Page 103 of Long Past Deadly

“He might. It won’t change my mind. We’re only adjusting the bait. The rest of the plan stays in place.”

Quaid squinted at her. “You better gear up because we’re ready to run a few drills. Tinkerton has your equipment and weapons.” That wasn’t what he wanted to say. Reading his expression came down to what wasn’t there, not what was. But they had to leave it for now.

“I’ll go see her right now.”

“What do I do?” Whit’s eyes were closing. She exceeded his energy. Drucker and Cait weren’t going to be happy.

She leaned in to give a direct order. “You rest and get stronger. Sleep, meds, protein, water. You need an edge. You have forty-eight hours at most.”

He grimly smiled at the instructions. “Find me a knife. A good one.”

Quaid’s solemn face and the neutral cast of his brown eyes – ones that usually lit on sight of her – tightened her stomach. “I have one. I’ll bring it to you.”

Quaid took her elbow, and she followed the signal. “I’ll be back later.”

She went through the door and waited for it to click shut. Quaid was in front of her, then spun her around and pressed her to a wall in the quiet hallway. “I can’t…” His mouth slammed into hers, the kiss rough and possessive, and thrilling. He explored her mouth, touched her body like no man ever had. She softened against him, running her hands over his shoulders and through his hair. He groaned and set her away from him to pace the hall.

“It’ll be all right.”

He eyed her carefully before walking back to her side. “Whit could die out there. He isn’t in good enough shape to protect himself, let alone you.”

“We can protect him, and we will.”

“You have a lot of faith in us.”

“It’s not faith. It’s the way it has to be.” She ran her hands over his arms, grateful for the strength in those muscles, the skill that represented, and the commitment in his eyes.

He grunted but took her hand. “Woman, you are driving me crazy.”

“It’s what I do best.” He squeezed her hand, a new experience for her, and her heart somersaulted into a fluttering beat. Thank God. She couldn’t fight him. She might argue with Whit, but she wouldn’t hurt Quaid for anything.

He pulled her to the elevator, keeping her close. She wouldn’t have objected if he’d kissed her again. Hell, she’d have let him go further than that, but he was always mindful about watching eyes, and stabbed the down button instead. “Let’s go practice. The better we are, the better this will go.”

&&&&&&&&&&

QM International Situation Brief: 16:30:20 PST 12/26 – San Diego HQ. All active missions verified and secure. Security Level 4 remains in effect. Utilize chain of command for information. No release to media authorized. Ϙ

“Let’s run it again.” Mackey was not holding back, but nobody said a word.

The cargo area was exactly what they wanted. A large, open cavern, previously used for the final stages of a manufacturing process for medical supplies, was currently empty except for debris. They’d grabbed crates, a dumpster, metal storage units, a couple of motor pool vehicles, and anything else they could find to build a maze with one shooter hidden. They utilized the only remaining lights to keep the empty echo of the place.

Given Quaid’s mood, Mackey’s methods worked for their situation. His friend had been none to happy to discover the change in the setup. Having to protect a vulnerable person was a whole different scenario than what they’d drawn out. Thank God, Mac was former Delta. Execute, recover, and exfil, and fight all the way in and out – his skill set.

Harrison monitored. Mackey coached. Frank bitched. Hunt stayed silent and lethal. Ryker kept studying the layout. And Quaid worried about Alanna.

He and Hunt had worked together on Navy missions. Harrison was Hunt’s former commander. They had shorthand none of them rest of them had. Quaid had served with Mackey for several CIA missions. It was how they met. Alanna, Ryker, and Frank’s tactics were similar. He and Alanna had done enough together, they could adapt. They all had commonalities and experience, but they needed more practice to merge what they had. Mac’s specialty.

How the hell they were working in Whit he couldn’t fathom. The man had been out of the military for fifteen years and wasn’t in a physical condition to make any progress in such a short amount of time. But if the man believed he should be here as secondary bait, Quaid wasn’t fighting Alanna on her agreement with his request.

“Weapons loaded, maze in place, targets active,” Mackey hollered at them. “Alanna point. Hunt and Quaid backup. Frank, Harrison, security. Ryker stays with Whit. Let’s go.”

Hunt raised a brow, staring at Mac. “We’re leaving your skills out of this equation?”

Mac smirked. “No, but I don’t need as much practice. I do close quarter drills all the time with somebody. Military and police.”

Alanna took point at the opening of the maze. Hunt stacked behind her, Quaid behind him. Mackey walked the line once, checking spacing. “Don’t crowd the fatal funnel,” he advised. Quaid adjusted his position by inches. None of them wanted dead in the first blast of a weapon. Reset, they stayed in place.

“This is not a military op.” Mackey moved to the front. “And it’s not a police call-out action either. We are doing both because we have no fucking idea what Mercer is going to do first. Move when I say move, slow when I say slow. Your job is to be thorough and keep Alanna alive.”