Page 60 of Preacher


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* * *

GQ,looking forward to some rack time while the boss and Rose interrogated their newest prisoners, stepped through the door that led into HQ first while the guys were still in the garage. He stopped dead, his M4 rising up into a ready position. His eyes sighted down the barrel, his body on alert, his eyes scanning for shooters. At his feet was one of the GAT guards.

He queued his radio. “Ice, guys, you better get up here quick. We’ve been compromised.”

Soon, six big bodies were at his back. With precision, they cleared the complex. There was no one here, and everyone was unconscious, darted. All except the prisoners who were dead…except— “The garage,” GQ shouted.

* * *

Nancy wastedno time in securing Rose Sinema, trying not to think too much about what she was doing. The shock on her face when Nancy shoved the gun in her back and handcuffed her only added to the sick feeling washing through her. She leaned into the van and shot the remaining prisoners who had been captured in Copacabana just as she’d been ordered, then she dragged Rose out of the garage to a rise on a hill where a chopper landed. She shoved Rose inside and climbed in behind her. The doors closed and the chopper lifted.

* * *

The wet vaporof the rainforest smothered down around her as the trees blocked the moon. She had commandeered a CIA chopper and flown it herself. It was currently hidden in a clearing so as not to alert NSH they were coming. Preacher was behind her, bringing up the rear.

As soon as they had the plans secured from Hugo’s laptop, Preacher contacted HQ and filled them in, sending them the layout of the bunker. That’s when they found out Nancy had betrayed them. NSH had gotten to her. She could almost feel his vigilance, the anger at the attack on Rose and his brothers.

It was shocking that DEA Agent Nancy Chambers had incapacitated the guards but killed the NSH prisoners and taken Rose hostage. But she suspected the woman had been coerced. Karasu tamped down her pity for the mother and wife faced with the deaths of people she loved. Karasu knew what it was like to be in that position. But it was different. Nancy’s husband and child were innocents, whereas Volk and Zorra had signed up for this. Didn’t make it any easier, but Karasu understood her actions. Nancy had committed treason, murder, and kidnapping to save her family.

Karasu had done the same, except for the treason. But it was her job and sanctioned by the Company.

Karasu, Preacher, and Gonchaya waited in the clearing, the bulk of their chopper dark against the moonlit night. Then the faintwhop, whop, whopof an incoming helicopter beat the night sky, landing with precision not far from their own bird.

Through her NVGs, she watched as seven men and a dog exited the big Black Hawk. As soon as they were clear, the helo took off. Once they had neutralized the bunker and rescued Rose, Volk, and Zorra, the pilots would be back for exfil.

Iceman walked up to them flanked by GQ, Kodiak, Hazard, Skull and Bones, Boomer, and Breakneck. Through her NVGs she could see that Iceman was locked and loaded. His worry over Rose, his fiancée, in terrible danger tamped down. He was in charge of the op now.

“Good work, you three,” Iceman said. “We’ve studied the floorplan of the bunker you sent, and I agree with your analysis, Karasu. Once we get to the bunker, we’ll proceed as planned.”

Nothing compared to having the admiration and praise of such a man as Iceman. He was strong, tough, resilient and one hell of a leader. Rose deserved a man like him. Her heart squeezed at the thought of her boss in danger, but Rose could hold her own. Karasu was going to bank on that.

Spreading out into more of a single file string, rather than grouped together, they went deeper into the jungle. Gonchaya cut through the vines, and they stepped over logs and forest debris. The air was motionless, the slightest sound magnified. She detected nothing behind her, all of the operatives on this op as quiet as death. The plans for the bunker had been illuminating and showed NSH’s arrogance. To keep their footprint small, they had the barest of security measures with just five rooms, a command center, two holding rooms, a room for weapons, and guards’ quarters all running on one generator. There were twelve bunks, so that’s how many guards they could expect. The most chilling feature was the explosives buried in the walls with the main detonation switch in the command center. It would be Preacher’s job to keep the whole place from getting blown sky-high with them inside.

Karasu had kept the information about their assault on the bunker completely contained to the ten of them. She trusted Gonchaya and the SEALs and that was it. Their enemy was insidious and brutally ruthless. It was about time they caught this group off-guard, got the intel they needed to find the head of the snake, and cut it off, eliminating them as a threat to the world.

She, Preacher, Kodiak, Skull, and Bones would infiltrate, and then split from each other. Karasu, Skull, Bones, and Kodiak’s number one priority was to find the man who had the detonator for the vials or if they found Zorra and Volk first, remove them from their forearms. Bones gave them a distinct advantage. Skull had taught him a new smell—the liquid they used to surround the vial to cushion it once it was injected. Preacher would find the command center and keep the guards from blowing it before they were done.

She checked her GPS and saw they were still on the fastest path. The area was pretty much uninhabited, green stretching before her. They walked for thirty minutes, her NVGs allowing her to see as if it were daytime.

According to Hugo’s coordinates, this was the place, but when Karasu looked through the trees there was nothing there, or so it seemed.

Clever to build an underground bunker. They had avoided all the outside sensors thanks to the plans. All she had to do was get close enough to descend into the bunker. She smiled. Good thing the plans showed her exactly where one of the air conduits was.

She looked back and Preacher gave her the all clear. She heard through her ear mic, “Boomer, Hazard, Gonchaya take out the guards. Break, overwatch. GQ you’re with me for any overflow or squirters.”

Shadows moved and they melted into the night. She went down to her belly, crawling to the air duct, the three men and Bones directly behind her. The duct was camouflaged so well, she would have missed it if she hadn’t known it was there. She wondered if Nancy and Rose were already inside. Most likely. The chopper trip was under thirty minutes. They still had time. Rose was a tough cookie. She wasn’t going to give up a damn thing.

She finally let herself think about Volk and what it would mean to her to lose him. She had taken him for granted and his ultimatum in Banja Luka had shaken her foundations. She had never wanted to acknowledge her deep feelings for her partner. He had always supported her, through thick and thin. She had been cavalier about their partnership…their friendship that had once and again spilled over into the physical when they had both been lonely and when Volk had lost Papillion. But it wasn’t romantic love, or even passion, never had been. She knew that so thoroughly now. It was comfortable between them. Not like Preacher when her body went crazy every time he was near, and even when he wasn’t.

In fact, Preacher was a stimulating presence at her left shoulder. It was almost as if she could feel him. God help her, she could still feel his passion throbbing through her body, taste him on her mouth. The man could kiss and knew what to do with that magnificent dick between his legs. He felt as primal as the jungle, dark and dangerous. She wanted so much more. But to get her life back, she had to have the courage to go home. She shied away from that thought for now. One thing was for sure, she was going to find Savic and take her life back. She was done running and hiding in the shadows.

But Volk was something she couldn’t quite define. He didn’t fit into any type of box. He was just Volk and she loved him, deeply, for putting up with her shit, for always, always, always having her back, for his expertise, his determination, and his bravery…so goddamned brave. Losing him would be like losing a piece of her heart. All these years he had been her family.

That was something that NSH did especially well—understand what family meant to people, then exploit it, the fuckers. They had crossed so many terrible lines, she would make it her vow to stop them no matter what it took.

Taking back control would shift the balance. NSH had their operatives, their boss lady, had corrupted a good and decent DEA agent. She wanted to look into their faces and destroy them. NSH would continue to play their own hand. Though…fucking up their plans and decimating their ranks would give her great satisfaction. At the moment, getting down there and making a difference in this fight was necessary. The leader of NSH would be the next step. She would be prepared for every contingency, but if something went wrong, and she prayed it didn’t, she had three lethal SEALs and a well-trained fur missile covering her ass. One of those SEALs, a man who had given her real trust, real passion, real…emotion was just so damn real.

She connected ropes to her harness and slipped into the duct. It went straight down. She repelled as quietly as possible until she reached the bottom. Looking up, she made room for the guys’ descents, Skull landing last with Bones clipped to his chest. They were a marvel.

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