Page 80 of Her Delta Force Protector

“Come,” he said, pulling Duke’s leash to the opposite side of the creek from the shack. Time to do what Ace did best, and that was to plan a rescue mission. In his career as a Delta Force operator, he’d only lost two hostages, on an operation that had gone south almost from the start because of bad intel. He was not going to add to that number.

He might not be boyfriend material, and he was no way, no how the man for Harper, but she wasn’t going to die on his watch. She was the best person he knew, and she deserved to have her dreams of a man who could give her what she needed and all those kids she wanted. Never mind that he wanted to tell the man to go find some other woman, and if the dude dared to mistreat her, he’d be hearing from Kade.

“You need to stay here,” he told Duke as he tied the end of the leash to a tree branch. “I’m going to go get your girl so you can give her the sock. You did good.” When Duke whined, Kade wrapped his hand around the dog’s muzzle. “Quiet.”

With his gun ready in his hand, he faded into the woods and made his way up the hill to the shack. When he was even with the building, he crouched next to a tree. Were they even in there? The one visible window was impossible to see through because of the grime that covered it. There was probably a window on the other side, but it would be as dirty as this one.

Watson or Sorenson, whichever had her, was armed with at least Harper’s rifle, but probably with a handgun, too. They wouldn’t have come for her without being armed. He’d give his left nut to be able to see in that window. If he barged in, and the man with her had a gun in his hand, he could shoot her before Kade got to him. That was not going to happen.

He thought for a minute, then made a decision. The first thing he needed was intel, and for that, he was going to have to get next to the door. It was broken near the bottom, and Kade guessed that it had been kicked open. Because of the damage, there was a gap between the door and the frame where he could get a visual on the inside of the shack.

“Viper, you copy?” he said, trying one more time to reach his teammate. No response. Tristan was on the way, but it could take another twenty or so minutes for him to get here, and not knowing what might be happening to Harper inside that place, he wasn’t waiting.

He was on his own.It’s a go. He’d taken two steps when the cabin door opened, so he eased back behind the tree. Harper walked out, and was that blood running down her face? Whoever hurt her was dead and just didn’t know it. Theo Watson stepped out behind her. He had Harper’s rifle slung over one shoulder and a handgun pressed against her back.

That would be a big mistake on Watson’s part if it was Kade or any one of his teammates. That close, they’d have possession of that gun before Watson knew what was happening. Unfortunately, Harper hadn’t been trained in that kind of warfare. Watson’s finger was on the trigger, and that left Kade with few options. Even if he fired, killing Watson instantly, the man could involuntarily fire the gun. So Kade would have to follow them and watch for the opportunity to rid the world of a monster who preyed on women.

No one else exited the cabin, so it was just Watson, which was good news. Kade melted back into the woods to call his brother. The last thing he needed was for Tristan to stumble on the pair unprepared.

“I’ve found Harper,” he said when Tristan answered. “Watson has her, and he’s armed. I want you to stop wherever you are now and find a place out of sight where you can still see the creek. If they come your way, do not try to stop them. I’ve got this.”

“Can’t think of a better man for the job.”

That was it, all Tristan said before he disconnected. Damn but he loved his brother. Before Kade joined the Army, he’d been a punk with an attitude, and even then, Tristan had had faith in him. He still needed to thank his brother for that.

As he pocketed his phone, a shot rang out, and a dog yelped. He ran back to the tree he’d hidden behind, his gaze first searching for Harper. Watson was behind her with his gun pointed at her back as he had been before.

Movement on the other side of the creek caught his attention, and he frowned at seeing Duke racing toward the woods, his leash trailing behind him. A leash that was shorter than it should be. The cunning dog had chewed it in half to free himself. He must have tried to get to Harper, and Watson had shot at him. Harper had told him that one of Duke’s problems when the military was trying to train him was that he freaked out every time he heard a gun fired, that they never could get him used to it.

There was nothing Kade could do about Duke at the moment, so he turned his attention back to Watson and Harper. She was yelling at him for shooting at the dog, and Kade wanted to tell her not to provoke the man. Watson’s gaze was darting around him. He correctly assumed that if a dog dragging a leash was in the area, so was the owner. Did Watson know who that owner was? Kade hoped not.

Duke had disappeared into the woods and would probably head back to the cabin, where he’d consider it safe. But Kade had missed the perfect opportunity to take Watson out. If he hadn’t been on the phone with his brother and had been watching when Watson turned his gun to Duke, Kade would have had the perfect shot. Regret was a waste of energy, and he dismissed the missed opportunity from his mind.

“Show yourself,” Watson yelled. “Come out and drop your weapon.”

The man was delusional if he thought that was going to happen. If only Harper would drop to the ground, but Kade had no way of telling her to do that. It could very well come down to risking a shot in the hopes Watson didn’t pull the trigger.

Movement from above caught his attention. What the hell was Duke doing? The dog came out of the woods behind Watson and Harper, slowly and soundlessly creeping up to them. As he neared them, he lowered his belly almost to the ground, and Kade was reminded of a wolf stalking his prey.

The game had just changed, and now he had a dog on a mission to factor into the equation.What are you going to do, Duke?There was nothing Kade could do but be ready for whatever happened.

Watson was still stopped and still had his gun pressed to Harper’s back as his gaze searched the woods on one side and then the other. “I’ll shoot her if you don’t show yourself. Come out with your hands above your head.”

“You need to worry about what’s coming at your back, pal,” Kade quietly said as he stepped into view. “You shoot her, I shoot you. Let her go and you get to live.”

Duke was about ten feet from them now, and Kade raised his gun and aimed it at Watson’s forehead, the only part of him visible as he stood behind Harper. He estimated he was forty yards—give or take—from them, close to the Glock’s maximum range. It would be the most critical shot of his life with a variable he couldn’t predict...a dog.

Chapter Forty-Three

Had Kade turned Duke loose? Harper couldn’t imagine he’d do that, not with Theo having a gun. Thank God Theo had missed when he’d shot at Duke. Hopefully, Duke would stay out of sight. She’d noticed his shortened leash and wondered what that was about.

She’d yelled at Theo when he’d shot at Duke, and she’d been too concerned about Duke to realize she should have done something...like spin around and knee him in the balls while he was distracted. If she’d done that, he probably would have dropped the gun. She wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot him if she could have gotten ahold of it. Before Theo Watson, she couldn’t imagine aiming a weapon at a person and pulling the trigger, but she sure could now.

Duke was proof that Kade was around somewhere, though, and knowing that was a relief beyond imagination. She didn’t know how he’d found her, but she had never doubted he would. She wished she still had her comms so he could tell her what he wanted her to do.

Should she try to do something, and if so, what? Or would Kade not want her to do anything that would interfere with whatever he intended? Kade would never be this indecisive, he’d see what needed to be done and then he’d do it. She needed to think like him. She inwardly snorted. Like that was possible. He’d had years of training that made him the elite warrior he was. All she knew how to do was find housing for military personnel and their families.

The best thing she could do was nothing and trust that Kade would do what he did best, that he’d rescue her like he had so many others in situations even worse than hers. And she did trust him...with her life. A calmness settled over her for the first time since Theo had put his hand over her mouth back at the tree.

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