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Chapter 28
Clay
Caleb stops the SUV about a kilometer away from our destination. He hides the SUV behind bushes. It isn’t ideal, but it works. It gives us a little time to get in there without being noticed. I don’t really care about the logistics; I just need to see Shay. I need to feel her breath on my skin. Her beating pulse under my fingers. Her sparkling eyes focusing on me. I need to feel anything other than this emptiness.
“You okay?” asks Caleb.
I nod. I take out my gun from the trunk of the SUV and make sure it’s ready to fire. I’m taking no hostages. Every fucker who dares to cross me will meet their maker today. I’m in no mood to be fucked with. I’m sick of people thinking they’re entitled to hurt people because they’ve been wronged or hurt in the past. I’m really looking forward to hearing what excuse these fuckers have. Not that any excuse is going to save them. They’ve messed with the wrong family this time.
“Let’s go.”
I walk away from everyone, leading the way through the thick hedges and trees. The longer I’m away from Shay, the longer my humanity switch is broken. I’ve never once felt like this. In all my years in the army, and now in Shawland Security, even Aria’a case, I’ve always had a job to do. I’ve always been grounded. But this time it’s personal. I can’t think clearly. I can’t even pretend to be okay. I’m working on adrenalin. Fear. Nerves.
“We need to go in carefully,” says Caleb from a few feet behind me.
“No plans. No orders. We go in, take care of what we have to, and we get Shay out,” I snap.
I am not playing around. I don’t need orders to do my job. I’ll do this myself if I fucking must.
“Clay. Stop!” Caleb growls and yanks my arm to a halt. “Will you listen to yourself? I’ll knock your ass out and pick you up on the way back if you don’t think about what you’re saying. There is no fucking I in team. We do this together. You’re our only sniper. You can’t go in their guns blazing. We tackle this with the same precision we do any case.”
“I’m a sniper, too,” says Lucca.
We all turn to look at him. Once upon a time, I would have trusted any army brother, but now I’m doubting them all. I look into Lucca’s eyes and try to see any deception, any nerves, anything that makes me think he’s being deceitful… but nothing comes.
“If you fuck us over…”
“Stop, Clay. You know me. I wouldn’t be here if I was on their side. Jesus Christ, I have the same aim as you. Get our soldier out of there.”
If he’s lying, he’s fucking good.
I nod. I’ll take great pleasure in tearing his head off his shoulders if he does one thing to hurt this mission.
“Okay. Chris and I will go in first. Two snipers having our back is better than one,” says Caleb.
“No.” I shake my head.
“Clay, just fucking listen for once. My patience is wearing thin. You want Shay back, yes?”
I nod. “Okay. Let’s go.”
Caleb and Chris walk ahead, and Lucca and I take up our positions at their backs. We all take in our surroundings. Once we make ourselves known, there’s no hiding. I’ve been away from the army so long, but the instinct never leaves.
Lucca holds up two fingers and points to the side of the building. He’s telling me he’ll go in from the back. I’ll try to go in from another side, while Caleb and Chris go in from the entrance we can see from our position. We seem to know what needs to be done. We just need to be successful.
Caleb nods and points over his head to motion for us to take up our positions. Once I break away from my brothers and Lucca, I focus on what’s in front of me. I get into the building easily and spot the many containers that are making this easy for us. I look all around, up and down, around the containers. I spot Lucca high up on one of the crates. He points to the back of the building and I look for a way to get up as high as I possibly can, but there isn’t anything in my sight. I know he’s in place to have Chris and Caleb’s back. I make my way around the containers to where Lucca pointed. I can hear people talking in the distance; it’s bouncing off the containers.
“Maybe it would have been better if you died. If we both died.”
“No.” I hear Shay gasp in a deep lungful of air. “What has happened to you, soldier? We never give up. Damn you, Josh. You’ve let them get under your skin. You’ll always be one of us. You can’t just walk away. We never give up!” she yells weakly.
I peek around the container to see three soldiers walking up and down.
“I’m going to save you, Josh.” Shay sobs.
I pick out Josh in the middle and never take my eyes off him. I can’t see Chris or Caleb yet, so I remain in position. I can’t see Lucca from here and that pisses me off, because I need to have my eyes on him at all times.
A door bangs open from close by. This would be the opposite end from where Caleb and Chris were entering, so that puts me on high alert because it means we have company. We have some fucker that’s tangled in this mess somehow. I just hope it’s the asshole I want.
