Page 70 of Reclaiming Izabel

Mitchell’s men never saw us coming.

The team converged through two INFIL points on the one-story farmhouse.

Brick and Edmunds busted through the front door and gunned down two of the mercenaries.

Marcus shot through the window and killed the merc who delivered Izabel’s pain shot. I wanted that job, but I also wanted to be the first one to get to my wife. I crashed through the second INFIL point—the window of the same room—just as Marcus took his shot. I rolled, gun drawn and had it pointed at that motherfucker Mitchell, noting that Izabel was slouched on the chair…unmoving and soundless.

I coated my nerves in ice as the compulsion to shoot Mitchell on the spot screamed inside me. My finger feathered the trigger as the other man stared at me in stark fear.

“I should kill you…”

“She’s alive,” Mitchell said in a thin voice. “She just passed out?—”

“Shut up, you worthless piece of shit,” I snarled.

Viktor turned into the room, leading with the muzzle of an assault rifle. My gun shook as I grappled between bloodlust and the desire to see this fucker burn for his sins for years to come.

“Maddox,” Viktor’s voice reached me in the vacuum, and only then did I tear my eyes away from Mitchell as the task force chief tipped his chin. “Got this. Go to Izabel.”

Viktor barely finished his words when I snapped out of bloodlust and turned to Izabel. I sank to a crouch, slid the KA-BAR from my boot, and cut the flex ties. She fell limply into my arms and I scooped her up.

Without another word, I walked out of the room. Guardians filing in gave me a nod of sympathy.

“Is she all right?” Marcus asked, coming in through the front door and hurrying over to me.

I couldn’t speak through the lump in my throat. I didn’t know if it was from relief or fear.

All I could do was stare at my Izabel.

Inhale.

Exhale.

“She’s gonna be all right,” someone said beside me. “Medic!”

Wetness streamed down my cheeks and splashed on her face.

Izabel’s brows furrowed and her lids fluttered.

A pulse of hope pushed away the lingering anxiety. We could finally and truly start our life that was cruelly interrupted three years ago.

“Iza,” I whispered.

chapter

nineteen

Blood Oil

Crude oil prices soar with the arrest of Exetron Oil CEO Lawrence Mitchell. Charges of treason are being considered by the DoJ for his role in the massacre of JSOC operators three years ago that became the greatest loss of life in a single day in special operations history. Details in the breach of operational security remain classified. Mitchell denies all allegations, saying he never signed off on any agreement between Allison Tierney and deceased terrorist leader Youssef Hamza that would allow Exetron Oil freedom to operate in Africa without threats from terrorist organizations.

Tierney has been released from the hospital after an apparent drug overdose. She was immediately arrested by the authorities upon her release. The Vice President’s former chief of staff is alleged to be the mastermind behind the Syrian massacre of Navy SEALs and Green Berets. If proven guilty, she will also be charged with treason.

Is the price of our military lives worth the low cost of oil?

chapter

twenty

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