Page 86 of Rescuing Erin

I was done. I wasn’t waiting for the fucking lunatic to light Tom up again. I lifted my gun and pressed the trigger—once for the kill, the second for good measure. Rocco’s shot rang out, the second man hitting the concrete, and Zane moved to Tom.

“You ready?” Zane asked Tom when he cut his arms free.

“Get me the fuck out of this hell hole.”

“Do you think you can walk?”

“Does it look like the fuckers broke my goddamn legs?” Tom asked.

“No.”

“What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting like a pansy ass asking a bunch of questions?”

I couldn’t hold back my laughter. Zane looked properly chastised.

“What the hell are you laughing at? Took you long enough to shoot the asshole. You know what these were for?” Tom ripped the electrodes off his chest. I winced when there were three bare spots and Tom’s chest hair was left on the pads. “He shocked the fuck out of me. I’d take waterboarding any day of the week. How many teams did Tex call in?”

“Rocco’s team is outside. Last I heard, Ghost and his squad were at the White House waiting, and Wolf and his men were on a plane.”

“Good, he followed directions.”

Tom started for the stairs, and my instincts were screaming for me to help the battered man up the stairs, but I didn’t dare offer. Tom was cranky on a good day, right now, he was fucking pissed.

“We’re coming out,” I called.

“You’re clear in the front,” Bubba, a member of Rocco’s team, answered.

“Back side is good to go,” Linc returned.

“Leo. Bubba. Stay high. Everyone else, out front.”

“What in the Sam hell happened up here?” Tom looked around the destroyed house.

“We met a little resistance, sir,” Rocco supplied.

“A little? It looks like the war of 1812 in here.”

We stepped out of the house in time to see all seven men: Linc, Dec, Jax, Gumby, Ace, Rex, and Phantom jog into what was left of the front yard.

“Jesus Christ,” Dec mumbled when he drew close.

“What time is it?” Tom asked.

I moved my right arm to look at my watch and had to grind my teeth together from the pain. “Seventeen-oh-five.”

“I told my Rissa I’d be home in time for dinner. You call in our ride or are we walking?”

“Three minutes until evac,” Zane told him.

“What a long goddamn day!” That was understatement. “Good work today, boys! Appreciate you all coming out and working together. When I left instructions for Tex, I knew I’d chosen the right men for the job.”

“You knew,” Zane accused.

“I didn’t know the how or the when but I knew something wasn’t right. I knew they were taking me one way or another. I figured I’d rather get it over with. And now we know who we’re playing with.”

“What now?”

My question was cut off by the sound of rotor blades chopping through the air as the helicopter hovered overhead.