Page 111 of SEAL of Valor

“First, send us Max,” Brenda counters.

“No. Give me Reese, and then we can exchange Sawyer and Max at the same time.”

Brenda considers. “Counteroffer. Stand up,” she orders Sawyer.

He gets to his feet. There’s blood pouring from a wound in his shoulder—likely where he took a bullet when he’d been on the roof. His face is bruised, his lip split. I can’t see the other gunshot wound, but he’s alive and on his feet. Which means it likely wasn’t anywhere vital. She shoves him forward, then aims her gun at his back.

“Start walking.”

Sawyer doesn’t move. “Let Reese go first.”

“Not a chance,” Brenda snaps. “Now, walk, or Ash will go ahead and kill her now.”

Reese shuts her eyes tightly, and my heart rate kicks up. Lord, please no.

Sawyer looks at me, clearly waiting for permission to leave Reese at their mercy. “It’s okay,” I tell him.

He takes a step. Then another.

I look over at Reese, who is watching me intently. And then…she smiles softly. Her expression turns focused, and before I can even process what she’s planning, she pushes to her feet and throws her body backward into Ash.

The gun goes off.

Ryker, Zane, and Garrison all rush out of the house. Sawyer turns and slams his boot into Brenda’s gut, knocking her backward. I sprint forward, throwing Max to the side as I go.

Eliminate the threat. Deal with the fallout later.

Brenda scrambles for her gun, but I reach it first.

“You don’t have the stones to pull that—” She reaches behind her, and I fire. Brenda falls backward, sucking in a ragged breath as she hits the ground. A firearm I hadn’t even seen yet clatters out of the hand she had behind her back. She stares up at me, eyes going wide as she lies on the ground, blood saturating the front of her shirt.

I close the distance between us and kick the weapon to the side. “You should have stayed in prison, Brenda.”

“No!” Ash screams.

I spin in that direction, just in time to see Reese take advantage of the distraction and slam her forehead into Ash’s face. She stumbles slightly as Ash hits the ground, but Reese recovers quickly and pins her, then slams her fist down into Ash’s face.

Tears are streaming down her face, and I rush over to pull her away from the now unconscious woman.

Reese thrashes in my hold, but I cling to her, pulling her against my chest. “It’s okay, Reese. I’m here. Shhh.”

She stills in my hold and wraps both arms around me. Sirens wail in the distance.

Ryker finishes dragging Max over to where he, Zane, and Garrison have been securing those who managed to survive, then comes back over to zip tie Ash’s wrists together.

“You’re okay.” I run my hand over Reese’s hair.

“They came in through the window. I didn’t even see until⁠—”

“It’s okay, Reese. It’s over.”

She nods against me. “Are you okay? Are the others—” She glances around me, but I cup her face and redirect her attention to me.

“Everyone is okay.”

“Sawyer—”

“Is doing just peachy!” he calls out in response from somewhere behind me.