Her arms tightened a fraction before she buried her nose in the crook of his neck, and his heart swelled to three times its size. God, he’d missed her. Craved her. Loved. Her.
Every day apart had been a living hell. Every hour a pain-filled existence. Every minute a nightmare. His own fault. He’d let her go. Convinced himself she’d be better off without him. Turns out he was a complete moron. A fucknut of the highest order.
Never. Again.
She belonged to him.
And he’d do anything to keep her alive and safe.
“Almost there,” Cody announced.
A final turn and they were in the home stretch—straight ahead—the gaping hole where the solid steel security door used to protect and defend. Not anymore. Blown completely off its hinges, the twisted metal lay off to the side, and with a few more strides, he stepped out of one battlefield into the early morning light of another.
Sixty meters ahead, beneath the whirling blades of the helicopter, Grant took a knee, and aiming his rifle to the right of their location, sprayed the scrub line with bullets. Zander did the same on the left, cutting down multiple super soldiers attempting to cross the low-level courtyard to reach them.
“Go, go, go!” Cody shouted, stepping aside and letting Chase take point on the way to the Black Hawk.
Jamie didn’t hesitate to follow as automatic gunfire filled the air around them. Five steps behind, Jay ignored the danger, and eyes pinned to his best friend’s back, he started to cross the yard, his sole focus on getting Becca to safety.
“You’ve got enemy assholes approaching from the east,” Shadow said through the comms link, his sniper position above the compound giving him the advantage of a clear line of sight on the field below. “A trio of wall huggers within range and about to join the festivities.”
“Line them up, and knock them down,” Chase ordered from up ahead, and less than a second later, a distinct crack echoed around them.
“That’s one,” Greely said, right before another shot rang out, the loud bang competing with the first for attention. “Make that two.”
“Well, looky look,” Le Roc added, “We’ve got a runner.” A sharp clap sliced through the rest of the noise. “Annnd now we don’t. Threat neutralized, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood sniper team.”
“Heads up. Ten o’clock!” Zander shouted, swinging the barrel of his rifle and unleashing one short burst after another. “Multiple targets, coming in hot!”
“Roger that,” Cody replied, firing his weapon on the go. “Just keep moving!”
No encouragement necessary, Jay dug deep to close the gap that had opened between him and Jamie.
Forty meters to the Black Hawk. Thirty-five. Thirty. His breath quickened.
Another crack rented the air, the high-velocity impact of a slug hitting the ground causing the slushy mud to mushroom up and out less than a foot from Jay’s location, halting his progress in an instant.
Christ! That was close. Too close. Self-preservation instincts flaring, he took a cautious step. A patch of wet dirt splattered his pants, cold and clinging. The second bullet aimed a couple of inches in front of him, cutting off his path to escape.
A near-death miss? Understandable given the circumstances. His way forward blocked by not one—but two—warning shots?
Not a fucking coincidence.
“Sniper,” Cody shouted, coming to a dead stop next to Jay. “Get a bead on him!”
“Searching,” Shadow replied. “Whoever he is, he’s fucking invisible. Roc?”
“Nothing in the scope,” he replied.
“Same,” Greely added. “Dude’s a ghost.”
“Shit. We’re pinned down and fully exposed.” Cody emptied his rifle into a group of Volkov’s soldiers before ripping out the magazine and exchanging it for a full load in one efficient move. “Should we throw smoke?”
“Negative,” Ryder replied through the headset, her voice calm and sure despite the action going on around her. “We’re wedged in tighter than a cork in a bottle. We need visuals for lift-off, or we’re dead on the ground.”
“She’s right,” Chase said, slowing his momentum a few feet from the open helicopter door before turning around. “Plan B. We shield the target until we have her on board.”
“You’re fucking indispensable, asshole. Get on the Hawk,” Grant ordered, sprinting past Chase while Zander kept pace.
