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Then he met Aubrey St. Clair and everything changed. She made him come alive again, something he thought was impossible. There was truly no describing the light she shone on his desolate soul. Even the constant demons had settled down. With Aubrey in his arms, he slept soundly. Gray would never forget the horrors of losing his brothers in that godawful Colombian jungle, but maybe she was right.
Maybe if he wanted to live again, if he wanted a future, Gray had to let go of the past. Forgive himself for not being able to save them. Acknowledge he was not at fault and couldn’t have prevented what happened. He normally resisted opening up and talking about it for fear of looking weak or breaking down. Because the guilt had a way of ripping him in two.
But Aubrey gave him hope. Talking to her might work.
But first things first. Right now, Gray was on the warpath, the revenge he so desperately needed finally within his grasp. After killing Mesa, maybe he’d finally be able to move forward. Hopefully with Aubrey.
He just had to make it through this upcoming mission.
Chapter Seventeen
Humping through the steamy jungle always sucked. It didn’t matter if it was in the Bahamas or down in Colombia. Gray swatted a mosquito away and his boot slid in muck. Luckily, Mesa’s private island wasn’t too big, just a couple miles long. But it was lush and dense with jungle, especially along the northern tip where they’d landed about twenty minutes earlier.
After pulling the Zodiac onto shore and stashing it between several large rocks, the team had proceeded to the lone guardhouse and easily neutralized the two guards before they could radio for help. The only issue would be if and when they were required to check in.
Ah, well.There would be no checking in with bullets between their eyes.
It didn’t take them long to reach the perimeter of the warehouse and Gray hunkered down in the foliage, peering through a huge palm frond, watching Mesa’s soldiers move in and out of the main door. From his vantage point, Gray could see the endless pallets stacked with kilos of cocaine inside.
It would feel good when he heard that warehouse go boom.
“We’re in position at the rear, southwest corner of the warehouse,” Braxton reported to Zane who was back at command central in Playa del Oro.
“Roger that.” Even though he was thousands of miles away, Zane’s voice came in loud and clear as though he were sitting right beside them. His tech was good, the best of the best, and Gray had no doubts his friend would get them through this mission as their eyes and ears.
There were no cameras inside the warehouse or in Mesa’s home, but multiple cams covered the exterior. Once Zane hacked into their security feed and began looping footage, they’d be clear to go their separate ways.
“Warehouse cams are looping as well as the left cam on the rear of Mesa’s house. You’re clear, boys. Good luck and good hunting.”
Braxton gave them a silent hand signal to go and while he, Inda and Ryland infiltrated the warehouse and set explosives, Gray and Saint made their way to Mesa’s private house.
Staying low and hidden among the palms, Gray led the way forward, all of his instincts on high alert. It didn’t take long to reach the cartel leader’s residence and they dropped down to check the situation out before proceeding.
He could taste his revenge. And, it tasted so fucking sweet.
A visual sweep of the rear of the property revealed three guards monitoring the perimeter. He lifted three fingers and Saint gave a nod. After some quick, silent hand communication, it was decided Gray would take care of the guards stationed in and under the tower and Saint would neutralize the one patrolling the back of the house.
They would have to be fast and deadly. All it would take was one warning call and the entire mission would go up in flames. And there was no way Gray was about to fuck this up. Vengeance burned through his veins as he snuck forward, dropping down and crawling through the undergrowth, hoping like hell to avoid any and all deadly critters.
Although Gray hadn’t been working long with Ex Nihilo, he had full confidence in all of them. He knew Saint would get the job done and Gray needed to make sure he did the same. Once he reached the guard tower, Gray pulled the rifle off his back and turned it around. Flat on his belly, he looked through the scopes, checking out his target.
The cartel soldier lounged against the corner post of the tower, scrolling through his phone.Too easy.Gray pulled in a low, steadying breath, lined his sights up and curved his finger around the trigger. Breathing out, he squeezed the trigger and the suppressor muffled the shot. The bullet hit its mark and, even as the guard dropped, Gray raced forward on silent feet, swinging his rifle around to his back and reaching for the Glock holstered at his hip. He lifted it up and fired off a shot the moment the second guard appeared at the top of the ladder.
There was a muffled POP, POP and the second soldier dropped. Gray hustled up the ladder, checked to make sure the target had been neutralized then glanced toward the house. He had a bird’s eye view of the situation and Saint jimmying a rear window open.
Spinning around, Gray hurried back down the ladder and dragged the first soldier into the foliage. Then he raced across the lawn and met Saint who was lifting the window up.
“Saint and Demon are heading inside,” Gray reported.
“Roger that,” Braxton murmured.
They climbed over the ledge and landed in a library. Zane had provided the team with a layout of the house and so far, so good. It was a big place, and they didn’t know exactly where Mesa might be, so now it was time to hunt.
Staying close to the wall, they moved forward, pistols raised and ready. Just like the warehouse, there were no interior cameras in Mesa’s home. That meant one of two things: either he was paranoid that someone would hack into his system and gather evidence against him, or he was far too confident that no one would ever be able to breach his island sanctuary.
Gray had a feeling it was a combination of both. And he really hoped the asshole was overly confident. Then his defenses would be lowered. He wouldn’t be expecting the sneak attack about to go down.
Although they had no idea where Mesa was, their plan was to check his office first. Men of power liked to hang out behind their desks and order people around. Pulling up the floor plans in his head, Gray pictured the route down to Mesa’s office. Straight then a right turn and it would be three doors down and on the left.
