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Then Lena went to dig through more intelligence and hopefully find a way to take that target off her and Slade’s backs…so their baby had a chance to grow up with its parents.
* * * * *
“Thanks for the lift!” Slade held up a hand to the chopper pilot and ducked out the door. In a crouch, he cleared the blades and took off in long strides for the black SUV that sat off to the side of the airstrip.
Being back with his team, fighting alongside them to see justice done, felt good, but being away from Lena was like having a tooth ripped out or an organ removed. A constant ache that didn’t quit.
As soon as he jumped into the back seat, he was greeted by thumps on the back from any team member who could reach and grins from those who couldn’t.
“Look at that ugly face.” Holland was one to talk—a big motherfucker with a jagged scar along his forehead that carved down to one ear.
“Missed you too, Holls.” He held out a fist, and they bumped knuckles.
In the passenger seat, Con twisted to sweep the group with a hard look. “Glad to have you back, Overstreet. Now down to orders. We got word that some of the group we thought we wiped out in Puerto Vallarta has been underground the past few weeks. They were scattered but now are planning to cross the border with the intent to rally more to join their ranks.”
“How did the intel come through?” Slade asked.
“Holland picked up some chatter on the dark web. It was intercepted and the order came directly from Commander Barrett. It’s gonna be quick and dirty, guys. We have extra forces on border patrol to form a barricade if needed.”
“Oh, I’m sure it’ll be needed. They won’t come quiet.” It had been hours since he left Lena. During the flight from the East Coast to the West, he couldn’t shake the expression she wore when he walked out the door and left her beautiful, vulnerable, her heart in her eyes and his child slumbering inside her.
He checked his phone one last time before switching it off and going into full ops mode.
They reached the border with all haste. When they spotted a dark car right where they expected it to be, Con gave the order. Their SUV careened into it in a maneuver meant to stun and disorient. Slade jumped out with the others, rifle up.
Holland had his six, and Slade trusted his brother-in-arms like no other. But Lena wouldn’t like knowing he was in the thick of it now, just as he would hate knowing she was in the same position. They had so much faith in all their teammates who would watch their backs and ensure they came home in one piece.
That day in Bosnia, he made sure Lena returned without harm, though she saw the situation in a different light.
Bullets flew in all directions. Slade’s fight mode kicked in. He locked eyes with one man he thought might be…persuaded…to talk if he lived long enough for Slade to question him.
He took off after the man. He ran five steps then stopped. When he made a sudden twisting motion, spinning toward Slade, a shot blew past Slade and the bullet hit the man square between the eyes.
He fell in one hard thud. Whirling, Slade saw Holland lower his rifle after taking the kill shot.
Slade didn’t have time to fully evaluate what just happened there…but he was pretty sure the guy had been about to fire on him.
But what if he weren’t about to fire at Slade? Holland had been standing in the same place Slade had been back in Bosnia. His action kept Slade alive the same way his had saved Lena.
She saw it differently, and now suddenly, his eyes were open and her point was a giant flashing sun in the fore of his mind.
He’d done it out of love, not to undercut her in any way…but now he saw a bigger scope of the event that day.
They quickly subdued the four people in the car and one more who emerged from the trunk after Slade pumped a few rounds into the metal.
Con circled the group and widened his stance. “Tie ’em and load ’em.”
Slade held one struggling man while Holland bound him with steel cables that couldn’t be broken. When he attempted to headbutt Slade in the face with the back of his skull, Slade dug his finger into the pressure point on his neck and sent him into a slump, unconscious.
Once they transferred the criminals to some FBI agents who would cart the men away, the team piled back into the SUV and headed back to their headquarters.
Now that the adrenaline dropped and Slade’s pulse returned to a more normal rhythm, thoughts of Lena filtered in again. She would be hard at work too right now, uncovering as much as possible about Ramon’s son and what those hand-drawn maps might mean.
The closer they drew to the airstrip, the more jittery he grew. Could he risk asking for more time away from his team? Could he leave Lena now when there was so much to say?
His mind snapped to a decision.
“Con.”
