and the charges wouldn’t blow our cover, but there was no way to be sure.
The door hung open on its hinges, and we filed in just as we’d practiced. Cruz, then Oscar, with me bringing up the rear. The gray stairwell resonated with the sounds of our feet pounding the stairs. It felt as if we were traveling miles down into the earth, when really it was only a couple of stories. When we reached the door downstairs, it was unlocked.
The hair on the back of my neck stood at attention.
“What’s the situation on your side?” I asked Johnny through the comm.
“Door’s unlocked. I don’t like this at all.”
“Me neither. Stand down until further notice.”
“Roger.”
I turned to Oscar. “What do you see?”
“No signs of explosives. No wires that I can see. That doesn’t eliminate the possibility of C4 on the other side of this door, but I can’t see any reason not to enter.”
If Hunter was in there, we had to get to him. If someone somehow knew we were coming, perhaps we had a welcoming committee on the other side. I made a decision without thinking about it. I’d promised Drew I would bring back her son.
“Cruz, Oscar—up the stairs now. I’ll go in first and let you know when it’s clear.”
“No way in hell. You go in; we all go in,” Oscar said.
“Ain’t gonna happen, boss.”
I had a feeling they’d say that, but I had to give them the option.
“Fine. Stand back.”
I lifted my leg and kicked the door in. It swung open, and we all ducked.
The world was quiet. No explosives. No gunfire.
Weird.
“Let’s go.”
I moved in first, my gun up, ready to defend ourselves if need be, but the room was quiet. I nodded to the double doors at the end of the small room.
“Blast doors?”
Oscar nodded. He moved to them, getting out his handy-dandy tools, and took out what looked like a glorified blowtorch.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Damn sure.” Oscar smiled his crazy smile and went to work cutting open the blast doors. It was amazing to watch the man in action. He took chances most of us had never had to take, and some thought he might be a little crazy because of that. I didn’t think he was crazy. He just thoroughly enjoyed what he did. We’d all be so lucky to have that satisfaction in our jobs.
It took about three minutes to cut through the steel, and Oscar was off setting the charges. Once they were set up, we stepped outside the door and waited for the charges to blow. We’d announced our arrival the minute he’d started burning through the door. When the blast shook the place, plaster falling from the ceiling, we rushed in to find no one on the other side.
“Damn weird, man,” Cruz announced, never dropping his guard.
“Yeah—I don’t like this. Where are the rest of the guards?”
“You guys okay?” Johnny asked over the comm.
“Yeah. No one trying to run out that way?”
“No sign of anyone yet. We’ll hold them off if they do.”
“Roger that.”
Oscar placed a lock on the door to the apartments, while we moved down the hall, kicking in doors as we went, but the place was empty. Not a single soul in residence.
We reached the final door on the left, the workshop, from the blueprints, and I moved in front of the team to kick in the door.
“Stop!” Oscar shouted just as I lifted my foot to kick it in.
“What?”
“Oh—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his expletive before I saw it. A laser trigger we’d just tripped. And I had a bad feeling that alarm was connected to something really nasty. The emergency exit door was wired for a major explosion, and I thanked my lucky stars Johnny’s team hadn’t tried to go through or they’d all be dead.
“Get out!” I shouted in the comm device while the three of us raced back the way we came. “Bomb! Get the hell out of that stairwell!”
“Roger!” Johnny answered, and I could tell by the huffing and puffing he was doing that they were already retreating.
We ran as fast as we could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Just as we hit the stairwell, an explosion ripped through the bunker. Fire rushed towards us as Oscar slammed the door shut, but it wouldn’t hold for long.
Taking the stairs two at a time, we made it to the surface just as the door blew off its hinges, sending us flying through the air. My ears rang, a loud, piercing sound, as I blinked to try and bring the world back into focus. Jolie’s face appeared above me; she was saying something but I couldn’t hear her.
I struggled to stand on my own two feet, stumbling a little bit before she caught me under the arm. She moved her lips again, but I shook my head, still unable to hear her.
“Where’s Hunter?” her voice finally penetrated the ringing.
“Not there. No one was there.”
Her face fell, and I already dreaded having to return empty-handed to Drew.
I scanned the area, seeing Cruz and Oscar both on their feet. Our hair was a little singed, and we were covered in ash, but all in all we were okay.
“Johnny? You guys okay?”
“Roger that. We’re good. Y’all?”
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
Johnny, Ramon, and Ryker jogged around and met us in the yard.
“Any thoughts?” he asked, hands on his hips and anger firing his eyes.
“Yeah—someone knew we were coming.”
“I don’t know how they could have,” Ryder said. “There have been zero communications about this online. No electronic trail to follow. How did you notify Johnny?”
“By phone. Where were you when you took the call?” I directed the question to Johnny.
“Drew’s place.”
“Dammit.” Ryder pushed his hands through his hair. “They must have the place bugged. I didn’t even consider it. Dammit.”
“It’s okay. We had no reason to expect it.”
“Except we did. Vicario has been a step ahead of us this whole time. And now that kid is at his mercy.”
“They knew we were coming. Knew we’d search the entire place looking for the kid. Knew we’d break into two teams. They were ready for us.”
“He could be anywhere.” Jolie stated what we were all thinking. We’d lost our chance to find Hunter without involving Drew and the antidote.
“I’m not putting her in harm’s way.” I needed that fact to be out there before anyone made any boneheaded suggestions.
“No one is saying we should. But we have to figure out where they’re keeping him and make a plan as to how to stall The Vicar.”
It was exactly what I’d said to Drew that morning, but I’d never really believed we’d be in that position. Now I was standing there with no ideas of how to get her son back and no way of knowing where the hell The Vicar was hiding out.
Thousands, maybe millions, of lives were at stake. It was time to bring the president into the loop. It was time that he told us exactly what had gone down between him and The Vicar all those years ago.
“Let’s go.”
We piled into the van and headed to HQ. I went over words in my head, trying to find the right ones to say to Drew.
Sorry, Drew. They knew we were coming, and your kid was nowhere to be seen. Oh, also they blew the place up, so, on the off-chance he was upstairs, we had no way of searching for him.
Yeah, that should be a real barrel of fun. My heart ached for the little boy who had snuck into my heart, and his mother who owned it.