Page 47 of Digital Desire

“Sure thing, I got ya back,” she said and went to work watching out for the man she loved, her heart full knowing that he trusted her with his life. Scanning the horizon with the binos, Aubrey took note of every detail she could, listening out for sounds that seemed out of the ordinary.

“I’m in,” Will said excitedly twenty minutes later.

Aubrey leaned in, the heady scent of his shower gel making desire pool in her belly. He was like a drug, one she was happy to become addicted too. The image on the screen caught her attention, and she gasped. “That’s him, that’s Flowers. What the hell happened to him?” Flowers had been beaten to a pulp, his face a swollen mass of flesh and angry bruises.

“No idea, but if you want sympathy, then you’re asking the wrong guy. That’s the least of what I want to do to him for what he did to you.”

“He didn’t hurt me, Will.”

“No, but he scared you, and that’s more than enough to make me want to beat him bloody.”

A few moments later as if by some kind of sorcery, Alex, Liam, Jack, and Drew emerged from the bushes around them. Aubrey nearly screamed but held back the noise as her heart hammered in her chest.

“Jesus Christ you scared the crap out of me. Stop fucking doing that.”

Alex smirked. “Can’t help it, it’s like breathing,” he said, and she realised to these men their jobs were as much instinctual as they were training.

“Everything set?” Will asked.

“Yes, we found five guards closer to the house, and they had a trip wire running around the perimeter which Liam dealt with. Did you get through the security yet?” Jack asked as if it had never been in question and she knew to him it hadn’t.

“Of course, it looks like someone has beaten Flowers to within an inch of his life.”

“It was Chopper,” Jace said as he emerged from behind Aubrey making her jump again.

“Will you lot fucking pack it in,” she said with a huff.

“Sorry, Aubrey,” Jace said with a grin.

“How do you know it was Chopper?”

“I took out the scout on the ridge, and he told me,” Jace said.

“What? Just like that he told you?” Aubrey said with a frown. She knew how difficult it could be to get people to talk.

“Yeah, kind of. I read his thoughts.”

“That’s fucking cheating,” said Drew and Jace shrugged in response.

“Okay, this changes nothing. Flowers seems to be alone, and we go in as planned. Will can handle the security from here. Liam and Alex, you take out the two guards on the right side of the house. Drew and I will handle the other two that are walking the perimeter. Jace, I need you to take out the guard that’s at the front. I want this done clean and on my say so. Jace, once you’ve taken out the guard, you offer cover while Drew and I grab Flowers and haul his ass out. Aubrey, I want you and Will in the vehicles and meeting us one mile north of here on the road leading back to Buga. Any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads in the negative. “Right let’s move,” Jack said as they silently slipped away.

An unexpected bout of nerves fluttered in her belly as she realised these men were once again risking their lives, but it was different because now, she cared about them. In the short time she had known them, they had become friends to her. Alex, with his wise down to earth attitude, Drew with his gentle strength, Liam who was the class clown that hid a deeper side, then there was Jace who melted her heart with his love for his Luce. Jack was something else altogether. His love and loyalty to the man she loved had cemented his place in her heart.

All of them had taken her under their wings and made her feel like she was one of them, an equal. There was no jealousy or trying to make her fall on her face, not anything like she had faced on the force. The police force was this way, but not for all women. A lot of the men saw a woman as a threat. Treated her like she was only there to fill in the equality quota.

None of these men had done that, they judged her on her skill set and nothing else, and now they were walking into danger again.

“They’ll be okay,” Will said as he stroked his hand over her spine.

Her body warmed at the gesture. “We don’t know that,” she countered.

“Maybe not but we can’t go into a mission believing anything else or it undermines them. We have to have faith that they will come out alive even when the odds aren’t in their favour. But for the record, this is one of the times when they are most definitely in their favour so quit worrying,” he smiled.

“Okay, bossy pants,” she smiled.

“Bossy pants?” He leaned forward and kissed her cheek before whispering, “I ain’t wearing any.”