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“Snow—”
“It’s true. You laugh with him. You smile with him.”
“I laugh with you.”
“You’re sarcastic and reserved with us. The rest of the time, you bitch and order us about.”
“Bitching at you and ordering you around makes me happy.”
“Don’t, Luc. I’m sorry it took this for me to see it.” Snow looked away from Lucas, shaking his head, his throat working. Seams tugged, loosening on Snow’s composure. Lucas started to come around the desk, his natural instinct to comfort and protect Snow rising to the foreground, but Snow took a step back and pulled himself together. “I’m sorry I didn’t try to save you like you saved me. And I’m sorry about Andrei. If he lives, I’ll fix him.”
Snow’s promise tore through Lucas. It was on the tip of his tongue to agree, to say that Snow would save Andrei and nothing would snatch the man’s life away. But he swallowed back those desperate words. He knew Snow’s limitations better than the man himself. If Andrei’s injuries were too extreme, no skill in the world could save his life and he couldn’t put that unrealistic demand on Snow’s shoulders.
Walking around his desk, he stood in front of his childhood friend and cupped his cheeks with both hands. “Go home. Sleep. I need you tonight.”
Snow gripped him tight in a fierce hug for only a couple of seconds before turning and wordlessly leaving the office. Lucas stared at the closed door, trying not to think about his friend’s pained words. Had he been floating in the same abyss he continually pulled his friend from over the years? No. It wasn’t the same. Lucas’s personal hell had become something different after they left Oklahoma for the Army. Beyond the love he allowed himself to feel for Snow, Ian, and Rowe, Lucas felt nothing. Not real joy or sorrow. There was nothing and hadn’t been for so long, he’d almost become convinced that he couldn’t feel.
Now there was Andrei and Lucas felt like he was drowning. Didn’t matter. Tonight he was going to fix that.Chapter 21A bitter wind moved into the river valley with the setting sun, putting a chill in the air that tried to settle deep into Lucas’s bones. The sky was clear with stars glittering bright overhead, but the moon was absent as if she approved of their endeavor, providing what darkness she could. It was just before one in the morning, approximately an hour before Lucas was supposed to arrive with a case full of money to trade for Andrei’s life. If Lucas had believed for a second that Andrei would be safely released for the money, he wouldn’t have hesitated to comply, but Rowe’s assessment in the office was the most likely outcome if Lucas had tried. This asshole had killed Patrick and attempted to kill Thomas and Lucas. It wasn’t going to stop until Lucas was dead.
“Figaro in place.” Snow’s voice whispered rough through the earpiece.
“Gepetto in place,” Lucas answered.
“Fuck you both. Who the hell picks codes names like this?” Rowe snarled.
“I’m sorry. What was that? I didn’t copy,” Snow snickered.
“Blue fucking Fairy in place,” Rowe grumbled.
“Eyes,” Lucas snapped, bringing the two men back to the job at hand. “I count four. Two on rotation. Two by the doors, mobile.”
“Confirmed,” Snow replied.
“Two more are stationed at the front door.”
Lucas drew in a deep breath and shifted his weight, stretching muscles that had become stiff and sore from staying still for so long. They’d taken position outside the warehouse on Boron more than an hour ago. Rowe had dropped them in a dimly lit subdivision several blocks away and they’d hoofed it through thin woods and low brush, across train tracks and around other buildings to take position in a ditch less than a hundred yards away. At the same time, Rowe had run a separate errand before slipping onto the roof of another building with a sniper rifle.
An earlier thermal sweep of the building had revealed that there were nine people inside and no one new had left or arrived in the hour since they came to the scene. One of those people was Andrei and Lucas was willing to bet that it was the person alone with the weakest thermal reading. They needed to get in there if they were going to save him. The temperature wasn’t bad if you were fully dressed but Andrei had been stripped and tortured. His time was dwindling fast. Lucas didn’t have high hopes of saving him, but he was going to try.
Tightening his hand on the pistol in his hand until his knuckles throbbed, Lucas pushed to his feet while remaining crouched. “Gepetto in motion.”
“Figaro in motion,” Snow immediately answered. From two different angles, Snow and Lucas converged on the building. Their careful footsteps through the long grass and weeds made only a soft rustling easily dismissed as the wind. As the first of the sentries came into sight, Lucas lifted his pistol, squeezing the trigger. There was no sound beyond a quiet expulsion of air as the tranquilizer dart left the gun and hit the guy’s neck. He had barely time to lift his hand at what felt like a bee sting before his knees gave out and he collapsed with a muffled thud to the ground. At Rowe’s request, they were using tranquilizer darts to start. Of course, all three of them were also carrying regular handguns loaded with bullets as well as several knives. They were all willing to take lives if it became necessary, but Rowe and Snow were determined to fucking protect what was left of Lucas’s soul whether he wanted them to or not.
