Page 97 of Thaddeus

Motherfucker, she was crazy.

“We’ll be there in thirty. Keep in touch.”

Autumn disconnected and I was already figuring a way to shave ten minutes off our time. We didn’t have a boat which meant our options were limited—beg, borrow, or steal. Any of the three worked for me, whichever was the fastest way to acquire a boat was the choice we were taking.

“What’d she say?” Declan asked.

I quickly relayed the information Autumn gave me and our immediate need for a water craft.

“Rear Admiral Dag Creasy,” Kyle said. “He’s still the commander of Group One. Special Boat Team 20 is stationed at the Anphib base. They’ll have what we need.”

“I’m thinking I’d rather steal a civilian craft than a RIB from the Navy,” I told him.

Though the ridged-hauled inflatable boat was exactly what we needed.

“We won’t have to, he’ll give us one,” Kyle returned, pulling his phone out.

I left him to it, not caring Kyle was about to get an ass-chewing from a Rear Admiral for calling in the middle of the night, and went to the kitchen table to pick up the newly loaded magazines Max had been working on. I shoved three extra .45 caliber Pmags into the webbing on my vest and made sure they were secure. Brooks was doing the same, tapping his equipment, making sure he had everything he needed. When he was done, he looked over at me and our eyes locked.

I hoped like hell he wouldn’t speak. I hadn’t lied when I told Garrett I was holding on but barely. The cold detachment I was forcing myself to feel was slipping and it was becoming increasingly harder not to let my emotions overtake me. Emerson deserved more. She didn’t need my rage and destruction, not yet. She needed me calm, calculating, and deadly. The only way for me to give her what she needed was to lock my emotions down and detach.

She wasn’t my future wife. She wasn’t the woman who would have my children. She wasn’t the woman I loved more than anything. Not right now. All she could be was my target. This was a rescue op and all she could be was a faceless vic who needed our help.

A job.

If she became anything else to me, I would lose my tenuous hold and fall apart.

“Were you able to track the call?” I heard Declan ask. There was a pause. “Intel’s good, then. Keep tracking her. Thanks.” Then he turned to us. “Tex verified Autumn’s where she says she was.”

It was good Declan had the wherewithal to double-check. I didn’t think Autumn would jack us around when it came to Emerson, not after what I’d seen back in Manicore, but Dec made the right call confirming her intel.

“Creasy’s meeting us at the NAB and he did one better than I thought. SBT 20 will give us a lift, but they cannot make a beach landing. They’ll get us in as close as they can and hold for our return. He said he’ll have the team ready in ten minutes and it will take them fifteen to get us to the drop point.”

“Let’s roll,” Declan barked and I swung my AR over my shoulder and followed him.

“I’ll be waiting,” Tatiana called out. “I’ll forward anything Garrett or Tex finds.”

“’Preciate it,” I returned, not looking back.

Part of that was because Tatiana was not locking down her emotions like the rest of the team was. She was wearing her worry plain as day and I couldn’t bear to look at her.

Declan got us to the NAB in record time. Thankfully when a Rear Admiral gives an order to the E-nothings running the gate, they don’t question orders. We pulled up, Declan gave his first name, the gate opened, and a SUV driven by a MP pulled in front of us. He escorted us to the other side of the base where the Special Boat Teams had their compound. The MP did this driving at a high rate of speed, which meant Dec was following just as fast.

Thank fuck, because the longer this went on, the harder it was to keep the crippling fear at bay.

The MP took us through a second security gate surrounding the SBT compound. Dec pulled into a spot near the staging area by the dock and the five of us got out.

Rear Admiral Creasy was standing near a four-man crew, all of them were fully kitted out, complete with face paint to conceal their identities. Creasy looked exactly the same as he had when I left the teams. Tall, fit, a man who stood tall and proud from all his years of service.

“Gentlemen, I know you don’t have time so I’ll keep this brief. Pains me to say it, but my men cannot engage. Hate your asses are swinging, but this crew is simply out on a night training mission and will deny any knowledge of your presence. Hope you understand but—”

“No need, Admiral.” Declan cut him off. “We appreciate the ride and with respect, you’re right—we’re out of time.”

“Right. Godspeed, boys.” With a clap on Declan’s back, the Admiral nodded to his men and stepped aside.

The nine of us jogged the short distance and loaded into the RIB. Without warning, we shot from the dock and I stumbled in surprise.

“Drop will be at the water border. We’ll get you as close to shore as we can, but you’ll have approximately forty-five meters to swim,” one of the crew told us.