Page 3 of Guarding The Phoenix: Vol. 2

And this sucker would take the fucking chopper down. On my way up, I grabbed night vision goggles, and ear plugs, then raced the rest of the way. Mateo’s voice blared over the intercom, “If you’re going to do something, Axel, do it now. They’re a thousand meters out and closing in fast.”

I assumed position near the stern on the lowest deck level. Affixing the night vision goggles that had infrared and thermal scope capabilities, I used one of the jet skis for cover and located the helicopter. Mateo was right. It bore down on the yacht with nothing but bad intentions.

“Motherfucker.” They had heavy artillery loaded on the damn chopper. The doors were open. And I spied men with enough firepower to take us down with nary any effort. The closer the chopper flew, I confirmed what we already knew. It was a bunch of Santos’s assholes in paramilitary gear. I would recognize their ilk anywhere.

They wouldn’t last a week in the fucking Marines.

And they were about to see what we could do. It would be the last thing they ever experienced, too.

They hadn’t spotted me. Fucking fantastic! I didn’t want the aircraft evading the rocket. Because I bet they reported our location to Santos. Shouldering the weapon, I hit a few buttons. Lined up the sight, ensuring that it would hit even if they tried to dodge it.

I waited. My patience provided them with a false sense of security. They likely thought they had the upper hand, and that we didn’t know they were coming. Wouldn’t they be surprised when they went boom?

The distance diminished. The meters ticked by.

I held the rocket launcher, primed and ready. When the craft reached two hundred meters out, I fired, becoming their Grim Reaper.

The rocket blasted out of the launcher in a blaze of light and deafening explosion. It took flight. Arced into the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in its wake. Water splashed on the deck and saturated my pants.

Although I didn’t care about the water, my attention remained focused on the rocket.

As it flew, I knew it would hit. I’d used these bad boys one too many times in my career not to know when it would strike the intended target. I waited. It soared in a beautiful deadly arc and ate up the distance. At the last minute, the helicopter swerved, attempting to evade death.

But they were too late with their defensive maneuver.

The rocket hit the tail and exploded. A fireball enveloped the aircraft as it blew apart mid-air. Fire and debris rained down upon the black ocean waters below.

I gave those dead sons of bitches the finger. Mess with the bull, motherfuckers, you get the horns.

“Good job.” Gideon clapped me on the back. “I’m gonna call this in and give headquarters a heads up. Thank god that happened over the water and not on land or the director would be pissed.”

“He’s likely going to be pissed, anyway.” I shrugged. Whether he liked our methods, we did what we needed to protect the Phoenix. And I would have done it regardless of what our boss said. They were coming after Kylie. They’d hurt her, terrified her, and most likely destroyed her home. Killing was too good for them. They deserved to be strung up and tortured. In my book, they got off easy for what they did to her.

“We made it out alive. That’s what matters, and he’ll know that. But we need them to clean-up the house and handle the rest. You and Kylie made it here all right. No issues that I could see.”

“No issues. Once we reached the basement, we were good. And she’s been a trooper through all of it.”

“Likely the adrenaline. We need to prepare for the crash.”

I’d be there to help her pick up the pieces. Be what she needed. And do anything she wanted as long as it wasn’t ending what we have, because I needed her. She had wormed her way inside me, and I wouldn’t let her go without a fight. “Agreed. Are you going to tell her where we’re headed?”

“It’s best if she knows. I’d rather break the news to her before we make it into port. If we wait too long, it will blow up in our faces.”

“It might still. We’ve got to be prepared for it.”

Gideon sighed and nodded. “I know. But with Santos upping the ante, we don’t have another choice. And I need you on first watch.”

“On it.” I jerked my chin in acknowledgement. It still felt weird not saluting.

And no. We didn’t have a choice. At least, not any good ones.

Chapter two

Caveman

Mateo

Aftertonight’sevents,wewere too keyed up to sleep. Well, everyone but the princess. She slept in the main cabin bedroom. But after all she’d been through, she needed sleep. While we put as much distance between us and Santos as possible. Chase sat at the helm, speeding us away from the California coast. Even injured, he was formidable. He would sail us south for a few days. Just to ensure Santos and company weren’t following before we headed north to our destination.

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